What Iowa Needs to Become a Legendary Race Track

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Dale Jr. Download

Episode: "What Iowa Needs to Become a Legendary Race Track"

Date: August 11, 2026
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (with Dirty Mo Media)
Guests/Main Contributors: TJ, Travis Carter, Ty Gibbs, Russell

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Episode Overview

This episode explores what Iowa Speedway needs to become a legendary NASCAR track, delving deep into racing jargon, track classifications, the impact of repaving, and how slight rule changes influence racing dynamics. Dale Jr. and company also break down the aftermath of the recent Iowa race, the ongoing debate around what makes a true "short track," and the ever-evolving chase for the Cup. Special guest Ty Gibbs joins to discuss his recent win, racing mindset, and the influence of family in the sport.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Makes a Track a “Short Track”?

• Classic Definitions vs. Modern Racing Perceptions
  • Dale Jr. emphasizes tradition: “A short track is half a mile or under. Richmond is a short track, grandfathered in, but by definition, anything over a half is not a short track.” (03:38–04:35)
  • TJ pushes back, arguing that tracks like Iowa (7/8 mile) and Gateway (1.25 mile) "race" like short tracks, despite their size.
  • The group debates if track size, shape, or racing style should define the category, with comedic analogies thrown in: “It's like someone walking into your house and starts moving your furniture around.” – Dale Jr. (06:53)
  • Touches on generational shifts in terminology, resisting the urge to artificially reclassify tracks.

2. Iowa Speedway – Repave or Not?

• The Perils and Opportunities of Repaving
  • Dale Jr. is adamant: full repaves can hurt race quality in the short term. Instead, he advocates for selectively repaving only the high lanes to boost multi-groove racing, referencing the “grip strip” experiment at Pocono as a case study (12:19–15:45).

    “If Iowa wanted to become legendary, they would only pave the old asphalt that they didn’t get the first time — the third and fourth lanes, the last two lanes way up there.” – Dale Jr. (14:16)

  • Discussion on the differing needs of NASCAR vs. IndyCar drivers and whether asphalt composition can be manipulated for better on-track action.
  • Lessons learned from other track repaves, notably North Wilkesboro, where the intentional use of quickly-aging asphalt and varied grip aggregates produced better racing (17:15–20:49).
  • Repave techniques: old vs. new paving materials—how polymers and recycled tire rubber changed the racing surface and why older, simpler mixes often lead to more fun and “character.”

3. Race Review: Iowa Outcome & the Art of the Pass

• Gibbs’ Victory and Bell’s Near Miss
  • Ty Gibbs’ “smart” race management is praised; the crew breaks down the late-race duel with Christopher Bell, focusing on line selection, tire strategy, and the difficulty in overtaking (23:17–28:24).
  • Clean air and tire wear (or lack thereof) led to “tires being a little too good”—making it tough for drivers to make up ground late (26:49–27:08).

    “Clean air definitely makes a huge difference… We need tires that wear a little more.” – Dale Jr. (27:10, 29:04)

  • Underlines that “winning still matters” in this championship format, as a single win can launch drivers up several spots in the points.

4. Chase Standings & Format: Is 16 Too Many?

• Who Belongs in the Chase?
  • The impact of wins—and how the points system means big gains for event winners.

    “Ty Gibbs shows us what a win can do… to see it in real time, watching guys launch themselves forward after one event is pretty interesting.” – Dale Jr. (30:13–31:16)

  • Discussion over whether the Chase field should shrink from 16 to 10 or 12 drivers to boost the drama around the cut line; nostalgic for the “legendary” 10-driver photo from the early 2000s (37:02–38:38).
  • Suggests cut points feel meaningless unless they’re pushing top competitors to the edge.

5. Should NASCAR Let Teams Change Brake Pads?

• Debate Over Race Day Adjustments
  • Sparked by incidents with JGR and 23XI teams, discussion over whether teams should be allowed to swap brake pads between practice and race (40:14–47:36).
  • Pros: Safety, adaptability, tradition (“That was never a ‘taboo’ thing.” – Dale Jr. 43:24)
  • Cons: Worry teams will exploit the rule for qualifying/race-specific packages.
  • Consensus: It’s racing—allow it, but dock teams to the back for changes after qualifying.

