Josh Berry's Emotional Win & Dale's Practice Prediction

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download Episode Summary
Episode Title: Josh Berry's Emotional Win & Dale's Practice Prediction
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dirty Mo Media, SiriusXM

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I. Reunion and Studio Catch-Up (00:55 - 04:50)

The episode kicks off with Dale Earnhardt Jr. welcoming listeners back to "The Dale Jr. Download" alongside his co-host, TJ Majors. Dale references their recent remote show and expresses enthusiasm about being back in the studio together.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. [00:55]: "Hey Everybody, it's Dale Jr. And we're back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download here in the Dirty Mo Media studio with my friend TJ."

II. Special Surprise from Charlotte Football (01:40 - 04:50)

A significant highlight of the episode is the surprise invitation from Tim Alvin of Charlotte Football. Tim congratulates Dale on his National Championship win and invites him, along with his family, to spring practice. As part of the gesture, Charlotte Football presents Dale with a helmet and an exclusive No. 88 jersey.

Tim Alvin [01:41]: "On behalf of the staff, we'd like to present you with this helmet and this awesome 88 jersey right here. Love to have you come out to our App State game this August."

Dale expresses his excitement and shares his helmet-collecting hobby, illustrating his appreciation for the gesture.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. [02:31]: "That's pretty cool. Got my own jersey. I mean, it's the real deal. I can't even get this on."

III. NASCAR Practice Restrictions Debate (09:18 - 20:30)

A substantial portion of the discussion revolves around the current limitations on practice sessions in NASCAR. Dale and TJ delve into the implications of reduced practice time, especially in light of recent events involving Katherine Legg and the broader conversation about driver approval processes.

Key Points Discussed:

• Impact on Teams and Drivers: Limited practice hampers teams' ability to fine-tune their cars, especially smaller teams and emerging drivers who rely heavily on practice to improve performance.

  Dale Earnhardt Jr. [16:08]: "I think the teams that have got a solid hour, they could bust that up into 30 minutes."

• Economic Considerations: There's a misconception that reduced practice saves teams money. In reality, teams often reallocate funds to other areas like sim engineering to compensate.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [12:12]: "They're not saving the team's money. The teams aren't saving themselves money."

• Future Predictions: Both hosts anticipate a return to more comprehensive practice sessions within the next two years, believing that the benefits for driver development and race quality will necessitate the change.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [19:56]: "I predict that inside of two years, we have a form of practice return."

IV. Josh Berry's Career Journey and Emotional Win (28:00 - 35:00)

The episode spotlights Josh Berry's remarkable journey to victory in the NASCAR Cup Series, highlighting his perseverance and the pivotal role played by the Wood Brothers Racing team.

Josh Berry's Path to Success:

• Early Career and Challenges: Josh began at Junior Motorsports, working his way up from legends cars to the Xfinity Series, demonstrating consistent improvement and resilience.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [28:00]: "Josh worked at Junior Motorsports... he was just really tidy with his line and I could see some things in there."

• Opportunity with Wood Brothers: After securing opportunities through hard work and support from key figures like Denny Hamlin and Stewart Haas, Josh joined the Wood Brothers, where his veteran experience proved invaluable.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [30:09]: "The Wood Brothers needed him as much as he needed them. They're both good for each other."

• Emotional Victory: Josh's win at Vegas marks a significant milestone, especially given his age and extensive experience compared to typical Cup Series rookies. The hosts commend Josh for his mature approach and racecraft, which contributed to his success.

  Travis [32:30]: "He's a veteran, he's got responsibilities, he's got a mortgage. You know, this guy has to get it done."

Dale emphasizes the inspirational aspect of Josh's story, illustrating how it provides hope and a new pathway for aspiring drivers from grassroots racing backgrounds.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. [33:53]: "This has changed the path to get to Cup for a lot of people and it's given hope back to the guys."

V. General NASCAR Race Insights and Driver Analysis (38:00 - 90:00)

Beyond the central themes, the hosts engage in a dynamic conversation covering various aspects of the current NASCAR season, including track conditions, driver performances, and race strategies.

Vegas Track Challenges:

• Track Grip and Conditions: Detailed analysis of the Vegas racetrack's grip variations between turns due to environmental factors like sandblasting and sun exposure.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [06:25]: "The terrain and the wind are pretty heavy in Vegas... the repeated year-long sandblasting... makes the track lose grip."

• Driver Adjustments: Discussion on how drivers like Dale Jr. navigate the tricky turns and maintain control despite challenging track conditions.

  Dale Earnhardt Jr. [08:30]: "When you get to the corner and you get off the wall, you better be aimed where you want to go when you hit them bumps."

Driver Performances and Predictions:

• Overperforming Drivers: Highlights of drivers like Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who are exceeding expectations in the current season.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [75:28]: "Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all in the top 16 in points."

• Struggling Teams: Analysis of drivers like Noah Gragson and Cole Custer, discussing their underperformance and the potential reasons behind their current standings.

  Dale Earnhardt Jr. [75:40]: "I feel like we should be top 15... easily."

Spotlight on Justin Allgaier:

• Race Strategy Evolution: Examination of Justin Allgaier's transformation from a try-hard driver to a more strategic racer post his championship, emphasizing the critical role of spotters in his success.

  Dale Jr. Download Guest [84:30]: "The spotter can come in and say, I'm watching this from my perspective. You just need to run the clean line."

VI. Listener Interaction and Q&A (91:34 - 125:56)

In a lighthearted segment, Dale and TJ engage with listeners' questions from YouTube chat, covering topics ranging from house temperatures to playlist recommendations. Notably, Travis Berry joins the conversation to share insights about his recent Cup Series victory, discussing his relationship with the Wood Brothers and the support from the NASCAR community.

Travis Berry [46:56]: "It's been a really good experience... Miles has done a really good job with the car."

VII. Closing Remarks and Upcoming Content (126:22 - 129:56)

Dale wraps up the episode by promoting upcoming segments, merchandise, and special features. He invites listeners to participate in the "Lionel Ultimate Racing Collector of the Month" contest and highlights the ongoing support from sponsors like FanDuel.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. [128:27]: "Amy's starting to get involved in the designs of that. Shop.dirtymomedia.com we got all kinds of drinkware."

Fans are encouraged to visit the Dirty Mo Media shop for exclusive merchandise, ensuring they stay connected and engaged with the show's evolving content.

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Notable Quotes

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. [09:57]: "I was frustrated that practice was never brought up in that whole conversation around Katherine and Phoenix..."

• Travis Berry [32:30]: "He has to cut a lot of corners. We talked about the development that Joey Logano and Byron and those guys had..."

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. [33:53]: "This has changed the path to get to Cup for a lot of people and it's given hope back to the guys."

• Travis Berry [46:56]: "Being alongside my Penske teammates, we were really clicking things off pretty quick, getting done."

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Conclusion

This episode of "The Dale Jr. Download" offers an in-depth exploration of Josh Berry's inspiring journey to a Cup Series win and a compelling debate on the necessity of reinstating NASCAR practice sessions. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and TJ Majors provide insightful commentary, blending technical discussions with heartfelt stories, making the podcast a must-listen for NASCAR enthusiasts seeking both expert analysis and personal narratives within the racing world.

Transcript

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Hey, Everybody, it's Dale Jr. And we're back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download here in the Dirty Mo Media studio with my friend TJ. Travis is back there. We got everybody in the studio and we're getting ready to rock and roll. We're back at the house. I did that remote show. Tj. I thought we did a good job last week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it was really nice not having you in here.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Shut up. Just shut up. Stop being so mean. Why you gotta be such a.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It was nice. Well, you were in a good spot.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I was okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, you were on vacation.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You missed me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It did. It was. I like it when you're back here because then you're less annoying.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Oh, you got too much time. You ain't seen annoying yet.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, I have.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

We gotta. Yeah. I got a little surprise for you. Surprise for me and you.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Surprise for both of us. You ready? You ready to be surprised? Dale, Tim Alvin here with Charlotte football. I wanted to congratulate you on winning the national championship as a niner. Really appreciate the tweet. Last week my phone started blowing up about Dale Jr. Trying to get my job all ready. The coaching staff, myself. I'd like to invite you, Amy and the girls up to a spring practice this spring. Show you around, let you call a few plays. On behalf of the staff, we'd like to present you with this helmet and this awesome 88 jersey right here. Love to have you come out to our App State game this August. Maybe make you an honorary captain. I look forward to shaking your hand one day. Again. Thanks a lot. Go Niners. Oh, man. How about that, tj?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's pretty cool.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Got my own jersey. I mean, it's the real deal. I can't even get this on. I bet.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't. Yeah. Helmets. Pretty cool.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Helmets. Awesome. So the helmet. So a lot of people don't know this, man. A lot of people don't know this. I collect helmets.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

A lot of them.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. So it's been a while since I got. I was. It's been a while since I've got a lot of helmets. I was getting them pretty regular.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They were coming home every week in the. In the flying home and stuff.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. And so it's been so long that I don't think I actually have one of these new ones like that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You don't have any like that?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, all my stuff is like the old original hard shell. But this thing here has got all kinds of things going on, but it's legit. It's got the entire. I mean, some of them come and, you know, they're not to be used and never were used, but this is, like, legit. Got all the stuff inside it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's pretty cool. It's beautiful. Pretty. I am.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Let's. So let's get down to the. The good part here. He said he could go to the game.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And maybe call play.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No.

[TJ Majors]

Practice. You can call play.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Oh, yeah. Bring training and call a couple plays and practice.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Bring your playbook and spreadsheet and show them what works.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yes. All right, man. We're going to do double under vert. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Streak the tight end. Make sure he's already fat.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He's already streaked.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They got it. You got a fast tight end there.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No setup. There's no setup to these plays, Coach. We're not going to audible or hot root. Nothing. Man. These things just work right out of the box.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Stock RPOs.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

RPOs. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, yeah. No.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And some orbit plays. Get ready. A couple orbits. We'll have about two or three orbits in the playbook. Man, I'm thankful. Thank you to. To the. To UNCC the 49ers. The helmet, the jersey, the invitation. We're absolutely gonna take y'all up on that. And maybe we'll. Hey, we'll take the whole Dirty Mo media crew. Hey, everybody, you want the latest Dale Jr. Download apparel? Visit shop.dirtymomedia.com we're always adding New stuff all the time. Especially like when we say something silly on this show. We'll put it on a T shirt again. Check it out at shop.dirtymomedia.com what else we got to talk about, buddy, before we get into this race? How was your west coast trip? Are you ready?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'm ready.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You ready to be done with that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

After two weeks of it? And this is less than what we.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

What did y'all do during the middle of the week between Phoenix and Vegas? Did you come home?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Nobody show. Yeah, nobody really.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Listen, I'm so outside the beach. I don't know where the is at.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, no, not many stay because normally whenever you were running the schedule, we went three races out there. Now we only have two. But, you know, most come home. But it still. It takes you a whole day to get used to or a couple days to get used to the time zone again. And then you go back and then you gotta do it again. And Vegas is Vegas. So pretty awesome. I mean, it's like it's still Vegas, you know, so. And I enjoy that. I actually enjoy the racetrack as. As a place that we go and run and track, you know, moves around the cars all over the track. Restarts are wild. I actually enjoy going there and running that racetrack.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, Vegas. Vegas looks like it's really slick and it's starting to, you know, I know that it was already kind of lacking grip, but it really looks like it's starting to get more and more challenging. Starting to wear tires a little bit, you know, comparable to other racetracks. I know that. It's interesting to me, I think for Vegas, how different the grip is in 3 and 4 versus 1 and 2. And I always thought it was because 3 and 4 sits in the sun longer and gets bleached out. And the billboards in turn one and two might protect it a little bit from the sand.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I was gonna say the wind because it normally blows down the back stretch.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Into three. And it was super windy this weekend there. Like super windy.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And so the. I know this sounds crazy, but the. But a mat. Like the repeated year long sandblasting, for lack of a better term, that the surface takes.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Like it does it. That is. That right there is what that and the sun and bleaching out that surface, that is what makes the track lose the grip.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And so, and, and the reason why I believe that is because when we would go to all of the tracks that were in the sun, sand belt or the sand region of like South Carolina Like Rockingham, Myrtle Beach, Darlington, all those tracks where it's quite sandy and you kind of go. You kind of move away from like, the red clay mud.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Areas those tracks aggressively aged quicker than. So like Daytona beach, for example. Right. Same thing. Like, those tracks aged really quickly comparable to other racetracks that. That would get resurfaced up north and so forth. But so I think that the. The terrain and to your point, the wind is really always pretty heavy and out there in Vegas. And the. And the grit that gets blown around, basically just kind of sand blasting the surface. Annual throughout the day. But turn one and two has a little more grip than turn three and four. That's my belief. And especially when obviously the billboards cast the shadow across the racetrack, the grip really improves comparable to turn three and four.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But watch who has bumps to that?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, one and two does have some pretty. Are they getting worse? Are they just about.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They're not getting better, just bad? Yeah, they're bad.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, they're pretty bad. Do you still drive under or above them?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I would say you. When you get to the corner and you get off the wall, like, that's one of the things that. Going there, you think about what the drivers are going with you. When you point off the wall, you better be aimed where you want to go when you hit them bombs, because that's where you're going to end up. Because if you' straight when you go in there and you hit them bumps, you're going to go up the racetrack.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I can't imagine what it must be like to go to. To Vegas. I remember when, you know, and deal with those bumps in one or two. I remember when we used to go there and test. Like, we'd go out to Vegas before the season and spend two days testing. We would go there, you know, and then you'd get there to practice. And you'd practice on Friday all day, practice on Saturday all day. And you were still not happy with how the car got through the bumps. Most times you would show up and the car would be awful. Through the bumps, you'd be like hair on fire, pure panic mode. Going back to your crew chiefs, thinking, dude, this thing's awful. Through the bumps, like, we are way off. Like, I hope you got a plan.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Because everybody's saying the same thing.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You got to fix this, because this ain't gonna get it. And I can't imagine how it is for you guys now when you show up and you don't really get a lot of practice, and if it don't get through the bumps, what do you do? Like, you don't really have a lot of options but to suffer through it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, you just. Yeah, you got to suffer through it. And honestly, you can't even really spend a ton of time working on it either, so.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And I feel like that the conversation around practice, right, is one that hasn't gotten enough attention until probably the last 48 hours we had the. There was Katherine Legg at Phoenix, stirred up a lot of conversation around the approval process for drivers in nascar. I don't think that there is a problem or a perfect solution for the approval process. I'm sure there's things you could change. I'm not. I don't really give two sh ts about it, to be honest with you. Somebody's going to make a decision. Somebody, NASCAR is going to say yes or no and that's that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like it or not, right?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

What I believe the conversation is. What I believe better serves that conversation is talking about how practice might have helped her and the team improve the car. And so fast forward to this weekend and I would say that listening to the teardown after the race on Sunday, Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck both agree, like more practice is probably the core conversation and the true solution to like, giving a person like Catherine a better opportunity to not only have a better race, but also not. Not have mistakes. And then we. They came in here for door bumper clear and they had a similar conversation and all agreed that the teams aren't saving money by not practicing. They have found they're going to take that. What? Let's just, let's just say the teams are spending $1 million less by not practicing comparable to what they were doing in 2019. Well, they've taken that million, put it over somewhere else and they've spent it somewhere else. They didn't save it and put it in their pocket. That ain't what's going on. They've hired two or three more people and to the guys on door bumper, clear to their point, they've hired more people and they've hired more tools to basically practice during the week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It just gets reallocated somewhere else within.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Sim engineering and all these other things to try to continue to get better. So they're not saving the team's money. The teams aren't saving themselves money.

