Dale Jr. (1:45)

We're still alive, right?

TJ Majors (1:46)

Still alive. Somehow, man.

Dale Jr. (1:48)

I had this really great parlay put together and the Jags killed it. I'm thinking I almost won a Jags.

TJ Majors (1:54)

Yeah, almost. Almost counts.

Dale Jr. (1:56)

Well, hey, I am. I'm glad to be sitting here. I'm glad to be back at the table with all of y'. All. It's great to be in the room with all our friends and miss doing the show. I miss everybody that's out there listening. So here we are, we're back and there is a ton a lot a time to talk about but first thing I want to do, we haven't been able to have a chance to say this. I want to send all of our thoughts and our prayers out to Greg Biffle, his family. That was really tough.

TJ Majors (2:31)

Very tough.

Dale Jr. (2:33)

Yeah, that was tough.

TJ Majors (2:34)

And it the time of the year, just everything about it was.

Dale Jr. (2:38)

Yep, it was hard and I Can't imagine what it must be like for, for his friends, his close friends, his family members. And I'm sure that they're all still absolutely devastated and we just were thinking about them. Also want to give a, give a minute to mention Denny Hamlin and what he had to, you know, had to experience and go through with his father, the house fire and his mom. And you know, I don't have any firsthand knowledge or information, but I'm hoping that his mom is doing well and.

TJ Majors (3:20)

Looked like she was recovering from some of the stuff that I saw.

Dale Jr. (3:23)

Okay. Well, I'm hoping that she's doing well and tragically, losing a parent, I mean, Denny had been open and vocal about his dad and his dad's had an illness that he's been dealing with and, and things weren't looking really good long term in that, in that situation. But then to, to tragically lose him like that in a house fire and, and just scary. I, I, that is super, super scary. Can't imagine how terrifying that must have been and sad for Denny to, to, to have to go through this.

TJ Majors (4:00)

But both, both incidents are terrible tragedies like that thinking about going through either of them are just really bad.

Dale Jr. (4:09)

It is, I, yeah, it is, it really is. You know, we kind of, we kind of get caught up in our lives and, and doing the day to day and trying to, you know, trying to get our kids to school and get up and do things and just, you know, get here and do a podcast and I think we forget about how delicate things are, how delicate life is, how quickly things change. Things can change. And you know, sometimes these sort of situations can absolutely put things into perspective and remind you how brief and short this life is that we live. And yeah, yeah, you take a lot away from it, but, but, you know.

TJ Majors (4:58)

One thing about it to me is with this hits close to home when it's people that you've raced against or you kind of know we've all had personal experiences with these people and I.

Dale Jr. (5:08)

Greg, man, Denny and Greg. So yeah, both of them for sure. So a lot of people have heard about this, but you were going to test. You knew Denny, because we, you raced against him. We built a Late model and you went and raced against him.

TJ Majors (5:21)

Yeah, he was one of the first guys that I got to really be good friends with in the late model racing.

Dale Jr. (5:25)

That's right. And such, such, you know, such good friends that we decided you were going to go test a dash car down in Daytona. We had spent a couple thousand dollars.

TJ Majors (5:38)

To figure out yeah, it wasn't. It was an experience.

Dale Jr. (5:40)

It was a junko race car. And we gave these folks a couple thousand dollars for you to go down there and run some laps and trying to get you cleared, actually race in the race. And so Denny rode down in the truck with y'. All.

TJ Majors (5:55)

Oh, yeah. We roomed with each other that weekend in the hotel. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (5:57)

Yep. And what year was this?

TJ Majors (6:00)

That have been?

Dale Jr. (6:01)

Oh, three.

TJ Majors (6:02)

It would have been January of 03, I think. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (6:06)

And so we then, you know, we started kind of hanging out. Denny. Denny. We started talking to Denny, spending more time.

TJ Majors (6:15)

He started making trips down and hanging out with us and stuff and became a pretty good friend.

Dale Jr. (6:19)

We sim. Sim raced with him a lot. A lot.

TJ Majors (6:21)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (6:21)

On NASCAR 2003. And then he was trying to get into a job at Gibbs.

TJ Majors (6:31)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (6:32)

And he called me and he said, hey, I'm coming down to Daytona, and I ain't got anywhere to stay. I'm meeting with Gibbs, and I wanted him to come drive the Xfinity car at dei. And I was. But he told me, he's like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna go to this Gibbs meeting, but I don't have anywhere to stay. I was like, come down. Stay on the bus in the. In the driver's lot. And so I think he spent the night on the couch. A night or two in Daytona. And then we won the Daytona 500.

TJ Majors (6:59)

That have been.

Dale Jr. (7:00)

Oh, in 04.

TJ Majors (7:00)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (7:01)

And he was in victory lane. And then when the victory lane celebration was over, he carried the trophy back to the bus.

TJ Majors (7:10)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (7:11)

And so. And, you know, he would go on to become Denny Hamlin.

TJ Majors (7:15)

He had a really good. He got that shot with Bobby Daughter in the trucks. And he went and ran like IRP and. And ran really well.

Dale Jr. (7:21)

Good.

TJ Majors (7:22)

Really well. And opened a lot of doors for him.

Dale Jr. (7:24)

Yeah. And then he become. He would become this, you know, big time.

TJ Majors (7:28)

You know, they become Danny.

Dale Jr. (7:30)

Danny. Yeah.

TJ Majors (7:31)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (7:31)

Winner, car owner. And, you know, even though we don't really, you know, he is a part of the dirty Mo media family. And that's a picture of us all in Victor Lane right there. So he's a part of the dirty Mo media family. I don't. I talk to Denny every now and then. We might talk about the trial or text back and forth about different things going on in the sport every now and then. But regardless that we, you know, we're not quite as close, I guess, as we were back in 2004. You know, when somebody goes through that kind of a tragedy, you're you think about them? You want to know that they're okay. You want to reach out to them, make sure that they're. They're feeling supported. There's nothing you can. You know, I've. I've been through some tragedies, and I still don't think that I know what to really say or how to really be there for somebody. But you just try, right? You just.

TJ Majors (8:27)

I think it's just the message that you get. Like, they like seeing the message that you actually thought about him.

Dale Jr. (8:31)

A call. Yeah, I know sometimes, I mean, there's been times when, like, when I've had some. I wouldn't say close friends. I think I would do that for every single close friend. But there's been some people that I wish I would have done something more, you know?

TJ Majors (8:45)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (8:46)

So you learn from those experiences.

TJ Majors (8:47)

But, yeah, as you get older, I feel like there's more of that.

Dale Jr. (8:50)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (8:50)

Like, I should have reached out to that I should have reached out. Like, you know, when Christmas comes around, you want to send a group like that. I wish. Like, here's. You want to text everybody in your phone at this point.

Dale Jr. (9:00)

I know with Greg, I knew Greg because we. I got a boxer from Greg. Greg.

TJ Majors (9:06)

Yeah, that's right.

Dale Jr. (9:07)

Yeah. Killer.

TJ Majors (9:07)

Killer.

Dale Jr. (9:08)

He came from Greg's. Greg had two boxers and they had a litter, and Killer came from that, and Greg would have. And so, you know, I'm racing against Greg, and I don't know him. I get a dog somehow. My sister knew them really well and was like, greg's got a dog. You want a dog? I'm like, yeah. And so then that, you know, Greg would see Killer in the bus lot and come by and check on him, and we got to becoming.

TJ Majors (9:33)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (9:34)

Starting to communicate.

TJ Majors (9:34)

Weird how that works.

Dale Jr. (9:35)

And then Greg would do this calendar every year for the Humane Society, and Killer would. We. They'd won't kill him yet. So we'd take these pictures. And so I felt this sort of friendship with Greg because I was supporting something that he was doing, and. But I saw the things that him and Harvick got into, and I saw Greg. Greg was like, you know, rub a couple guys the wrong way a little bit. Yeah.

TJ Majors (10:01)

In 10 years of spotting a few, I can't ever remember running. Having running with Greg. Not once.

Dale Jr. (10:05)

Yeah. And so. So, you know, I'm kind of like, I don't. I don't know who Greg is, really. Right. And then when he, you know, we rate. We never had a problem on the racetrack. We always race fine when he, when he retired or kind of I retired and we kind of both started kind of slowing down at the same time I started seeing him more and we start. Me, Amy, wanted to do stuff with some of the animal hospitals and stuff that Greg was involved in. And so we would go and hang out and see Greg and we would run into each other on the lake on our boats and stuff. And cut.

TJ Majors (10:38)

He's got that house boat.

Dale Jr. (10:40)

I know I had 50 foot one and he has an 80 foot one.

TJ Majors (10:42)

And it was huge.

Dale Jr. (10:43)

We would laugh about how silly those things were. And so I got to know him, you know, we all did. We all got to know him. Watching him do some YouTube stuff, watching him do his little dirt race out on his farm and become friends with Cletus and sort of open up a little bit, do these videos and things. And I think we all got to.

TJ Majors (11:03)

See more of him.

Dale Jr. (11:04)

More of him, you know, really the true individual that he is.

TJ Majors (11:08)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (11:09)

And it. I learned, I think all the way up until recently that, you know, he. All the stuff with Kevin, you know, even back in the day, like he just loved to kind of with people. Mess with. Yeah, right. And he was always kind of poking and prodding and yeah. Playing. But had a really good personality.

TJ Majors (11:36)

Those two guys on the track at the same time too. I can see where I just. Yeah, they could run to have some run ins.

Dale Jr. (11:43)

Oh yeah. But Greg was, you know, I mean, I'm not, you know, we all know what he did for the western North Carolina, all that stuff. But I'm just saying, just as a person, like if you were sitting at the table with him. Yeah. Hanging out, he, he was so fun.

TJ Majors (11:58)

I just, I, I always remember the story when I, I don't know what we were doing. I was at your house and this helicopter. When the helicopter landed, he just landed in the land in the yard. And we're like, I don't know who that is. And he comes walking up, he's like, yeah, I thought you lived there. I followed this creek bed around and we're like, holy cow.

Dale Jr. (12:13)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (12:13)

And we just hung out for a little bit.

Dale Jr. (12:15)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (12:15)

Which was kind of cool. I mean, I mean, I don't know many people that would do that. Just Greg Biffle.

Dale Jr. (12:20)

Yep.

TJ Majors (12:21)

Which was kind of neat. So. But like that, like every time you see him from them, he'd always say, hey, he's always, yeah. Super friendly. He just loves to have fun too, man. Like he. Them races he did on his farm and stuff. Like you said they were fun to watch.

Dale Jr. (12:34)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (12:35)

And yeah, just a great guy.

Dale Jr. (12:36)

Yeah, I love what Cletus is doing. Be like Biff.

TJ Majors (12:41)

Yeah, I think that's, that's a good slogan.

