← The Dale Jr. Download
The Dale Jr. Download
Talking Free Agency, Charters, & Schedule Changes with the Amazon Booth
01:29:00
In anticipation of his return to the commentator’s booth this weekend at Charlotte, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with his Prime Video co-hosts Adam Alexander and Steve Letarte. The guys dive into the hot topic of the upcoming Cup Series free agency, in which Kyle Busch finds himself in the most-watched position. They also discuss Hendrick Motorsports' dilemma of what to do with Alex Bowman and the rapidly rising Corey Day, who continues to turn heads on a weekly basis in the O’Reilly Series. And let’s not forget Corey Heim, and what that means for Riley Herbst and 23XI Racing.
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- [00:00]
Adam Alexander
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- [00:30]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Steve Letarte
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Steve Letarte
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Steve Letarte
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- [00:52]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. You're Dale Jr.
- [01:03]
Adam Alexander
Should I say it?
- [01:03]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's Dale Jr. Podcast.
- [01:05]
Adam Alexander
I gotta say it.
- [01:09]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. Back again for another episode of the Dale Jr Download. It's the guest show today and I'm gonna bring in my teammates from Amazon. That's Adam Alexander and Steve Latart. We're gonna talk about all the things that we've seen going on in the season this year, maybe some silly season rumors that we've been hearing. We'll talk about the schedule, some of the tracks. We're excited about all things nascar. It's going to be a lot of fun right here in the Arby's studio. I want to remind you also about Arby's new meet and three box. You get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats. Let's get the guests in the show and get started. So. All right. I'm here with Latart Adam, and we're excited about getting back in the booth. I mean, you guys, you know, y', all, Adam's kind of, you know, he's always in the booth.
- [02:00]
Adam Alexander
He never stops.
- [02:01]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He never stops. Steve, what have you been doing?
- [02:04]
Adam Alexander
Watching. Doing some doing the digital inside the race with the NASCAR group. So I've been doing all my digital work and just getting ready to go. I'm ready to get all this digital stuff and podcasting is fun, but there's nothing like live events. I'm ready to get up in the booth, see it in person.
- [02:18]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Adam, are you ready? So you're going to continue what you've been doing, but you're tacking on an additional Lift. That's right. Are you knowing what you know now after last year? Are you ready?
- [02:31]
Steve Letarte
You know what? It all went better than I thought it would. Not that I thought it was going to be.
- [02:35]
Adam Alexander
I don't know how to.
- [02:37]
Steve Letarte
I just mean managing the schedule and all that. But you guys know Caleb Combs, who's our producer on the CW side, and he was just really good about managing time and making sure I was where I needed to be and putting me in the best possible place to be successful. So that really helped me. So going into year two, I'm way more comfortable with the schedule part, and I would say my excitement level is way higher than it was a year ago. Just because we have this, we. We now know each other way better. And so the anticipation is just at a really high level for me.
- [03:11]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Well, we got a lot of storylines going on in the sport. I guess we can kick it off with free agency. You know, they'll. We'll cover the laps, the action on the track, and all those things will come relatively easy for the most part. But some of the more challenging things are the stories that are happening behind the scenes and how to fit them into the program. Right. And free agency is a big topic every year. Everybody gets excited, I think, hoping that there is a big story in free agency. This is not a fizzle that it's fireworks. And Kyle Busch is kind of at the top of this list. There's every other day I hear Kyle Busch is happy, there's more. There's a likelihood they resign. There's nowhere for him to go. But then I look around and I'm like, I see some places he could probably land that wouldn't be, you know, would be either lateral moves or maybe some improvement, depending on how you view the teams. What do you guys think?
- [04:10]
Adam Alexander
I agree with that assessment that thinking he doesn't have options would be a miss for. I mean, there's always some seats available, moving around. I look at the crew chief change as an organization committed to their driver. So I look at that as them saying, hey, Kyle, you're our guy. You're our guy. You know, we're going to make changes around you to see if we can get this going in the right direction. Who wouldn't want Kyle, right? The car seems to be partnered. They have stickers on the car every week. I mean, it's. What is it, three years now? Two and a half years of winless streak? It's like, it's a. It's longer than it should be, almost three years. But Is it not crazy how quick though? Like, the last three weeks have been way better.
- [04:50]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I was going to ask you as a crew chief, Steve, the way things have went for that team since they made that change, I wasn't anticipating much of a. Much of a difference in performance. But immediately he's qualifying better, racing better, seems to be happier.
- [05:05]
Adam Alexander
So I don't put that on one guy. I don't know. Obviously I'm not in the meetings, but I don't put it on one. I think Jim is a very smart guy, but what that tells me is it happens to all of us in relationships and in business, whatever. I wonder how the organization just itself maybe just didn't get stifled, right? Maybe the engineering didn't feel like they were being heard and Arrow didn't feel like they were being heard and somebody else. And then the owner, R.C. comes in. He's like, we're gonna make a public front facing change. This is not a behind the scenes change. This is the number one guy on top of the pit box. And if that didn't, you know, generate. So I look at the changes we've had in our careers and I'm like, man, I went in there. If anybody has suggestions, let me hear. I took all this information in to try to get up to speed as quick as possible. So I wonder if it wasn't just one guy, but if other people in the organization felt like they could be heard or if it forced them to peel the band aid off and be like, hey, man, we are afraid to make changes because we're afraid to get worse. And you get to a point where you like, you can't get any worse, then you have to make some changes.
- [06:02]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
But this is something that they were doing last year. This was like a new idea they had worked together last year toward the end of the year. And so kind of, they kind of knew what they were getting themselves into. And they're running better now than they did at the end of last year. Right.
- [06:18]
Steve Letarte
But here's what I would say, though. It's not just the eight. Like, if you look, it's almost like the flip switched over there across the board because both those guys ran really well at Watkins Glen. The eight had incredible speed at Texas, even though they didn't get the payoff there. And. And then you look at what they did in the All Star race. I mean, the 3 car was unbelievable. Probably ran as well as he had, you know, since last fall when he won at Richmond. So I, I feel like that, you know, as you bring it To Kyle Busch. And where does he land with his future? He's got to be incredibly encouraged about staying where he is just because of the speed they're now producing across the board.
- [06:53]
Adam Alexander
Well, Denny's helping every older driver out there.
- [06:55]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That's right.
- [06:56]
Adam Alexander
I mean, not being smart. No, you're a five year old winning. I think that helps if you're an older driver. Billy. Look, it can still happen if we get the cars right. You know, I think it's an easier sales pitch that it isn't an automatic age thing.
- [07:08]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. Let's move on to the HMS 48 car. Alex Bowman was injured and had to sit out a few races, came back. You know, Alex has had this, I don't know, hot and cold sort of up and down career. You know, he'll, he'll run off or a win and, or have a good string of runs and then have a string of struggles and it's kind of hard to know, you know, what you're going to get. But there's been just, you know, rumors flying around. One of those is that Corey Day could be seen as a guy that could depend upon, depending upon how the rest of this year goes. He's won two races in the O'Reilly series. You know, they, they could move him up which would, you know, I feel like, you know, I got my opinions about that. I think Corey could, everybody that goes into the O'Reilly series, especially Corey, who has a very limited asphalt experience, everybody could, you know, the two year deal is kind of always the, the, the, the, the minimum, I think for, for young guys coming through the O'Reilly series. So I'd like, I'd like to see Corey run another season, but he could get thrust into that position. Connor Zillich has also been mentioned as a rumor of somebody that could possibly get there, but that would involve all kinds of, you know, crazy shenanigans with contracts and so forth because he's with Trackhouse. And so, you know, I don't know what that means for Alex because I think Alex belongs in the Cup Series. I think he's talented and when he's injury free, when he's healthy, you know, I think that he can get the job done. So it's a tough spot. I think if you're over at, you know, if you're Jeff Gordon or any of those guys over trying to figure out what to do.
- [08:54]
Adam Alexander
Yeah, this is where the business of sports and the emotion of sports becomes really tangled because I believe that Alex deserves a cup ride. And I think when he's at its best. He's. He can win. He's proven that. But the unfortunate parts, like when your favorite football player goes down, he's your guy and he might have taken you to some great heights, but if you, if he just can't perform or consistently perform or just stay healthy enough, then you have to make bad or tough is better word, maybe tough business decisions. So I think that it would have to be a business decision to keep them, as crazy as that sounds like a partner, whether it's Ally, somebody would have to say, we, we've invested in this guy. He's our brand and we love him. And I just don't know, like, I mean, allies there. But are they there because Alex Bowman. I don't. I mean, I don't know.
- [09:38]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
My question. I. So Al. Al and Alex got a great relationship. Yeah. I think that's why Alex is still there, honestly. And so, because I, you know, I know that Ally loves Alex Bowman. And so, you know, I think that is. That has lengthened his Runway.
- [09:53]
Adam Alexander
Well, listen, if I had a choice, if you're asking me between Corey and Connor Zillich, I would move mountains to get Connor Zillich in.
- [09:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I agree. But Corey day just won two races in the O'Reilly series. He's proving that he has a special talent. He has the, the commitment from Larson, who, you know, has, has, you know, is. Is part of this program. So he has that, you know, and I think, I think Jeff Gordon has kind of gotten behind this as well, signing off on Corey Day. So look at the three drivers that they have outside of Bowman. They're not getting rid of Byron, they're not getting rid of Chase, they're not getting rid of. They're not getting rid of those guys. If you bring Zillich in, that is a roadblock for day that for like a decade. Yeah, that is. That is a bad sign for Corey Day. So I feel like that business decision wise now, if Ally is super happy with Bowman, regardless of what the performance on the racetrack has been, I would give Bowman another year. I would say, look, you know, the plan is to run Day this year and the following season in a rally series with the idea that he goes into the 48 after that.
- [11:03]
Adam Alexander
I see. I don't see your point on timing, though, because if you don't, I think Corey is going to need a place quicker than some thought.
- [11:12]
Steve Letarte
Corey's not 18 or 19, you know, I mean, like, Connor's 19. Like, you know, so I look at drivers at the O'Reilly level. Now, and sometimes to me, and this
- [11:22]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
is Corey Day, 22.