[TJ Majors]

But now, if you add practice, though, aren't you now forcing them to spend money?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You will find no. Because listen, every team has a certain amount of money to fund their program, all right? And I would Say if you got $20 to spend and somebody says, all right, man, you're going to start practicing, you're going to take. You're going to reallocate money. You're going to find, all right, man, where can we move some money away from something else to put it into the practice bucket? Junior Motorsports is going to have a certain amount of money to race this year. And if they came tomorrow and said, we're adding an hour of practice to every weekend, wouldn't change a thing. There's some people in this building that would probably argue with me. But in the end, at the end of the year, it ain't going to make us. It ain't going to amount to nothing in terms. It ain't going to ruin our business. It ain't going to. We'll find a way like we always have. Anytime anything's changed in the sport that required an additional spend, we found a solution. That's what we do, and that's what l race teams do. And so we would go somewhere in this, in there, in our business model, and we'd find the money and we'd figure it out. And so, you know, I thought that that was pretty. I was frustrated that practice was never brought up in that whole conversation around Catherine and Phoenix and the. And the approval process and all of that. I was texting with my buddy Casey Mears, who's going to run Martinsville, and he's like, hey, I just saw that clip about practice that you had with your show. He's like, I couldn't agree more. He's like, the more I think about it, the more I'm like, holy. You know, I'm going to go with this team. They have no support, their own engines like he. He is. He's in. He's in as tough a situation as you could be in to try to go absolutely qualify into this race. Right. And. And go run well. Right. And just have a good time. Right? And if he had an hour of practice, they're going to show up with Carl's car. It's going to be okay. But it would absolutely improve if they had some time to, you know, work on the car a little bit and get it a little more comfortable for the driver. And Casey would probably have a whole lot better of an experience driving that car around there, not wrestling with a lot of the problems that he could figure out in practice. And so you have. And. But anyways, you know, I was frustrated that this conversation was not happening instantly after the Katherine Legg deal, but then it Started to, to pick up a little bit of momentum. The guys at the teardown brought it up, which I thought was awesome. And then door bumper clear brought it up yesterday. And I really believe, like, you know, the, the fact that we don't practice still is, is shocking to me. The, the fact that we practice as many, as little as we do right. Is, is, is just insane to me. And I know some people have gotten used to it. It's normalized for a lot of teams, drivers and some drivers, and I can't argue with them. Some drivers will sit here and say, I don't want any more practice. It's not going to help me. We had Chase Elliott sit here and say that and I can understand his point of view. But there are teams that are. I bet if you asked any of the teams that are in the back half of the field, they'd all go.

[TJ Majors]

Yeah, I'd take a little bit of practice now. So Denny brought up last year, though, that if there's more practice, the bigger teams are going to be able to have more information and they're going to.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Have, all of them will get more information.

[TJ Majors]

But do you think the teams that have.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

So the teams that are. I understand where you're going with this.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes. I mean, a little bit. You've got a four car team. You're obviously going to gather more information.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Four cars for four bits of information. But if you got a team out there right now, like let's say, let's pick Noah Gragson. Right. Good little driver, good little team. They get a lot out of, you know, what they have, but it's a new, it's kind of a, it's all kind of a new thing. Right? Are we, are we helping them by limiting their practice? Are we helping them because we're keeping Denny Ham from getting too good?

[TJ Majors]

Well, are they gaining?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I mean, are they.

[TJ Majors]

What they're gaining, is that more than what these other teams are going to be able to gain off of.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes. Denny's going to make his car a small percentage better and Noah will take his car. The gain that Noah is going to make is probably bigger.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Bigger. So that's a great point. TJ said. So the reason why Denny and a chase or some of these guys don't really want practice is because their cars tend to show up relatively close and they're going to spend an hour working on the car and likely not really finding a lot. If anything, maybe just a marginal gain.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They'Ll make a little more comfortable for. Yeah, they can do that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And So I understand why they're like, yes, more practicing going to change anything for me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But get some of the mother cars, see how you think.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. For Noah, even you guys, to an extent, in a lot of these places, they might really improve their car quite a bit and give themselves a better shot at a few more positions on Sunday. Certainly a more comfortable car. They can take that information, continue to steamroll and snowball that information week after week, growing and getting better and improving throughout the season. Yeah, I, but it'll be. I, you know what I'm going to tell you, I'm going to predict something right here. My prediction is in two years, we're practicing two. You thinking, you think it'll happen quicker?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I saw him for like two months. I mean.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, I think practice is coming back.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

NASCAR hasn't said a word about it. They're, they're, they're probably have, they have no intentions of bringing it back, but I think that logic will prevail.

[TJ Majors]

How much practice do you want?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I think if the team's just got a solid hour, they could bust that up into 30 minutes.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Would you keep the, what we, the format that we do now and do like 20 minutes and then qualifying right into it or just, I don't know, I don't think that would be bad. That way you at least can qualify. At least. You know what you got for qualifying a little bit and you got a little bit of an idea.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

But my, my. I think the best case scenario would be for the cars to show up, maybe get 10 minutes or 20 minutes, go right into qualifying.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And then have like a.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Which is what we do now, basically.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And then they would have a post qualifying practice that would be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. So you get like a happy hour hour. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

And the other thing is, if you don't want to practice, don't, don't practice.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

They're gonna practice.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. There's no way some team is ever gonna practice.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

But you could see them maybe roll out, do a few laps and not go as hard or as long though.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Right. I mean, if the car's great, they probably will say, hey, it's good.

[TJ Majors]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But they're. You know what they're gonna do? They're gonna make a long run and they're gonna see where their car goes in a long run, which is fine.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I mean, are they going to science out some things? You know, they're just testing and you're.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Always going to work on something.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You always are. But I predict, I Predict that inside of two years, we have a form of practice return. Not this 20 minute, you know, group A, group B, bull. We'll have a legitimate, like, hey, man, everyone out there, give it. Give it all you got for 45 minutes to an hour a Saturday practice. Yeah, I believe it. I think. I think it has to come back.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Before the Xfinity race. Go into the spinning race. Yeah, I mean.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I mean.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Or after it. I don't know.

[TJ Majors]

Also, if you added practice, I think that might help with attendance for the Xfinity races, too. If, you know, hey, you're going to see the cup guys out there practicing beforehand a little bit.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Imagine that. That's a great. I mean, that's a good point.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, there's storylines.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Fans are. Fans are having to really, like, debate on, like, do I. Do I go camp? Because, damn, only track activity I really get is the Saturday and the Sunday race.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's quick.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And it's bam, bam. You know, it used to feel like the weekend was long, a long form. You know, all. All types of things going on, a lot of track activity, storylines building. And.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So a question. Do you transfer. Do you carry this to the other two series as well?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I think so.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Give them each an hour.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Because I think in those. In the. In the, you know, trucks and Xfinity, those drivers need that even more. Even more. Just the time in the. Behind the wheel of the car. Oh, man. I mean. Yeah. So I think it would be good to bring practice back. I know we have repeated ourselves and said that on this show a lot over the last several months and maybe even longer, but I believe it'll come back. I just don't see us. I just don't see this being. This, to me, isn't normal. Even after all these years since COVID it still doesn't feel normal to not practice or limit practice or try to. That. To. For that to be where they're going to try to save money. Of all the areas where they're just, you know, spending ludicrous amounts of.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And NASCAR has done a good job of limiting areas. You could spend money and taking away things like wind tunnels and stuff like that. Like, you only. Like, that was getting. Yeah, that was. There was a lot of that. But I really think practice is one thing that would help in a lot of areas.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, for sure. We'll see how that goes. Will my prediction come true? Do you think? We'll come. We'll get practice back. You want to make a prediction there, buddy?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, I do think we'll have.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Practice again at some point when the game tips off. The NBA action is just beginning on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, because FanDuel is your home for NBA Live betting. So even if you miss the first few minutes of the game or you want to bet on a fourth quarter comeback, you can make your picks from the first whistle until the final buzzer. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. However you want to play. Now's the perfect time to join new FanDuel customers. Get started off with $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Me and my friends have been having a lot of fun putting some parlays together and just betting a little bit to make the games a lot more fun to follow along. So just visit FanDuel.com DaleJr to join today. That's FanDuel.com DaleJr for your shot at $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with FanDuel official sports betting partner of the NBA.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[TJ Majors]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Indeed and listeners to show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more [e-mail] dalejr just go to indeed.com del junior right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com del Jun Jr. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, so let's talk about the winner Josh Berry and the Wood brothers. Just a lot of good layers to this story. Josh is you know obviously if you've been around you know the deal. Josh worked at Junior Motorsports. Basically I was racing online very similar to to our friendship. TJ was racing with Josh. We he was asking me if I would watch some of his races. He had some in car footage from his Legends races. He ran Legends Cars Nashville fairgrounds. I said yeah, I'll watch him. Got to looking at It And I could see how as he's driving this legends car, he would arc the entry to turn and get up underneath the car in front of him. And he was patient on the throttle and he was doing a lot of things that I was just like, wow, this guy's a nice little driver, right? He's not barreling into the corner and dry and driving the car into a push, knocking people out of the way or missing the exit. I mean, he was just really tidy with his line and I just could see some things in there. I was like, this guy's just got. He's got just basic general common sense about how to, how to make a corner, nothing crazy. We were in between drivers in our late model car kind of, you know, we had a opportunity to, to, to do some, you know, try some people out. And I said, hey, why don't you come and drive the car? I don't even remember the whole series of events, but whether he practiced the car, maybe ran, I think we did like one or two race trial, two race trial or something. And he ended up running relatively decent and. Thank you, ran top 10 or something like that at a big field at motor mile. He ends up moving here and moved in with my mom and Willie, her husband, and lived at their house for a couple months. We put him to work in the teardown at junior motorsports, cleaning parts and cleaning stuff coming off of the used race cars at the end of the race weekend. And then eventually he did that for a while. And then eventually he went over to the late model program to work on the car full time. Once he got enough, like mechanical knowledge, we needed him to be working on the late model. And there for a while it was just him and he was, you know, we got Brian Schaefer. Marty Lindley helped a lot over the course of Josh's, you know, decade long stint with the late model stock stuff. But he learned a ton himself about the front geometry, about the setup of the car, the typical maintenance. He worked on every inch of the car and, and it was good for him. And we tried our ass off to get him opportunities, you know, and it took a while and it finally stuck. And he gets into the xfinity series. He has success, he wins races. All of that secured him an opportunity at Stewart Haas to drive the 4 car. I think that Harvick, Josh Jones, Rodney Childers, all of those people saw something. They saw what we saw in Josh Sunday. You know, the potential for this guy to be, to be a winner at the cup level. The interesting Thing I think with Josh obviously is his age. He's not 18, he's not 20, 22 years old coming in. He's a 34 year old veteran. He's, he's sort of this, you know, it's kind of like Dick Trickle. Dick Trickle was one of the most decorated short track racers up in the northeast and he was a rookie at the cup level at like the age of 45 or 50 years old. But everybody knew he wasn't a rookie. Everybody knew that he was far from a rookie. One of the best drivers in the country in terms of, you know, racing on the short tracks at the least. But you know, Josh comes in at, you know, in the middle of his racing career at the age of 30, 33 years old now, 34 years old now. And what I thought was great about that is when you hire him, you're getting that veteran, you're getting a guy that already has the racecraft, you're getting a guy that's not going to make a bunch of dumb mistakes. He's not going to be uneducated. Everything that's coming at him, he's going to know kind of what to, how to handle it. And he's over, you know, he's not immature, he's over the bull outside of the race car. You know, pitfalls and things that you can get yourself into. He's got a family, he's got responsibilities, he's got a mortgage. You know, this guy has to get it done. He has to go out there and make it happen. And so you get to cut a lot of corners. We talked about the development that Joey Logano and Byron and those guys had the two or three years where you're going, when's it going to finally start clicking? You didn't really have to worry about that with Josh. He was in a tough situation last year with Stewart horse racing. We saw some glimpses of top three, I think at Darlington and things kind of tailed off and went sideways toward the back half of the year because, you know, the team was basically just kind of hemorrhaging people.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That was a bad situation.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. And so, but he gets in a deal with the Wood Brothers. And I remember during the off season, you know, kind of being privy to a little bit of the conversation around where Josh could end up. And I think now, you know, it's easy to say this, but it's like the Wood brothers needed him as much as he needed them. You know, they're both good for each other. Yeah, there's been a really Great effort in off season to retool the 21 car. New crew chief. There's some excitement from the drivers at Penske that would be, you know, they would have an interest, a rooting interest in who drives the 21 car and how they're going to have to work with that driver.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You know, he's fit right in.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