Dale Jr. (12:43)

Yeah, I love that Cletus is trying to keep, keep remind, you know, help sort of remind people of, of who Greg was. So, anyhow, want to get into. We had a big announcement in NASCAR yesterday. The playoff format was announced and I was invited to come be a part of that. And I was excited to. Honestly, I'll be honest with you, I did not know exactly what they had decided up until a couple, couple weeks ago, maybe, maybe even seven days ago. We got an email, probably middle of the off season last year, said, you've been picked to be a part of this committee. You want to be a part of it? And I said, yeah. And so didn't know who else was on it. We get to Daytona and we had our first in person meeting and go up to this room at the top of the top of the grandstands and was like, holy moly. There's all these people here, drivers, NASCAR folks, network people, media personalities, a lot of people, lots of people. And I'm thinking, I really thought out of the gate this is going to be noisy. And I'm pretty sure how I feel about all this is going to get lost in the conversation. I looked across the room and I'm like, I don't think I can convince the networks to let go of what they want to hang on to. I don't think I can convince NASCAR to go as far as they need to go. We started conversations, we started talking, and honestly, Christopher Bell, a couple other drivers were super honest about, you know, how they wanted this to feel. And that was really helpful hearing from the drivers out of the gate. Mark Martin obviously put his foot down right away. 36 races is the way to go.

TJ Majors (14:42)

He went far.

Dale Jr. (14:43)

I mean, that's, he's, there's a lot of credit being given to Martin and it's due, it's, it's, it's deserving. Because right out of the gate he's like, this is the best way to do it. And he never let off the gas with.

TJ Majors (14:58)

I appreciate that about Mark a lot too.

Dale Jr. (14:59)

If Mark hadn't have been so adamant at first and stayed the course, I don't know that we would have gotten this far. And so. And he really did put his neck on the line because when he first said that in that first meeting, I'll be honest, man, there's a lot of people I think rolled their eyes just, you Know, blocked it out. They were like, yeah, yeah, this is never. We're never going to do this. So why are we. Why are we wasting our time in this meeting, going on and on about 36 races? So.

TJ Majors (15:35)

Did you feel that when you were there?

Dale Jr. (15:36)

I got a whole story for you, pal. We. We get through that first meeting and, you know, it was still. Even though we didn't even, you know, the first meeting was just, hey, let's. This is what we're trying to do. We're all going to gather. We're going to spend the year going over this and figure this out. And even after the first meeting, I was still hopeful. I'm like, hey, I'm going to see this through. Hey, we'll see what happens. Who knows? A lot of the rest of the conversations were done through email. We had a couple more gatherings over zooms and stuff. And every time, Mark was still full on, you know, 36 is the way to go. Fans are telling me, I'm hearing this, I'm hearing that. And everybody was like, yeah, you know, the fans that are telling you that are your age and we're not sure about, you know, the 25 year old fan, he's not saying that to you. It's always, you know, we really weren't sure whether we were being sold a bill of goods. Like, I felt like, hey, man, are we really going to determine a new system here or do y' all already know what you want to do and this is just a show, Right? And so you understand what I'm saying? Am I making sense to you?

TJ Majors (16:51)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (16:51)

Okay.

TJ Majors (16:52)

I know. So during some of the meetings, I.

Dale Jr. (16:54)

Can'T tell whether you're lost. Am I. Am I losing you?

Podcast Host/Producer (16:57)

No, I'm locked into what you're saying.

TJ Majors (16:59)

So during, like, some of them zooms in the middle of the year, were you kind of like feeling.

Dale Jr. (17:03)

We had a zoom up. We had a zoom. I remember I was in Kelly's office and I said, I said, hey. It was like, I don't know, June.

TJ Majors (17:11)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (17:12)

And I was like, I'll be honest, y'. All. I was like, I'm with Mark on it. I feel like 36 is the best way to decide it. Like, 36 is the best way to choose who truly is the champion. There's no argument. You're not going to change my mind. There's no way you could ever change my mind about that. And I said, look, I know that's probably a bridge too far for everybody here. I don't expect us to ever get there. But we need to keep in mind that that is truly the best way to do it. So this new system has to have a feel for that, an element for that. And one of the things that I said that I think was important to me, I remember being a kid and just wanting to devour this sport and just take in.

TJ Majors (18:06)

I could not get enough.

Dale Jr. (18:07)

Couldn't get enough. And so I was, every weekend I was like, who's, what's going to happen? And I had obviously my dad to root for. And so imagine, I imagine that die hard fans who love this drive, love this driver, pull for that guy just as hard as I pull for my dad. Right. And they tune in and they, they want to know how that guy's going to do. And when we had the full season points, you couldn't take a week off as a fan because that race might be the race where your guy breaks a motor and gives up 180 points. Yeah.

TJ Majors (18:46)

You don't want to miss it.

Dale Jr. (18:47)

You know, that could be that race that's in the middle of the year that seems like it's not really that important. Could be the one that loses the year, the championship. And I, we had lost that. I had lost that. I was not being drawn to the sport every weekend. I was not wanting to devour it up. I was sitting there going, you know what? I kind of know who's in the playoffs. I can kind of check out or.

TJ Majors (19:16)

You see the highlights.

Dale Jr. (19:17)

I'll, you know, I'll see the highlights in the middle of the week. I can miss this one. I don't need to tune in today. I'm not drawn to it. I had lost same.

TJ Majors (19:28)

Yeah, dude.

Dale Jr. (19:29)

And I was, I'm careful to admit this because, hey, man, I'm a broadcaster. I got all kinds of roles and responsibilities. And so I don't know if that hurts my, my position in the sport to say I was falling out of love with it. I really was.

TJ Majors (19:44)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (19:44)

And so, you know, I still, the, the, the core of motorsports, I love. And the idea of getting cars together and putting them on a track and throwing a, throwing a green flag and a checkered. I love that idea and always will. But what, what we were and had become was so far removed.

TJ Majors (20:03)

It was.

Dale Jr. (20:04)

And so gimmicky and contrived and complex, hard to follow. And so I was not looking forward. I had gotten to the point to where it was like, man, I don't want to watch this season because they're just going to go all the way to Phoenix and four guys are Going to see who goes and wins it.

TJ Majors (20:24)

Mm.

Dale Jr. (20:24)

It's so. It's too much happenstance, too much potluck. It's too much. It's not enough. I need to really, truly watch this person build this body of work.

TJ Majors (20:35)

It needs to be a whole season's worth of work.

Dale Jr. (20:37)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (20:38)

And.

Dale Jr. (20:38)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (20:39)

Hard work.

Dale Jr. (20:40)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (20:40)

Of good work.

Dale Jr. (20:41)

Yeah. And so, you know, there was a lot about it that was just falling away from me, and I was falling out of love with it. But what I miss was being pulled like a moth to a flame, being pulled back in every single weekend and going, damn, my guys. You know, my guy needs to make up 80 points. Is he gonna get a. Is he gonna get a chunk today? Am I gonna watch him freaking work his way back into this battle? You know, because that was the way we lived it. That's how you Listen. That's how I lived it in the 80s and the 90s and so forth was. And even in my own career, I would sit there and go, man, we got to gain 80 points or we need. Can I get 30 on this guy this week? You know, and you. Every single week, you knew you needed to do something, achieve something, even if.

TJ Majors (21:34)

It was a little spit. I remember during the summer, we'd get on a little bit of a roll of like, you know. You know, like five or six top fives in a month. And you can. I mean, every week was like, man, we gained a little bit. Here we're chipping. And, like, them hot streaks to me were, like, fun.

Dale Jr. (21:49)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (21:49)

Those battles during the summer and being consistent and. And earning it that way.

Dale Jr. (21:54)

Yeah, it's hard. Yeah. Well, I. You know, I think that I'm excited to tune into a race season where how you perform at Daytona, how you perform at Atlanta, how your season begins is going to really sort of give you an idea of whether your championship worthy. Because with the old system and this system that we're bringing back, if you start off in a hole four weeks in a row, you know, if you. If you come out of the gate cold, you have a bad Daytona, bad Atlanta, you get. You get yourself in a hole.

TJ Majors (22:29)

It's hard.

Dale Jr. (22:30)

You got a heart. You gotta. You gotta. You got a lot to consider.

TJ Majors (22:33)

Really difficult.

Dale Jr. (22:33)

It is. That wasn't the case last year. Now you'd get in a hole and pop off a win, and everything was fixed.

TJ Majors (22:41)

Well, that just became. If you had a bad month to start the season, you just put all your cards in for the wins, and you did all like. It wasn't like a You could have ran 30th three races in a row after that didn't matter.

Dale Jr. (22:52)

That's right.

TJ Majors (22:52)

You were going for the win.

Dale Jr. (22:53)

And I think we talked about it on the show. I need the lows to be low. I need the highs to be high. And we had lost. The highs weren't any. The highs weren't as high. You know, your driver would win a race in the fifth race of the season. Yeah, it was great. He's in the playoffs, but other than that, I mean. And then if he had a bad race, you didn't care. He didn't even care. The drivers would get out and go for a bad race.

TJ Majors (23:21)

Oh, well, yeah, I can win next week and still be fine.

Dale Jr. (23:25)

But not anymore. I think even. Even though we still have a chase, even though there is a reset, bad weeks are going to affect your ability to really go win the championship in that. In that chase. Okay. They've done some. They've done tons of modeling on this thing and they ran. So I know the dudes that work on the. The algorithm or whatever you want to call it, where they basically kind of set up the model and then they run it through all these hypotheticals. I know that people that are working on this and they've told me that while. While no format is foolproof to a fluke, this one. This one's going to be. If you're outside the top five at the start of the Chase, you're going to have to be like, remarkable to make it work.

Podcast Host/Producer (24:17)

That's why people are like, I want less people in the playoffs. It's fine if you have 16 because.

Dale Jr. (24:21)

It'S fine because, yeah, like 10th through 16th, you have a very, very slim.

Podcast Host/Producer (24:25)

You got to hit it if you're.

Dale Jr. (24:26)

Going to freaking 8.

TJ Majors (24:27)

So what's the point difference between 1st and 16th?

Podcast Host/Producer (24:29)

To start the Chase, the regular season champion gets. Starts at 2100.

Dale Jr. (24:33)

Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (24:33)

And each person. And then seconds 75 points and so on. With a five point drop after each.

Dale Jr. (24:39)

Sorry, second, 75 points. What?

Podcast Host/Producer (24:42)

First gets 100, second gets 75. Third gets 65. With a five point drop for each seat after.

Maria (Sponsor Voice) (24:48)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (24:48)

So the guy out front, the. The p. The. The dude's number one's 25 point.

Podcast Host/Producer (24:52)

25 had second place to start.

Dale Jr. (24:53)

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's half a race.

Podcast Host/Producer (24:57)

And that's pretty big because you think.

Dale Jr. (24:58)

About, like, it's half a race. You know, in the original point system, that would be like 90 points.

Podcast Host/Producer (25:04)

Right.

Dale Jr. (25:04)

We get 180 points for a good day.

TJ Majors (25:07)

But if you get Hot. It is obtainable.

Dale Jr. (25:09)

It is. Which is going to have. Yeah, but I mean if you don't.

Podcast Host/Producer (25:12)

Have to get hot and get 55 points if you win now.

TJ Majors (25:15)

But let me ask you this now. P16 in points. Joey Logano 16 the points gets hot first race of the playoffs.

Dale Jr. (25:24)

How far behind is 16th to the leader? Look at your notes right there.

Podcast Host/Producer (25:28)

You're basically starting at zero. Right. You're starting at just 2,000.

Dale Jr. (25:32)

Okay, so he's how far back?

Podcast Host/Producer (25:34)

100.

Dale Jr. (25:35)

That's a two races.

TJ Majors (25:37)

I mean if he wins the points.

Dale Jr. (25:39)

From that, I mean but if he.

TJ Majors (25:43)

Wins the points, that's deserving to me from that point. Yeah, yeah.