- [11:24]
Steve Letarte
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty sure he's 22, so he's a little older. And I realize he doesn't have that foundation of stock car experience. I mean, he just really getting his feet wet doing it. But that Runway is a little different for him because he's not a teenager. So I feel like maybe you speed that path up a little bit. The other thing for me on Corey Day is I heard the rumors about the 48, and I'm like, man, I think he needs another year. And then he went out and did what he did at Dover on Saturday, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, we can't get him there fast enough. I mean, that was impressive.
- [11:55]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I agree. I mean, you can put him in the 48 next year. I think you're not going to. I think at the end of his career, it's all the same. But I believe if you put him in the 48 next year, it's going to be very similar to what we saw in Byron when he got in the cup series out of the gate. It's just going to take a little time. It's completely different, and the car is completely different. He's got to learn an entirely different tire, and it's got a smaller. It just drives. Everything about that car is nothing like he's ever drove in his life. Maybe the sooner you get him there, the better.
- [12:25]
Adam Alexander
Well, I feel like for William, Byron, Exalta and Rick made that work. And what I mean by that is, from the outside, it seemed like William knew he had a long Runway. Yeah, we had a partner who's on board for a long time. We have an owner who knows you might be moving up a little quick, but we're just going to get you there and let you mature. And it's worked out wonders. Right. So for Corey, I don't think there's a wrong answer to your point. Like, if you can convince Ally and you say, hey, man, just don't lose the blue sky right away, this is a really tough jump, and there's going to be a little bit of a learning curve on the other side, because, look, the talent's there. It's an interesting. Years ago, I would have said that that, you know, you had the spire organization and Mr. Hendrick had a lot to do. But since Spires really kind of, you know, shown up on their own, I feel like they're kind of off doing their own thing with Josevar now. Like. Like four years or three years ago if you'd asked me, I'm like, well Josevar is going to be in line but I think that SPIRE organization is standing on their own two feet now and they've signed him up for a long time and I think his name's off the list.
- [13:20]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I agree. I think too that Josevar, if you're thinking, if you're assuming Osavar could go to hms, I don't think that that's a fit for him. I don't think HMS and are a good fit together. I think where host of our is is they let him be him. Right. And yeah, so, and I agree with what you're saying about spire. I think that you know they've, they've made a commitment and they've, they've shown to host of our that they can, they can get him what he needs and where he wants to go. They can succeed. I, you know I, I think Zillich is absolutely, if he is available, if there's a way in a route for him to ever be taken out of the track house deal or bought out or whatever that means he's absolutely the best option with the most upside. But I just don't know what that mean. That would mean legally. The other driver I think we could talk about. There's a couple on this list but the one that stands out to me is Corey Heim. I think we kind of all know that 2311 is where he's going to end up.
- [14:17]
Adam Alexander
Just last week Legacy said that they were working on Herbst Riley Herbs. Yeah, I mean that kind of. Yeah.
- [14:23]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
All those dominoes seem to fall in place. Yeah. And I think we couldn't be more excited about having him become part of the series.
- [14:28]
Adam Alexander
What an interesting year though I haven't heard your opinion so if you've given it, my apologies. But for Corey Heim to basically suspend full time racing for a year and kind of run whatever is. I don't remember anyone doing this of recent years. Pretty fascinating.
- [14:44]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, it is. It's not the same but a bit similar to what Casey Kane did with Red Bull.
- [14:50]
Adam Alexander
Oh yeah.
- [14:51]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Where he kind of did a lame duck year there. Not really lame duck. I mean they had some success and ran really well before. He was good and he was already tacked, you know, tacked into the HMS deal but he had to wait a year for. Because Mark was going to run one more season. So I, you know, I don't think there are very many examples that would even be some somewhat similar. Corey is incredible and I've loved it because a couple of times that he's had some off weekends he's came and raced with the cars tour. So that's kind of nice for us to get a guy of his caliber to come down and run with us. But it seems like that he's starting to really get the cup car figured out, you know, starting to show some, some speed in that car and it's not really even a full fledged effort behind him and he's able to go out there and, and when given the opportunity to lead laps, control the race and all those things, he's to show that he's capable of doing that.
- [15:38]
Adam Alexander
It's remarkable to me how he can go from series to series to series, not with any sort of rhythm and be so. I mean he's like 11ft that young.
- [15:47]
Steve Letarte
To be that young and to do what we're talking about, as difficult as the cup car evidently is to drive and to float in and out when you have that limited experience and you're that young is so impressive. And you know, what they did at Texas, I mean, I, I know it was a strategy call, but you put him out front and he's leading laps and taking care of business. The other thing I like about him is he's so steady and I look at, you know, Denny's approach and I think about Redick and you know, Bubba's a little up and down right with his personality, but I feel like Corey is just a really nice fit personality wise to compliment what they have at 23:11.
- [16:26]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He is a lot like Denny. I agree with that. Hey, this is Dale Hart Jr. And for all the latest Dale Jr. Download gear, including the I'm old, drink some beer T shirt we've been talking about here around the office, head over to shop.dirtymomedia.com for all the latest merch. Right now, new FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right. Turn $5 into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started. And when every possession matters in the playoffs, FanDuel makes it easy to get closer to the action. From player props on your favorite stars to all the tools you need to back them up. FanDuel puts player research right at your fingertips. You can check stats, trends, matchups, all in one place to make your picks with confidence. It's everything you need, all in one app, so don't miss your shot. I myself personally enjoy FanDuel. It's a great app. Again, all the information you need to be able to make confident bets is right there within the app. It's a ton of fun and you can run the gamut. If you're able to bet it, it's on FanDuel. They got a lot of different sports, a lot of different props, so many different things you can do and so many fun, cool, quirky bets to make. I'm a huge fan. Head over to fanduel.com dirtymo to get started. FanDuel play your game must be 21
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Steve Letarte
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- [18:21]
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- [19:40]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
let's talk about some, you know, teams rising to the top or some teams that are struggling. We. I don't really hesitate to say this, but I'm not sure if it's what everybody believes. I believe that the next gen car has swayed us toward a more F1 style experience. As consumers of the product or fans of watching it, you see more instead of independent teams or having one car out of an organization really run well, and the others sort of everybody's kind of sprinkled throughout the field with this car. And the way that we set cars up, the way engineers control a lot of what's going on, Crew chiefs are more about orchestrating just the weekend, make sure everything goes well, and they're more about putting people in the right places. They're not so much setup guys anymore. The way the cars are built, put together, and sent to the racetrack, we see organizations run on top of each other. Which ones are getting it right? Which ones need to do a little work? Which ones are surprising you with how maybe they're struggling or succeeding?
- [20:46]
Adam Alexander
Ryan Blaney, talent behind the wheel must be outstanding because he is the standout at Team Penske now for a relatively lengthy period of time. And I look, I think Joey Lynock can absolutely drive. So that just tells me that if you assume all three cars are reasonably close, Blaney is consistently the faster of those three cars by reasonable margin, which shocks me. So I'd say for the underperformance side, I would say the 22 specifically is the one that's shocking me. But all of Team Penske has been down. Blaney gives them some hopes at times. I think is maybe, maybe even some false hopes at times. The other one I have that, you know, it's Toyota's year, and it's hard to pick on Legacy now because they just had an okay run at the All Star Race, but they, they went a completely different way from what I understand, doing a lot of their own tools and beating kind of their own drum over there. And we all know how cyclical this sport is. Like, if I'm a Toyota driver right now and I'm not competing for wins, I'm scared to death, or if I'm crew chief in one of those cars and we're not winning trophies because at some point we're not going to have the best equipment, and then we're really in trouble. So if your legacy and the brand that you drive Seems to be at the top of the heap. I'm concerned at their distance from the other ones, but maybe it's just a long term play.
- [21:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I would just, I would. So they went about, instead of sharing tools with, with all the other Toyota teams, they went about building their own SIM and all that stuff. Am I correct?
- [22:08]
Adam Alexander
That's how I understand it. And much like RFK did the same thing with Ford, both of them wanted to be almost brand agnostic, if you believe it. Right. They want to be flexible.
- [22:17]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I feel in my mind, when I watched a, when I watched them race on Sunday, I give them a. I give them the benefit of the doubt because I know that this is a process for them. And if I don't see the results, I go, well, you know, I'm not, I'm not naive enough to think that. I mean, I guess I know Jimmy Johnson. Just as, you know, as you do, the guy is going to succeed. He's not going to fail. And when he first kind of got into the ownership side of it, I was like, man, the Jimmy Johnson I know, I don't know if he's going to be able to know. I don't know if he realizes how much time he's going to have to commit to this, to really make this work. Because he's everywhere. He's all over the country, all over the world. Right. And so. But he's proven to me that he absolutely is willing to put in the legwork and the accountability and he is a leader of the organization. And so I believe that when I watch them race, I go, all right, you know, I don't know whether they have all of the pieces in terms of. Do they got the, Is the, Are these the drivers that are going to be winning races for them when they start winning? Are these the. You know, these might not be the cars yet. These might, you know, they may be missing a few pieces. Right. But they will get there. And so I almost give them the benefit of the doubt. But I would love to see it. I would love to see the process start to work.
- [23:43]
Adam Alexander
Yeah.
- [23:44]
Steve Letarte
You know, it's funny because, you know, here we are talking about our summer run and I feel like last year it was about this time that we started to see flash from both Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. I mean, Nemechek qualified like top 10 in the 600. And then I look at what Erik Jones did over the weekend in the All Star race. I mean, he, he was right there. And I won't say he was as Good as Hamlin and Briscoe and Reddick, but he was able to hang with those guys and. And then I wonder about. You give him 90 minutes of practice, which is something these teams aren't used to having. And maybe they're. This weekend does serve as a little bit of an opportunity to turn a corner for them.
- [24:19]
Adam Alexander
Maybe that's what I need is. Is a. Is a blip because, you know, you reminded me they came up to Indy and they weren't just okay, like, they were standout fast and. And I think they alluded to the fact that we have to pick and choose our weeks. Yeah. You know, we can't. If we try to do it all the time, we don't ever do it great. We have to kind of like, pick our ones. So maybe we see something over the summer. Maybe they have some tracks identified. We'll start to see some movement.