6. The Xfinity/O'Reilly Series and Young Driver Highlights

• Carson Kvapil and Raja’s Strong Finishes
  • Analysis of strategy shifts at Iowa, Kvapil and Childers’ strength over recent weeks, and importance of pit crew consistency for Chase success (48:27–54:21).
  • Raja’s critical second-place finish puts him back in playoff contention; focus on consistent top 5s for rising drivers.

7. Ty Gibbs Interview (58:13–70:34)

• Winning Mentality and the Modern Driver’s Toolbox
  • Detailed, candid segment with Ty Gibbs about his win, helmet collecting, using digital mirrors, driving under pressure, and how his family supports him at JGR.

    “I think if you took the digital camera out of the car, it would be a mix of drivers that probably wouldn’t be in the Cup series anymore.” – Ty Gibbs (00:00, 66:33)

  • Balancing looking forward and backward on the track; “you’re kind of just in La La Land” with adrenaline (60:41).
  • On his mother’s leadership at JGR: “She’s the most competitive person I know… seeing her get credit and step up, I’m proud of her.” (69:16)
  • Approach to the Chase: “We take it week by week, day by day—simple, not overengineered.” (64:04)

8. Collecting and Card Talk

• Nostalgia and Hobbyism
  • Dale Jr. discusses his card collection—both football and racing cards—sharing favorites, recent finds, and cleaning up a bulk buy (76:14–80:43).

9. Grassroots Racing and Cars Tour Debrief

• Late Model Stock Perspective
  • Recap of the Hickory event’s weather chaos, late-night heroics in the late models, and how these smaller races foster big rivalries and excitement (83:04–88:55).
  • The Cars Tour is gaining a reputation for attracting major drivers and providing up-and-comers a shot at big names.

10. Race Preview: Richmond Roulette & Betting

• Picks, Sleepers, and “Richmond 2.0” Arguments
  • Predictions for the next race, debate over who’s a true sleeper (especially Austin Dillon), and hot/cold streak analysis for Richmond (94:05–103:51).
  • Fun bickering over whether Iowa and Richmond are “the same,” and discussion over parlay betting strategies for top-10 picks.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “A short track is considered anything under a half mile or smaller… The word short in 'short track' is the identifier.”
  – Dale Jr. (04:35)

• “It’s like somebody walking into your house and moving your furniture around… That’s the way I feel.”
  – Dale Jr. on people redefining track categories (06:53)

• “If Iowa wanted to become legendary, they would only pave the old asphalt… the last two lanes way up there.”
  – Dale Jr. (14:16)

• “Clean air definitely makes a huge difference… We need more tire wear.”
  – Dale Jr. (27:10, 29:04)

• “Ty Gibbs shows us what a win can do… watching guys launch themselves forward after one event is pretty interesting. So wins are still massively important.”
  – Dale Jr. (30:13–31:16)

• “Should NASCAR let teams change brake pads? I believe they should… If you need to send them to the back, fine.”
  – Dale Jr. (47:28)

• “I think if you took the digital camera out of the car, it would be a mix of drivers that probably wouldn’t be in the Cup Series anymore.”
  – Ty Gibbs (00:00, 66:33)

• “I want to see the guy go down into the corner right on his ass, run right on his bumper, through the entire corner.”
  – Dale Jr. on desired racing product (28:06)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Short Track vs. Not – Iowa Debate Begins: 03:38–09:02
• Track Size Categories and Generational Shift: 10:00–11:00
• Iowa Repave/Grip Strip Solution: 12:19–15:45
• Asphalt Technology and Multiple Grooves (Wilkesboro Example): 17:15–20:49
• Post-Race Recap: Ty Gibbs Win Analysis: 23:17–29:03
• Tire Wear & Passing Difficulty: 26:49–29:04
• Chase Points Shake-up: 30:13–38:38
• Debate: Brake Pads – Adjustments Allowed or Not: 40:14–47:36
• O’Reilly Series Standings, Kvapil & Raja: 48:27–54:21
• Ty Gibbs Extended Interview: 58:13–70:34
• Collectibles/Card Segment: 76:14–80:43
• Cars Tour Recap & Grassroots Racing: 83:04–88:55
• Race Preview, Betting, Richmond Analysis: 94:05–103:51

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Tone & Style

• Candid, Playful, and Knowledgeable: Frequent ribbing between hosts, especially over racing terminology and nostalgia.
• Technical but Relatable: Deep dives into racing technology are balanced by collector stories, food talk, and big-picture fan engagement.
• First-person Insight: Dale Jr. brings personal experience from behind the wheel and as a team owner.