Dale Jr. (25:46)

But listen, so we're. We'll sit there. We'll sit there in the middle of the season. We're watching in the old system. We're watching the bubble. The bubble. We're watching the bubble and it's like, you know, a couple guys and they're like 20 or 10 points apart and you'll have this guy that's in like 20th, that's 40 points back or a whole race back and they get kind of close, maybe 30, maybe 20 points within. But they never get to that bubble. And if you're. You have. So let's just say the top three guys in the Chase are going to have a points advantage. They are also the top three. The best three cars of the season. They're great. They're good. They're going to go run 10 races. They'll may stub their toe here and there, but they're not going to give up two races to the guy that's been 16th in points and had a 16th point season. You know what I'm saying?

TJ Majors (26:46)

It's gonna be. It'd be tough.

Dale Jr. (26:47)

They're not gonna give up two race. They're three of them aren't gonna give up two races to the guy in 16 points. So like you might, you know, you might beat one of them because they might have just. They gonna blow. You have to blow a couple motors, couple accidents. They're gonna have to have just chase which can happen. But could I just, you know, I. It doesn't. I agree. Like they could have cut it to 12. They could have cut it to 10. They probably should have. But it doesn't really matter because 16 has such a disadvantage. He's. It's like why are we going to.

Podcast Host/Producer (27:23)

Argue about that and you creates more work anyways.

Dale Jr. (27:26)

Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (27:26)

With.

TJ Majors (27:26)

But if he did win contracts and it'd be deserving because he's had to Have a phenomenal play or I don't.

Dale Jr. (27:32)

See a world where it happens either. So I ain't worried about it. But.

TJ Majors (27:36)

But it's not going to happen by locking into a win and then being in the final race. You know what I mean? Like how it's been. It's like you're going to have to earn it every single week. Like, you're going to have to be outstanding.

Dale Jr. (27:44)

Yeah, I'm happy about it. I.

TJ Majors (27:46)

Me too.

Dale Jr. (27:49)

There's 12 drivers in the Xfinity Series and there's 10 in the truck, which I think are. Those are better. But it doesn't really matter that they're 16 in the cup because again, like, I don't think. I'm not that I don't feel like, you know, 12th to 16th is much of a threat. 13th to 16th. And I mean, they take offense to that if you're 14th or something in points when the, you know, when the Chase begins. But I don't feel like they're a threat to go out there and. And beat the guys that are going to have, you know, the top three point seasons. Yeah. So, I mean, your champion is probably going to come out of the top three, maybe the top five some years. Yeah, I. I like that.

Podcast Host/Producer (28:29)

It's just easier to explain to people now.

Dale Jr. (28:30)

God. Yeah, that's true.

Podcast Host/Producer (28:33)

Trying to explain the place to my.

Dale Jr. (28:34)

Dad was like impossible, simpler. Very, very. I'm so glad when in your end is gone. Look, I love that when it was. When it was me, when it, you know, I love that when it's my favorite driver. Yeah, of course. But I'm glad it's gone.

TJ Majors (28:48)

What moments do you think that takes away? The winning you're in like the Austin Dillon thing at Richmond does. You know what I mean? Does he get that aggressive to win a race still? You know, can you think of any other instances?

Podcast Host/Producer (29:01)

I mean, you lose the Harrison Burton moment, but like, it's still cool for them to win, though. So.

Dale Jr. (29:06)

Hey, Harrison Burton, let me tell you this. And Harrison won't admit this. Jeff Burton won't admit this. And they don't have to. They won that race at Daytona. They did not. Look, they went into that, you know, they went into the playoffs saying all the right things and of course they should, but they knew damn good and well they didn't have a shot in hell winning the championship. And if that didn't exist. Right. And they had this system and he goes out there and wins Daytona. They celebrate it just as hard. They're just as happy. It's just as big of a story, and we've lost nothing. As a fan, I've not lost anything. You know what? I actually feel like that I would appreciate it more if it was just celebrating a Wood brothers win with Harrison, Burton and nothing else.

TJ Majors (29:53)

Yeah, I was fine with that.

Dale Jr. (29:54)

The fact that that other playoff baggage was tied to that moment was actually problematic for me. You know what I mean?

TJ Majors (30:03)

It might be like, I agree with that somehow. It's weird to think about, but I would. I think it weighs it down some.

Dale Jr. (30:09)

It did.

TJ Majors (30:09)

Like, I'd be happy. I'm happy. I was happy that he won the race and. And he should be. And, like, I did. But I do think that it went from, like, here, like, oh, but you're taking up a spot.

Dale Jr. (30:18)

John. John Wood would sit here and tell us, well, asshole, that costs us a lot of money because we would. We make. That's like a. That's like a $2 million check when you lock into the playoffs, right? So that's gone. So there's. There's. Listen, I am a fan. I've got an opinion. I don't expect everyone to agree with mine. John Wood would say that the win in your end was good for the Wood brothers a couple years, and by God, they, you know, I can understand his point of view. And if I was a, you know, if I was a guy that was, you know, running the Wood brothers and I had a charter, I would be like, man, I really enjoyed getting that, you know, that money. If we could get ourselves into the playoffs with a win. Um, so it. It affects everybody uniquely.

Podcast Host/Producer (31:03)

It really affects probably Trackhouse the most.

Dale Jr. (31:06)

Why?

Podcast Host/Producer (31:06)

Well, you had SVG and then you bring it over. Connor, who you think might have a chance to win a road car.

Dale Jr. (31:11)

Has anybody done the math on whether SVG would have made on this system?

TJ Majors (31:18)

That's a good question.

Podcast Host/Producer (31:19)

I don't know what the new points.

Dale Jr. (31:21)

Yeah, I think he's six.

Podcast Host/Producer (31:22)

Because that would have been.

Dale Jr. (31:23)

Do you know, 22nd. He was 22nd points in the old system. I think that. I think that if you do the math, I bet you SVG is 16th in points.

TJ Majors (31:39)

I would hope so.

Dale Jr. (31:40)

This season. Last year.

Podcast Host/Producer (31:41)

Yes, by two.

Dale Jr. (31:46)

And you know what? He deserves it.

Podcast Host/Producer (31:47)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (31:48)

I would have been like, hey, yeah, he deserves it. He deserves it. One what, six races?

TJ Majors (31:53)

Yeah, man, he had a great season.

Podcast Host/Producer (31:55)

Four in the regular season.

Dale Jr. (31:56)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (31:56)

Yeah, he had a great season.

Dale Jr. (31:57)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (31:58)

And he got the biggest thing. The biggest thing that I saw with Suz wasn't the road course wins, because you expect that from him. It was the other tracks that I saw him get better at and he's learning them so that's really good.

Dale Jr. (32:12)

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TJ Majors (32:18)

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Podcast Host/Producer (32:42)

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Dale Jr. (34:53)

I don't know who doesn't know what's going on with the, with all this. I'll give you some more information around the playoffs if you haven't been paying much attention just for cup. Sixteen drivers, no winning. You're in. We're going to start the season. You're going to accumulate your points. The top 16 in points are going to go into the Chase race. Winners are going to collect more points. 55 total. That's a 15 point increase over last year. All the points awarded for positions and stage results remain the same. There are no bankable playoff points, so you don't get a playoff point. You know what, this sucks for broadcasters because our asses are used to one thing right where I'm gonna, I'm, I'm gonna mess up. Be ready. Call my ass out. Points are going to reset for each series and there'll be a 25 point premium awarded to the regular season champion. So when, meaning when we start the Chase, the top seed will have 2100 points, second, 2075 and then third will be 2065. And there's a five point drop after each.

TJ Majors (36:06)

Like yes.

Dale Jr. (36:07)

So just, you know, pretty silly, basic, simple.

TJ Majors (36:10)

We'll learn that quick.

Dale Jr. (36:11)

Yeah, that's easy. But I'm gonna screw up a couple times in the booth. But hey, I'm, I'll be honest. I am. I'm so relieved. Like when you guys heard this announcement, I don't know if y' all felt this, but when I got out of there yesterday, it was like a ton of bricks being pulled off my shoulders and I had this feeling of anticipation about the new season. I have this feeling that we're back.

Podcast Host/Producer (36:44)

Let's go.

Dale Jr. (36:45)

Let's go. I am so excited to tune in and know that the Daytona 500 is one cog in the leg of this big wagon wheel that you're going to have to build all season long to complete this journey, to be a champion. And the week after that, and the week after that and the week after that, you're going to have to tune in, you're going to have to, you're going to look at the front, the finishing order, you're going to look at the rundown, you're going to see where this guy finished and this guy finished and you're. Oh man, is it going to be sweet. Oh, it's going to be so fun.

Podcast Host/Producer (37:20)

Yeah, those DNFs are going to really hurt.

Dale Jr. (37:22)

Oh, it's going to be fun.

Podcast Host/Producer (37:23)

I was worried that they weren't going to like truly nail it. I thought there's gonna be like something they missed. I got no issues.

Dale Jr. (37:30)

The only thing that's, that some people will say is that it's not 36, but damn, it is nestled right up beside it. It is, it is as close as you can get. It is. And I was thinking about this like, it's like we've drove, you know, we started on the one yard line in February with this meeting and it looked like we were never going to get across the 50. We drove this son within field goal range and we need to take the points, people, we need to kick the three and get on out. Right? And so no need to go for it. No, don't need to go for it. Let's just kick the three, get on out of here. This was a win, all right. And I, I love nascar. I think the world of o' Donnell and all those guys and everybody that was a big part of that. Tim Clark and everybody. I thank the world of Jeff Binky and a bunch of people that were in that meeting and they're my friends, I would freaking do anything for them. They were great people. But I did not believe that they would allow us to go this far. And I didn't believe that they were willing to be malleable enough and open minded enough to think and consider getting this close to 36. And so, and I'll be honest, I told him this in a meeting and I think Mark Martin might have said this as well. Where we were last year, I would have been nervous to have to be the guy to make the decision to go to 36. Mark Martin and I were sitting right next to each other and off camera he said that to me. He said, I wanted 36, but I'd have hated to be the guy to make that call because that's a frickin risk.

Podcast Host/Producer (39:09)

If you swing and miss, you swing.

Dale Jr. (39:11)

And miss on that. But this is a good. This is a good route to almost getting there. And I can look. I can really look at this. And the reason why we love 36 is because we know it's the whole piece of the. Piece of the. It's the whole pie.

Podcast Host/Producer (39:29)

Right?

Dale Jr. (39:29)

And it all. All the pie has to be good. And so that's why we love 36, because we feel like that means every single moment, every lap plays into the result. I can look at what we're doing and feel exactly the same way about this as I do about 36. This is a full season. This. What you'll have to do is put together the whole year. That's what I want you to do. And this gives me that right. And if we need to, you know, if we need to have a chase and something to sort of, you know, if we need to have something to sell, fine.

TJ Majors (40:04)

How does this change. Does anything change during the races for like, does race team strategy change for stage points or anything like that now?

Dale Jr. (40:14)

Because, man, that's a great question, tj and honestly, I can't. I don't know what we're going to see in some scenarios.

TJ Majors (40:22)

I'm just thinking ahead, like, how does it change your look overall look for the race?