- [24:41]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. One thing that I've enjoyed watching, it's the first half of the year and I'll be curious if it continues, if the storyline continues to kind of be woven together, but it's a little bit of Spire and Suarez and Track House. The tale of those two teams, but. And how they're somewhat linked because of the Suarez relationship that the Trackhouse had for years. And now he's at Spire and he's running well, better. Suarez has taken his opportunity expire and seems to have leveled up a little bit. Track House has struggled to make pace, make speed. Now, they had a good day at Watkins Glen and there's been some moments, but they would probably agree with all of us sitting here at the table that they're not running the way they want to run. They had a good run this weekend with Zilich, but there was a lot of reason. I mean, there's a lot of cars got knocked out of that race, you know, to a ton of attrition. Good quality cars that would have, you know, been, you know, cars he'd had to run for that top five. You know, where do you guys kind of see Spire? Where do you see Track House? I think those teams, for whatever reason, I kind of linked them together, even though they have zero history, but they're. They're like two ships passing in the night.
- [25:50]
Steve Letarte
They are.
- [25:50]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
One's going one way and one's going the other, and. And I'm not sure what, you know, I think I know Spires headed to the, you know, headed to the top. If they can continue, if they can sustain the, you know, the support that it takes to be, you know, it Cost a lot of money to be able to compete with Rick Hendrick, with Penske, it cost. It just does. And if they can continue to sustain, you know, that effort, they're going to continue to race for wins and challenge some of these bigger teams, while Trackhouse is headed in the other direction for whatever reason. And I can't really put my finger on it.
- [26:29]
Adam Alexander
So I think there's a driver in each organization that's going to be the North Light to each of them. So follow me here. For Spire, Josevar will be the reason they keep getting talented engineers, talented pit crew guys, and other drivers. Like, when younger drivers come out of the O'Reilly series, they're going to see Spire as an opportunity. Because if you're a good race car driver and you believe you could do it, Josevar is doing it. So you're like, man, right. Like, if somebody's doing it in that equipment, you go, man, I. Whether you can or can, if you believe you can be Carson Hosavar, then you want to go drive there. It's your best opportunity. On the flip side, you know, svg, I have him kind of circled a little bit for the limited amount of oval practice we get anymore. He is dang close to Ross Chastain most weeks now. I think that equipment isn't very good. So if Ross can get better and the organization can get better, I want to see how quick can SVG keep up with him as they move closer to the front because I believe it's way harder to run like 8th versus 15th. So those are the two drivers I have circled. It's funny, for some reason, I have them attached as well. I'm trying to figure out why. I think they're attached in my mind. But those two are going to. Maybe the timing of them all, but you get to see all these drivers on Saturday. But, like, where. Where are those young drivers go? And I think those are the two teams that are going to have opportunity at some point.
- [27:46]
Steve Letarte
It is funny, though, when you look at Hocevar and. And you talk about me doing the Saturday stuff, you know, he kind of skipped that. I mean, he. He ran a handful of races in O'Reilly, but he. He was basically straight from trucks to cup full time. And you know, to me, when I look at Spire, Hosar is the one that's going to get the headlines for so many reasons, and he has the win at Talladega, and he just is a dynamic personality that's going to draw lots of attention. But we talk about Suarez, Suarez in year one has got himself in a chase position. I know we got a long way to go, but he's, he's done all the things in the first half of season to be in a spot to be successful. You know, you go back to Watkins Glenn and, and Michael McDowell has not hit the sweet spot, but they, they found it there and ran, you know, second and had a great run similar to what SVG did driving back through the field after they were on a different strategy. So I, I feel like the parts and pieces for, are there for them to continue to grow and I, I'm a glass half full guy. So I know that it hasn't gone as well as everyone would have hoped at track house in the first half of the regular season. But what I would say is I feel like the win at Watkins Glen, the performance there of what Zillich was able to do coupled with what he did in the All Star race, I still believe in Ross. I, I feel like we could see them turn a corner. I don't know that they're going to make a huge splash beyond the road courses, but I'm, I'm not giving up hope there on them being able to make something out of 2020.
- [29:11]
Adam Alexander
This is a bit of a jump, but because we started with Kyle Busch, you know, I know it's a truck series, but he's been off kind of in a little bit. Everything he's been driving that performance in Dover in that Spire truck was. I mean it was everything, right, Whatever his fast lap, I mean he basically. So is there any way that is something. If you're RCR trying to keep Kyle, you're trying to keep him because somebody else is trying to get him. You would imagine, you know, is a Spire looking to bring a guy like him in? I don't know why they would with their current driver lineup. But he's over there running the truck
- [29:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and I'm surprised, I'm surprised that that conversation hasn't gotten any legs. I mean, you don't hear any rumors of a Kyle Busch to Spire on the Cub side. And you know, I look at Michael McDowell, he's. He's obviously got some very good relationships at Spire. He's been there a while. He's, he's. They find they see value in him. And I often wonder and, and Spire has ran their team as a business. They don't, they don't spend foolishly. They have, we've watched them. They will run, they will, they will put, they will put one car in a position if they believe it can to go out and run harder and run better. But it needs to achieve X amount on a, on a finishing position or result to bet to do what they needed to do financially for the weekend. While the other car has an another agenda. You know, this was before they went to a three car team, maybe even before the the next gen. And I wonder if there's still a little bit of that business model remaining at Spire. And that's why we see their cars unlike a lot of the other organizations in the series run uniquely like this host of our will be in the top 15 and you know the, the 71 maybe not quite as quite as not doesn't run quite as well on average. And I wonder if that's still that that business model that they've kind of adhered to for the longest time to make this make sense financially is still present in some pockets of their organization. You know, I don't know that they're just flush with, you know, bags of cash and can just go pushing both all three cars all in every single week. Maybe there's still a bit of a,
- [31:29]
Adam Alexander
you know and like divide and conquer. Like hey it could be set up A or B or C. Let's try them all and we'll try to learn and cover more grants. Something different or the. What I will say is I've always heard Mike McDowell's work ethic is outstanding away from the racetrack. And you wonder while Suarez is not very young, he has definitely been up and down like on the racetrack emotionally, things like that. Josevar is very young. You wonder if McDowell is just a really good team guy in the room.
- [31:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I've heard that Michael has had. I'm not certain about how much this is really true, but I've heard that Michael's very hands on at picking people that are around him and even outside of that team that he drives for in the building involved, he's involved in other decisions when, when they're making key hires and maybe he could see himself while he's probably wants to drive for several more years, maybe can see himself moving into a you know, a foreman style role in the or GM style role in the business somewhere. But I, I wouldn't. I only assume that the personal relationship and business relationship with McDowell is so valuable and that's why we haven't heard any rumblings of could Kyle go to Spire. Right, right. If there's a place for him to go. That's you know, you look around and you got to start thinking looking at teams and that was one that I wondered if could be a possibility because he does run the truck and they do have a relationship.
- [32:59]
Adam Alexander
It is shocking that it had. Nobody's jumped over that.
- [33:01]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah.
- [33:02]
Adam Alexander
You know, over that. The most baffling race team in the whole garage era for me is what's RFK going to do with three signed drivers and two charters they said they'd
- [33:10]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
run and open and all three performing. Yeah.
- [33:15]
Steve Letarte
a really high level. Because last year, you know, it was a struggle, you know, I mean, to
- [33:20]
Adam Alexander
get and so on Dale's point, I think rfk, some of it's next gen, some of the Formula one, but I think rfk, they're the ones I really noticed that ran next to each other.
- [33:32]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Like, oh, man.
- [33:33]
Adam Alexander
I mean, they would run like 12, 13, I mean, crazy close to one another. And as they moved up and down the field, they would do it together. It was crazy.
- [33:40]
Steve Letarte
I'll tell you this. It was interesting to me. You talk about RFK and consistency. I looked at the numbers in preparation for what we're going to do, and I want to say that Priest is finished between 9th and 14th in nine of the 12 races. Yeah, I mean, it's, he is. He is. That is where he runs. And it doesn't matter type of track. It's, it's pretty remarkable what he does just to maintain that level and put himself in position.
- [34:08]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, I, I, I like what they're doing. I, I think it's time to, you know, I'm sure they want this as well, but I mean, to your point, I've seen them run 10th all year.
- [34:20]
Adam Alexander
Yeah.
- [34:20]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
As a team, as an organization. And I know they're, they're trying, but it'd be awesome to kind of see them kick it up another notch, you know, go get, get their shelves to where they're fourth, fifth, sixth every single week, running on top of each other like they do. But I heard that if they don't get that third charter, they'll just run open in the third car. But everybody's gonna be on the track one way or another. And there was a. I forget what the number was, but I saw it on social media somewhere. They had determined it would be like a, I don't know, $5 million swing or something like that from, from. Or, you know, not a, Not a crazy, crazy number.
- [34:56]
Adam Alexander
Wow.
- [34:56]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
From running open to non open, but still, I mean, it's a lot of money, but I thought it, It's a
- [35:02]
Adam Alexander
lot of money until you think what a charter sells for what they are anymore.
- [35:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
They're $100 million I'd say right now
- [35:08]
Steve Letarte
that's a $95 million swing.
- [35:10]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
If you get.
- [35:10]
Steve Letarte
If you can go $5 million the wrong direction for running as an open, that's a lot better than writing the check for 100 million to own the charter. Harder in the short term, at least.
- [35:18]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, I suppose. You know, there's. There's 36 charters, and it'll be interesting to see if there's any inventory.
- [35:32]
Adam Alexander
Yeah, I mean, basically. So we'll start. Let's figure out. We got one. Wear charter.
- [35:39]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
They seem to.
- [35:40]
Adam Alexander
Seem to be fine.
- [35:42]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You can never tell.
- [35:43]
Adam Alexander
Correct? Correct. But I'm just going.
- [35:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No, no, no. I wanted to. I wanted to. You can never tell whether Rick Ware really wants to keep it or sell it. And it is in his best interest right now to say I'm not interested in selling it. He's playing poker, this man.
- [36:00]
Adam Alexander
I'm just letting you know.
- [36:01]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Doesn't miss.
- [36:01]
Adam Alexander
He's genius. Not miss. Because when they offered me 5 million 20 years ago, I'd have took it. And now he's sitting on 100. Right. Like.
- [36:07]
Steve Letarte
Like, I thought about that so many times about.
- [36:10]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh, you have, huh?
- [36:11]
Steve Letarte
Well, just the. No, I'm just saying the role that, you know, you see in the sport, and you think about where you fit in, you're like, man, what if somehow I had had a chance to buy into one of these charter deals?