There was some excitement around Josh coming and being a part of that program and being a part of those. Those meetings and conversations amongst the drivers. And so it's great to see this play out, you know, and you could tell there was something possibly there. They had some good speed at Atlanta. Ran up front. Yep. Ran up front. Got kind of screwed around there late on.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Late where you start in contention. I mean, in contention.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Ran all. Ran up front all day at Phoenix.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Totally different type of track, too.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep. And I think the, the. The word that I think served this, served that weekend the best was undersold. That's what Jordan Bianchi described how they, as the industry presented Josh's result at Phoenix. You know, everybody was hesitant to, like, take note of it or make. Make light of it because it was like, all right, you know, this is just a one off kind of thing. And then they go this weekend and again ran in the top 10, top five for, for a majority of the day and ended up, you know, putting it together and being there in the right time at the right place.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

So really, really neat story and trying to put it into words how proud of Josh I am, how thankful I think I am of all of the people that have given him opportunities along the way. Like we could help him here at Junior Motorsports to an extent and then.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Stepping stone, if he uses it right.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. And then when that, when that reached its limit, there was other people that had to come in.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You know, that's the goal, right?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. And, you know, again, Harvick, Josh Jones and, you know, Childers and those folks kind of believing in him. Stewart Haas has given him that opportunity to get into the Cup Series and also Hendrick Motorsports when Chase was hurt, when, you know, when they called on him to come drive that car. And again when Alex Bowman gets hurt and they call on him to come drive that car. Those are some tough things to do. Some good results. Some tough results. But, you know, the, the. What the. The things that I heard were how much they enjoyed working with Josh during the week at the meetings, how, you know, how. How plugged in he was, and he helped that team kind of, you know, continue to learn and progress for when the drivers that were injured once they become healthy and hopped back in, it was like they didn't miss a beat. So all of that experience has led to this and now he is a winner at the cup level. It's got to be incredible. I think for short track racers around the country that know his story, this.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Has changed the, this has changed the, the path to get to cup for a lot of people and it's given hope back to the guys. Like, now you got Carson coming through the same way, won a lot of races, now he's back, he's got a full time Xfinity deal this year and he's quietly, I know we haven't had the results yet, but he's been fast, he's been in contention a lot and it gives hope for them kids and them guys coming up and I mean I, I, these guys, like you said, I don't think it's mentioned enough is these guys learn really good. Like they're real smart. Like Carson's one of the most intelligent guys that I've. Same with Josh too. Like their racecraft, when they get here, is ready. They're ready to fine tune and polish it. And now, you know, this is a stepping stone to their next step for them.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I honestly couldn't agree more with you about their racecraft. I think that two minimum, two, three years in the CARS Tour is incredibly beneficial to a driver. If a driver can be fast. Right. Come in, come into a series like the CARS Tour, go out there, win a race, qualify. Well, that's awesome.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Sure.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

But they're not always ready to move up at that moment.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Just a lot of them go too fast.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, they got in these races, these races are tricky, competitive, tough. The passing, the battles that they're going to face and the challenges and other competitors that, the things that get thrown at them really develop incredible racecraft because it takes some work to get that car across the finish line without doing some damage.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Consistently.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yes. And so to your point, man, like, you know, if you can divert, you know, if you can devote three years or two, at least two years to the, to a tour like the CARS Tour, any kind of, you know, full body late model racing where you're running competitively week to week against the same people, because that's what you're going to do when you get up to the Xfinity series or the Truck series, you're racing the same people. So you have to race them with a certain amount of respect. You got to race them the next weekend, right?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You should.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. And so it's I think that served Josh well. Served. Served several people well that have moved out of the cars tore up into the Xfinity and the trucks. So Josh is actually going to. We usually have our winner called in tj But Josh is going to come into the studio today. Perfect local guy. We talked him into visiting us. So let's make some room. You know that feeling you get when you're watching drivers fight it out on the racetrack, giving it everything they've got for the checkered flag? Well, you can capture that feeling forever with cars. From Lionel Racing, the official diecast of nascar. The ultimate way to celebrate the biggest moments in racing. These die casts aren't toys. They're authentic, high quality replicas of your favorite rides from the sport's biggest stars, including myself and the guys on my race team. Whether you're a longtime collector or a fan who's new to the sport, Lionel Racing diecasts bring the heart of racing to your shelf or man cave. With incredible detail, they're built with precision with all the exact decals, logos and paint schemes you've seen on the actual cars. And trust me, these cars make you feel like you're right there in the middle of it. So head to lionel racing.com, your favorite racing team shop or any authorized retailer and start building your collection today. And don't forget, you can find a wide selection of die casts at the Lionel stores and Concord Mills near Charlotte Motor Speedway and Opry Mills in Nashville.

[TJ Majors]

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[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Damn, man, I can't believe it's still.

[Travis]

Do you remember when we were here? You probably remember this. We were here for the when we announced the four car thing and Mike was like, you got to come back when you're in a race. Yeah, here we are.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I know, it's pretty crazy, man. I man, first Off. You know, describe to me. You know, you've described to me the feeling, and I can imagine. I think about this while I'm watching it. I imagine, like, this feeling that you're having, because I remember when you. You had to battle out of Daniel. Y'all race the. Out of each other. It was fascinating. Awesome race. But once you finally get clear and you're starting to see the distance and your car, you know, like, the car's as good as it's been all day. I'm in all this nice, clean air. And you did what I knew you could do, right. And you drove away. Like, talk to me and explain to people. That feel. Feeling that you're finally about to do something that you've like, you know, I know you're too. You're also nervous. You're like, could it yell come out? What the. You know.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

But there is this feeling of, holy, this is really about to happen.

[Travis]

Yeah. I mean, even go back to the restart. Like, I knew that the restart was going to be so important, you know, and I. And I hope, you know, obviously, I felt like, you know, in a way, honestly felt like whoever won the restart was probably going to win the race. I mean, that happens a lot. When Daniel was able to clear us on the restart, and, you know, then, you know, we were offended. There's a couple of them behind us that had caught up, too, and it was looking like it was going to be, you know, a big battle there for a minute, and we kind of settled in, and then I was able to take the fight back to the 99 and ultimately get him around him. But the biggest surprise to me was, like, when I got around him, how big of a gap we pulled right away. And I kind of, you know, I'm, like, looking at him, we have a good gap and looking at the gap behind him, and there's even a bigger gap. You know, those guys got stuck racing each other.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

What's happening over the radio.

[Travis]

Not a whole lot at that point, really. You know, we just kind of settled in. You know, Jason's kind of started just counting the laps off, and then it's like each one, you just feel a little more right. Like, you just. When you get to five to go, you're like, oh, he ain't catching me now. Right? Like, where this is ours as long as it stays green. Right. And to me, I think the. You really feel it the most when you take the white because you're like, as long as this car rolling and the tires could come out now, yeah, we want it if the caution goes out now. So that's when you get the white. That's when you're like, yeah. And then you really. The. The motion really starts to hit you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. You hopped out of your car and sat down on the hood. You stood up for a second, but then you sat down on the hood. And I could sense like, that was the moment, I think, where you were, like, you were able. You were like, all right, then I've climbed this mountain. You know, the. The one that you started climbing back in Nashville Fairgrounds. You finally. You're like, this is the view.

[Travis]

Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. No, for sure. I think, you know, I. I said this after the race. I don't know if you heard it or not, but it's interesting. You know, a lot of what I took from that was so over the off season. I was watching, you know, we were playing around on the TV or whatever, and I was watch. I turned on that new. The new NASCAR channel that's on, and when I download it and turn it on, the 2014 Daytona 500 was on. And we watched like, the last 50 laps of the race. And a lot of what I did was from that. Your celebration that night, right? Like, I was like, man, that's what I want to do. Because to me, it was obviously, like, I'm not a big, you know, smoky burnout, you know, blow the tires out off of it type guy. Even, you know, when I raced here, like, you know, I do a little bit of one, but it's, you know, never really, like, super intentional. Right. And when you won that race that night, like, watching you and it showed. You had an in car camera. It showed you, like, you were kind of just taking your stuff off slowly and you're acknowledging the fans, and it's just like, felt like you were really soaking in the moment. Right? Like, and you could tell that. So to me, that was what I wanted to do because, like, you can even hear it in my voice, the emotion after, like, I don't talk right away, like, because I'm a little choked up. And then, you know, I kind of say a couple words, but they don't come out real clear. You can see the emotion in me, right? Like, so I wanted, like, I took that moment to just kind of collect my thoughts and soak it in. And, you know, that was a lot of what my thoughts were at that point was like, okay. I'm like, you know, because even I think back to the days of racing. A hickory and stuff. That's what we did. A lot of times you swung around backwards, got the checkered flag waved at the fans. You know, there's trackside parking and all these people and, you know, they're either cheering you or booing you or whatever when you're coming around. So to me, that was what it was about, really, was just trying to just soak it up as much as I could. And however long it took, it took. I really didn't care and just enjoy it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I think you did a great job of taking in the moment. That's one thing I worried about was like. And there's no, like, there's no perfect way to celebrate a win. And it. My dad told me, you know, when I won my first one, he's like, you only win your first one once, you better celebrate it. And I'm like, I don't know what that even means, you know, and so, like, of course, like, on the front straightaway is incredible. Going to Victory Lane, that, that whole having that genuine Victory Lane experience, and I'm thankful for the FaceTime call that meant so much to me that you, you know, of all the people that you wanted to connect with in the moment, you. You get. You, You. You reached out to me. I was certainly sitting there in there. I was sitting there in my house. I text Amy, you were five laps to go. And Amy texted me something about the kids. And I just text her back, josh. And she was like, josh what? Josh what? And I'm like, he's about to. And she goes, is he about to win? I said, white flag. I was like, I couldn't even talk right. I couldn't even, like, think. I got up. I got up and went and took the trash out with five laps to go. I couldn't watch. That's funny, dude. I was talking to Tony Gibson, and when Alan quickie won the 92 day championship, he was like, he was a gas man. He's like, I didn't watch the last two laps. I just, I just. I huddled down against the pit wall and he, you know, it's like, man, when you get in those moments, like, if you're not doing it, like, you, if you're not out in the car, you'll experience that probably someday where you're like, I can't even watch. Like, I can't watch. I just. But it was. I did. I came back in the room. It's funny. You're gonna laugh. I come back toward the room where the TV's on and I'm listening to Mike Joey's voice Like, I can't even look at the tv. And I'm getting close to the room, and I'm listening to Mike's Joy. I'm trying to listen to whether there's still Green Flag or not. And I get into the. And I hear cars. Vroom, vroom. Like, it's still going. And I walk in, it's, like, one to go. I'm like, oh, he's got it. Yeah. I was just. So. You don't know, man. I mean, it's like, it was. And I bet there's a lot of people just like me that are in your world, right. That were the same way, that are just so over the moon for this to happen. And I'm sorry. I don't want to make it about me, but, man, I was so proud of you. I was so happy for you. I want to ask you. Yeah. Wood Brothers. So you get an opportunity to stay in Cup. I remember you mentioned that in your interview, your post race interview. Like, it's a privilege to be here, and I'm lucky that I'm. I'm lucky to be here. I'm thankful that this opportunity is the next one. Can you. Can you even, like. Can you even articulate, like, how this thing has kind of come together so quickly? Y'all went to, you know, you. You take the job, they kind of retool this team, you're embraced by the Penske drivers, and I don't even know what that experience has been like for you, but for as far as I know, they've. They've really embraced your. Your becoming part of the deal. And then you go to Atlanta and run badass. Then you go to Phoenix and run really great, and it's like, like, so walk me through that whole thing. From the moment you accept the offer, you go up to Stuart, Virginia, to visit them and get this massively quick introduction and, you know, crash course in all things Wood Brothers. So help walk me through that whole thing.