Dale Jr. (40:26)

You know, I feel like since they've added so much to winning that now winning. Putting yourself in position to actually win the race so you. So the stage points will still be important. We know that guys will strategize sometimes to actually lose the, you know, take. Take away their chances of winning the race, hurt their chances of winning the race to gain more stage points. We've seen guys do that.

TJ Majors (40:51)

Yes, we have. We've seen them do the opposite, too.

Dale Jr. (40:53)

Yeah, the green. So hold on. The green flag will drop. They'll start racing and the gal go, our car ain't good today, but if I do this and this, I can get these stage points and we'll just see where we end up in the final stage. And voila, we've got, you know, the third most points, even though we finished eighth or whatever. Right. So they'll do that. We know they will. But now. So they'll. They'll still be some of that. But now since we've added some points, more points to winning, that becomes more important. Right.

TJ Majors (41:22)

So you're gonna not do that.

Dale Jr. (41:23)

Yeah, you're gonna see people still do a little bit of stage racing, but less. Because winning points wise means so much. And so. And I think when these guys start to realize, tj, how important it is to be in one of the top five seeds. When they realize the advantage of being one of the top two top seed, they're going to have to get points, points, points, points all year long. And that's winning races, that's running in the top three.

TJ Majors (41:55)

So we still have the element though of like you said, the guys that are, you know, 8th to 15th, if they get an opportunity to jump up there and get some stage points, they're going to do it still.

Dale Jr. (42:07)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (42:07)

To, to make their, try to make their day a little bit better.

Dale Jr. (42:10)

Make their day better.

TJ Majors (42:11)

Yeah, yeah. And then you're going to have guys that are going to go for the win. Like SVG is leading the road course. Pitts with three to go because he's going to win the race. He's probably still going to do things like that. And then you're going to have guys that are going to, you know, cycle and come out, you know, get the stage points and stuff. So I feel like you're gonna have a lot of the same stuff, but for sure.

Dale Jr. (42:28)

All right, we got some breaking news just coming across the desk. Tony Stewart. We heard some rumblings about this Dodge truck campaign. Dodge teasing that they had some legends that were returning to the sport and this is one that we felt like might be in the work, in the works for a race or two. Looks like Tony Stewart's going to be back in NASCAR for one night. Three time series, three time cup champion is going to drive the truck for colleague at the opener in Daytona. Hint been in NASCAR since 2016 and this will be his first truck race since 2005.

TJ Majors (43:03)

Wow.

Dale Jr. (43:04)

Boy, he picked a, he picked a doozy. Oh goodness.

TJ Majors (43:07)

I don't, I wouldn't expect less.

Podcast Host/Producer (43:09)

I wouldn't say Tony Stewart ain't scared of it.

Dale Jr. (43:12)

No, the dude don't give because now I wouldn't have picked Daytona. I would have picked somewhere else a little slower. Holy moly. It must be writing him a nice check, I'll say that. But listen, this is what Dodge wants to do. They want to create noise, they want to create a splash. They want to. This doesn't work for Dodge by just building trucks, cars going out and winning races. They need the story. They need to be the big deal on social media. They need everybody talking about this.

TJ Majors (43:43)

This is a start.

Dale Jr. (43:44)

That is the way that they'll get their board and everybody at Dodge to, to help support financially what's going to be required for them to get all the way back through the cup series. And so going out and winning races is good, but they need engagement. And so this is what this is all about.

TJ Majors (44:05)

They are going to have the attention.

Dale Jr. (44:06)

Tony Stewart back to Daytona in a truck. That's how you do it 100%.

Podcast Host/Producer (44:11)

Wow. I'm more inclined to watch the truck race.

Dale Jr. (44:13)

Oh, yeah. I ain't gonna miss it. You know, NASCAR's gotta be loving that. You know, the truck series has got to be loving that. All the drivers that are going to be in that series for that one night in Daytona.

TJ Majors (44:24)

And there's a lot of like, not to take away from Tony, but there's a lot of young guys that are coming to the truck series this year too, that are out of late Models and stuff. There's going to be a lot to look at. The truck series this year.

Dale Jr. (44:33)

That's right. One thing that we got to talk about, the lawsuit, I think everybody's ready to put that behind them. We hadn't really reacted to it. You know, I feel like that I talked to Jim France, I don't know how long ago, a long, long time ago. And I was like, what's going on? What. What's going to happen here? And he said, eh. He said it's going to take a while. He said everybody's going to have to compromise a little bit on both sides, but it's going to be all right. And that's what happened. That's kind of what ended up happening. Everybody, you know, it went probably farther, way farther than it needed to. A lot of things came to light that a lot of people probably wish that hadn't. And that was unfortunate for nascar. A lot of dirt came out. We saw a lot of bull that none of us really wanted to see, but it is what it is. And so NASCAR had to give up a lot. The teams even probably compromised a little bit as well for the, for the good of the sport. But they walked out of that courtroom together and faced the media and for, for, from what we can tell, have put that behind them and are moving quiet. Yeah, moving forward. It has been quiet, which I like. Yeah, the, the one thing that has happened since is Steve Phelps stepped down as from commissioner, his commissioner role. He was the president of nascar and then NASCAR made this commissioner position and, and he has stepped down. Talked to Phelps about that. He told me he hopes this is a way for the sport to move forward. If that's what needs to happen. I don't mind telling you that I think Phelps is a great dude. I know what he said about Richard Childers is not cool. I don't. I didn't. Like it. I don't think that that was a good thing to say about Richard. No matter what you think about Richard Childers, Richard Childress is close.

TJ Majors (46:33)

Pioneer, icon.

Dale Jr. (46:34)

Yeah. But he's near family to me.

TJ Majors (46:35)

He is, yeah.

Dale Jr. (46:36)

I grew up in his shop and my dad drove his race cars. And we've got a connection and a bond unique to a lot of other people that, that I'm friends with in the industry. And I didn't appreciate what Phelps said about him. And I would tell that to Phelps and Phelps would agree that it was a dumb thing to say.

TJ Majors (46:52)

I agree.

Dale Jr. (46:53)

We've all said things in tech messages that we probably would prefer our, you know, some people not to see. But you know that you, if you're, you know, if you're a guy in Phelps position, you can't say that in a text message. You can't be bull your buddies and think that, man, you know, this is a safe space. And so, you know, that was a mistake on his part. He's owned it from what I could tell. And Steve Phelps will land on his feet. He's a good dude and he's done some great things in our sport and he's shepherded our sport through some, through some tough times. And I know I'll catch some for that. I don't give a. This is what I believe. And so. And I also like o'. Donnell. I've been around him my whole career. I know exactly how he feels and what he thinks and where. I know where his heart is. And if, if y' all were paying attention during the trial, we all learned that both Phelps and o' Donnell were actually trying to get the teams what they freaking wanted, you know, so, I mean, for, you know, even aside from what Phelps said about Richard Phelpson o' Donnell were kind of working to get everything right and they felt they were.

TJ Majors (48:04)

Trying to make it work.

Dale Jr. (48:05)

Yeah, I mean, so nascar, I don't believe will. Will. The commissioner position will go away. They're not going to feel it. I don't think they're not going to. There's no need to have a commissioner in our sport. O' Donnell is the president. He'll. He's going to move us forward. And I feel confident about that. I think the dude has, he's. He's been, he's been at short track ranks, he's traveled around K and N. He's been to all these little bull rings. He's got 30 years in this sport, seen all the levels, done all the jobs. Like, he knows the. And he Kind of knows what. And he, you know, if, if there's, if, if you're part of the group that is a bit nostalgic toward what we used to be, you know, and how, you know, kind of fun the sport was in the 2000s. He's a guy that was around for that and I think he's a guy too, that can, can pull us back in that direction where I wasn't so sure that the sport was willing to go before all this went down. So I, you know, we'll see. We'll see how it works out. Ben Kennedy's a good dude.

TJ Majors (49:12)

He works hard.

Dale Jr. (49:13)

I wish he were. I wish he were. I WISH he were 10 years older with 10 years, you know, more with more. I wish he was. Maybe he's ready to, to take on more. But like, we need him now and he's, you know, we need him now and he's not really, I don't think, ready to be that guy for another chunk of time. And so, gosh, you know, I hope I can't wait for those paths to kind of cross to where he can because I, I think he's got such a good head on his shoulders. He knows the sport. He's been around it too. And, and I trust his, he's level headed and, you know, he's a little bit, you know, you know, I don't like street courses and all this. I love short tracks. I'm just being me.

TJ Majors (50:04)

You'd have been great at street courses.

Dale Jr. (50:06)

I hate street. I hate road course racing. I know there's people that love it and I'm good with that and I'm good with the sport, having road courses. I'm not going to be a hard ass about that. And Ben Kennedy loves those type of things. Ben Kennedy loves the San Diego race idea. It's going to be cool. I'm liking that too. But he loved the Chicago deal. He's all about those kind of things. He also appreciates the short track too. But he knows the sport needs to try to, you know, do unique and new things every now and then. There needs to be a good mix and all that. So, you know, he's, he's, he. I think he would be a good. He's going to, I think he will be when he finally decides to really sort of, you know, take over. He'll be the guy to really steer us in a good direction.

TJ Majors (50:49)

But we have done some things that I never thought were possible.

Dale Jr. (50:52)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (50:53)

Coliseum race.

Dale Jr. (50:54)

I mean, I hated that.

TJ Majors (50:56)

I know, but I mean, I never. Fifteen Years ago, I'd have been do that.

Dale Jr. (50:59)

I mean, there's. There's people that would sell. Look, I'm just. I'm not saying I'm 100 correct here.

Podcast Host/Producer (51:04)

You're just too old school.

Dale Jr. (51:06)

Look, I'm not old school. I just do. I don't think we needed to go to the Coliseum.

Podcast Host/Producer (51:10)

Yeah, it was pretty cool for one year.

Dale Jr. (51:12)

No, it's like we. We went to the Coliseum and we ended up at Bowman Gray. Right. Like, how.

TJ Majors (51:20)

When it was right here the whole time, like, didn't build it.

Dale Jr. (51:22)

Yeah, that's right.

TJ Majors (51:23)

It's right this first.

Dale Jr. (51:24)

Yeah, right. It's right here. We should. What are we doing? Like, we waste. All right. I don't know.

TJ Majors (51:30)

I mean, maybe you need to be the commissioner.

Podcast Host/Producer (51:33)

I would tell you for commissioner.

TJ Majors (51:35)

You heard it here.

Dale Jr. (51:36)

I don't know what is. What kind of voting power do I have?

Podcast Host/Producer (51:40)

They will do it if they bring back 36 races.

Dale Jr. (51:43)

No, I don't need that.

TJ Majors (51:44)

I think. I think you like where it's at.

Dale Jr. (51:47)

I would do it if they sit. If they walked in this room and asked me to do it right now, I'd do it. I'd have to call Amy and say, man, think about being a commissioner.

TJ Majors (51:55)

You might want to wait a couple more hours.

Dale Jr. (51:57)

Yeah, she's a. She's on the trip.

Podcast Host/Producer (51:59)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (52:02)

I'll be honest, man. I'm kind of in a good spot with where everything is. I'm not. I'm not pissed. I'm not annoyed. I was for. I was all of last year. All that negative negativity and trial, and I was just so.

TJ Majors (52:19)

Trial wore it down a lot.

Dale Jr. (52:20)

I was so annoyed. And there are freaking format. I didn't realize how bad I hated the format until it finally got out of here, and I couldn't say it. You know what I mean? You couldn't be completely honest.