- [36:20]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh.
- [36:21]
Steve Letarte
And then where would I have found the jumping off point to say we hit it big, only to find out two or three years later? We could have hit it a lot bigger.
- [36:30]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. I'm telling you. Yeah.
- [36:31]
Adam Alexander
I mean, so to your point about inventory. Right. So we have that single car, JTG or whatever it is now. Sorry. Hayek just resigned, Ricky. So they seem to be very in and confident, which is amazing. Great organization. Happy there. I'm not trying to run them out, but there's a one there. There's the hoss factory. Like, there's just not a lot of inventory out there for these charters that I can think of.
- [36:53]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What do you think? Do you think the Haas.
- [36:55]
Adam Alexander
I don't understand it. I just. I'm. I'm with you. I'm as confused by trying to run one.
- [37:00]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh, man.
- [37:01]
Adam Alexander
It just seems like such a daunting task.
- [37:04]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah.
- [37:04]
Steve Letarte
On such an island in this day and age, That's a. That's a challenge.
- [37:07]
Adam Alexander
I mean, Hayek's been doing this a long time, and I think they have a very good group of people. I think Ricky Stenhouse is the perfect driver to, like, Line up with them. They seem to have the same tenacity and mentality. And I can't imagine the emotional task it is. Well, Ricky said it when he came and sat in on the, the actual detrimental. He went and talked to Denny and he's like, you know, I load up thinking or hoping we're going to have winning equipment. And then very quickly in practice I have to adjust because Denny was trying to figure out like how his mental approach to the weekend is. And that just has to be just emotionally draining when you have to kind of reset your target every week. But they do it and they, man, they're consistent.
- [37:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The Haas one, I think that's.
- [37:48]
Adam Alexander
I don't understand.
- [37:49]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I think that's the one. You're not going to take that team all by yourself and drive that kid into the top five. No. And race for wins. You're not. And so they're just going to bleed money running at the cup level when he was probably pretty happy running in the O'Reilly series every week.
- [38:07]
Steve Letarte
Right.
- [38:08]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Running up front.
- [38:09]
Adam Alexander
If you sell it for 100 million, you can run a lot of O'Reilly for a long time and have a pretty, you know, the interest on your money would probably pay for your O'Reilly effort.
- [38:17]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And they've got two O'Reilly teams that are really competitive.
- [38:19]
Steve Letarte
But it's not, it's not just the two O'Reilly teams that run out of their shop and under their umbrella. They've done a really good job of creating the alliance deal with Jeremy Clements and the Siegs. So they foundationally what they have done with their O'Reilly program, the business model and I don't know what the numbers are but, but both from a competitive standpoint and results standpoint. And then what you would anticipate goes down on the business side has been pretty impressive.
- [38:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I agree. I just feel like that if there's any inventory for charters at the end of this year, that would be one that I think could do, you know, with some convincing, you know, could end up being on the, on the market. Let's, you know, one of the major things that the major, the number one thing I think that we, we are experiencing. Experiencing this year is the, is the chase for the championship being back. And it's been, it's been a lot of fun. Every race looking at the points at the end of the day and saying, hey, what happened to this guy? What happened? Oh man, that bad finish. Look at their man, that really put him in a bad spot. And we've all done a Lot of talking together about what we all individually believe needs to happen for these teams going forward to have a shot at winning a championship. But we got some guys and, you know, we can talk about that a little bit. We got some people that are outside of the top 16. You know, Chase, Briscoe, Joe Logano, Chastain, Kyle Busch, those. Those are names that you think would be in the top 16 comfortably.
- [39:53]
Steve Letarte
And they're not all going to make it. I mean, they're just not going to get there. Yeah.
- [39:56]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You think they're all going to miss?
- [39:58]
Steve Letarte
Well, I will say they won't all make it. I mean, I don't know that they'll all miss. I have. I have a pretty good amount of confidence in Briscoe because I feel like they're barely on the outside. A lot of them being on the outside. As a product of svg, winning at Watkins Glenn and elevating him, and with only two road course races left between now in the Chase, I think that's going to be difficult to sustain. And Briscoe, to me, speed wise, equipment wise, team wise, is in the best position to take advantage and make a jump.
- [40:29]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He's 20 points out of 13th or 14th, so, I mean, a win, he's.
- [40:34]
Adam Alexander
I mean, he has firepower enough to. I'm not saying he's going to, but he could go to the 600. Would you be shocked if he goes to the 600, wins two stages and runs fifth in the race? Like he could have a huge monster point day.
- [40:44]
Steve Letarte
Yep.
- [40:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I think you guys remember last year, he was struggling trying to figure this car out, and I think the 600s, where they started to catch their. Won the car it out, right? Boom. Yeah. And then went on and won Pocono and had a really strong run all the way to the very end of the season. So that could, you know, Briscoe could catch fire again. Logano, you mentioned him. I really don't know. I don't know what to think about that team and how they're going to. How they're going to find speed, because, you know, they're not. You mentioned Blaney running good, but you can tell that the organization is just kind of not quite what they're usually. You know, how they usually are. I just don't know how Joey, I think he might be able to slip into the top 16, but I just.
- [41:29]
Adam Alexander
Do you think that's even on his. I asked this because you and I have had these candid conversations. I've heard other drivers talk about it. I don't I'm not willing to say that he doesn't care if he makes the Chase. Right. But for a guy that's won multiple championships while the. While the Dreamls die, if you don't make the Chase, can't win another championship, like, he's got to think, man, if we sneak in in 16th, unless there's something coming on the horizon, like how far are we really going to go?
- [41:53]
Steve Letarte
That's feels like for someone like that, making the Chase at this point would be just a consolation prize because you're not going to get yourself into the top 16 and then get yourself up into the top six or seven, which is where we all universally believe you need to be prior to the reset if you're really going to make a run at a title. So, you know, you and I talked to Jeff Gordon and it was interesting to hear Jeff talk about the Chase standings and where they are and where they need to be. And his whole thing was like, it's not that we're not looking at points, but we need to improve our performance before points really become something that we're concerned about. And I look at Logano kind of like that too. Like, we got a lot of things we got to figure out before making the Chase is, you know, what we need to do. I'm sure they want to get there,
- [42:41]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
but yeah, there's different.
- [42:42]
Adam Alexander
I forgot how magical it was to look at the results and then the points. This, that sounds dumb, but like my whole career used to get that NASCAR printout and it would have the results and then the points and you just went back and forth and back and forth, back and forth and it. I just forgot about it. We had the playoff format for so long that I never looked. I just didn't.
- [42:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You didn't need to. Yeah.
- [43:00]
Adam Alexander
But now it's back and man, I found like, I'm like the kid with the back sports section anymore. I'm like comparing the finishing order to the point.
- [43:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I love it. I think I've, I've been, you know, kind of, I guess surprised by some drivers opinions when. And this isn't new. This was also going on before we had win and you're in. You know, you talked to Tony Stewart about, you know, his chance of, of. Of making the. The Chase or, or doing well in the playoffs. And he, he would say, he would say something like, we just need to win a damn race. We can't even win. I don't care how. I don't want to be in that. I don't want to Be in the chase if I can't even win, Damn, we suck, you know, and you ask if I asked Larson or Chase Elliott about points, they go, now I don't even look at it. I don't look at it. I just wear it. You know, I just go out there, try to win a race. I don't worry about the points. I don't look at it. And then you got other guys that are telling me, I look at it every day. I look at it every day. I'm always looking at it wondering, you know, what I thinking about how I, you know, how I can move forward or how far ahead of the guy I am that I need to be ahead of. And so there's different. Drivers are all different in how they absorb or how they receive all this information. And you're probably right about Joe Logano. They're probably sitting there going, hell of the chase. We just need to get running better. We're not running good enough. I don't. It doesn't matter. We're not running good enough to do anything in the chase if we get there, you know, So I think that they'd probably tell you that they just want to go win one weekend. Remember what that feels like.
- [44:31]
Steve Letarte
Yeah. You know, and what that can do for you.
- [44:33]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hell, right? Yeah.
- [44:37]
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- [46:32]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
we got some interesting things that happened to the schedule this past, this past off season. I'm excited about Wilkesboro being part of the package that we're going to be a part of one of the races that we'll get to broadcast together. Going there as a kid all those years and that finally being back in this in the system. We just left Dover, the All Star Race which I I want to get you guys opinion about that as well. I enjoyed Dover. I enjoyed the All Star race. I wasn't there. I saw all the comments from all types of people, drivers, media about how it didn't feel right. You know, it didn't feel like the All Star Race, didn't have the feeling. But tuning in like I was entertained. I know that it got a little tired, snooze fest a little bit at the end, but that's all right. You know, I mean it's a long race. What did you guys take away from the All Star Race? Going to Dover could have been a lot worse.
- [47:23]
Adam Alexander
Oh so I will start with the highlights. I think that the track did an amazing like I thought it did everything, it was racy. So for me this sounds silly but since one hot night, like I want lights and that's not a Dover problem, but I want the All Star rates under the lights on a Friday or Saturday night. Glitzy and glammy and fireworks. Dover didn't provide that. But what Dover did do for me is it now has entered the one race wonderful markets and what I mean is New Hampshire, Michigan, Pocono, Texas, they're all amazing events because we go there once and what I saw from Dover, I was there for 500s. We went to 400. I think maybe it's time for a 350 lap race at Dover. Like that's enough for me. But, but the, the track was racy. The car looked good on there. Like I'm nowhere near done with the monster mile. It just doesn't have shiny All Star. It's more blue collar coven score your points type of momentum for me. So it's like didn't do it for All Star weekend. But that's not a deterrent or black eye for what Dover is. It's just it should be a tough stop on the schedule somewhere in the summer that the driver has to go do it.
- [48:32]
Steve Letarte
And I feel like Denny kind of said that after he won. I mean this guy's not going to go out and say well we, you know, we shouldn't be doing this because he won the, and won the million dollars. But he definitely is of the belief this should be a points race and he feels like it's more suited for that. And a lot of his reasoning was and, and Dale, you could speak to this more so than anyone certainly here but the uniqueness of that place and what a one off it is on the schedule to utilize that as an all star race didn't seem to have the right fit. I, I'm kind of like Steve. I like lights and I'm actually a fan of doing it here. I loved when, when we kind of had that spring, you know, speed weeks and, and it was, you know, partnered with the 600 and I would even go a step further if we're going to put ideas on the table. You know, Chris Myers floated the idea when we were talking about the Clash and maybe doing it on Monday night at Daytona prior to the 500. I, I know there's a network change right. You know, with the 600 and us doing prime and Fox rapping. I would love to see the All Star race on a Wednesday night prior to the 600 and, and just really play it out that way and tie all of that together is one race week. But I, I thought the racing was, was good, very competitive. 200 laps to me is too long of a stint. I know they had the competition caution but I like to see shorter segments where we really, really allow guys to get after it.