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For New Listeners

• You’ll leave this episode understanding why "short track" is more than a number, why how a track is paved matters so much for racing excitement, and how the chase format fuels season-long drama.
• Brief but rich feature interview with Ty Gibbs provides insight into the psyche and background of a rising Cup star.
• Lots of playful, insider banter – you’ll feel like you’re part of the crew’s post-race debrief.

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Transcript

[Ty Gibbs]

Honestly, I think if you took the digital camera out of the car, I think there it would be a mix of drivers that probably wouldn't be in the cup series anymore. Honestly, like, I mean, I think Dale can probably speak on that, but I swear sometimes, like, man, if there was no digital cameras in here, like some of these guys definitely would not be in Cup.

[Travis Carter]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Russell]

Yes.

[TJ]

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

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Or I'm still sour that I wasn't the best man at your wedding.

[Travis Carter]

Who was your best man, Dale?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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

[TJ]

All right then.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Hey Everybody, it's Dale Jr. Back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download. This is post coast Iowa episode 734. I hope everybody's been doing good out there. We had a pretty, pretty fun week. Pretty fun weekend. Me and Amy shot down to, to the beach house last weekend before the kids go to school and tuned into the Iowa races. Tuned in to. Well, tried to tune into the cars tour event. Going to talk about that later. This episode is being presented by Arby's. Don't forget about Arby's new meet in three box. You get more meal for your money. At Arby's. We have the meats and we're going to jump right into it. Iowa is, is a pretty cool little racetrack, not a short track. You know, in the, in the, I guess in the, in the rules of, you know, the 75 plus years of NASCAR, a short track is half mile or under. Richmond is a short track. Grandfathered in because it was a half mile before the reconfiguration. But rich short tracks are a half mile or under. And then you have the 1 mile racetracks. That's Dover and, and New Hampshire and I think Phoenix kind of falls into that bucket and so does this racetrack. I think I was seven, eight of a mile.

[TJ]

It's a short track to me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Then you have the intermediates that are, you know, one and a half mile racetracks and then you have the super speedways or speedways that are two mile super speedways, two and a half mile. That's really how it's always been. And I don't. And there's these, there's these people that come into the sport like TJ that want to start calling different things. Oh well, it races like a short

[TJ]

track, but I think I was a short track. Yeah, it's Richmond.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Rusty Wallace might have designed it somewhat like after Richmond. Because it was inspired by Richmond doesn't mean that it's a short track. It's 7/8 of a mile. I mean everything 7/8 of a mile. TJ what, what other short track out there is that large?

[TJ]

So I mean. So we just categorize tracks by size? Yes, absolutely. Like no word.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

The word in the short track, short. Short is a, is a sort of an identifier of.

[TJ]

Well, I mean, who decides the length of the short track?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

People that were here long before you and I.

[TJ]

But I mean things change, things evolve over time.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No, not this okay, this. Buddy, you don't just start. What are we going to call Talladega short track one day?

[TJ]

I. I mean, Iowa reminds me of the Glenn.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't understand why people want to do this. People want to just start changing, you know, I love Russell. I think Russell is a bad mother. But he calls tracks drafting tracks now. I mean, that's like his new term to just come up. Because they couldn't think of anything else to call racetracks where we ran restrictor plates forever just because, well, we don't have restrictor plates no more. We can't call them. Why can't we? They've been restricted plate tracks forever.

[TJ]

This is a Richmond 2.0 to me. Just a few different banking changes and stuff. It's. It. I mean, it races like Richmond.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, well, it's called Richmond.