Podcast Host/Producer (52:33)

It was like an ex girl you're dating, like.

Dale Jr. (52:35)

Well, I mean, I'm a broadcaster and I want that job. Want to be here. I do want to be here, but I can't sit here and go, hell, yeah, tune in there, you know, 600 at Charlotte. I hate this playoff stuff, though. But don't, you know, still. Still tune in.

TJ Majors (52:48)

Tune in for the race, but.

Dale Jr. (52:50)

Yeah, but. So it's a tough spot for me to be in. I don't want to lose my job. You know, I don't. Not that I would lose my job, but, like, you know, you want your.

TJ Majors (53:00)

Well, that wouldn't go over well.

Dale Jr. (53:01)

Yeah. You want your broadcasters to kind of stay out of. So I was trying to protect myself and every, you know, I don't know.

TJ Majors (53:09)

So a lot of gains have been made with the, the format. The, the tire made a lot of gains last year. The car. I feel like there's been a lot of things with the car that are being adjusted and trying to go in the right direction. So there's a lot of things that are, that are looking good. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (53:21)

One thing that I found interesting. Chip. Chip. Wow. Good, good buddy of ours. He. He's. He's now with the driver's Advisory Council.

TJ Majors (53:30)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (53:31)

They work with NASCAR on safety, other competition initiatives. He was named the former day he was named the executive director of the driver Advisory Council. He was a former Daytona track president and NASCAR executive also. I wonder why he left the NASCAR building to go do this driver's advisory council. Because I don't know.

TJ Majors (53:55)

I mean he's been in touch with. I mean he's always been in touch with all the drivers like on. You know what I mean? So I know it doesn't surprise me that he's working with them, but I don't know the. Why would you leave the big building?

Dale Jr. (54:06)

I'll be honest. I. I don't know.

TJ Majors (54:09)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (54:09)

I don't drivers. I couldn't do it.

TJ Majors (54:13)

If you're the commissioner you could tell us.

Dale Jr. (54:14)

I mean dude, I could not do it. I could not be the advisory. Whatever. I couldn't do it.

Podcast Host/Producer (54:20)

Why do you say dealing with those drivers.

Dale Jr. (54:23)

Dealing with drivers. I used to be.

TJ Majors (54:25)

Oh yeah.

Dale Jr. (54:27)

Head cases. We got egos. Still are we don't we all think we know everything.

TJ Majors (54:30)

Yeah. I deal with that in our league.

Dale Jr. (54:32)

31 of you and we all think that I our idea is the best best one. Of course. Like if you got 12 or 30 or 10 or five in the room, all five are going to be like no, this is what you need to.

TJ Majors (54:44)

Do 100% and you're like.

Podcast Host/Producer (54:46)

And they text on the side and.

Dale Jr. (54:48)

I'm still sitting here thinking the same way. Am I not? Like I still am the same way.

TJ Majors (54:54)

Yeah, it's. It's tough to do.

Dale Jr. (54:56)

Like if you, if I annoy the out of you because of my takes. Like how like hard headed I am about this is the way. This is how. That's how drivers are. Imagine four or five of those in the same room trying to be the guy the corral that.

Podcast Host/Producer (55:11)

No thank you.

TJ Majors (55:12)

It's tough.

Dale Jr. (55:12)

I guess Burton was like, I've had enough.

Podcast Host/Producer (55:14)

I think he's still.

Dale Jr. (55:15)

Oh he's a. He's A. Oh, he's with.

Podcast Host/Producer (55:18)

He's still involved though, right?

Dale Jr. (55:20)

What is he. What do they. They always do that. What do they. He's going to stay on as a. What do they say?

TJ Majors (55:26)

Consultant. Yeah. Advisor. Consultant. Something that's always.

Dale Jr. (55:30)

Yeah, you ain't going to hear for that mug. You ain't going to hear from him, man. If you get the. If you get the stay on as a consultant deal. That's a gravy you ain't got to do. You sit back. Yeah. Am I right?

TJ Majors (55:44)

I mean, I guess it is. Yeah. Because even when they make like coaching changes and stuff, this guy's gonna say I was a special advisor to the board or something. Yeah, okay.

Dale Jr. (55:52)

Yeah, sure, I'll do that.

TJ Majors (55:53)

Yeah. Yeah, why not? Do they still get paid to do that or is that a paying role?

Dale Jr. (55:59)

Yeah, I go change my number. Hey, you want to stay on a consultant?

TJ Majors (56:03)

You haven't answered our text.

Dale Jr. (56:04)

No problem.

TJ Majors (56:06)

It is. It is a tough deal, though, because everyone has a different view.

Dale Jr. (56:09)

I don't know, I'm just. Man, I don't know.

TJ Majors (56:11)

It is tough.

Dale Jr. (56:12)

Good luck, Chip. Hope you enjoy. You hope you enjoy that. You got your hands full. So the cars Tour. I'm wearing a T shirt representing cars tour is starting their season. Our first race is toward the end of February. We got two back to back races on the 21st of February. The car store goes to coastal plains. That's a Saturday. And then the next following week where the Southern National. So two back to back races, the 21st and the 28th. That'll kick off the cars tour season. Own flow exclusively. If you're not a subscriber to flow, you're missing the hell out because they've got all the. All the chili bowl bull flows.

TJ Majors (56:56)

Pretty much got everything.

Dale Jr. (56:57)

They got everything.

TJ Majors (56:58)

Yes. You're missing out.

Dale Jr. (56:59)

And it's one flat fee you don't have, you know. Yeah. You don't have to buy the subscription and then buy the races. Some streaming platforms sell you the subscription and your annual subscription and then they.

TJ Majors (57:13)

Make you buy the damn worst thing ever.

Dale Jr. (57:14)

Bullshit.

TJ Majors (57:15)

It's so bad. I get so mad when that happens.

Dale Jr. (57:17)

Well, that's why the cars tour chose flow. That's why we wanted to be a flow. Because you pay one flat fee and you get everything. You get. You get college sports.

TJ Majors (57:25)

Oh, there's.

Dale Jr. (57:25)

There's so many categories every weekend. They have 10 to 20,000 college sports events every weekend.

TJ Majors (57:32)

Not to mention the short track and dirt stuff. Everything they have on there, it's ridiculous.

Dale Jr. (57:36)

So a lot of racing, too.

Podcast Host/Producer (57:37)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (57:37)

So anyways, they're also flow has a new program called the floating. Think about the word podium. It's called the floating program. It's $100,000 program for the 2026 season. It's kind of like the noble five. Every two races will set up a group of drivers that'll be able to race for $10,000 in the third event. And this will just reset every two, every three races, we're going to have a driver in the pro and the late model stock racing for 10 grand. All right, for example, if you go to the first race of the year at coastal plains and you run in the top three, you, have locked yourself in to the flodium in race three. The next race at southern national, run in the top three. You're locked in to the flodium in race three.

TJ Majors (58:33)

The third race could have six guys going three.

Dale Jr. (58:37)

The same three could have three.

TJ Majors (58:38)

It could have six.

Dale Jr. (58:38)

That's right. The same three could run top three both weekends. It could have three, it could have four or five or six. And you don't have to win the race to get the 10 grand.

TJ Majors (58:46)

But if you win, you're in.

Dale Jr. (58:48)

You don't have to win the race to get to 10 grand. If you're in. In. If you're in, you know, you just finish ahead of the other guys in the flodium, they'll have a banner on the windshield to signify that they are part of that program in the third race of the season or third race of each, you know, each block.

TJ Majors (59:05)

So that's just a bonus on top of the bonus.

Dale Jr. (59:08)

It's just a 10 grand carrot out there for these guys to put in their pocket.

TJ Majors (59:12)

Somebody's getting it.

Dale Jr. (59:13)

Damn right.

TJ Majors (59:14)

All right.

Dale Jr. (59:15)

Our purses have increased for our champions in both the pros and the late model stocks. 30,000 to win the championship. In late model stock, the Pros doubles to 15,000. We're paying back to fifth. And pros, we're paying all the way back to 10th in the late model stocks. The late model stock purse is crazy. I think second's 20 grand, third's 12,500. It's a lot of money.

TJ Majors (59:41)

That's a lot of money.

Dale Jr. (59:41)

Damn right. We're going to Nashville Fairgrounds April 11th. Got to get up there and do a little tire test and see what's going on, make sure we're ready to go. But hopefully everybody comes out and supports us. Nashville fairgrounds is in a battle for its own existence. The cars tour. That may be a One and done. I'm not sure.

TJ Majors (60:01)

Hope not.

Dale Jr. (60:01)

I'm hope not. But the people in Nashville are going to have to get to work if they truly want that racetrack to survive. We had an owner's meeting that kicked off our season. We got all got together. We're voting on a couple things, some procedural stuff for our, for our series. But everybody's really, everybody's in a good frame of mind to get this season started.

TJ Majors (60:24)

Any other big changes with the cars or tires or anything?

Dale Jr. (60:27)

No. Hoosier is going to keep building our tires. I know there's some series that are changing. We're pretty happy with the Hoosier. We may make a tire change at some tracks from the 45, but that's still on the table for conversation.

TJ Majors (60:41)

Are they looking for more tire wear? Are you looking for more fall off still?

Dale Jr. (60:45)

I love fall off off.

TJ Majors (60:46)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (60:46)

Every time we can get fall off, we're going to take it.

TJ Majors (60:48)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (60:49)

But we don't build the tires. Hoosier does. So we've been running the 45.

TJ Majors (60:54)

Yeah, I know. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (60:55)

Taking me into the weeds there, tj But I'm excited about the cars tour. I hope everybody will continue to support the series. I think it's the best short track racing in the country.

TJ Majors (61:04)

It's opened the doors for a lot of young guys.

Dale Jr. (61:06)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (61:06)

Which is what it's supposed to do. So.

Dale Jr. (61:08)

That's right. Yeah, buddy. Lets go do some Ash Jr.

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TJ Majors (62:28)

It's that time of year.

Dale Jr. (62:29)

Yeah. This is Ask Junior and fun little segment we do where you guys send in some questions. It's good to see everybody. How's everybody been? How was your. Your Christmas holidays?

TJ Majors (62:41)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (62:41)

How's everybody? Are they. Are they responding in the chat? They excited about today.

TJ Majors (62:47)

Did you get. Did you get crazy on New Year's?

Dale Jr. (62:51)

We did. We did have.

TJ Majors (62:52)

Oh, you did?

Dale Jr. (62:52)

Yeah, I went to Texas, see Amy's family. We did a Christmas after New Year's, so we had. We had a lot of fun. But I'm excited.

TJ Majors (63:02)

We're.

Dale Jr. (63:03)

We. We've been here today talking about the new ports format, wrapping up some comments about things have been going on in the sport, the cars tour. We're cranking that back up. Got my gear on today. Excited about all the things we got going on. So I don't know, man. After that announcement yesterday, I'm. I feel like a ton of bricks been lifted off my shoulders. I'm excited and looking forward to the season. Ready to go to Daytona, ready to see some racing.

Podcast Host/Producer (63:28)

The chat's excited to be back.

Dale Jr. (63:30)

Awesome. Yeah, I'm excited to be back. It's gonna be a good year.

Podcast Host/Producer (63:34)

We got the Tony Stewart news today. Like, it's just.