- [49:53]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That would have been my one question I guess is if so. So let's assume that the clash goes to Daytona and it's run on Monday and we get a bit of a speed week vibe back which would be amazing. And then we all think that, you know, unanimously that Dover deserves to be a points race and say we, we make it a points race and we do. Is it a big ask to have the teams run An All Star race on a Wednesday before the 600. Is that lift possible for the, for the, for the series?
- [50:29]
Adam Alexander
I think if it's in Charlotte, it's not, it's not impossible. I think asking them to go somewhere else, it is. I would actually. So I would flip it where like you'd have an All Star race with no practice, no open, you know, vote the, vote the drivers in or earn your way in or you don't get practice. I don't want to tell you. And then give a full hour for the 600 being in. Hey, I know you weren't in the All Star race. The tracks closer to 600, we'll give them an hour on Saturday when the O'Reilly race is going a little old school. I'd make, if we're going to do that, I'd make it feel old, right? I'd show up Wednesday and the only thing you would do is unload your All Star cars, run a lap of qualifying, maybe pull them out of a bingle. I don't know how we do it, but like limit all the on track and then move the on track better for the 600 and make that 600 feel like the Daytona 500, which is we kick off with a race, we have the news of who won that race on Wednesday night, and we lead into the biggest, you know, it's the biggest racing weekend of the year. The Indy 500 and the 600 are like the Memorial Day weekend is the biggest race of the week. So I'd be fine with a Wednesday night All Star if it's, if it's, it would be a big lift to travel.
- [51:29]
Steve Letarte
Here's the other thing, though. There's a lot of races there in April and May that are regional, at least on the schedule now. You know, we go to Bristol in the spring, we go to Martinsville in the spring. Darlington always falls around that same time. If you run Darlington on Sunday, you know, teams are already in the region where it's very easy and much more manageable than to be at Charlotte on Wednesday night prior to the six.
- [51:50]
Adam Alexander
So I got just a hypothetical. Should the All Star Race, slash All Star Weekend be a celebration of driver, teams, cars, everything? And the reason I ask that is is there a better way to let the All Stars go? See fans in different markets driving and racing, but maybe not Hendrick Motorsports prepared Chevrolets or Joe Gibbs prepared like more of the Iraq. Like, I know Ray's bought this IROC series, right? Like, could you go hire a Ray and the IROC series? I Don't know how you do it with Brand. It's complicated. But just let. Let the teams have a breath, right? No. No offense to the drivers. They do work a lot, but I believe they. They get compensated for their actions versus the tire guy and the mechanic, and they leave home as well. Right. What if the All Star was truly about the All Stars, which is just the drivers, or hypothetically more about the drivers, and we, like, get 16, 18, 20 of them, and you make an All Star weekend like other sports do, Let them drive, but don't have them in their own equipment. I don't. I mean, that's a spitball, and it's a way off the whiteboard. But is there a way? Whether it was the race of champions that used to put them in buggies or IROC used to do other ways. Are there other safe, entertaining ways we could get the drivers of the Cup Series out there, you know, in front of fans, in maybe a bigger market or just somewhere around the country that we feel is underserved, that we would like to bring our sport, too? I don't know how you do that, but that would be my only counter. And I have to ask the ownership, like, what does Rick Hendrick want and Jeff Gordon, do they want the All Star race, or would they just as soon have their drivers compete and they get. I don't know the answer? You would know better as a team owner, what's most important to them.
- [53:26]
Steve Letarte
Here's what I would say, too. You know, we're looking to get tracks involved, and Rockingham has come back in the last two years. We've done trucks in O'Reilly there. Is that a landing spot for the All Star race to put cup cars at Rockingham without it being a points race. You know, not too dissimilar. What we saw at North Wilkesboro when. When it came back, that would be another idea of a regional All Star event that wouldn't be, you know, too challenging for the teams, but would allow us to put cup cars at one of the tracks that everybody loved for years. That's been gone for a long time at that level.
- [53:57]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, for sure. Chicagoland's coming back on the schedule this year. Everybody seems to be pretty excited about that. That was a racy little track. We went. We went over to the street course for a couple of years. I. You know, we haven't even gotten the chance to go back to Chicagoland to see the race. And there's already conversations around the street course possibly being an option to get back on the schedule and I, I feel like that means, I mean, there's only going to be one race in Chicago. Only one. There's a lot of fans on social media thinking, well, surely they'll keep Chicago land.
- [54:41]
Adam Alexander
I'm like, nope, not unless it's full.
- [54:44]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No, sir. They gonna run the street course and Chicago.
- [54:47]
Adam Alexander
No, no, I'm saying, like, I agree with you. I guess my point is if you think Chicagoland deserves a race, you better hope.
- [54:52]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You better go.
- [54:53]
Adam Alexander
You better go.
- [54:54]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You better go.
- [54:55]
Steve Letarte
That's right.
- [54:55]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
If it does not fill up.
- [54:56]
Steve Letarte
Yeah.
- [54:57]
Adam Alexander
We're not doing both.
- [54:57]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
We ain't gonna do both. We ain't doing both. And if it doesn't fill up, then they will go back to the street course. Right? They will.
- [55:04]
Adam Alexander
So I'm a believer if the street
- [55:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
course is a real option, if, you know, and if the local government's being serious about this, they'll absolutely go back and do that.
- [55:16]
Adam Alexander
Because listen, the economy, it's no different than brands. And if somebody could tell you how great their food is and if nobody's in the restaurant, I don't believe them. Or how great your product is if you can't sell it. So to your point, I'm great with wherever we go. If the fans prove to us that that's where we should be, that's back to the one race for some of these tracks that's proven to me that it worked because they're amazing, the crowds are amazing. If we go to Chicagoland, it's empty. I'm with you. That was going to be. That's going to be a one off test.
- [55:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. There's the idea that they've got to put about 3 million bucks in this place to get it kind of ready.
- [55:52]
Adam Alexander
Yeah.
- [55:53]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Like, so they're going to spend $3 million roughly. You know, just pulling a number out of.
- [55:59]
Adam Alexander
It's not free.
- [56:00]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. It ain't going to cost nothing. It's going to cost some money to get it back. They're going to put it on the schedule. And. And if it doesn't do well, and
- [56:09]
Adam Alexander
I remind you, they spent millions of dollars on all of the walling and stuff for the street course. I don't know how much that's used in San Diego, but it's like that's out there somewhere sitting in a parking lot, being itching to be used.
- [56:21]
Steve Letarte
I will say, though, this car has reacted so well to the mile and a half. And Chicago was always so racy. Anyway, so now you put this car at Chicago and it's almost like a flashback to where we were because I felt like we just so roval.
- [56:37]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Texas. I mean, so the bump in Texas. Right, right. The challenge that they have in turn three and four at Texas, that is going to be there in in spades. The bump in turn three and four is Chicagoland is nasty. And so I can't imagine them not struggling, trying to get through that part of the racetrack.
- [56:57]
Adam Alexander
Get your mouth guard. Yeah, it's going to be rough. It's going to be rough.
- [57:00]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And it's sitting there unused for how many years. That bump has just gotten worse and worse and worse year after year after year as the, as the ground settles underneath the racetrack. But yeah, I feel like what we'll see on the racetrack will be fantastic. You know, I'm just wondering whether the fans will come out and support it and if they don't, we will go back to the street course whether we like it or not. Like, I personally would prefer the oval. And you know, as a broadcaster, when we're working at the, at the Chicago race, you know, just as, as anyone who's on the ground level, you can only see a very limited area of the racetrack. Right. Whereas when we're working a booth in an over race track, I can see the whole damn track because I call the race from the, from the monitor and what I'm kind of seeing out there. But. So I like to see as much as possible. But I'm going to be curious as to kind of how this, this trip to college, to Chicagoland goes and if it, you know, if it goes well, I hope that we'll, we'll continue to do it for a few more years.
- [58:03]
Adam Alexander
I'm excited to go back. I love the racetrack. I thought the racing was great.
- [58:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. Be interesting to see what the property looks like now.
- [58:10]
Adam Alexander
Right.
- [58:11]
Steve Letarte
And what's grown up around it, the
- [58:13]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
build up development around it because it
- [58:15]
Steve Letarte
was so rural when we were there before. At least way, way back in the day when I was first going there, you know, shoot, 25 years ago, there was not a whole lot out there. And I'm sure that there's a lot more growth now than what was there before.
- [58:27]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Well, speaking about street courses, San Diego's on the schedule this year. I think we're all excited about that. Steve, you guys have been out there, y' all have taken a look at it. I've yet to really put my feet on the ground. Well, what are we ready for?
- [58:40]
Adam Alexander
Well, so, yeah, Adam and I, we did an overnight out on a carrier. It was amazing. Truthfully, before I get to the race. And this is awful to say we've been very fortunate to like see the military come to, you know, but to go spend an overnight on an aircraft carrier out in the ocean, it was a humbling experience to realize the sacrifice all the men and women made that were on that carrier. And it really motivated me to like make, you know, this event is going to be awesome for the military. The land is gorgeous. That whole Coronado island look. I'm fired up to get out there because. And you know, I would be scared, scared if we hadn't done Chicago because we had never really done any temporary right. But Chicago. I looked at that circuit, I'm like, oh man, this corner's not going to work. And this corner's not going to work. They raced and it was fine.
- [59:26]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah.
- [59:26]
Adam Alexander
So I, I'm ready to get out there and see some racing, to be honest. I'm ready to see a track. Like, I'm still struggling. I got to cheat my way onto iracing a little bit. Like, not that I can drive, but I want to just drive around it a few times and be like, okay, you know, so when it gets closer and it gets all out there.
- [59:43]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The longest road course ever.