[Travis]

Yeah. I mean, it's just been a amazing experience. And even when I first met with them, you know, last summer, like, it just felt like the right move. Right. Like, you just sit down and you look at everything going on, and it just felt like the right move. Obviously, the. The affiliation with Team Penske and the structure and, you know, being alongside the, you know, my Penske teammates, you know, through that affiliation and being able to lean on those guys and learn from those guys and. And rely, you know, use their success to help myself. Right. Like, that was a big part of it. And then on the other side, you have, like, the grassroots, old school feel that you're, you know, it's. You kind of have the. You're. You're the driving for the Wood Brothers, which is, you know, their. Their legacy is, you know, so long and storied in the sport, but. And there's such great people that it's just a unique balance between the two. And, you know, really, from the start, you know, we were, you know, clicking things off pretty quick, getting done, and then really, like, soon as the off season hit, we were, you know, we were using the sim. We're working on stuff, meetings, you know, a lot. A lot of. A lot of work on the off season, really. I feel like I didn't have much off season. Too much. You know, we stayed after it pretty well, and. Yeah, it's just, you know, even the clash was really cool. You know, we didn't qualify quite like we wanted, but, you know, we got our. You know, it was an unknown going there for the first time, and Miles did a really good job with the car, made the car a lot better for Sunday, and we were able to transfer in the race and hold our own pretty well in the race, get a solid finish. And then, yeah, from then on, I mean, it's just. It's just been a really good experience. I think Miles has done a really good job in his situation. Right. Like, he's, you know, been kind of behind the scenes of Team Penske the last couple years, really involved in the next gen program kind of from when the next gen come involved. So he's seen a lot of things from his view of all the teams. Right. Like, and he's able to take that knowledge with his own and put it together, and it's just been. It just feels like, you know, Eddie. Eddie said in the media center, he's like, it just feels like things are clicking and. Right. And that's how I feel about it. Right. Like, we're just, you know, as a driver, I don't really feel like I'm doing anything too terribly different than what I did last year. But we're just. The environment's good, and I have good teammates to rely on with their information, obviously, on the driving side, but also the setup side. Right. Like, that's something I've leaned into a lot already. You know, if we don't have quite the pace and practice, you know, leaning into what those guys are doing and, you know, whether that's, you know, make an adjustment or not making an adjustment at all. Right. And just being more confident Knowing that, you know, those guys are going to run good has been a big, big part of it. And, yeah, it's just been a. It's just been a great experience, really. And getting to know the woods more and more, you know, they're just such awesome people and they're. They're having a lot of fun right now.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, you're still kind of new in that relationship. John Wood has been put in a situation or position of authority and has really kind of taken on a bigger role. And I text him from time to time, and he'll text me from time to time because he reached out to me to sort of pick my brain about who Josh Berry was and why I thought Josh Berry would, you know, be a great fit for the Wood brothers. And. And so we've. We've kind of maintained a bit of a, you know, communication ever since. And I remember I worked with John, I raced with John for years, but he. He's got quite a personality. It's big. You know, how. How do you enjoy, you know, getting to know him? He's the, you know, his. His. He's taken on a little bit more of a leadership role in the, you know, it's kind of like the passing of the torch, if you will, this particular year where, you know, his. His dad, Lynn and Eddie, the brothers up there, were kind of passing on that authority and that, you know, how to run and manage that program. So I kind of curious as to how. How that's working out for you.

[Travis]

Yeah, no, it's been good. Obviously, he definitely has some personality, which is. Which is a good thing. But, no, he's. He's been really excited. You know, him and Kevin both have been really excited about, you know, what we've been doing. And, and, you know, for him, I guess they're just. I think they're, you know, really trying to, you know, they're enjoying it. Right, because this is a big win, you know, and, you know, this win at Vegas was really big, but just. I don't know if I want to say that this is what they expect of their car, but, you know, they feel like they're like, okay, now we're doing the things that we should be doing. This is why we're racing. And. And it's not, you know, it's not. Not really over complicating that. Right. Like just going out and. And just, you know, racing and running well. And, you know, I think for me, like, I didn't, you know, it was interesting to hear his, you know, stories over the you know, the last six months or so of him, you know, how much attention that they paid to me, you know, especially when I was, you know, driving that HMS and had the feeling roll those races. And you know how he kind of, you know, he mentioned the other day that he never thought that, you know, that this opportunity would ever come together to where I would be in the position to come drive for them. So it's just been a great, great relationship. I mean they, they're all, they've been so fun to work with and, and to hit, hit the ground running like we had and had some good results. I mean those guys, they truly, truly deserve it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, for sure I was. You know, every time I've seen the Wood brothers walking through the garage, man, it's like royalty. And Leonard, and Leonard and I have always been really close. And he back. I don't know if he's still involved in it as much as he is as he used to be, but he used to build these RC cars. I'm sure you saw a few of the things that he's built, but he builds everything. But he used to build very competitive RC cars and used to race in competition and the gas powered and a lot of hand built pieces and parts and suspension and stuff like that. And so back when I was racing with Tony Jr. And stuff in the, in the old days we all had cars that he made. He built cars for us. And I've got two brand new ones that he built for me probably 15 years ago that I just put on a shelf. And so I mean just a. I think the one thing that's, that's so interesting and so very cool about this and improbable is the Wood brothers have been able to survive and be involved in this sport. They are, they are a legendary team, a legendary name. And we are better when they are good. We are, we are better as an industry and as a sport when they're successful. I felt that way, you know, last year when, when Harrison took them to victory Lane and they were able to, you know, get into the playoffs. And sure the car wasn't running as well as they wanted every single week, but just to have them in the conversation was better for all of us. And you know, so for this year I thought, you know, man, y'all are going to have to work hard. Y'all are going to have. And you talked about the off season work that you've put in. But I have to imagine that you guys are just over the moon with how the pace has been in this car every single week. And I think that's, to me, is the one thing that I kind of have to pinch myself as a race fan, just as a general fan, not just a Josh Berry fan or Wood Brothers fan, but, like, for that car to show up every week and run the way they think it should run and the way that it used to run is. I don't know if it's. I don't know if you can put a value on that for the industry and the sport, so. And I think you can appreciate that, knowing what you know about the. The Wood brothers and you're, you know, knowing what you know about nascar, but it's just incredible.

[Travis]

Yeah, no, it's. I mean, it's been super exciting. And I think you even go back to, you know, it's interesting, you know, when you think of it this way, but you. When I first got the opportunity, everyone was like, the hundredth win. The one hundredth win. The one hundredth win. That was the question every time, you know, yeah, yeah. Are you going to be the guy to get to 120? Well, you know, Daytona July, Daytona rolls around and I'm leading the race. Get clipped, flip over, you know, we know that whole whole nine yards. And I'm sitting in the outside, the infield care center, and I'm watching, you know, I hear him racing the last lap, and I'm watching and kind of think I'm, like, getting interviewed by Bob or somebody. And the 21 wins the car, and Bob turns around and looks at it and comes back and he's like, what do you think about that? You know, And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know what to think right now. That was a hell of a wreck. And. But I feel like, you know, everything happens for a reason. And I felt like, you know, Harrison really deserved that. They, they, you know, all those guys loved Harrison and, And it was so cool to watch him win that race and have that moment. And at the same time, it was almost a weight off my shoulders in a way that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

To have to go that I didn't.

[Travis]

Spend the whole off season worrying about winning the 100th race. You know, we kind of got to turn the page and start fresh. We're starting at a new hundred, right? Like, we're. That hundred's over with now. We're worried about the next hundred, right? And I don't know, it was. It's interesting that things happen for a reason like that, and I know that that was a big moment for them. And they, they really enjoyed that moment with Harrison, but it gave us a opportunity to kind of start fresh. I think, coming into this, this off season and you know, obviously some personnel changes and getting, getting to know each other and learning. But, but like you said, I mean, it's definitely been, you know, our expectations were to run, run well, but you just never know how you're going to start. Right. Like, you hope that even if you start at the beginning of the year and it's a little bit of a struggle that you can just increase, you know, just get better and better as the season goes along. But to start as well we have. Has been. Has been really impressive. And even for me personally too, like Vegas and Phoenix were, you know, some of my toughest races last year. Right. Like there's a work still going to, you know, Martinsville's and Richmond's and Darlington and a lot of these places where I had really good results last year. Right. I mean, we, we found ourselves in the top five several times last year in the four car and having some opportunities, you know, we just. The consistency wasn't there, you know, so to start out like we have and be running this well at some places that maybe I didn't have circled is, you know, just building our confidence when we go, you know, it's just better preparing us for when we go to these places that I feel like are going to be really good opportunities.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

How was. I know that, you know, you didn't get to the end of last year not knowing what your plans were for this season, but it still was a difficult second half. Y'all came out and, you know, you and Rodney had a couple of good runs. Top three at Darlington looked like there was going to be a way to be productive. Right. And just have a, have a year of some sort that you could be happy with. Even though you knew the ultimate outcome of the program entirely wasn't, wasn't going to be great with the way they were shutting down a big part of the operation the second half of the season, man, y'all couldn't get nothing going. So I guess talk, talk me through how you manage that. What, what helped you, I guess stay focus, stay positive. What helped you keep your head on straight? Because I mean, them, dude, we all know it's easy to spiral, it's easy to make things worse, it's easy to get, you know, you talk yourself down into a hole if you're not careful. And how did you manage to kind of be able to get to the end of the year and Master reset button and be ready.

[Travis]

Yeah, it was definitely difficult to finish out the year, and I really don't know why. You know, I don't really. You know, obviously there's a lot of the, you know, you know, things are getting more and more difficult. I guess the further you get into that, you know, more people are leaving or getting prepared to leave and finding their homes and, you know, I, I don't know. I mean, I, I really don't have words for why we didn't finish a little bit better than we did. You know, we had some, you know, we had a really good, you know, a couple pretty solid races that towards the end, Homestead was pretty good for us, but, you know, we just didn't. You know, I can't really put a finger on why I felt like that it just wasn't. Wasn't working. And really, all of us, you know, all four of our cars were kind of fighting the same issues at that point, you know, and. And that's. To me, that's the hardest part about this is like, I wanted so badly to. For that to end better than it did. Right. Because, I mean, Rodney was so instrumental in getting me that opportunity and he still, I mean, he's just as excited as anyone to watch me win that race Sunday.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And he was one of the first people to.

[Travis]

He was Victory Lane. Yeah, him and Cheddar and Tyler, who was another member of the 4 car. Those guys were all. And they kept telling me last year, man, they were like, they're like, you know, what's going to be the worst part about this is, you know, you're going to. You're. It's. You have the potential and when it clicks, you're going to win. And, you know, we just wish that, you know, this was ending different. Right? And, you know, to. So, you know, they were so good for me, and I learned so much throughout last year that, you know, I just really wish the results were a little bit better. But, I mean, it was a difficult situation for all of us to handle. And I think, you know, for me approaching the off season, right, like, you know, we. We hit. You know, like I said, we're right after Phoenix. We were in the sim and we're having meetings and we're talking about stuff. And to me, there was just. It was the opportunity, like, there's not going to be a next opportunity in my eyes, right? Like, that's the way I approached the offseason. I was like, this is going to be the opportunity for me to stay racing at this Level and to improve and have better results. And that's just the way we approached it over the off season. Right. Was just that we're just going to prepare as much as we can and, and get to know each other. And that was a big part of it, is just spending time with each other, understanding how, how we think. And, you know, Miles has been great. Like I said, Miles has been really good in that aspect because obviously I feel like he's really sharp on the performance side of the car. But I think he. And maybe it's because he isn't as experienced yet that he seems to have allowed me to be me in how I approach racing and, you know, how I approach practice and out qualifying. And I think he just trusts my judgment and my instinct of driving a race car and what it needs to do. And, you know, there's been times this year when, like I said in practice, we didn't really have the pace. But I'm telling him, like, the car drives good, like it's going to race good. I feel good. Like I don't want to lead you down the wrong path just talking. And he's. He's bought into that and done a great job. So it's. It's been a lot of fun.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I, I've watched you be, you know, watch. Watching the races this year. You. You look comfortable. You're. And I. Aside of that to me is how aggressive you're able to be on restarts. When a driver is firing it off down in a corner and the middle lane opens up and he puts it in there. That's a guy who feels like he knows his car has got the capability to make the pass or make the move work. And man, when your car won't do it, you won't try to do it, right. When you don't have a belief in the car, you won't try to make that move or you're just trying to survive the corner. But this year, you know, you're. You feel like watching you race, there's a confidence and there's a belief in the ability of the car that's. That's new and refreshing. How many text messages did you have?

[Travis]

Probably about 300 and something. I. I've been slowly working, working through them. I think I've got it. I think I'm caught up now. It. It definitely took a while. I finally finished up this morning a little bit, but yeah, it was a lot. It was, it was really cool.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. What did you do when you got home?

[Travis]

Not a lot, actually. So we, you know, was obviously at the racetrack for a while. That was a pretty cool experience because winning a cup races, like Chase Briscoe texted me and he was like, man, winning a cup race is badass, isn't it? I'm like, it really, you know, we, we stay busy going through all, you know, the different interviews and doing all that stuff. You really get a lot of time to be in that moment right before you leave. And then, then, yeah, we. Yeah, I went by, saw the guys, they were just finishing up in tech and then. And then we headed off to the airport. So there was, I got back about, we got back about 3:30 in the morning. I think it was pretty late and I turned the race on and had to watch like the last 75 laps or whatever and just, just relive it. I couldn't, I couldn't go to sleep right away without watching it. So I watched it for about an hour and then, and then fell asleep. And then, yeah, the next morning they had me have been doing stuff at, you know, 9:30, 10:00 the next morning. So I've been, I've been pretty busy, honestly.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Back to work.

[Travis]

Yeah. But, well, it had some media requests, media stuff going Monday morning.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

When will you have your comp meeting?

[Travis]

That was yesterday already.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

How did that go? Everybody in there high fiving?

[Travis]

Yeah, everybody's. Yeah, I mean, it's cool, right? I mean, I think they just, you know, there's just an. I think everybody's just a lot of positive momentum going around. Right. I think the cars have been up front. All four of the cars have been up front, leading laps, winning stages, super, super competitive. So I mean, there's just a lot to be proud of from that organization. I think they're excited to, you know, to see the 21 back in victory lane too.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Did you have any concerns about Tech? Always, like, anytime we ever win, I get so nervous. I won't, I won't even tweet like excitement or celebration until I get the tech cleared. I mean.