Dale Jr. (63:36)

Yeah, Tony Stewart gonna race a truck at Daytona for Dodge.

TJ Majors (63:40)

Crazy.

Dale Jr. (63:41)

We had heard some rumblings that there was a, you know, and I don't think that's the end of the, you know, bringing the legends back. You know, I don't know who else. Casey Kane, I heard, was rumored to possibly maybe be in that truck at a time or two, but, yeah, it's gonna be fun to see what Dodge does. But Tony Stewart coming back running Daytona, that's a big story.

Podcast Host/Producer (63:59)

Are you ready for questions?

Dale Jr. (64:01)

Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:01)

All right, so first question is, when you were racing and you stayed at hotels, did you ever stay under fake names?

Dale Jr. (64:07)

Yes.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:09)

How'd you pick?

Dale Jr. (64:09)

I was. I was in. When I got burned in the Corvette, we were in hospital under William Bonnie. I think that's Billy. I remember that real name.

TJ Majors (64:17)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (64:19)

William Bonnie. It's mostly the one I use.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:23)

That's it. No other ones.

Dale Jr. (64:24)

And that Billy the Kid, I think. Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:26)

So William Bonnie, like, I always just wonder, like, I always.

Dale Jr. (64:31)

Like, I don't do that anymore. But, you know, back in the day, that was fun to do. It was fun to do. More fun to do than practical.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:39)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (64:39)

I would say for the most part it was either in, like, Mike's name or JR's name or something too. A lot. So.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:45)

Makes sense.

TJ Majors (64:45)

That's not fun no, it's not fun.

Podcast Host/Producer (64:48)

Next question. The zombie apocalypse is coming. Who are three people you want in your team?

Dale Jr. (64:53)

Does anybody know? Did they give us a date when it's coming?

Podcast Host/Producer (64:57)

Nope.

Dale Jr. (64:58)

No. Okay, well, you mentioned it. Like, it just been.

Podcast Host/Producer (65:01)

No, like, hey, it's coming. Like, you need three news Pockets coming next week.

Dale Jr. (65:06)

Okay, what am I doing?

Podcast Host/Producer (65:08)

You want three people on your team to help fend off the zombies.

Dale Jr. (65:12)

Daniel Truex. He's a good shot.

TJ Majors (65:15)

He's a good shot.

Dale Jr. (65:17)

Dude, I've seen Truex hit a dollar bill with a bow and arrow at a hundred yards. Hank Parker Jr.

TJ Majors (65:24)

But you can't fend off zombies with bow and arrow.

Dale Jr. (65:26)

Parker Jr. And all the juniors. Hank Parker Jr. X Jr. And me.

Podcast Host/Producer (65:33)

Yeah, you get one more. Oh.

Dale Jr. (65:37)

Well, while we're at it, let's see what other juniors are out there. I would say need a good. Need somebody who can. Oh, the dude who. Oh, he's on YouTube.

TJ Majors (65:54)

The Outdoor Boys.

Dale Jr. (65:55)

Yes, the outdoor boys, dad.

TJ Majors (65:57)

Oh, that guy is crazy. My fingers are so cold, like, every episode.

Dale Jr. (66:01)

Him?

TJ Majors (66:02)

Yeah, that guy. I was thinking about him. Luke.

Dale Jr. (66:04)

Luke. Yeah, Luke. Nicholas. Yes. Dude, we are surviving this. I am not worried.

TJ Majors (66:11)

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's the main guy right there.

Dale Jr. (66:13)

To the three juniors.

TJ Majors (66:14)

And Luke, I would just take him. I probably take you because of your basement. We could just. You had a lot of supplies down there.

Podcast Host/Producer (66:22)

No, you can't, though. Dale's on his own team.

Dale Jr. (66:24)

Yeah, I got beer.

TJ Majors (66:25)

Wow. That's my team. I can pick my own team.

Dale Jr. (66:27)

Got a supply of beer down there.

TJ Majors (66:31)

Yeah, yeah, that's a good. That guy's channel is good.

Dale Jr. (66:34)

Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (66:35)

Who else you taking? Tj.

Dale Jr. (66:38)

We do need a compound, so I do like. I do like my property. Come on.

TJ Majors (66:41)

Oh, the property. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (66:43)

If there is a. Yeah, if there.

TJ Majors (66:45)

I feel like we could set up if there's a facility.

Dale Jr. (66:48)

If there was a zombie apocalypse, I would be texting all my family, be like, y', all, come on, we'll just all camp here.

TJ Majors (66:55)

It's. It's in the right place to defend to, like, where it sits.

Dale Jr. (66:59)

Do you know anybody that has a bunker?

TJ Majors (67:02)

No.

Dale Jr. (67:02)

Yeah, we thought Carl Edwards had a bunker, but we've learned that he's. He's not the prepper that we thought. We thought he was prepping all these years, but he's just sailing.

TJ Majors (67:11)

I don't know when that has a bunker. Yeah, surprisingly.

Dale Jr. (67:14)

Yeah. Do you want a bunker? I mean, you know, if you're. If. No, no, no. Think I was thinking about this the other day. I mean, the Bunker. Right. It's underground. Great. You're hidden. But once they know the bunkers there, they just got to just suffocate. The breather pipe. Right. Or the, you know, the way, the ventilation. Right. They just, I mean, eventually they could run you right out of there pretty easy. Right.

TJ Majors (67:37)

Can't stay there forever either.

Podcast Host/Producer (67:39)

Yeah, I don't know how those. Yeah. How do, how do you get the oxygen?

Dale Jr. (67:42)

Well, there's ventilation and stuff. There's some. But there's some fun, fun ways to hide it through, you know, shrubs and bushes and whatnot. But I mean, once they've kind of learned that it's there, you're kind of trapped.

Podcast Host/Producer (67:53)

You're also wasting a lot of money on something that like.

TJ Majors (67:55)

Oh, yeah.

Dale Jr. (67:56)

Could you imagine now like building a bunker and then never using it, never needing it, and then.

Podcast Host/Producer (68:02)

Yeah, that would be awful. Or you do use it, but you have no idea when you can even go out.

Dale Jr. (68:06)

Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (68:07)

You're just in there for like, like.

Dale Jr. (68:08)

I'm, I'm not talking about like hurricane shelters or like out in the Midwest where there's tornado shelters under your house. Those kind of bunkers.

TJ Majors (68:15)

Like a house underground.

Dale Jr. (68:15)

I mean, like a prepper bunker. Like a, you know, these, you know, buying a silo or missile silo somewhere out in the world in the, in the middle, middle of the country and then. Yeah. Like building your house underground.

TJ Majors (68:26)

Really?

Dale Jr. (68:27)

I don't know, man.

TJ Majors (68:27)

It's a lot of waste.

Dale Jr. (68:28)

Yeah. I would love though to tour one. What? You want to tour one? Like a real bunker that's been remodeled?

TJ Majors (68:35)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (68:35)

Probably renovated. Probably nice to check it out. Go down, go down in there.

Podcast Host/Producer (68:40)

I think if you're going to do that, you need to make it also.

Dale Jr. (68:42)

Like somebody get us a tour.

Podcast Host/Producer (68:46)

We need to find someone's got one.

Dale Jr. (68:47)

And we're going to. This is live on YouTube. This is how the Internet works.

Podcast Host/Producer (68:50)

I know, but like, then for the guest show, we go to their bunker.

Dale Jr. (68:54)

I know. Well, I don't know about that. Let's not do a show. Let's not work. Let's just go have fun. Look at it.

TJ Majors (68:58)

Let's go look at it.

Dale Jr. (68:58)

If I want to go work.

Podcast Host/Producer (69:00)

If I was gonna do a bunch.

Dale Jr. (69:01)

Of guy's always trying to put me to work. I don't want to work. I want to go look at it.

Podcast Host/Producer (69:04)

I'm trying to build content.

TJ Majors (69:05)

What if you go and it's live streaming?

Dale Jr. (69:06)

Well, you can bring a damn camera.

TJ Majors (69:07)

What if you go and it's not.

Dale Jr. (69:08)

Wearing a live mic and you want one you're not miking me up, huh?

TJ Majors (69:11)

What if you go and it's like, super awesome? Like, man, I want to build one of these.

Dale Jr. (69:14)

Well, I was hoping that would be the case, like, you would go in there and probably super awesome.

TJ Majors (69:19)

Yeah, it could be. I have a feeling. So I'm not building a bunker. You say that now. I mean, you build a western town.

Dale Jr. (69:26)

It just seems like I'm, you know how tight I am. And I'm like, what if I build this thing and then I'm like, get to the end of my life? And I'm like, damn, that was foolish. Shouldn't have built that.

Podcast Host/Producer (69:37)

But you could make it like your man cave too, so, like, you can use it. Like, that's what I would do.

TJ Majors (69:43)

You bought every pair of night vision goggles in Mooresville one day.

Dale Jr. (69:48)

That was to play paintball.

TJ Majors (69:49)

I'm just saying, like, you've made some decisions. You've made some decisions that were we played.

Dale Jr. (69:54)

We bought night vision goggles to play paintball at night and then to chase each other around on golf carts in pitch black without headlights.

TJ Majors (70:02)

But I'm never building a bunker and wasting that money.

Podcast Host/Producer (70:04)

How many night vision goggles did you have?

Dale Jr. (70:06)

Have?

TJ Majors (70:06)

I think we ended up with five.

Dale Jr. (70:08)

They weren't the big $20,000 pairs.

TJ Majors (70:11)

They were, but back then they didn't have, like, they were as good as you could get. He bought every pair, like they had in all the stores here.

Dale Jr. (70:17)

Look, stop it. Yeah, I mean, that was a different time. I was a different person.

TJ Majors (70:23)

You bought 10 quarter scale.

Dale Jr. (70:24)

I'm not that person anymore. I'm so much. I'm more frugal.

TJ Majors (70:27)

Your go karts are on sale on ebay. Half.

Dale Jr. (70:29)

Yeah. See, got rid of all that crazy stuff.

TJ Majors (70:32)

We painted the curves of a road course that we don't erase on anymore.

Dale Jr. (70:35)

I know there I've got a little paved kidney shaped go kart track on my property and I want to dig that damn thing up. What a waste. It's because every time I walk by it, I'm like, what a waste.

TJ Majors (70:46)

It is.

Dale Jr. (70:47)

What a waste of money.

Podcast Host/Producer (70:49)

So build the bunker there.

Dale Jr. (70:50)

Oh, well, it's down on a creek bed in a floodplain, so it can't.

TJ Majors (70:54)

Yeah, you don't want to be.

Dale Jr. (70:55)

Flood the bunker. It.

TJ Majors (70:56)

Flood it and be awful.

Dale Jr. (70:57)

Flood the bunker now.

Podcast Host/Producer (70:59)

So what would you put there?

Dale Jr. (71:00)

I just dig it up. I want to dig it up because it's a reminder every time I drive by that I was stupid. I'm like, you know, if I can just make It a grassy meadow. I will maybe forget that I did.

TJ Majors (71:09)

That that one time we came back from Talladega, and you're like, you want to go paint the curbs on the go kart track? Sure.

Dale Jr. (71:16)

This ass junior is getting a little too honest. Can we move on to the next question?

Podcast Host/Producer (71:20)

Do you want a random one from a fan here?

Dale Jr. (71:22)

That's usually what this part's about.

Podcast Host/Producer (71:23)

This one, though, I don't.