[TJ]

Richmond, too. I don't know. That's fine.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We'll have two Richmonds.

[TJ]

I mean, you go to there. You have the same tendencies.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You have the same tendencies of.

[TJ]

I mean, how the. How the place races, how it looks. Everything's a short track to me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's a long track, though. It's not short.

[TJ]

Why are you measuring out by the wall around the white line?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

If I know, man, I'm just.

[TJ]

Well, I mean, what the people way

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

before us do, what that argument is?

[TJ]

Well, I'm. I don't know how. It's not a short track because it's

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

7.8of a mile and Richmond is. Was a half mile. Now it's five. Eight.

[TJ]

So five eight to seven, Ace. There's a cutoff between them, too.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, anything over a half is not a short track, so.

[TJ]

But Richmond's still. Just because his grandfathered in.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's right.

[TJ]

But the length of it's still longer. But it can't.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't make these rules.

[Travis Carter]

But you're enforcing them.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I know. Somebody needs to. Somebody needs to say something because it's ridiculous.

[TJ]

I agree with the drafting track stuff. That's dumb. But I know I was short.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Hey, this is like. This is. This generation.

[Ty Gibbs]

You.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You guys.

[Travis Carter]

What do you mean me?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yo, listen. This generation, y' all come in, y'.

[Ty Gibbs]

All.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's like.

[Travis Carter]

Y'.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All. It's like somebody walking into your house and start moving your furniture around.

[Travis Carter]

I moved some things in the studio today.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's like, yeah, it's like somebody coming in your house and saying, man, man, I moved the couch. I didn't like it over there. That's the way I feel.

[Russell]

But.

[Travis Carter]

But we're not moving anything. We're just changing terminology.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Just my terminology. You're changing.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, well, my grandma used to call the couch the Davenport, but nobody calls it that anymore.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I've never heard of that.

[TJ]

I've never heard of that either.

[Travis Carter]

It's called the couch. That.

[TJ]

What the hell? That's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Don't. I don't like it. Sorry. Ain't gonna change.

[Travis Carter]

Put up on a poll.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Call me. Call me what you want.

[TJ]

Like what's Gateway?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

One mile. Oh, files. And it falls in the one mile bucket.

[TJ]

That's damn near drafting track. Yeah, I mean Gateway is a short track. Oh, okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But how long is it?

[TJ]

It's like one point.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh my God. It's longer than a mile.

[TJ]

Gateway Motorsports park is a 1.25 mile oval. What?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And you're going to call it a short track? You think it's short track just because

[TJ]

it has a long straightaway and tight like tight corners. I mean you put short track. You really serious short track brakes on

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

it for the look, man, like tj.

[TJ]

What is it?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, it's not a short track.

[TJ]

What is it then?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's a one mile track. There's.

[TJ]

So I don't think we need a different category for the two tracks that don't exist at the 5.8to 1.25. I mean it's not a. It's not a Kansas by any means.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So if you go up on Wikipedia. Not that that's going to help my argument any, but if you go on Wikipedia, Wikipedia has it. Has it ranked the traditional thought behind track sizes.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And they'll tell you that a short track is considered anything under a half mile or smaller because you have quarter miles, you have three, eight miles.

[TJ]

I just don't think we need a category for like the two tracks that are short tracks but just have a little tracks.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You got. Well, wait a minute. You got.

[TJ]

Iowa and Gateway are short tracks to me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Wait, those two tracks or what else is there? That New Hampshire track you're getting ready to go to. Yeah, Dover. Shoot. There may be one more I'm missing. But you've got.

[TJ]

Hey, I mean I. I just think Gateway and Iowa short tracks, but.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, Jeff Burton thinks Phoenix is a short track.

[TJ]

The whole Phoenix was a short track to me. But this track's not. This track's way bigger than us.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

If we can't all agree, I mean, we just can't go forward. I think they should grind the entire sport to a screeching halt.

[TJ]

We need to stop. We probably shouldn't this weekend. Until we know track, we're Running.

[Travis Carter]

We need a committee.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We can get to the bottom of this.

[TJ]

Is Iowa short track, yes or no?

[Travis Carter]

Yes.

[TJ]

Is Iowa short track.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

James.