[Travis]

Yeah, yeah, you do. You know, especially in this day and age, you never know. Right. And this is funny too, because like. And I saw a couple of comments about it, which I feel bad about now. But you know, we were doing the interview and then they were like, oh my Miles has got an interview and then he's got to get to inspection or whatever. And I think in the moment now, looking back on, I think they were just kind of wrapping things up.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Travis]

But I'm like, what does that mean? Why does he got to go to inspection. And then. Actually, I feel bad now because some people made comments, a couple of the last couple, because I kind of started messing with my phone a little bit, and I'm like, is this thing official yet?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

What's.

[Travis]

Why is my. Where's my.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Gonna break some news.

[Travis]

Yeah. Yeah. Is there something going on here? So then we kind of. So then I kind of. I was a little anxious, like, the last 20 minutes of it, because I'm like, why did he have to go? You know, did they need him or was he actually done? And it was funny. Then we got out there, and I got. He's like, oh, no, everything is all good. They just. He's like, they were just trying to get me out of there so we could get wrapped up.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Okay, good.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Jefferson Hodges takes me a picture of your car sitting in Tech. And I was like, is it clear? Is that clear?

[Travis]

This is. This is funny.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You.

[Travis]

I don't know how you'll feel about this, but I thought this was so awesome. So we got done, and I went to the car, and it's got confetti and stuff all over it, and they're cleaning it, and I'm like, what are y'all doing? They're like, well, we gotta clean this thing before we put it in the shop. We don't want all this stuff all over the shop. And I'm like, that's pretty badass. That's when you. You know, you got. You got this winning thing figured out because it reminded me so much of when we were car store racing all the time. You know, they'd always give you a bottle of champagne. And I was like. I told the guys, I was like, look, spray the hell out of me, but do not spray that car because I gotta clean that thing Monday morning. And it's going to be all in the roll bars and underneath the seat and then the steering wheel. I mean, it gets everywhere. So it reminded me a lot of that. It was funny.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, man, I'm telling you, I. You know, we have. All of us here at Junior Motorsports have, you know, watched you work your ass off and grind for a long, long time, hoping to get that opportunity. And I read about it all on social media Sunday night and all day Monday, about everybody. Everybody sort of being reintroduced to your story, all the fans and the people in the industry sort of being reminded about, like, how. How hard this was right, for you to. For you to finally find some. Some. Some. Some ground and get some traction. But it's. It's been so much fun. I think you're in a great spot. It's going to be awesome to see now that the, you know, now that there's a little bit of pressure relieved with the win. How, you know, how focused y'all can remain on trying to prepare for the rest of the year and how much more progress you can make and how much more success there may be out there in front of you with this team. We'll be pulling for you. And thanks for dropping in today.

[Travis]

Yeah, thank you, man.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[TJ Majors]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Sales ending soon. See the details@kubota orangedays.com the Dale Jr.

[TJ Majors]

Download is sponsored by Better Help.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Build your support system with better help. Visit betterhelp.com deler to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp. H E L p.com dale jr.

[Andrew]

We'Re.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Going to be selecting our Lionel Ultimate Racing Collector of the Month of March next week right here on the podcast tj. Make sure you're following us on Twitter and on Facebook and respond to those posts with pictures or videos of your racing collection to win. If you submit something last Month. Don't worry. You can try again. It's been a lot of fun seeing these big, massive collections that folks have.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, especially you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, my collection's all right.

[TJ Majors]

But, I mean, the winner last month had above the TV mantle cars. We saw people with replica race tracks and the finishing order. So, I mean, send us in whatever you got. Doesn't have to be all diecast, but that's what we really like.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I like the people that recreate the tracks with the cars on them.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, me too. Well, Lionel is. Put this program together. The ultimate racing collector. Send in all your stuff. We'll be checking it out on Twitter and Facebook and can't wait to see what you got going into the cup series. That. Man, there was a lot going on on Sunday.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There was.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And first off, I got to admit defeat. I thought that I was actually watching on X the teardown Sunday after the race. Great show and a lot of folks tuned in. I think there were 15,000 or 12,000, 13,000 people watching on X Sunday with Gluck and Bianchi, and they have this little thing where they guess what the good race poll will be. Me and Jordan were like 73, 74%. Jeff Gluck said 91. I think we landed somewhere in the 80s, mid-80s. 83, 84, 87. Yeah, it was high.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Wow.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I would have.

[TJ Majors]

I would agreed with you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You know, I just felt. I just didn't. I mean, I thought it was a good race, but I thought there wasn't. Yeah, it was still kind of.

[TJ Majors]

The caution kind of ruined anything, like strategy playing out or stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Wow.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Depends on who you look at.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I mean, the cautions also made the race like the cautions ruin it for your.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Some of your buddies.

[TJ Majors]

But, like, we didn't see if the fuel was going like Logano with the fuel strip. Like, we didn't get to see any of that, though.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Apparently the 21 was a couple laps short. How hard is it for him to.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Say two laps, tj and maintain your track position right there where you're running is going to be pretty tough. Well, I mean, you can do it, but it depends if the.

[TJ Majors]

If the cars are coming from behind you, that went and got fuel.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's the thing. We were on the other side of it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Everyone was saving.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, we pitted on the last field just so we could run hard, not have to deal with it. But yeah, it was the cautions created because every caution, man, somebody sped, somebody lost a wheel, somebody slid through the box. Boxes at Vegas are super slick. So there's lots that go on there. Penalties like Joey slides through his box on the last deal. That kind of hands over the. The front row. Right. I mean, changes the whole outcome of the race again. I mean, you're taking a guy that was leading the race, and now you're putting him 20th, and now you got someone else up there and.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So cautions also made the race, you know, exciting at the end, too.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. There's this conversation around Christopher. Christopher Bell pulled out of his pit box with a loose wheel, goes down pit road, pulls into the 19 pit box to get it tightened, and he served a penalty for pitting outside his box.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Smart play.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Is it?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it's a smart play.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, he saved the left retire from coming off, which would have been a bigger penalty.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes. And it saved himself two laps as well.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Should you be allowed to have another pit crew service your car? I don't think it's a big deal.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it's a big deal. It's better than a. It's better than a tire coming off at any point.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I agree.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So I don't see an issue with it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I thought it was absolutely smart. Quick reaction by Adam Stevens.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Very genius decision to do that.

[TJ Majors]

And if safety is what NASCAR cares about.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

You don't.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I don't have. I don't have problem.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, you're. You're already getting a penalty, so you're going to the back.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So we don't need a tire out there at any point going around on the racetrack. So if it's a qu. In question, a safety concern, and the.

[TJ Majors]

Argument that people were saying that, well, what about this? The smaller teams will most likely. They lease out their pit crews from a bigger.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

We're gonna give the smaller teams more practice. That's gonna help him.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, the smaller. Most everyone has an alliance of some sort. There's a few that don't. But, I mean, it's still a good overall idea.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Why do you think there's so many issues on pit road there as far as talk about the pit boxes being slick, but there's quite a few speeding penalties, it seems.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There's some tricky zones there, too. Like, there's. There's some hot spots on pit road that are common.

[TJ Majors]

We also saw a lot of collisions, though, and just wild.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, that's. That's just. Well, there's a. So there's. There's a lot of caution. So there's a lot of cars on the lead lap. There's A lot of cars pitting at one time. So you don't. Normally, as a race goes on, you have some long runs. Pit road thins out.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And you don't have as much of that whenever you, you know, when it. When there's long runs. So when you have a lot of cautions and everybody's on the same schedule, you got a lot of cars coming down pit road and in with the way. The way it was last week with the qualifying, like, we went out early. We are. We knew we were gonna not be very good in qualifying because the cars that went early were not going to run fast. And it just went. Got better as it went on. So you got cars that are qualifying, that are good cars. Just don't have a good qualifying draw, like, you know, and they're going to be coming from the back. They're not going to get a good pit stall pick. So they're going to be positioned around a car that's going to. You're going to have a lot of crossovers.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

On pit road because you can't pick a good pit. So you're going to have a lot of crossing over with cars that are good and. And that creates drama.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Are there some drivers that should be worried about how their season starting? I mean, there's always a group. When you look down through the lineup, the points, I guess there's a quite. There's quite a few drivers that are way down. I mean, the one that stands out to me, you got. You got Noah Gragson in 33rd. I'm sure Noah's disappointed in that, and I think he's a better car than that. Cole Custer in 35th. I don't know what we expected out of that team this year, that they're not a new team, but they're kind of doing things a new way with a lot less support.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's one way to put it. Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep. Y'all, Brad. I mean, Brad, you. You TJ 30th. But you. You chalk that up to just bad.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Circumstances with the crowd we've had. Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Where do you. Where do you rank yourself as average running position right now?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I don't rank myself very. I don't rank.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I mean, where do you think you should be in points right now?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I feel like we should be top 15.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, there you go.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Easily. I mean, I feel like we finish these races. I feel like if we finish Daytona, we should come out of there strong.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, here's a couple of people that I think are over performing. Michael McDowell, John Hunter, Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. All in the top 16 in points. These are driver points, not playoff points. And the Spire stuff, it's easy to say that because we all see it, but they're outperforming themselves. Josevar in 22nd points. AJ Ahmedinger 23rd in points, is a little bit better than I thought. Hey, that. That team would be. Ty Dillon has just, you know, quietly not made a bunch of big mistakes and is sitting 26 in points. Yeah, well, he's, He's. He got wrecked there. Yeah, he. He's ahead of a lot of cars that he should not be in front of.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's a good start for Ty.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I think the one car that we can't ignore is Ty Gibbs.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, I know. Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

What do you think's going on there?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't know. And he had a wicked wreck in that Sprint card. You see that?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yes. That was, that was pretty bad. I mean, do you, you know, I don't know. I'll say this. When you're in a rut that he's in, it's hard to get out of it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. And you can't. The more you hide, the worse it gets, too. So I, I don't know. I feel like Ty has got. I think he's got good enough teammates and he's at a good enough place where he just needs to start chipping away at it. He need to have it. You just need to have a top 15 and then you turn that into a decent, better qualifying racing, get a better pit stall, then you run a better. In that race, you finish top 10, and then you do this. You keep repeating the cycle.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Somehow they regressed. He came into the sport kind of on the fringe of being a playoff contender or a playoff team. I wouldn't say a contender, but he was immediately came into the sport right there on the fringe of that sort of final.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I wasn't going to be surprised.

[Andrew]

Right.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, he had the potential or the look of a guy that could pop off a win.

[TJ Majors]

I mean, two years ago it was him and Bubba racing for the final spot in the playoffs.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, that's what, that's the team they were for the whole time he's been in the series. But. And I know it's just a, you know, it is an odd start to the year. You got Daytona, Atlanta, Cota, and then, you know, I won't say real racetracks because I believe Daytona and Atlanta are amazing. But the style of racing there, those two tracks back to back, and coda yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's hard to get a baseline on how the season's really going to go if you have three.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. If you have any kind of poor luck in a. In a. And you're not much of a road.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Course guy, we've been there.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It doesn't look like Ty is all that concerned, at least when you look at his, you know, his. His demeanor and so forth in his interviews.

[TJ Majors]

Well, I mean, why would he be concerned, though?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, you're not running good. You don't like it.

[TJ Majors]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

But go ahead.

[TJ Majors]

He's not going to lose a seat.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Still, man, you don't want to suck. Yeah. But I think it's. I think. Let me tell you this. You want to feel like, be in a situation where you do have that much job security and you're not running good enough that you think you deserve it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Like, be in a situation where. I mean, I was kind of in that situation at our Hendrick where I was running bad enough, where other people like me running that bad had been let go. And you're. You're sitting there going, hey, you know, Rick's telling you, I'm not going to give up on this. I'm not giving up on you. And you're sitting there going, you know, you. I could see how you could, and I'm thankful you're not. And that's probably worse. I think that's a terrible feeling. Right. Because you know that you're kind of the one hang up right to the whole thing. And so it doesn't feel good to be running as. It doesn't feel good to be performing or finishing as bad as Ty is and have that job security. Right. It's a tough balance because then you're sitting there going, man, anyone else might be let go at this point or there might be some changes being made. I'm in a situation where I've got that security that I don't feel like I deserve at this point. And so he's got to battle with all of that on top of trying to figure out how to go to the racetrack and truly get the result he knows he can get. I don't envy the situation he's in. I will say, when you get into these kind of ruts, damn, sometimes they last long time, sometimes they just. You just can't do anything right. You just can't figure it out. But it's a bit surprising, I think, that, you know, they've had such poor luck and they're sitting in 34th in points and they've got a lot. They got a lot of work to do to be able to.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's hard to climb out of.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. They got a lot of work to do to. To. To bring themselves back into the conversation of trying to battle for a final playoff spot. He goes. Wins a race. Now, that changes everything, but.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, for sure. But I mean, and he. Like I said, man, he's got. He's got a teammate. That's one. What. Christopher Bell's got what, three. I mean, so the. The things. The cars are going to be fast. He just needs to. I'm telling you, it's just. It's a.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He's not going to come out and dominate a race, I don't think, and get a win like that. He just needs to chip away at it, like, get you a top 15, get you a top 10.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I want to be patient because, you know, we got. We. I look at Logano and Byron and I say, hey, man, there's two great examples of why you need to be patient with drivers. But, man, he came through the Xfinity series and almost won every race he started. It seemed like. Right. Remember that?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He was.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, I definitely. In the Cup, I thought he would win in his second year.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like, I. Like I would have bet on that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Somehow they've regressed where he's not comfortable and he doesn't. You know, it's. It's like he. It's like something. It's like the team isn't in a position to. Where he can continue to improve himself.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And until the team gets to where they. The cars are happier. Right. And he can continue. He can get back on track with improving as a driver and becoming a better race car driver. That's tough to do.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It is.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I don't envy the spot.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That is a definitely tough scenario.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Getting into the Vegas race Justin Allgaier won on Saturday. I have. There's really only one thing that stands out to me about that race that's really neat. And I told Justin this, and I don't know how this is going to sound, but, like, Justin's a tryhard. And so when he gets in the same situation that he was in last Saturday, he goes. He goes 110%. And sometimes that gets him in a little bit of trouble. And if you look at his. This dude has won more stages in the Xfinity series than anyone. Like, it's ridiculous numbers. Like, 90 stages he's won. Or maybe it's even more than that. It's in the Hundreds or something. But he's won a crap ton of stages. He will go win a stage one and a stage two now, you know, sometimes things happen in that stage three. He doesn't always close out the deal, but watching him run those last few laps, he had to be perfect. The Gibbs car with Eric Almirola was a little quicker, but if Justin was just clean and sharp.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, but she was.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep. Eric wasn't going to be able to get by him because Eric was struggling with the arrow. And I'm sitting there watching, and I'm like, all right, Justin, you really going to have to be perfect, because if you slip up and miss the bottom of three and four, even a foot, the 19 is driving it right to your left or quarter panel and moving you up to track. You know, aerodynamically, that's going to be an advantage for Eric. And all Eric needed was to just get clear of the seven, and it was going to be over.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And I'm sitting there watching that, and I'm like, golly, that's a long. It's a lot of laps. It felt like, like 15, 10 laps or so that he's going to have to hit the line just right. And pre championship, Justin Allgaier probably wins that race 4 out of 10.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, he would make a slight mistake, and then.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