Dale Jr. (71:24)

That's usually what this segment's about.

Podcast Host/Producer (71:26)

So Pen Buster Rule wants to know which current or past driver is the best cook.

Dale Jr. (71:30)

Huh?

Podcast Host/Producer (71:32)

Is there a driver that's a really good cook? He wants to know.

Dale Jr. (71:35)

I don't. How would I know?

TJ Majors (71:38)

Random. Random.

Dale Jr. (71:39)

I did go into Elliot Sadler's bus one time, and he was cooking pork chops in vinegar or he was boiling vinegar. Yeah, I got that right. So he was boiling white vinegar in a frying pan, and he had pork chops in there.

TJ Majors (71:56)

White vinegar and pork, sure. I've never heard of that before.

Dale Jr. (71:59)

Sure.

Podcast Host/Producer (71:59)

It wasn't like applesauce.

TJ Majors (72:01)

Huh?

Dale Jr. (72:02)

What?

Podcast Host/Producer (72:02)

Applesauce and pork chops.

TJ Majors (72:03)

Boiling apple sauce, though.

Dale Jr. (72:04)

He had a frying pan with about a half inch of vinegar boiling, and he had the pork chops in it.

Podcast Host/Producer (72:11)

Oh, Jesus. Yeah, that doesn't sound good.

Dale Jr. (72:15)

I know. I was like, hey, that's interesting, but that's Elliot. I wish I could do his accent.

TJ Majors (72:22)

Oh.

Dale Jr. (72:22)

Because then I would tell you I would do an Elliot Sadler impersonation. Really sell this story. But it's kind of.

Podcast Host/Producer (72:27)

Try it.

TJ Majors (72:28)

No, his accent would make you want to try it.

Podcast Host/Producer (72:32)

I don't think you would.

TJ Majors (72:33)

I mean, it's probably good if he's all right. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (72:36)

I mean, I'll admit it. I went home and tried it. It wasn't too bad. Little gives a little. Gives a little tang to the. To the back end of the pork chop. Yeah, not bad.

Podcast Host/Producer (72:49)

What was your favorite recess game growing up? Kickball.

Dale Jr. (72:53)

Freeze tag.

Podcast Host/Producer (72:53)

Four square. Oh, dodgeball.

TJ Majors (72:57)

Red rover.

Dale Jr. (73:00)

That's always good for some kickball. Kickball, like, you know, on the diamond. Yeah, yeah.

TJ Majors (73:06)

Where else do you play kickball?

Podcast Host/Producer (73:07)

Well, we had a game called matte ball, which is like kickball, but a little different. Oh, you could. Once you got on base, you could stay on base for just running.

Dale Jr. (73:15)

I just liked hide and seek. Just regular hide and seek. Or tag.

Podcast Host/Producer (73:22)

Do you ever capture the flag?

Dale Jr. (73:26)

Nah, man. Dude, I was old. We didn't even. We didn't. We didn't have, like. We just had. See, when I was. When I was. When I was a kid, we were just still playing tag. We were still hiding and seeking.

Podcast Host/Producer (73:39)

The problem is, though, you're just sitting there all day. You're good.

Dale Jr. (73:43)

But when we got to. When we got a ball for kickball, that was like. That's like, upgrade, like the. The new PlayStation coming out.

Podcast Host/Producer (73:50)

TJ.

TJ Majors (73:52)

I mean, kickball was always pretty fun. Dodgeball was always fun too.

Podcast Host/Producer (73:55)

Dodgeball was fun. They had the. You had either the rubber ones or, like.

Dale Jr. (73:59)

Did y' all ever play hide and seek in the neighborhood?

Podcast Host/Producer (74:01)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (74:02)

So, like, we lived on a. We'd go up to Mama's in Kannapolis on V8 Street. I mean, it's a. It's a block, you know, that was.

TJ Majors (74:11)

Fun if you knew that. Yeah. When you knew the neighbors and everything.

Dale Jr. (74:13)

I mean, like, you were literally like, I. You start. You're. You're up at Mama's house on the steps counting to 150 or whatever, and.

TJ Majors (74:21)

You had limits how far you could.

Dale Jr. (74:23)

Literally go to the other end of the block and hide under somebody's front porch. And they would. You know, it'd be like an hour. This one little leg of the game, taking this whole hour for the. For the. For the person to find. I mean, it was, like, fun.

Podcast Host/Producer (74:35)

That's the way to play.

Dale Jr. (74:36)

Long form.

Podcast Host/Producer (74:37)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (74:37)

Hide and seek. Long. Yeah. Speaking of hiding, so when. When I used to do this to Amy all the time, but now I don't know why. I guess because the girls are in the house. I quit doing it. But I used to hide and scare all the time. All the time around. Simply, like, literally just around a corner.

Podcast Host/Producer (74:55)

Oh, yeah.

Dale Jr. (74:55)

Not like. And just so easy. So much fun. And Nicole or Isla, my oldest, is doing that.

TJ Majors (75:04)

Oh, nice.

Dale Jr. (75:04)

All the time to all of us.

TJ Majors (75:06)

Perfect.

Dale Jr. (75:07)

It sucks because she's good. This little girl is hiding around every corner, ready to get you.

Podcast Host/Producer (75:15)

Have you thought about return the favor?

Dale Jr. (75:16)

Almost. I'm gonna have to start. It's probably a good idea. I didn't want to encourage it because I didn't. You know, Amy's not a big fan of all of this. She didn't like getting scared all the time, so I didn't want to kind of. But now Amy's on a trip, so I got the girls this week, and I'm gonna tell you, man, I've. I'm just gonna say we've had a really good week. I don't want to say. It's easy. I don't want to say that.

Podcast Host/Producer (75:39)

Oh, don't do that.

TJ Majors (75:40)

It's early in the week.

Dale Jr. (75:40)

It is early. It's Tuesday. Still got a couple days. I've got the girls for the whole week. It's been great.

Podcast Host/Producer (75:45)

It's easy.

Dale Jr. (75:46)

It feels like a whole week. It feels like it's been a whole week.

TJ Majors (75:48)

All the days are long.

Dale Jr. (75:49)

I had them all day Sunday.

TJ Majors (75:50)

That's a long day.

Dale Jr. (75:51)

All day yesterday and today and then tomorrow and Thursday, and we haven't had one hiccup, not one argument, not one disagreement. We get up in the morning, we brush our teeth, we're downstairs, we're dressed. We've left on time for school every day. We are. We're happy. We're not arguing, we're not fighting. Going to bed on time.

Podcast Host/Producer (76:12)

I can't wait for Wednesday.

Dale Jr. (76:14)

Everything's going well.

TJ Majors (76:15)

Yeah.

Dale Jr. (76:16)

So maybe while Amy's gone, I can start scaring the out of Isla, seeing how she feels about it. But here's the problem, because Amy would get mad at me if I scared Isla. Amy, be like, you're encouraging it. Don't do that.

Podcast Host/Producer (76:30)

That's the problem, though, is you're. You're going to do it now thinking you're okay. Isla's going to see it as, oh, I can do this.

Dale Jr. (76:37)

Oh, she's already doing it.

Podcast Host/Producer (76:38)

But then she's going to do it more. And then when Amy comes back, she's going to get her good.

TJ Majors (76:41)

They'll grow out of it. They're going to grow out of it.

Dale Jr. (76:43)

I like it. I like a little mischievousness. I like a little.

TJ Majors (76:47)

Oh, Nicole's got that.

Dale Jr. (76:48)

Dude. I know. Nicole is me.

TJ Majors (76:50)

Nicole's.

Dale Jr. (76:51)

Yeah, she's gonna be a problem. I mean that in the nicest way. But.

Podcast Host/Producer (76:59)

So we have one user saying they used to play tackle hide and seek.

TJ Majors (77:03)

How do you play?

Podcast Host/Producer (77:03)

I think that's just football.

Dale Jr. (77:05)

Damn. Yeah. I mean, that's like.

TJ Majors (77:07)

So to tackle. To get them, you got to tackle them.

Dale Jr. (77:10)

Holy cow. Yeah.

TJ Majors (77:11)

Like, okay.

Dale Jr. (77:15)

Wow.

Podcast Host/Producer (77:15)

Yeah, that seems.

TJ Majors (77:16)

It's kind of.

Dale Jr. (77:17)

I've never heard of that.

TJ Majors (77:18)

Me neither.

Dale Jr. (77:19)

I don't.

Podcast Host/Producer (77:21)

Next question. We had some people asking what the hood's gonna be next year.

Dale Jr. (77:26)

Hey, I'm glad we got around to that. So the hood on the wall, we. We get this hood made and then we sign. All our guests sign it, and then we donate it to the foundation and they. They auction it off, which we have an item right now on ebay for the Dale Junior Foundation. NASCAR has an alumni group and they sent hats to all the people that are in the alumni, and I guess I'm one of them. Kenny Wallace got a hat. Well, I got that hat in a box. And I thought, well, I'm never wearing this, right? I'm glad to be an alumni, but I'm not walking around with a hat. It's scared to wear it. It says alumni. I'm not doing that. So I signed it and I put it on the foundation's ebay. You can go to the foundation website if you want to bid on this. It's a one of one and I signed it. So it's like there's not another one like it. Maybe you'll want it. But anyways, like that hat. We're going to put this butt hood that we have in here. So we had everybody sign myself, all of our guests, and we're going to have to put up a new hood. So I thought to let TJ pick the hood this year. And TJ has chosen, I've chosen. And we're not going to tell you what it is, but I want everybody to try to guess what tj, what hood? And you're never going to get it. Try as you may. You will never guess this hood. But I think it might upset some people. It might, but it's going to make a lot of people happy and it's gonna surprise the people and it's pretty bad.

Podcast Host/Producer (78:59)

It's a great.

Dale Jr. (78:59)

It's a good ass idea. It's gonna look great.

TJ Majors (79:02)

I'm gonna take some for it, but.

Dale Jr. (79:04)

Yeah, you might.

Podcast Host/Producer (79:05)

The fact that we have to give you a compliment hurts me.

Dale Jr. (79:07)

I will say this. It's a pass driver. And we'll. And he's with us. He's still with us. And we'll get him to come in and sign it. Maybe he'll be a guest.

TJ Majors (79:16)

That'd help it out.

Dale Jr. (79:17)

There you go. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's got to sign it.

TJ Majors (79:20)

He's definitely got to sign it. Yeah.

Dale Jr. (79:21)

Okay.

TJ Majors (79:22)

It's gonna look cool.

Dale Jr. (79:23)

Yeah, it will.

TJ Majors (79:24)

It's very iconic.

Dale Jr. (79:24)

I can't wait. And it's TJ's idea. Look at me. Let TJ get a little skin in the game here. Have a little fun.

Podcast Host/Producer (79:32)

Yeah. Did you see this Reddit? Dale's being nice to tj.

TJ Majors (79:35)

Yeah, I'm just waiting for your turn.

Podcast Host/Producer (79:38)

Dale's always nice.

Dale Jr. (79:39)

They said I was an asshole last year. Yeah, it was. Because of the points format. We're good now. We're good. It'll be a great year.

TJ Majors (79:46)

Y' all write that down.

Dale Jr. (79:47)

Gonna be a great year.

Podcast Host/Producer (79:48)

I'm gonna bookmark this one.