- [59:45]
Adam Alexander
So I will tell you, I'm not going to be all positive. My one negative is the yellows. I believe that the course and I'm sure there's good reason. So I'm not here saying we should do something different because we're like, we're going around a base and Runway. It's too big for my liking.
- [59:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Well, very spread out and it's just big.
- [60:01]
Adam Alexander
It's just a yellow is going to take forever. We did this at Road America. Like, I really wish it was a 1.3, 1.6 mile road course. I think it's just big to be
- [60:10]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
as large as it, to be as big as it is. It needs a cut through for cautions, but they're not able to do that because of the interior of the racetrack and everything that's there. But they're going to have to maybe. Would they even, you know, consider, you know, with all within reality of safety and all those things, would they consider being a little more stingy with the yellow flag? Dude, like once that yellow comes out, dude, we're. That's a 15 minute deal.
- [60:44]
Steve Letarte
Yeah.
- [60:44]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Minimum for sure. Just to have a basic, you know, opening of pit road and all of those things that happen in a traditional yellow, that's going to take a while. Is there something they could do as far as pace car speed? Is there you know, could they, could they be a little stingier with the, with the, with the yellow flag in some scenarios? Quite possibly. I mean, would you go in as a crew chief thinking I might see something a little different here? I'm not going to anticipate getting that yellow just so easily.
- [61:10]
Adam Alexander
I would really watch the trucks in the. O'Reilly, I think you're going to learn a lot to see how that happens. You know, runoff, is there a place for a car? You know, all the questions I'm waiting to I've seen the track map, but, you know, that doesn't tell me like where's the Jersey barrier? Is it a foot offline or is it 20ft offline? So I'm waiting to see that.
- [61:29]
Steve Letarte
But really the best state of comparison is Chicago street course. And we got rain, though. I mean, this is so different because it's not on the city streets. And so there were just tight confines where it was not really negotiable. If you had an incident like we kind of needed to make sure that we took care of business and put the caution in the air. I'm curious to see, I mean, the runoffs in the space outside of the traditional, you know, whatever the traditional racing group becomes is there are there areas to get out of the way so we can avoid long lags in the competition with yellow flags? And that's. But, but I will say across the board what we're going to experience, the magnitude of this event and like Steve said, Coronado island and the base itself and San Diego is a backdrop this to me, you know, celebrating our nation's military and, you know, 250 years of the Navy and all those things. It's going to be remarkable. And the buzz will match about anything we've ever experienced.
- [62:30]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh, are you kidding, man? We're going to be, we're going to spend the majority of our time when we're on the clock on an aircraft carrier. We're calling the race from within the tower of this aircraft carrier. So that's going to be an experience unlike anything we've ever done before. I can't even wrap my brain around what that's going to feel like and what that's going to be like. So. But it's going to, yeah, I'm, it's going to be fun but unique, unlike anything else.
- [63:00]
Adam Alexander
I just want to your point about yellow silly things. I just want to like I have all the confidence. We have the best talent in the world lining up 36 of them to put a heck of a race on. I just hope that something crazy that nobody's thought, you know, we don't have damage to a wall, long red flag, you know, something that will take away because I agree with you, this is crazy to say but I think the race is going to be like just, just the thing that happens after all the pageantry and the emotion of the weekend. So I just hope we just get a good race. Like I said about every superspeedway race, I wanted to get to the start finish line because the fans deserve to see the finish. That's all I'm hoping for here is a clean enough race that we see some good racing. Support for the Dale Jr. Download comes from talkaboutpd.com let's talk about Peyronie's disease or PD. It's not widely talked about and some men may feel reluctant to bring it up, but it's more common than you think. PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis causing a curve with a bump during an erection that for some men may lead to pain during intimacy and impact mental health. A trusted urology specialist can help you diagnose PD and walk you through your options including non surgical treatment. Visit talkaboutpd.com
- [64:16]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
we're, we're kind of winding toward the finish line. A couple more topics that I wanted to talk to you guys about before we wrap. Steve o' Donnell moving into Jim Francis role. Jim stepping down. I felt like that that was just a process that is coming. It was coming down the pipe either way. A lot of people want to link it to the the lawsuit and all of those things. A court case. But o' Donnell's been around a long time. I, you know, it's kind of no different than when they put Helton in a similar position. I feel like o' Donnell's earned the opportunity to, to steer the ship bit and, and he's the kind of guy that I think you trust in this situation. What do you guys think?
- [64:58]
Adam Alexander
I think he bleeds nascar. I think that's most important for me. You know, I selfishly this is all I've ever done. You same right. Like this is all we know. And I think that there's no doubt in anyone's mind that Ben who got promoted with OD is the is the law. Like he's the family member. Right. And I love the fact that they didn't invert those that gave OD his opportunity to be at the helm and I'm ready to help him find however way we can help him we being the sport, whatever signature he wants that to be, because I think every leader kind of has their own signature and his seems to be a little bit like the hell yeah, right? He was the hell yeah mantra and everything we're going to have. So I'm excited to see what changes. I agree with you, though. It's not a new outside guy. You know, I'm sure there's going to be some small stuff, but, but I don't, I don't know why it would veer completely off course of what we've seen. But now when I say that, I mean the last 25 years, not the last five. He's been there so long that I don't think it's going to be an
- [66:00]
Steve Letarte
about face to me in anything. Experience matters. Race car driver, crew chief, broadcaster, whatever. The more experience you have, the better suited you are for success. And I mean, OD's been doing it forever and he bleeds it. I mean, it means a lot to him to see it, you know, be successful, the sport of nascar. So I feel like that experience and that passion will go a long way in allowing him to be successful. You know, immediately after the announcement, Josevar wins Talladega. And he's riding down the front straightaway on his window. And I'm like, everybody's like, there's going to be a rule, there's going to be a rule. And OD's like, have at it, you know, So I, I thought that was a great way right, right out of the gate to connect with the fan base. And I'm like you, I, I'm a huge fan of Ben Kennedy and what he brings to the table because he kind of has it from every angle, being a family member, but he's been a competitor. You know, I think about the education he got at the University of Florida and what that did on that side of things to allow him to see from a different perspective, maybe things that can be done. And the hats that he's worn as he's climbed the ladder. He wasn't just anointed, go do this. He, he's been taking all the steps. So I feel like those two at the top will be a tremendous team to create the leadership that the sport needs.
- [67:17]
Adam Alexander
So you mentioned od, so I'm going to defend him and tell this story. So I had him on the inside the race, post race show after Talladega. He was my guest and as any executive is, this is an OD thing. You get like some, hey, you know, he's prepared to talk about X, Y and Z. I mean, no Steve level executive does interviews without a little. Same with us. If we're asked to join something, we get an idea what we're talking about.
- [67:35]
Steve Letarte
I didn't get any email to say what was going to happen on this
- [67:38]
Adam Alexander
show, so I'll tell you. He logged in. He logged in. He logged in on time. And like, hey Steve, you know, I got a couple things here. We've known each other a long time. I'm just going to shoot from the hip. And he instantly was like, man, you can ask me whatever you like. The fact that his instant reaction was fire. So then I was like, well, I'm going to start with this one. What'd you think of that celebration? And he did. He was like, you know what? And he leaned right in. And my point is, I think that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for someone that doesn't have to be prepped with answers.
- [68:05]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Look, you're 100% right. I have seen in times of, during, there's been times in this sport where the guy that they have standing in front of the press is annoying because he doesn't answer the question or he feeds you a line of that, you know, and you know, when you ask Steve a question, he's going to tell you what he thinks. Hang right. And, and he's, he's going to, he's a company man. He's going to tell you what he thinks is best for NASCAR and as he should, but he's not going to lie and he's not gonna, he's not gonna feed you a line of bull. And so I always kind of, yeah, I always kind of appreciate. He's almost too, he's almost more emotional and more bought in and more into it than he needs to be. You know what I mean? Because he's, I mean he's worked in this industry forever. I think that when you. Great. You know, I'm great. I'm glad that you mentioned Ben because that was, that was probably the key part, Part of the whole deal was seeing Ben. You know, we got the announcement with o' Donnell taking over for Jim, but Ben's movement forward alongside of o' Donnell is probably the more interesting, important and important piece because they're grooming him to be the guy and my, they are facing some challenges and how they approach an answer to those challenges will determine whether those guys were successful or not. They got a, they're swinging at this current next gen car at the superspeedways they got big tests that they've been talking about and promoting coming up in off season. Can they make some gains to change how we're, you know, how we're racing at those racetracks to give drivers and fans a little bit more of what they're asking for the O'Reilly series? There's been some conversations around that and the identity of that series in the going forward. And it's very successful right now with the CW numbers. The series is doing some really good things. It had struggled for a long time to really carve out a space for itself and I think it's kind of done that. But it does need to be taken care of and, and, and valued. And I think that Steve o', donnell, those guys want to do that. But is it, you know, what part of it is best left alone and what part of it is best needing some adjustment? Right. And you got to pull the right levers and mash the right buttons. And then the other thing is the schedule. It is not we. Ben loves, I think Ben, I think Ben loves this. I don't know this for a fact. I think Ben loves doing cool things with the schedule. I think he loves what happened with the, the Chicago street course. I think he loves what we're doing in San Diego. I think he loved going back to Mexico City. The LA Coliseum was another one. And he's going to continue to push in that direction. And there's a very small pocket that exists in our schedule that allows them to have that creative freedom and fun. But that is always going to be a already purpose built road course or a street course in some city somewhere. It is not going to be another oval. We've got a lot of ovals. We've got plenty of ovals. Do we need more ovals? No. But nobody's building ovals. Building a racetrack right now is a bad business. Nobody's going to build a brand new racetrack for one date. Right. And so at least in the next 10 years, I don't see a new oval getting built anywhere in this country. So, you know, I think how do you appease a lot of the core fans that want one thing while trying to give us something new? And there are a lot of fans that want that new. There are a lot of fans that love what's happening in San Diego and they're excited about it. They love what we did in Chicago and they love to have that back or where is it, where's the next city that we end up going and racing in? But it's all you Know, it's. It's. It's going to be that. That. That city street, or it's going to be. Maybe it's a, you know, it's a road course somewhere that's already got some real history, like road, road America. So that's doing that. Right. And landing that plane every single time that's going. That's. That's what's on their shoulders right now. Pushing the. For the sport forward and. And they've got some challenges.