But the. But having that championship has sort of checked this big, gigantic void off. And I. You know, I just. I. Watching him run, I'm like, man, he's doing it. He's doing it. He's perfect. He's perfect. And it was. It's like. It's funny how, like, when you win that championship and you finally get that pressure off and you get put in that situation that he was put in on Saturday, you win that race 8 out of 10 times because Justin isn't a try hard anymore. He knew. He's like, I just need to slow down. I just need to be smart. I'm gonna probably even underdrive this thing just a little bit just to make sure I don't miss the bottom, and that'll be enough. And it was. And our crew Chief on the 7 car made a good point during our beer toast the other day. And you'll appreciate this, T.J. that was also a moment in a race that. That legitimized the spotter's importance in winning races. And why. Why it matters to be a great spotter or to have a great spotter.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Let me guess, is it when he was behind Zillich and chilled out?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I was just thinking about it's. Possible. Yeah. I mean you could probably expand on that particular moment, but when he's leading that race and then in the. In the Gibbs car is quicker.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And he. The spotter being able to tell the driver everything he needs to hear about.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, sure, yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You know, wrap this corner. Just wrap this corner. And you got it. Because he. Because Justin. Justin can see the car back there, but he doesn't really know how much better the Gibbs car is. Right. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He sees him getting closer and, and.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He'S got to be feeling. If you don't say if, if a driver doesn't hear anything, if the spotter doesn't talk at all, the driver's left to assume. Right. Anything. Right. And he's probably going to assume the worst or this. Assume things are he's not in a good spot. The. The spotter can come in and say, I'm watching this from my perspective. You just need to run the clean line and he will not pass you. And you can see that from your vantage point where a driver really doesn't know that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, you can see it big time.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

So that, that is a really classic moment where a spotter can simply come in with a little bit of good information and calmness. Yep. And give the driver an immeasurable amount of confidence and. And calmness to be able to not be a try hard, not try to do everything, not try to overdo it, not miss the bottom. So that was a great moment where not only Justin, the new. The post championship, Justin goes out there and does it and gets it done, but also a good reminder, I think for all of us of why spotters play such an important role in the team's success for sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And you know, my. That was a very impressive run by Justin at end there. But the most impressive run to me was probably not that run. It was the run when Zillish got the lead and Justin was behind him. And instead of running up there and just forcing the issue and trying to pass him right away, which is what I think Justin would have probably done because how many times has Justin had the best car?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All day. And at the very end, brushes the wall, does just something little that happens and in most time it's self inflicted. This time when he was behind Conor, I'm like, oh, Justin's fast, but he feels like he needs to be up there leading. He just, he just rode.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And then 15 laps later, he drives by him and goes on and leaves the race. That's. That was probably the first difference that I saw in Justin where he was like, you know what? I'm just gonna ride.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And I mean, that was, it's impressive. It's gonna be interesting to see how many more times he can do that because I feel like, shoot, man. Justin's given a lot of races away and I feel like now he's to the point where he can probably start capitalizing on these things and just letting it come to him instead of trying to go up there and take it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He definitely felt motivated after how Phoenix ended and that kind of, you know, he, he takes some responsibility for not doing what he thinks he should have done or could have done on that final restart at Phoenix. So that was part of the motivation. But, yeah, I want to give him a lot of credit, man, that was, that, that was a real hard thing to do for a driver to be able to make sure you run the, run the line just right. Put a foot, put your. Put everything where you need to put it, every corner.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And you can't miss the line there either.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Not by 16, you know, not by six inches. If you miss the bottom.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

In three and four, if the left front doesn't connect to the apron, you're 2/10 well.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. And the whole straightaway, the whole straightaway, the guy behind you is catching you and he's going to be able to make. And it's wide so he can go wherever he wants.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Well, good job by him. Fun to watch. And I agree, like, there's a, there's a calmness and a confidence and a patience around Justin this year that if he continues with that, I think he's more dangerous to his competitors in terms of winning the championship this year than he was last year or any year before that. Because. Yeah, and, and I think it's, you know, once you win that first championship. Yeah. You kind of calm down, slow down. You're a bit more of a logical, prodding sort of race car driver instead of just a try hard, 110%, giving it everything you got all the time. And I think that'll benefit him at this point in his career.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[TJ Majors]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Welcome, everybody. Let me see. Here we are. Oh, no, that's not. There we are. No, I'm trying to find it. There we are. Yeah, I am.

[Andrew]

Are you pulling the YouTube chat up? You gotta be more on time.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It's slow. It's like a delay. Yeah, yeah. So we're here at Ass Junior, presented by Xfinity Mobile with my good friend TJ Majors. NASCAR fans, now you can get the speed you need on or off the track with Xfinity Mobile. Customers now get exclusive access to WI FI hotspots all across the country, up to a gig in millions of locations nationwide. And it's the nationwide coverage that you know you'll always have that'll come through in clutch moments. Take NASCAR on the go with Xfinity Mobile, a proud premier partner of nascar. Good morning everybody out there. I'm looking at everybody on the. On our chat here on YouTube and it's good to see everybody joining in. Andrew is back there with our questions. We had a week where we stepped out of the studio and we're gone on a little bit of a spring break for the kids. But we're back and excited to be here.

[Andrew]

Yeah, we are so back. I see. All right.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The YouTube chat is great, kids to the Yorktown. And we talked about that on Bless yous Heart this past Thursday. But fun trip, girls. Enjoyed it. Got to swim in a pool a little bit. Weather just got just warm enough to do a little swimming. Oh, yeah, we heat that pool.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Your pool is 88 degrees.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's an intentional one.

[TJ Majors]

That's too hot.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It's not.

[TJ Majors]

I don't care if it's intentional or not. That's.

[Andrew]

It's not necessarily for the temperature. I'm sure it is now. That seems like it would be good. You'd want the water a little warmer. Yeah, but I mean, like, it's 90 degrees outside where it's refreshing to get in.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You Know, if you keep that at that during the spring and summer, it stays that warm, if not warmer. So I don't have. I don't heat it, then.

[TJ Majors]

Okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You don't get in his pool to cool off. Does that make sense?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I don't got backwards.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it does, but it's actually.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Comfortable. Look, I don't want to be chilling. Oh, God.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I actually agree.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I want to get.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I want to get in and sit under the umbrella and be like, this is good.

[Andrew]

Getting out of the pool to cool off.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I'll just. No, I'll make me a cocktail and get out of the high rock. Cocktail. Or get a cold. Get a cold beer. Yeah, but your body's still sweating in the pool. Sweating?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

God, no. No. I mean, the best thing is sitting under the umbrella in the warm water.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You have no idea.

[TJ Majors]

If you guys know how to relax, I mean.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I. I am.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You don't know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'm good at arguing, asking.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No, you don't. You don't have enough.

[TJ Majors]

I do.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Years of experience. We have. We are freaking.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No idea.

[TJ Majors]

Yeah, and I'm a. I'm a pro.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Two sound like you know what you're talking about.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There is no. You haven't scratched the surface yet there, boy. He has no idea.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

88.

[TJ Majors]

That's all ridiculous. Someone wants to know if Andrew's wearing lipstick.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Multiple people in the chat want to know if I'm wearing lipstick.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Wow.

[Andrew]

I'm not. So just.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Maybe it's your. Your sweatshirt that brings it out.

[Andrew]

Maybe it is. Yeah. I don't know. So to answer multiple people's questions, I'm not wearing lipstick, but let's get to some.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I bet. I predict that the lighting and the camera angle will be different in that studio next week.

[TJ Majors]

No, I want it to stay the same.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Andrew will not.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He won't wear that anymore.

[Andrew]

I'll just. Yeah, I'll put some actual.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, look into the camera. It look.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Your lips look red.

[Andrew]

Like, they really.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They look redder than maybe they.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

This is probably the shirt.

[Andrew]

How does it look?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Kiss the camera.

[Andrew]

Fine.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Is that. I don't know. Tell me.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

YouTube chat.

[Andrew]

I mean, I'm.

[TJ Majors]

I. I feel like if you wear lipstick.

[Andrew]

Okay. All right, next question. AJ Wants to know, Dale, your opinion on socks and sandals.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Sandals? Oh, my. Oh, no, no, no.

[Andrew]

I've seen a photo of you wearing socks and sandals.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The hell you have.

[Andrew]

I'm pretty sure I would own a.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Pair of freaking sandals, for one.

[Andrew]

It was like, during COVID and Amy took a picture. You get an Ice cream. And you were in commander's socks.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Sandals.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I didn't have shoes on at all.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Hello.

[Andrew]

You're right. Sorry. I'm still flustered by the lipstick comment.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You are. I don't own a pair of sandals.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What? Yeah. You don't.

[Andrew]

What about slides? You do slides?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

They call them. When I was young, they used to call sandals Jerusalem. Jerusalem Cruisers. I thought that was a cool nickname for them.

[Andrew]

So, no, not pro. Sock.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What are sandals to you?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Sandals.

[Andrew]

Right. That's the question.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I don't.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I feel like you have sandals. I've seen them.

[TJ Majors]

There's sandals and there's flip flops.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Flip flop, flip flops.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay. What's the difference? They're not.

[TJ Majors]

Flip flops. Have the little piece in between the.

[Andrew]

Then the thing that doesn't separate the toe. You know what I mean?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The thong sandals have straps and all kinds of things. I mean, they're just like a shoe without the Jesus.

[TJ Majors]

Sandals are different.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Jerusalem Cruisers.

[TJ Majors]

Then regular sandals versus flip flops.

[Andrew]

All right, then flip flops. Socks and flip flops. Because I think it's okay. Hell, I've gone to the grocery store wearing that before.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Socks with flops.

[Andrew]

Socks and flops.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. When I'm super. That's a super lazy role. But it's all right.

[TJ Majors]

He also wears lipstick, so, yeah, it's.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Got to obviously be the. Like, the Adidas slip ons.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's the only one athletic.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You can't wear socks with the flop with the thing between the toe.

[Andrew]

No, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying. I think that's.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You're not doing that.

[Andrew]

No, I'm not. I'm not.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Socks and Crocs. I mean.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I think that's okay. What does the YouTube chat think? Socks and slides is? Okay. Okay. So that's. That would really be my question. Socks and slides.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Okay.

[Andrew]

I think that's all right. This next question is coming from Reed. As a race car driver, like, what do you. This might be a weird question, but, like, what are you looking at when you're behind the wheel? Do you ever. And do you ever get caught up in, like, other drivers, sponsors. Serious. Like, do you ever read the back bumper?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

And like, okay.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I mean, I sure do think about.

[Andrew]

What that type of brand is. Like, I don't know, the random thoughts that you have.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

There was. There was a couple that stood out. The one, like, for example, Golden Corral Kids eat free. Whatever it was on the back of Blaney's car. And you.

[Andrew]

You think about that for a few laps.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Sure. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I thought you were going to talk about the Kevin Conway rookie of the Year.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

LD Extends. No, I don't even remember that car. But TJ Remember TJ does Rookie of the year.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

How do you not remember rookie of the year guy?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He was the only rookie and he was out there battling himself.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I got it today.

[Andrew]

Those are sometimes the hardest battles.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, yeah. The Viagra car.

[Andrew]

Oh, someone just comments.

[TJ Majors]

I saw that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That reminded Tyler. Oh, Sterling Marlin. I wasn't racing then, but back in the. Back in the late 80s, maybe early 90s. Sterling Marlin had legs or pantyhose, whatever.

[Andrew]

As a sponsor.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, that was one of his associate sponsors. Lower quarter panel of the Piedmont.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh my gosh. Can you imagine him doing ad reads for them if he had.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He's the one guy, he's personal experience. He's like the one guy in the whole garage that would. That could have that as an associate sponsor. And it not like it not be problematic.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Oh yeah, no problem. Keep going.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Don't think twice. Okay. Like Sterling could make it cool.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Cover them legs up, girl.

[Andrew]

Oh my God.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I guess this is some of them free pantyhose. I mean, you know, he could make anything. Make anything.