Dale Jr. (79:50)

I feel like it really is. I'm not. Bullshit. I feel like it's going to be a freaking awesome year. We're all going to have fun.

TJ Majors (79:55)

I think it'll help. But you're still pretty damn moody.

Dale Jr. (79:58)

We'll see. I do get moody.

Podcast Host/Producer (80:01)

Usually when you lose your football games.

Dale Jr. (80:04)

I lost last night in the national championship. Got beat by Houston. TJ Got beat by Houston as well in the playoffs. But I made it back. I just didn't defend my crown.

TJ Majors (80:14)

I can't believe you didn't pull out the trick play.

Dale Jr. (80:17)

He would have been ready for it.

TJ Majors (80:19)

I was waiting for you to do it.

Dale Jr. (80:20)

He had my ass kicked by halftime. It was over.

TJ Majors (80:23)

There was at one point. I think you were going to score one point. I didn't think you were going to.

Dale Jr. (80:27)

I know.

TJ Majors (80:27)

So I was like, geez, yeah. When you kicked that field go. I was like, hey, that's just getting the points right there.

Dale Jr. (80:32)

That's just getting it.

TJ Majors (80:33)

Yeah. Make it not look bad.

Dale Jr. (80:35)

Yeah. All right.

TJ Majors (80:36)

But anyway, we got one more.

Dale Jr. (80:37)

No.

Podcast Host/Producer (80:38)

You want one more?

TJ Majors (80:39)

Yeah.

Podcast Host/Producer (80:39)

Okay. Let's see here. If you could erase one slang term from existence, what would it be?

Dale Jr. (80:45)

Dale?

Podcast Host/Producer (80:49)

I would love to get rid of that. I didn't know if your kids are saying words.

TJ Majors (80:51)

Oh my gosh. Six sevens.

Podcast Host/Producer (80:53)

I want that gone.

Dale Jr. (80:55)

A slang term from existence.

Podcast Host/Producer (80:58)

Like even my buddy's three year old saying six, seven now.

Dale Jr. (81:00)

Yeah, I know. Everybody's saying that. I don't mind. The point guard from Charlotte. He came up with that, right?

Podcast Host/Producer (81:05)

I think so, yeah.

TJ Majors (81:06)

There's different. There's different. I've had this argument already with. With Meline and Stella that there's different origins of how it started. I thought it was the guy. We're like, how tall are you? Like six, seven. And that's like how it started.

Dale Jr. (81:18)

I thought that's how it started.

TJ Majors (81:19)

Me too. But who knows?

Podcast Host/Producer (81:21)

All right, we'll do a different one then. If skill, experience and capability was no issue, what profession would you like to have?

Dale Jr. (81:30)

Just basically what professional profession would you.

TJ Majors (81:33)

What would you like to do?

Dale Jr. (81:34)

Yeah, what would you like to do if you could do it? Man, I had two. I think I had. There were two that I do recall, like growing up. Man, I want to be. I wanted to play for Washington as a football player and then I wanted to be a rock star.

Podcast Host/Producer (81:53)

That would be my.

Dale Jr. (81:54)

This is like 12 year old me, like lead guitarist. You didn't want to be the singer. Okay.

TJ Majors (82:04)

I think football players is almost there.

Dale Jr. (82:06)

Yeah.

TJ Majors (82:07)

Everyone, every kid probably wanted to be a football player.

Dale Jr. (82:09)

I wanted to be a football player. But now that I watched the Game. I'm like, yeah.

TJ Majors (82:13)

Oh, I know. I want to be it anymore.

Dale Jr. (82:14)

I don't know if I want to be that.

Podcast Host/Producer (82:15)

You don't want to get hit?

Dale Jr. (82:16)

Hey, dude, they hit hard and they get hurt a lot.

TJ Majors (82:19)

There's a lot. It's so much different now though.

Dale Jr. (82:21)

I mean, their injuries are like eight months of rehab.

TJ Majors (82:24)

Oh, man. Yes.

Podcast Host/Producer (82:26)

Did you see George Kittle this week when he got hurt? Do you see what he requested at half tequila locker room? A bottle of tequila.

Dale Jr. (82:33)

Yeah, I guess he finished, drank the whole thing. Said rock star.

Podcast Host/Producer (82:38)

Yeah, that's. That'd be cool to be in front of like a massive crowd and you.

Dale Jr. (82:41)

Can you imagine? I'm sorry, cut you off there.

Podcast Host/Producer (82:44)

You're good.

Dale Jr. (82:45)

I was just going to kind of join what you were saying. Like when you think about being a rock star, we're all jaded or we're all kind of. We all think it's just. You get up on stage, you got thousands of people singing your song and it's just, you know, sunny and 70 and sunshine and roses. But I bet it's. There's some crappy stuff. Tons of crappy stuff.

TJ Majors (83:15)

Oh, I'll bet there's gotta be.

Podcast Host/Producer (83:16)

You see it when they've made it, but when they're in a, you know, a 12 passenger van going from small venue to small venue.

Dale Jr. (83:23)

But I mean, I think that even that part of it could be pretty fun. But trying to figure out how to get. I've been around some dudes that are like not. I've been around some bands that are like local bands and so forth. And it's like they feel like they're this tiny minnow in this giant ocean and no one's ever going to hear them. Right. Or they're never going to get that song that like takes them. Them to a national level. And living, that would be tough. And then once you do get the hit right, you write this badass song or it gets really popular. Then you got to back it up and you see. So you see a lot of people, like just never came, you know, replicate the success. And some are the one hit wonders.

Podcast Host/Producer (84:08)

It's hard to hit. It's hard to write one hit. It's hard to write a second harder.

TJ Majors (84:12)

I think I was texting you during. During the Christmas break there. We went to saw my mom playing an AC DC tribute band. And it was actually fun to go and see, but they had their Renegade parked out front. I was thinking like the whole time like, man, these guys, they're this minnow Right now. But they were really good. And I was thinking about things, like, were you. And I went. Looked at their schedule and. And they're, like, all over the U.S. they're from Kentucky, but working their ass off. They're working their asses off, man.

Dale Jr. (84:37)

Yeah, I would ruin that. I would say. I would do it for the partying. And so I'd probably. You know, I'd be a very. I'd be like a short little. I'd have short shelf life as a rock and roll star because I would. I would be. I would explode and burn out.

Podcast Host/Producer (84:54)

VH1 would have had a documentary. Whatever happened to Dale Jr?

TJ Majors (84:58)

So we.

Dale Jr. (84:59)

I'm sorry. I'm being honest.

TJ Majors (85:01)

You're probably right.

Dale Jr. (85:02)

I would have not held it together. Nope. I would have raised hell. And. And, hey, some. Some of them survived it, but I'm.

TJ Majors (85:11)

Not sure, like, we would go see Kid Rock. Like, we'd see it when they were in town. You know, when they go to their next show the next night somewhere else. They're hanging out with other people.

Dale Jr. (85:19)

Yeah, they're partying all the time. So, yeah, me. We would hang out with Kid Rock and all kinds of different people over the years go to concerts and raise hell with them. They're not blind. And all kinds of stuff. And we went to a Third Eye Blind concert. Were you with us on that? You probably weren't.

TJ Majors (85:33)

I don't think I was.

Dale Jr. (85:33)

This is like 2003. And we parked the bus in the. Behind the stage. They let us park in their little place. And we were out in the middle of the Midwest near Indianapolis, but we were about three hours away from Indianapolis, and they had this big amphitheater in the middle of this corn field. It was somewhere, I don't know, Indiana or somewhere, but I remember us watching the concert, and then afterwards, we. We drank beer with the band and everybody that was back there, we partied all night, and we're sitting there, and they were. We were like, hey, where's the next one? And they're like, where? We're playing in. In Indianapolis, in town. And we're like, well, we'll go. Well, we'll just get up and. When are y' all leaving? Well, we're cranking up. They told. They're like, we're cranking up at like, 4am and they're gonna pull out. We'll be in our bunk sleeping. And. And I'm like. To my bus driver, I'm like, can we go? You want to get up before and drive? Follow? He's like, yeah, so we went to the next thing and watched them again the next night.

TJ Majors (86:31)

That'd be pretty fun.

Dale Jr. (86:32)

Yeah, but it gave you an idea of like, you know, you can party, but you got to figure out how to like have enough for the next night. The next night, the next night. Then you get a day off and maybe, you know, you another three night run. I wouldn't like that.

Podcast Host/Producer (86:45)

That's why on the stage they sometimes take the city name so the singer doesn't mess it up.

Dale Jr. (86:50)

Oh, man. Turing would not. I wouldn't. You would. Why don't they have a little more time between shows? Right?

TJ Majors (86:58)

That's quick, man.

Dale Jr. (86:59)

Yeah, they're. They've got to go to the Gotta. Bam, bam, bam, bam.

Podcast Host/Producer (87:04)

Make their money.

TJ Majors (87:05)

What was the show? You remember going to Raleigh? Remember Jack Black, that first band that he was in before he was. Remember you? We went up there to see him one time. What was the band? Oh, that's what it was. Yeah. I forgot.

Dale Jr. (87:15)

We went and saw Tenacious D. It was awesome.

TJ Majors (87:19)

I don't remember where it was. Yeah, I remember going up there. It was hilarious to meet him.

Dale Jr. (87:23)

Went backstage. Yeah, it was like 2004, like way back when Tenacious D was.

Podcast Host/Producer (87:27)

That's awesome.

Dale Jr. (87:27)

Just Tenacious.

TJ Majors (87:28)

It was so fun.

Dale Jr. (87:28)

I forgot about that. Yeah. We saw Third Eye. We saw Three doors down in Tremont. Yo, Badass. You know, flat one level bar in. In Charlotte. Badass place. A lot of history, but that's like the place where everybody would go before they would blow up. Damn. We've seen a bunch of bands, so.

TJ Majors (87:50)

Aerosmith here one time, which is pretty good.

Podcast Host/Producer (87:53)

All right. What's up?

Dale Jr. (87:54)

All right. Well, this was fun. Anyways, I hope everybody's having a good.

TJ Majors (87:59)

A good off season.

Dale Jr. (88:00)

Off season. Yeah. Good start to the new year.

Podcast Host/Producer (88:04)

Well, a couple weeks off.

Dale Jr. (88:06)

A couple more weeks till we go to Daytona.

Podcast Host/Producer (88:08)

We'll be back after the Clash.

Dale Jr. (88:09)

We'll be back on this show. When are we coming back?

Podcast Host/Producer (88:12)

After Clash.

Dale Jr. (88:13)

All right. Just after the Clash. We're coming back Tuesday, so we'll see how the Clash goes in Bowman Gray. That should be fun. Looking forward to that. But I'm really excited about cars going to Daytona and getting out on that racetrack and.

TJ Majors (88:25)

Yeah, it's gonna be awesome seeing how that all goes. Wednesday, 10am that's right. Fire them up.

Dale Jr. (88:29)

Yep. So, everybody, hey, thanks for tuning in. Thanks for being a part of this with us today. Appreciate everybody that's gonna tune in to the whole show later on when we get that out and yeah, have a good week and we'll see you around. Check out dirtymomedia on instagram, facebook x and TikTok.

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Dale Jr. (89:05)

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Podcast Host/Producer (89:44)

What are you eating?

Dale Jr. (89:45)

It's just granola. Not even yogurt. No crust, no fuss. Uncrust your mornings.