- [72:35]
Adam Alexander
One thing that Ben has done for. For me when it comes to the schedule is I am way more open to whatever risk or chance he's willing to ask the series to do, because I feel like he is open to criticism or changing direction if it was, I don't want to say the wrong or less successful than he had hoped. Like, I felt like Chicago, we had some weather challenges. We gave it three tries, then it was time to go away. We may end up back. Right. But he was not afraid to say, everybody wants, oh, Chicago land. We are going to. We're going to put a hiatus here and go down the road here. International. We have to go international. Went to Mexico City Saturday. When Suarez were on, the crowd was. It was electric.
- [73:14]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Right.
- [73:14]
Steve Letarte
It's one of the greatest things I've ever seen, so.
- [73:16]
Adam Alexander
Right. And we all know, we expected, we would hope that it would build for Sunday. It just didn't. Right. It didn't resonate. Something was amiss, you know, so we didn't go back. Now, my point is if he did something and regardless of the results, kind of forced it upon everybody. But I don't feel like they do that at all. They ask you to believe in the system. They put something on the schedule, and then I feel like we kind of roll and we fluctuate, we move along. And that helps me be really open to whatever they come with next, because I don't feel like we're going to have to do it forever if it wasn't the correct choice.
- [73:46]
Steve Letarte
Here's the other thing I would say about that, is I feel like that Ben and everyone involved with the scheduling process in the last five or six years has built up some grace with the fan base to allow them to try some things and have a swing and a miss here and there, because I feel like that what happened with the LA Coliseum was crazy and unique, but it worked and it served its purpose, and it got. It got us back to Southern California, you know, Mexico. There was. There was a positive in Mexico with what happened with Suarez. We saw great results and when the weather was good at Chicago on the Chicago street course. So when. When you do things and they work, that creates that grace to say, okay, we'll try something else, and it doesn't work. We're not going to feel the wrath that we may have felt if we just jumped out on this is and totally swung and missed. So I'm curious to see where they go with the future of the schedule, knowing that we've done some things that were completely out of the realm of what we've always seen, and it actually, you know, paid dividends for everyone involved.
- [74:48]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, well, we're going to find out, you know, as we move forward, what happens to the All Star Race, what happens to Greenville Pickens, if anything, and Dover and all those things. Going forward, we have five races with Amazon prime coming up. Charlotte, Nashville, Michigan, Poconos, San Diego. I know we're all looking forward to each and every one who goes into Charlotte and gets it done.
- [75:13]
Steve Letarte
I feel like it's Tyler Redick, you know, I look at the speed or the same. Yeah, well, I just. I look at what they've done this year, and, you know, winning crown jewels, as you know, is, man, that's a feather in your cap. And it means so much. And, you know, they did it at Daytona, and, you know, his. His results have been really good in this race. And it's hard to bet against Denny right now because he's been pretty dang good at Charlotte, too. But if I had to pick one right now, before any cars have hit the track, I put my money on Reddick.
- [75:41]
Adam Alexander
I think Toyota's had the speed advantage. I think the storyline for me would be Larson. It's been a long time. He's run the double the last couple years. The 600 has been not an afterthought to him, but people were questioning how is he focused on the 600. He's doing the double. So I think it'd be a really amazing story if Kyle Larson could now win the 600, not running in Indy. But the Toyotas just, I think, are naturally have more raw speed in the current state.
- [76:07]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, I like Briscoe. I think the Toyotas are the competing team right now at these racetracks. Best package in terms of aero engine and all that. The Chevys are good, better than I expected them to be with a new body. But I just feel like Briscoe's going to hit his stride just like he did this time last year. Coming off of a solid weekend in Dover, heading into Nashville, concrete racetrack. Who do you think has the upper hand there.
- [76:36]
Steve Letarte
That's such a unique place and we've seen some unique races play out there. And maybe you put yourself to have a winner that would surprise you a little bit. But I look at a Larson there only because of the nuances of that racetrack and the adaptability that you have to have, because we just don't go anywhere else like that. And anytime you go into a unique situation, he's someone that I point to right away just because he seems to figure it out because of his diverse background. So I'm going to try to mix it up if we're going down the line here. So I would Redick.
- [77:07]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I'll go.
- [77:08]
Steve Letarte
I'll go Larson for race two at Nashville.
- [77:10]
Adam Alexander
So it's high power, low downforce, it's less than a mile and a half, so it's not the same rules we'll run at Charlotte. I actually think as crazy as this sounds, for some reason, as soon as you said Nashville, like we've seen some more surprise winners, I'm thinking RFK is going to be really, really good at Nashville. And I'm thinking like a busher. And you know, remember he was great at Bristol there for a while. Like, like busher is good, good, good. And then all of a sudden, man like house of fire fast. So I'm going to go with a. A more non traditional, more of a long shot per the sports books. I'm gonna say like a bush or RFK weekend.
- [77:40]
Steve Letarte
How about alliteration Concrete Keselowski.
- [77:43]
Adam Alexander
You know, listen, that's why you're. That's why you get the big mic. No, no, no, no.
- [77:47]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I know Blaney's been good there in the past. I think he goes and gets a win at Nashville to kind of continue to cast his name into the conversation going forward to the chase. Going to Michigan, a lot of speed you got to handle, but it's a big. It's a big motor track.
- [78:03]
Adam Alexander
I think we're going to see what we just saw at Dover. I think it was Denny last year and I don't know, he's so good at those high speed momentum tracks. I'll give that one to dh.
- [78:11]
Steve Letarte
I go Josevar. Only because the storyline's unbelievable. It's a home game. I just think that big, fast, wide open, let it hang out on restarts. And he was really good there last year. And to me, his maturity and his speed is. Is at a different level this year than it was a year ago. So I'll go.
- [78:28]
Adam Alexander
Brad, you're going to have host of our win a Michigan born before Brad.
- [78:30]
Steve Letarte
Right. You're killing for Brad and Eric Jones too, right?
- [78:35]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I like Larson there. I feel like that at some point the Chevrolet's are going to have to start matching what we're seeing from the Toyotas early in the season. And I just got a feeling, a gut feeling that it's just a couple of a, you know, turn a few bolts and this thing's going to start rocking and rolling free for Hendrick Motorsports. And I just like he's had success there in the past, and I just think it's a racetrack where he can go out there and win. All right, going into Pocono, tricky triangle. Who do we think gets a win there?
- [79:04]
Adam Alexander
Well, last year, somehow Briscoe ran forever on fuel and there's still gas in the tank. Yeah, I mean, I think, look, it's easy to say that Toyota is that, but that is one that if you have some efficiency, especially in straight line speed, it helps your car so much in so many different ways. So like we talk about Blaney, right? Well, he has pit road struggles at the moment. You can't have that at Pocono. So you hate to keep giving them to the Toyotas. But man, I still think that they're going to be the favorite going there.
- [79:33]
Steve Letarte
I would probably go Chase Elliott. I feel like that strategy such a big part of the equation. I go back to how, you know, Allen played the games and they were able to win at Martinsville and, you know, so I would. I'll just go Chase Elliot.
- [79:47]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Really?
- [79:47]
Steve Letarte
Yeah.
- [79:47]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
All right. I'm a good Kyle Busch. I think Kyle Bush.
- [79:49]
Steve Letarte
Wow.
- [79:50]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah.
- [79:51]
Adam Alexander
Good.
- [79:52]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, I think Kyle does it. I. You know, we saw last year where field mileage, getting the track position, just being the leader, if you can find your way forward. I think they're a team that can figure the fuel mileage and get an advantage on rest of the, you know, the rest of the field to be able to go further and he's running well. I mean, give him three or four more weeks. I mean, this guy is threatening. Is it. Is it crazy to say he's threatening to win a race now?
- [80:19]
Steve Letarte
Well, they've taken a bigger step from three weeks ago to now than what I thought they would.
- [80:22]
Adam Alexander
I mean, off the radar.
- [80:25]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah.
- [80:25]
Adam Alexander
Like, I mean, let's be honest, to give them the credit for as good as they've gotten, they were nowhere to be found for the first. Whatever it was, 10 weeks, so big improvement.
- [80:33]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Who's going to go to San Diego and win.
- [80:38]
Adam Alexander
Good Luck being SVG on a new circuit. I mean. I mean, I'm not trying to. Here's the thing. There's a lot of things. I talked to Connor Zillich about svg, and he said, you know, I feel like there are times I can match his overall speed lap to lap. He goes. But he just. His race. This is per Connor Zillich, right. Because I can't manage. He goes. His race management is so outstanding. When you go back and you watch a race. Connor says, when I go back and watch the SVG race. Right. How often he runs at 90%, how often he doesn't slip a tire, how often he. And now the car itself is so much more comfortable because he runs it every week. I don't think he's using any brain power to what's flipped the switch and the fans, like, it's all very natural to him. So I think SVG has. Has just so much more raw speed available on a new track. I don't think anybody could tell.
- [81:29]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
All right, so let's take SVG out of the equation. Who's. Who's got a chance to go in there and not challenge him, but have a great day.
- [81:37]
Steve Letarte
I would say Zillich. I feel like the storyline is there. They've been running better. The speed is. You know, they were solid at Watkins Glen. And so. And you look at the storyline, we're there celebrating our country and our nation's military, and Zillich is kind of the all American kid, right. And so for him to go and win his first race in that fashion would be pretty cool. And I. I'm with you guys, though. And I think the advantage SVG has is exaggerated because everybody's going there and no one knows. And if they all go there and we got to figure it out, that guy, you know, figures it out even when everybody else has been going to these tracks for years. So, you know, that's. That's what I think about him. But I. I would pick Zillich. If not Shane Van Gisberg.
- [82:20]
Adam Alexander
I would throw Ty Gibbs on the list. I like somebody for a track you have to prepare at a lot. Virtual like ties raw speed. At the road courses. He seems to always be. He was pretty good at Mexico City there for a while.
- [82:30]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
So there is a throw. I'm gonna throw this into the. Into the pot and see if this changes or brings somebody to your mind. The sim. So there's. There is sim data. There is. There is scans available for these teams to be able to get their drivers into the simulators. I do not believe. And we need to, we need to probably check this. I do not believe there is a version of this racetrack to take home. There is not an iracing San Diego currently.
- [82:59]
Adam Alexander
No, I agree with you.