[TJ Majors]

Yes.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Like Mark Martin somehow made the Vagra. He did sponsorship just fine. You know, there was a few fun, you know, funny puns and things like that, but for the most part it. Yeah, it was. He kind of normalized the partnership.

[Andrew]

People are saying we need that car back.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's like Alfredo and the dude wipes.

[Andrew]

Right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Does a good job of that.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

This next question coming from Rob. What's the ideal house temperature?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Why don't you tell us what yours is first so we can get this.

[Travis]

Out of the way.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

70.

[TJ Majors]

Hold on.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's right in the middle there.

[TJ Majors]

Are we talking winter or summer?

[Andrew]

I think 70 is a good across the board temperature.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

I'm not going to your house.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I think 70. 71's pretty standard for most.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I. I'm different with rooms. So like the bedrooms cold. 68 degrees.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The rest of the house can be 69. 70. If you have a house that has multiple floors. I like to keep the lower floor 1 degree cooler because heat rises.

[Andrew]

Sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I do the same thing.

[Andrew]

That's smart.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Because you'll basically if you had them the same or. Or for whatever reason. So if you're a psychopath, you had the lower floor heating more a degree more. All that's rising and just making that top floor work harder. So I keep the floor, the first floor, one degree cooler.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Do you flip it in the other season?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No, I do.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I flip it when it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It doesn't never really get that cold. Like a lot of times. Yeah, a lot of times, man, when, when it gets cold, like it shifts to like going below, you know, 60 degrees or so. Like it'll take me a couple days to like register my mind. Well, it's a little chilly in here, you know. And go over and you're like, your Thermostat is like 62.

[Andrew]

They're like, I gotta crank.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Should I turn the heat on? I don't know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I had to warm up when the sun comes up.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes, pretty much, yeah.

[Andrew]

All right, well, that's good. I'm seeing a lot of 72s in the chat.

[TJ Majors]

No, that's too.

[Andrew]

Highest I saw was 76. Oh my God, that is like sweet wedding. I don't know how you.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's terrible.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, well, just have a cold beer.

[TJ Majors]

And you'll be fine.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

If, If I go. If I go in my basement and drink cold drinks, beer, High rock, vodka, whatever it is. Right. Anything that's cold, I do need it a little warmer in 72, cuz I get cold.

[Andrew]

Because a cold drink even you out.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Only in the basement, though. It's cold. It's.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And so. But if I. If I drink the same drink on the next floor, it's not cold. I don't know, it's weird.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I never noticed a difference.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, but you don't do that, you don't drink, so there. All right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Never had a beer in the basement. Never had a beer down there.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You've had a couple? Yeah.

[Andrew]

TJD at cold.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I've honestly never noticed the difference. Most time I feel like the doors are open.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Hello. From Malaysia. Whoa. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Wow.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Dang.

[Andrew]

That's pretty cool.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I feel like your doors are pushed open most of the time when you're down there though too.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Say again?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I feel like your doors are pushed open most of the time during the summer. Yeah. Yeah. Summer for sure. Winter, you don't open them.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I do like it cold as hell in the bedroom. Like, I mean, I don't even. 68 is only what I put it at because I just. I'm too cheap to let it run harder than that. But if it would cool to freaking 60 degrees in the bedroom because I'm like, hey, just put a bunch of blankets. Right? Golly, man, that's comfortable.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Only problem is it's hard to get up out of bed. The More comfortable you make the bed.

[Andrew]

Yes.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The harder it is to get out of it.

[Andrew]

And then when you get out of it and the room is just super cold, even more of a rude awakening.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It's weird.

[Andrew]

You ever do windows open?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No.

[Andrew]

I crack my window open at night.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

And like, now is a good temperature because it gets like 40, 50 degrees.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You'll do that when you're young.

[Andrew]

Is that a thing?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's a young.

[Andrew]

I'm gonna learn with age that that's not a good idea.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's the second person that does that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You'll be like, how come? What is?

[Andrew]

What is?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

You'll get older and you'll be like, that's messing with my sinuses.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

I got a sore throat this morning.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I can't leave the window. Not wrong. Get a little scratchy throat.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You know who else used to do it in the townhouse? Matthew. Good.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Really?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He used to leave them open all the time.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. He's from Vancouver, so.

[Andrew]

Vancouver.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He was probably hot.

[Andrew]

This next question coming from the YouTube chat. Rusty Elliott wants to know how is the houseboat project coming along? I know. Boating season's almost here.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Rusty Elliott.

[Andrew]

Rusty Elliott.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That sounds like a nickname.

[Andrew]

It does, yeah. Sounds like a describer. Elliot. He's a little rusty.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

One more.

[Andrew]

This one is coming from Mason. I know you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Hello. From Sweden.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Whoa.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah. I'm seeing Ellen from Sweden. That's always really neat to see where people are tuning in from. Mason wants to know, since you're always kind of on the hunt, the look for the new artist's new song. Any new song recommendations? Any songs that you've recently added?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. All right. I know that Bon and Vera has gotten Bon Iver. However you pronounce. It's got a new record coming out. It's been a while since they had anything. They were really cool. Probably 10, 15 years ago, this guy named Cameron Whitcomb come out with a song called Options that I. That I like. Right now he's sitting at about 3.7 million listens. Your.

[TJ Majors]

Your guy, Stephen Wilson Jr. Has a new song out with Dirk Bentley.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yes. Yeah. Not bad.

[TJ Majors]

It's a good song.

[Andrew]

Cold Beer can.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andrew]

I recently dove completely into his.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Steven Wilson Jr.

[Andrew]

Yes. It blew me away.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Hadn't listened to Stephen Wilson Jr. You'll. You'll want to check that out, teacher.

[TJ Majors]

What do you listen to?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I listen to everything. Yeah, I listen a little bit of everything too. Like, I like a lot of classic rock, but I. I mean, I'm. I'm a Wide variety.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Thanks, tj.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I'm waiting for. For Dugger or Drew to come out with a new song.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Oh, I will say this. I've been working on the soundtrack for the new NASCAR console game with Ira.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah? Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I think. I think we've got, like 27 songs.

[Andrew]

Holy cow.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Like final or that's what you're winning. Really?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And there's some on there that are pretty big. I'm pretty excited about. Wow. Yeah, I can't wait. I mean, yeah, I'm looking forward to. To people.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I mean, it's gonna be a great game, but we. We put some effort into the soundtrack and all. All areas of this game.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it's gonna. I'm. I'm excited for it just for the. The story mode and the, you know.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Things like that, so that'll be fun. Once we get a little closer, we might start leaking some of the songs that are going to be on that on the soundtrack for the nascar.

[Andrew]

Do you know what. Like the loading screen, like the. You know that one?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I know the song that's going to. I know what the song is that you'll hear as soon as you turn it on every time.

[Andrew]

Don't leak that one.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I won't.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And I will. But I will say I had to personally write an email to the band, really, for them to understand why I thought this would be a great idea because they weren't very responsive to the people that were trying to clear the music and get the rights to it.

[TJ Majors]

It's a lot of hoops you have to go through.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Finally. Yeah. So finally, like, I sent an email to the publicists or the people that are in charge of the band. They got the band to go, oh, this makes sense. Okay. Because I had to explain, like, hey, you're gonna hear this song as soon as the game starts every time. And this song has the perfect amount of energy. It's really gonna be awesome.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You did that through an email?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You write some. Was that AI?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I'm a hell of a writer, tj.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

AI.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Or I'm a good writer.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Are you?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I've wrote some good stuff. I used to write a column for. I remember Winston cup scene. Grand national scene.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, really?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep. Back in the day, I wrote about 11 or 12. I got them. I got the college still got them. I should read them. Yeah, I wrote one. Yeah, I wrote one about dad, so. Oh, I wrote a couple books. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You actually wrote the books or did you?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I helped write the books. Okay. Now we're I kind of did write the books I helped write.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I. I don't think you actually wrote the book. You gave info. Somebody write the book.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Driver number eight with Jade Ger.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You wrote none of that. You gave him the info.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Finish. Racing to the finish.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I was there when Jay. Jay would write that stuff on his laptop there and like he was working on it all the time.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But he took notes every weekend and would come back and write document that weekend. I remember that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, yeah, I'm a good writer. Yeah, I'm. I can write the hell out of an email.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You didn't do a write up on your national championship. No write up.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's light work. No write up for the answering emails is light work.

[Andrew]

What's your signature? Thanks. Regards.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No, no, no, no.

[Andrew]

I hope you find this.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well for my iPhone.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you what message mine is.

[Andrew]

Always thanks with an exclamation point.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's it.

[Andrew]

Want to bring the energy.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, I'm going to sit energetic. Hold on. Try to find one. One there.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Just go find one of his emails. Literally through the bottom of it.

[Andrew]

Yeah, the scent folder.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I'm the one. I'm right here. All right. It says the signature is Dale Hart Jr Jr Motorsports, 349 Cayuga Drive, Mooresville, North Carolina, 28117.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay. Because we were wondering where you were at.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

And then that's my current location.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Knocked it out right there.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Telephone to the telephone number to the shop. Filtertime.com highrock vodka.com dirtymomedia.com carstor racing.com iRacing.com.

[Andrew]

It'S like the end credits to a movie.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, those are all the things that are part of my life.

[Andrew]

It's true.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, yeah. And that I have equity and I.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Was expecting, I mean, in a galaxy far, far away, the Star wars.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

What are the. What are the chances that you might get a new Filter Time customer just by the signature in your email?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Are you gonna randomly email people?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No, but I'm just saying I might email somebody that's known me their whole life and they might go, yeah, I've known Delgener forever and I'm not a. I'm not a customer. Filter Time. I might, I might sign up today, get my air filter.

[TJ Majors]

But I will today.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I might support my friend from this email.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Because I'm a writer.

[Andrew]

Well, there you go. Excellent job today on Ash Jr. Thanks again to our friends, Xfinity.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, everybody. I appreciate you all tuning in. It's a lot of Fun seeing everybody on the chat. And we're up to 878, but, yeah, I enjoyed it. TJ, thanks for coming around today.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, thanks for being here.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

We're going to wrap it up. Thank you. Xfinity. Xfinity Mobile customers get exclusive access to the most powerful WI fi network on the go with speeds up to a gig for NASCAR fans. That means faster downloads turn by turn. Action. Smooth live streaming. Nope. With fewer pit stops. I wasn't gonna say no pit stops. Strong connection from the parking lot to the grandstands for more laps and less lag. Stay connected with Xfinity Mobile. Thank you all. We'll see you next week. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets. All right, it's time for Dirty Modeau here with Tampa Tim's. And Tampa Tim's is in the studio. Good to hear from you, buddy. Brought to you by.

[TJ Majors]

Brought to you by fanduel.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Jesus. Can he. Can he. Give me a second. Give me a chance.

[TJ Majors]

You're gonna miss it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Can you give me a chance? Do my job here. Stepping all over my toes.

[TJ Majors]

Well, you weren't doing your job.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Damn.

[TJ Majors]

Proceed.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yep. All right, so this segment is brought to you by fanduel. Thank you, Fanduel, for supporting us here at Dirty Modo. Fanduel. They're awesome.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Fanduel's really cool.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, we do Fanduel. I'm all about it. I have my own account, and I'm. I got me a couple parlays. Let me take a look. So while I'm looking at my own personal parlay that I've got on FanDuel, we got a couple basketball games coming up over the next few days on FanDuel. So I am trying to take advantage of the opportunity to win a little bit. I've been out of the state. I've been in one of them states that ain't got that gambling. That ain't all that much fun. But I'm back and. Yeah, let's take a look here. Oh, I got one. 15 leg parlay.

[TJ Majors]

Dale's back.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, my God.

[TJ Majors]

I got this.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

28 leg parlay, guys. Check it out, man.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

15 legs, man. We gonna win. What you talking about? Don't win. Tampa Tim's. How did I imagine things went pretty well in Vegas? They were pretty well because. I know. I think we talked about you putting a little bit of money on Josh Berry.

[Tampa Tim]

Yes, sir. Plus 10,000.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Did you bet him to win?

[Tampa Tim]

Yes.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Oh, my gosh.

[Tampa Tim]

So that was good payout.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

No, kid. Look at him. He can't Stand it. Can't stand it. He can't stand it.

[Tampa Tim]

It was awesome.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Where you gonna go? Vacation?

[Tampa Tim]

No idea. I mean, that's more than I've ever.

[TJ Majors]

He might quit. Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Dude, you buying dinner this weekend, uotj?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

At least I called some.

[TJ Majors]

I mean, hold on right here.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I think Blaney does really good at Vegas. He's been fast there, and if they. If he tends to migrate towards how Blaney is, if he's. His similar driving style, similar setup, he could very well go to Vegas and be very successful. So I would not be afraid to take a gamble on Josh Berry.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Damn. Tj. Yeah.

[Tampa Tim]

There's some finders fee there for you, tj.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, we're. I mean, there should be some there.

[Tampa Tim]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

TJ with the good take.

[Tampa Tim]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

In our Dirty Mo segment, his first. Should we celebrate it?

[Tampa Tim]

I think so.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Should we celebrate because. Hey. All right, tj.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Thank you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Job, buddy.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Thank you. You're welcome, Tims.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Thank you.

[Travis]

Thank you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, so we got Homestead coming up and just jumping right off the page, man. This. This racetrack, it feels like we have a pretty good understanding of who we think will be able to go there and run. Well, this isn't a. This isn't one that seems that damn difficult. So tell me, who's the bet man?

[Tampa Tim]

It's Chalky up on the top. Yeah, it is.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Really.

[Tampa Tim]

I mean, the sports books have. Let's see. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 6 drivers under 10 to 1 odds.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Do you think that it's bad? Do you think that that's common? After they have a race where a guy that's, you know, such long odds takes a win, they start to. They start to tighten it up a little bit.

[Tampa Tim]

Not really, because I would have assumed that, like, it's like a lot like Larson and Byron were fast. Yeah. They might have dominated last weekend, but.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like, I don't think Josh Barry sees those odds again.

[Tampa Tim]

No, Josh Barry will never see that, but, oh, yeah, Barry Suarez Priest with the top three, and those guys were long. Long shots. I would have thought it'd be more spread out.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Honestly, this week, TJ predicted that Barry's odds have changed since his win. Yeah, this guy's on a. Hot. On a tear today. He's on fire.

[Tampa Tim]

Yeah. Unfortunately, if you didn't get him, you're not gonna.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

TJ is TJ with his takes.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's two in or two weeks in a row. Called him for Phoenix, too, and he's close.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It two awesome takes.

[Tampa Tim]

Tj, who you like this week, then yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Who you like?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Tj this week I really like. I really like Tyler Redick. That's going to be the obvious one. Looking through the field, I. Something's telling me Host Far is going to have a good run.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Really?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I just feel like. I don't know, I feel like he's.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The kind of guy that can run the fence. That's going to be important to be able to do that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I believe he's going to. I think he can.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

Like top 10 good or what do you. What do you think?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I think so. That's my long shot.

[Tampa Tim]

Yeah. Probably get some good odds there. My best bet is AJ almanang or top 10. I think he's got like.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So AJ has figured out how to not run the top there and still be fast. And AJ had really good speed in Vegas, so AJ would, I would not be afraid to put AJ in that category. But AJ's a smart race car driver. His. He knows how to put a race together most times, so he'll get that solid finish. I think host of ours kind of live by the sword, die by the sword type. So I think he's. He's kind of a lot of speed. I think if he can figure out how to put a race together, he can finish good.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, I feel like Redick is, you know, I know we're talking about bets, but this seems like the kind of race that if Reddick's really going to, like, thrust himself into the true conversation of a contender for the title. I know points wise, he's doing a great job just accumulating points, but this is a race where he has to contend for the win. You know, this is his type of track. This. If he's, if they're where they need to be as a team, I just, I think it's another, you know, second, third, fourth. You know, it's a, it's a race where he's going to lead a little, he's going to run second, third, fourth, but in the end, unlikely close the deal. So I don't know what the odds are for Redika, you know, to a top five, but I'd be, I don't know. I think, you know, Denny's. This is another track too, where I think Denny's got to run. Well, this is a track where I would watch and say, okay, this is. This gives me a good understanding of where I think Denny is with his program, new crew chief, changes that they've had throughout the organization.

[TJ Majors]

And it's been almost a year since he's Last one too. So, you know, he's itching to get back for sure.

[Tampa Tim]

From a betting standpoint, when I see all these, you know, big names like you just said, Redick, Hamlin, Larson, they're all, they're all kind of unbetable at the top. This is where I look for top tens, top fives, like you said, because you're going to get some good plus money odds on a Reddick top five or Hamlin top five, and then guys like Bowman, Josh Berry, they're going to be plus money for a top 10, most likely because they're kind of in that second tier. So you can find some value with those guys.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

And correct me if I'm wrong, Tim's with like a Denny a lot of times. If he's going to be a top 10, he's going to be a top five anyway. So you might as well bet it with the plus odds. Right.

[Tampa Tim]

Was the trend last year. He was very. If he was running up front, it was top five, not just top ten.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

So. Right on. Well, all right. The NCAA tournament technically starts tonight.

[Tampa Tim]

Oh Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I have 15 winners. I've got 15 winners sitting right here all in one parlay. But tell me, tell me some of the bets that you're confidently making.

[Tampa Tim]

So TJ tonight's just the first four, so it's kind of like the play in to get to the tournament, but technically still the tournament. I got a little Moneyline parlay. Only two legs though for just for tonight and tomorrow actually Xavier, which is tomorrow's night's game. I like them. Moneyline, Alabama State, which is tonight. I like them as well. That's +156.

[TJ Majors]

I've got a North Carolina parlay, money line taking them. And then R.J. davis, 12 points. And then Van Allen Lubin, eight rebounds.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Goodness gracious.

[TJ Majors]

Plus 136, but got a no sweat bet with it too.

[Tampa Tim]

So North Carolina, a lot of controversy. They should even be in the tournament.

[TJ Majors]

That's why I think, I think the locker room's got this like, us against the world shoulder.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

So they're gonna go out there and say, you don't think we belong? Watch us.

[Tampa Tim]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

So Alabama State.

[Tampa Tim]

Alabama state. They're playing St. Francis tonight to be the 16 seed.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Oh, and you're taking them Moneyline, then.

[Tampa Tim]

Moneyline and Xavier, which plays Texas tomorrow night.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I'll take.

[Tampa Tim]

I like Xavier a lot.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I'm going to do three game parlay with Alabama State, North Carolina and Xavier. It's going to be a lot of fun over the next couple of days with the NCAA tournament, let's all try to keep a little bit of money in our. In our balance and not. Not go completely belly up. Hopefully everybody has some success out there. Thank you, Tim, for bringing us some of the best ideas on how to handle some of these NASCAR events each weekend. And a big win for everybody out there who put a little on Josh Berry to have a successful weekend in Vegas. We'll see you next week. The Dirty Mo do segment was brought to you by FanDuel, the premier gaming destination in the United States. All right, stop for the white flag. As I mentioned, listening to the tear down this past Sunday was a lot of fun. Great coverage from Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi talking about the race, but they do this live on YouTube following the race. They also were on X, I think, for one of the first times, really, and they had over 10,000 people watching.

[TJ Majors]

The logo has a little bar or something around it, and you click it and the video pulled up.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, it was great. That's how I watched. And so a lot of fun. Keep following the tear down. I mean, that's instant reaction from folks in the industry that are really entrenched and everything all over there. Everything.

[TJ Majors]

Well, you know, you get one, usually one person's there and the other one's not. So you're getting the reporter that's there, but then the other, you know, watching it and different perspective. Yeah. So it's really good.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Actions detrimental was out on Monday. Denny was very candid about what happened in his race. That's nice, because that's why we do the show. Good job.

[TJ Majors]

He said that one of the reasons is misinformation that he was. Because what he's wanting from the car and different things. And so went into his setup.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Denny being very candid. Fighting misinformation. This guy's a warrior and a winner in Vegas.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Since he apparently hit the jackpot a.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Couple times, I want to know how much money put into.

[TJ Majors]

He went machine. He talked about how much money he was.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

So you'd have to listen to the show. It's there, so I know when I know. There were two photos. Two different wins, two jackpots. One was $300 a spin. The other was 500 a spin. Yeah, he goes.

[TJ Majors]

He goes.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

He don't mess around. I can. I'm gonna tell you right now, ain't no way. There's no way, no way I'm gonna put $500 on one spin in a slot. I'm sorry, I ain't I'm also not gonna win $150,000 to win big money got him spent. Oh my God.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Would you do it at roulette?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I. Yes.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I know you, I've, I've seen him do it.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I would, but I, I, the roulette thing is different. I don't walk up and start at 500. I started 100 and I win 500 and then I roulette. I get in this sort of deal where I'm like, all right, red and black, red and black. I know what's going to hit next and I'm just going to keep doubling my money. And sometimes I've had a lot of good luck at the roulette.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

But to walk up to a slot machine and have to, have to do at least five to 20 rolls at 300 to 500 a piece to try to win real money. Because I know Denny didn't just walk up and hit the button and do like two or three rolls. And you know the answer to this.

[TJ Majors]

Travis, you got to listen to the podcast.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Just tell us how.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Word on the street was he was down 40.

[TJ Majors]

No, he was never down 40. That's he. His initial that he was going to willing to bet with was 11,000 and never got below 8. And then he started hitting.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Wow.

[TJ Majors]

The slot machine got primed though. He had a friend with him that was betting smaller and not winning a whole lot. So I think he, I mean it was like the perfect timing.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, well, I would throw up those.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Those big giant new style slot machine or. Yeah, I guess they're electronic ones. Yeah. But they're the big screen, all the stuff. I'm like, I've sat down at those, like the buffalo one that he's playing and I'm like, I don't know what I need to see to win. Right. I don't know what I'm looking for. Right.

[TJ Majors]

You need sounds to happen.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Right. I mean, at least on like some of them, I'm like, okay, I get it. I gotta get this and this and this. But when you sit down to those, it's like, yep, I'm gonna hit a button. And I don't know if I want or not until it, I know it's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Gonna tell me if I want.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Until it says there's some money. Oh, extra money. But I'm looking at the screen going, it says I won, but I don't know how or what this bar went over.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Then up and what.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Why'd they make them so Damn. Why'd they make the game?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I Agree with you.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's fun.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They're trying to say, oh, you can win in so many different ways. Now I just want to get.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I'm giving a hard time.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, I agree with you, though.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

They are.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You don't even know if you win.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I don't need to take a class. I don't need to. I don't need to sit down at this slot machine and go, well, I didn't get a course on this particular one, so I'm just going to shoot in the dark here.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's why I play Wheel of Fortune slot.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's simple.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. 7. Spin the sevens are the Spin.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

The damn wheel spins on to number. That's your number. You won that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I love playing slot machines.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I like.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

They have gotten. They've gotten so complicated.

[TJ Majors]

They have something more fun.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. I need. I want to know how to sit down at the Buffalo one and know what I want to see on the screen.

[TJ Majors]

We'll get. We'll ask Denny.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

I think he knows.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't think he knows either.

[TJ Majors]

He does know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, he might now, but. Yeah, you can't tell me. He recognizes all the different ways you can win right away. There's no way somebody can do that. These machines now. Well, you just said he does.

[TJ Majors]

He does. Yeah. Now.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No, there's still no way.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, Danny fighting misinformation all along the way and being so candid on his actions detrimental show. It's the greatest.

[TJ Majors]

It is.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Door bumper clear. Also posted. On Monday, they were joined by Slugger Labby and they talked about how teams need more practice. Good job. My interview with Tony Gibson will drop tomorrow. Herman Schrader and Speed Streak will also be out on Wednesday. And then Thursday, another episode of Bless yous Heart with my wife Amy. We're back in the studio and I'll have a new chair.

[TJ Majors]

Will you?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. It's supposed to be here. Where is it?

[TJ Majors]

Wait, is it the one that's out in the lobby?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah.

[TJ Majors]

That's your chair.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Dalton, will you bring my chair in here? Yeah, that's my new chair.

[TJ Majors]

I was wondering. What?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Amy bought that for me. Amy ordered that off Amazon.

[TJ Majors]

Is it gonna sit high enough?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

It's fine. It's perfect and it doesn't make any noise. Look at there. Okay.

[TJ Majors]

It does say high enough.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah. Oh, that's it. I love it.

[TJ Majors]

I love those chairs.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

There it is. It's behind teacher. Good looking chair. Thank you, Amy. So we'll be back in the studio for Bless your Heart on Thursday. Recapping. Whatever. Just talking about whatever. Amy comes to me about two days before the show, and she's so nervous. What are we gonna talk about? I'm like, whatever. So I don't think about it. I just sit down and we just start. And she wants. Yeah, she wants to come in with a plan.

[TJ Majors]

Yeah. But I think she needs practice.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Now. This past week was an incredible example of how you podcast for a show like that. At least now for some shows. Certainly got a plan. Like for our interview with Tony Gibson this week. We plan. But bless your heart. The other day we talked about the Backstreet Boys sponsoring a car. To our favorite Backstreet Boys song. To whether we sing that in the car by ourselves. To karaoke. To our favorite karaoke songs. To Britney and what's Her Face? Christina Aguilera. Aguilera. To nose rings. To nose rings Catching booger. To belly button rings. To belly buttons that go haywire after pregnancy. That was the story arc of Bless yous Heart. You can't plan that one particular episode or one particular clip of Bless yous Heart. That's how you podcast. That's it. That's podcast. Podcasting, right?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's good. Yeah, you can't plan that.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

That's when it's good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You can't plan that for sure.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

All right, don't forget to go head over to shop.dirtymomedia.com that's a website. Shop, shop, shop.dirtymomedia.com Shop.dirtymomedia.com get all your.

[TJ Majors]

Sweatshirts, T shirts, hats. Drinkware.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Yeah, drinkware.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Drinkware.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Who uses that word?

[TJ Majors]

You've never seen that on a website before?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Not in the continental US Drinkware. Have I seen drinkware?

[TJ Majors]

Pint glasses, pilsner glasses.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

There you go. Okay. Glass, rocks, glasses and glasses.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Is that one word or two?

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Well, we have a new merch line for Dirty Mo Media, all of our podcasts, even some bless your heart gear. Amy's starting to get involved in the designs of that. Shop.dirtymomedia.com we got all kinds of drinkware. We'll see you next week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Our state has changed a lot in the last 140 years. We know because MultiCare has been here guided by a single making our communities healthier. That comes from making courageous decisions, partnering with local communities to grow programs and services, and expanding healthcare access to those who need it most. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn [e-mail] first decision of the morning.

[TJ Majors]

A creamy mocha frappuccino drink. Or will we ease into the day with a sweet vanilla Maybe a smooth caramel.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, what about that white chocolate mocha?

[TJ Majors]

No matter which flavor you choose, delicious coffee awaits.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Better coffee starts a better day.

[Dale Jr. Download Guest]

Start with bottled Starbucks Frappuccino drinks. Pick up a bottle near you wherever.

[TJ Majors]

You buy your groceries.