- [83:01]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
So you, you're not, you know, for the guys who are really hardcore about it, they ain't going to be able to sit at home for hours and hours and hours running laps on this racetrack. But what they can do is go to the manufacturer sim. Some guys will, will clamor to get those opportunities while other guys don't really enjoy the sim and may have to force themselves to, to run a few hours. You know, thinking about the, you know, drivers like Ty Gibbs that will jump in that sim and do whatever's needed, those are the guys that I believe will have the advantage. Because I'm telling you, I. There was a, the only, the only example, the best example that I could use is racing on the sim. And going to Bristol or going to a racetrack that you've ran thousands of laps at is sometimes, you know, it doesn't bear a ton of fruit. And a driver can absolutely skip sim sessions and go to that racetrack that he, that he knows really well and just do just fine, no problem. But when you have a brand new track, especially a road course that you've never had any laps on, racing on the sim or getting on iracing is insane in terms of the amount of time that you cut off with the front end of the day. Because if you go to a road course that you've never ran on ever, you're literally getting faster every single lap, every lap. And this goes on for hours. You're not at your best until honestly you in the race. Once you get in the race and maybe about 40 laps in the race, you might be finally really pushing every corner to the max and really getting everything you can out of the lap. But if you can run hours and hours in the sim on this racetrack, you really, really cut a ton of that legwork out that you need to do inside the race car. I'd never ran at Road Atlanta and Jimmy was testing there and I've told you this story before, Jimmy was testing there and Chad can ask. Jimmy had to leave the second day and Chad asked me if I'd come drive the car and I said sure. So I said I'd never ran there. And I sat on my racing rig and ran for like six hours that night, lap after lap after lap. And when I got out there and ran, I think my first run, I was only about 2/10 or 3/10 off of Jimmy. And by, you know, 30 or 45 minutes, I was running the lap times they needed me to run. And so they were like, no way. You've never been here. It's impossible. I'm like, well, I ran on the sim all night last night. So when I got here, all the shift points were the same. Everything was the same. It's like deja vu. Like I, like I had been there. And so the guys that really embrace the sim, even if they don't enjoy doing it just to learn the track and understand what gear to be in when, when they should be expecting to shift and change gears and get the muscle memory of running that four mile lap, those guys are going to have the advantage and it'll show up immediately on, on, on lap time when they go out to practice. And so, you know, and I, I think that while, you know, there's not a ton of sim time. Yeah. And they're going to have to divide that equally and fairly among Chevrolet drivers, among Ford drivers. And that's going to mean that O'Reilly guys and truck guys don't get quite as much Right. Or may have to really kind of take the crumbs. It's going to be, I think, over the next, you know, four or five weeks trying to get into those manufacturer sim and getting some time on that racetrack. That's going to be imperative for these drivers.
- [86:48]
Adam Alexander
And I don't think you want to put it all in a week to his point. Now that we're done with the. Glenn, if we were going in there, right. If I was Dale's crew chief right now, whatever. If we're in there working on Charlotte the last 30 minutes, I'd be like, man, just put San Diego in, put our standard setup in. Hey, man, just go run 30 minutes. Like, I don't even really want your opinion. Just go left, right, left, right. Okay. Think about it. Come back to next week, do it again. Because if you know those things now, you can focus on what we can't sim, which is track surface. Oh, there's a ripple here we didn't know. Oh, the paving scene changes from the Runway to the interior part, like all these nuancey things. And if you start behind on the weekend, you're slow in practice, you're slow in qualifying, you have no track, you're like just behind the whole weekend. Yeah.
- [87:29]
Steve Letarte
How much of that time is just learning the rhythm of the racetrack versus, if at all, the visuals around the racetrack to give you familiarity? Because I, you Know this is going to sound silly and I'm not trying at all to compare myself to the guys that are preparing to run the race, but I love watching road courses in preparation to see, okay, there's a bridge that goes across as we head toward turn four. What, you know, there's grandstands on the right side as they make that right hander at turn seven. I'm just making it up. But I remember going to Mexico City. I watched every race I could possibly watch to try to understand the visuals of the track to help me do what I do. Is that part of it from the driver prep too?
- [88:13]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I think when, when we go to the new road courses and Mexico, for example, the first 20 minutes of practice, we see a lot of mistakes. Guys missing corners ended up in the traps, you know, and ended up hitting walls or spinning out, you know, the first 20 minutes, you know, there's. There's people messing up. It's fun, right? And there. It's. Because they get out there on the real racetrack and they go, damn, I can't go as deep into that corner as I thought or, wow, that's way tighter or than I than I expected it to be. And they run up on these corners, you know, because what the sims told them was maybe inaccurate because they can't really tune the sim, they can't tune the tire, they can't really understand how to tune the surface and how different. All of the different patches of surface is going to be for this racetrack. So they can't. It's. It's not going to be ideal grip wise. They can, you know, they, they. Every time they go to Dover, they went to Dover Sunday. There are drivers in each manufacturer's sim all day today running the sim to dial it in to what they felt yesterday, trying to get the sim closer to real life so that when they go back to Dover, they have that data and that information from that driver. So not only are drivers getting in the sim to prepare for the next week, they're also getting in the SIM on Monday after every race, dialing the sim closer to that track that they just raced on, trying to improve the sim, the model, the tire model and the grip and the surface. They won't be able to do that with San Diego. They're going to get in a sim and hope that the lap times close. They're going to dial the grip and the tire to make the lap time what they think it should be, and then they're going to go, all right, man, go out there and run and you may drive a sim that's. You may get in the real car and go, we got way less grip or way. Or we're way off the sims. Way off. But what to your point, what I would be trying to do is just get in you, you know, you take your hand off the wheel to shift back on the steering wheel. All right, now I'm going to shift again back on the steering wheel. I just need to get. You want to do the same thing every single lap with your hands, with your feet. And what you need to do in the sim is just get in a rhythm of doing those things over and over and over. And so it's really seamless when you finally hop in that race car and go out there to run a lap. In a real car, your hands and your feet are doing everything they're supposed to be doing, or they know what they should be doing next, right? So you're not like, learning, damn, what gear do I downshift into for this corner and the next corner? Can I run second gear all through this little series of corners? I don't know. You know, you need. That's what the sim can help you understand to do. And so, you know, the drivers that really tackle that and take opportunity to be in that simulator as much as possible over the next four weeks, to Steve's point, I think it's an awesome idea. Get in there. You should be doing it now. Even though the race is five weeks from now. You should take 30 minutes at the end of your day, if you're in the sim and just run a few laps and you know you can. Steve's done this a million times. Put his driver in the race car, go out, run me some laps. All right, come in, stop, get out, think about it, hop back in 10 minutes later, don't even change anything. Goes out there, runs 2, 3/10 faster because he just got out, thought about it, said, I could probably change my shape here. I probably need to do this. I didn't do that very good, you know, and so that's what this. That's what that, you know, getting that sim run. 30 minutes. I man, see you tomorrow, Come back. All right, well, 30 minutes more today. All right, see. See you next week, come back, do it again, you know, and they'll just. They'll just get muscle memory and get faster and faster and faster. And all of you know, that is hours that you're cutting out of having to learn this racetrack in real time on the race weekend that, you know, your driver's going to Hit the ground and be pretty damn close. Should be.
- [92:11]
Adam Alexander
It's going to be a lot to digest because there'll be distractions galore in a good way as well. I mean, there's a lot going on.
- [92:17]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Absolutely. Well, look, guys, it's been a lot of fun. I'm excited to finally get back to work. We have, you know, we really haven't talked about the fun that we have in the booth together. You know, I think the world of you two guys and, you know, seems like it's been a long, long time since we got to work together. Last year was fun. I know that. You know, when we got in, when we got in a room with all of our producers and all the folks that we're going to work with in TV compound with Amazon, they were like, hey, the idea is to run it back. We're not going to try to reinvent the wheel or change a whole lot about what we did last year. We enjoyed what we did. Fans seem to enjoy it, so let's just polish it and. And. And stay on the throttle. So are you guys. I hope you guys are ready to go.
- [93:02]
Steve Letarte
I'm excited. I. I am ready to run it back. Looking forward to it.
- [93:05]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And.
- [93:06]
Steve Letarte
And the anticipation is real.
- [93:07]
Adam Alexander
Yeah, I feel the same way. Something that was that much fun, I hope is as good a listen as it is to cover because, man, we have a blast up there.
- [93:15]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. Well, our pre race, our post race, all that stuff's going to be rocking. We want all the fans to get down there on ground level with us, be a part of the pre race, be a part of post race, be a part of the show. That really added a ton of great energy, I think, to. To what we were doing leading into each event was having all the fans kind of being in the background there, being a part of what we're doing. So look forward to seeing that every single week. And you just know we're all excited to be back on prime. We'll see you next week. All right, everybody. Appreciate y' all tuning in. Thanks, Steve and Adam for coming through. Excited to get back to work with these guys this weekend at Charlotte for the 600. All here in the RV studio. I want to remind you about Arby's Meet 3 box. You get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meets and we also have a lot of great things happening here at Junior Motorsports over the weekend. Fan day is almost here, gang. I wanted to let Everybody know. Thursday, May 21st. This week right here, Junior Motorsports. All types of things are going to be going on. We're going to have tons of sponsors out here giving away a lot of free product, trying to showcase everything that we have going on in our industry with our with our Junior Motorsports teammates and all the other things that going on. Also Dirty Mo Media, Sirius XM we're gonna be hosting a ton of shows 9 o' clock in the morning that kicks off with Larry Mack and Danielle Trotta on the RB stage And then at 11am There'll be a Dirty Mode live with with Mike Davis and Kenny Wallace. A few surprise guests will be coming onto the show for that and at noon, bless your heart with my wife Amy and myself followed by Door bumper clear at 1pm they'll have Jordan Bianchi joining them. Come hang out with us this Thursday, May 21st. We'd love to see you. We got a lot, a lot of stuff to show you. So come on, come on through. Check out DirtyMomedia on Instagram, Facebook X and Tick Tock.
- [95:16]
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- [95:39]
Steve Letarte
121234 Gimme a break, give me a break Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar Gimme a break give me a break break me off a piece of that cake KitKat bar the chocolate crispy taste gonna make your day and wherever you go you hear the people say Give me a break, give me a break break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar
- [96:05]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
have a break, have a Kit Kat.