[TJ]

James, come talk some sense into him.

[Russell]

I don't know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Is there a such thing as a medium track?

[TJ]

No, James. Don't be dumb.

[Ty Gibbs]

James.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

New Hampshire is only an eighth mile larger. So are you going by the idea that anything under a mile is a short track? If it's not a mile, it's a short track.

[TJ]

It is.

[Travis Carter]

What is?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They go just as fast at Iowa.

[TJ]

To me, it's closer to a short track than it is a mile and a half.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They actually go slower in the corners at New Hampshire, which is great. I bet it's about the same, if not a little faster at the front stretch.

[TJ]

I don't just say, yeah, probably similar. I mean, Loud's fast.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All right. Anyhow, the question of the day is, should Iowa be repaved? It's getting repaved. No, there's not a. I mean, why are we. Should we repave Iowa? What do they. If we don't. If we all sit here and say they shouldn't. They're not. They're going to dial it back, not do it. Why?

[TJ]

What's the reason for the repave?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I guess so if you go. If you look at the racetrack surface, the gaps are starting to widen between the new asphalt and the old asphalt. There's a little. People say, oh, yeah, I can almost put my whole cell phone in between the cracks. But, I mean, dude, we're going to Loudon where that's been the case for 20 years.

[TJ]

We've ran other tracks, dude.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

The cracks at Louden.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Drop kind of all kinds of down in there.

[TJ]

There's racetracks that have big gaps in it, too.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's no big deal. I think they should leave it alone.

[TJ]

I do, too.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Maybe, though, that they need to repave it for, I don't know, any car or there's other races.

[TJ]

So I've noticed this race to the cup race, we're getting. We're still get. We're getting higher and higher in the corner still. So, like, that's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'm telling you, dude, if I owned Iowa. So if anybody has, you know, their phone, their tablet, go to YouTube, go back to. You can open up YouTube and go and look at. Let's say. I'm thinking, when did they put the grip strip in at Pocono? 2008. 9.

[TJ]

Same year they did Michigan, too.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So 12 was a repay for Michigan the same year. Yeah. So sometime around 2000 or close around there. 10, 11, 12. They put a grip strip. They just had a big problem up at the top of the corner in turn three at Pocono. And they, they just went over there and put down a one lane piece of asphalt.

[TJ]

Barely one lane on top.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It was fully one lane, tj. You could fit your whole car on it. They put it on top of the asphalt. So if you drove up on it, it was like a. It was like, you know, your car just. You drove up onto it. It wasn't flat with the surface. They thought, you know what, it's way up there. Nobody runs up there. They'll never with it. Guess what?

[TJ]

We ran.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We went there for a test and I think it was an or. A lot of cars were there. I just.

[TJ]

There was everybody there, I think.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And it didn't take long for all of us to find that grip strip up there. And holy, it was fast. Way faster, right? And I'm going to tell you right now, Pocono is pretty damn fun. But that right there was just some cool dude because you could, you could put the left front or the left rear on the old asphalt and the rights on the new and the car would handle differently if you were. If you needed more turn you could take, you could drop the left rear off of that new asphalt and the car would kind of slide sideways and the whole field ran up there. And you could drive right. You know, if you, you could drive right up into a guy's left recorder panel and get right to their ass, man. And it was so damn cool. And so I promise you, if I. If Iowa. Sorry. If Iowa want. If Iowa wanted to become legendary, they would only pave the old, the old asphalt that they didn't get the first time, which was basically the third and the fourth lane, the last two lanes way up there.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You want to see some awesome racing at a racetrack? I mean, you've got two new grooves on the bottom. They're only a couple of years old. Leave it alone. To only repave the older.

[TJ]

Maybe they should do it in years. Like do another strip in a year for two years and add another layer.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You could, you could just put brand new strip in. In the third groove and leave the fourth alone. But I would just go ahead and just pave the very top two grooves of both turns and you would see some of the most epic racing that you've seen in a really long time. I would guarantee it. I would guarantee it. But they're not going to do that. They're going to pave the Entire track. And it's just going to suck.

[TJ]

Yeah. I don't. It scares me to go. I actually think the racing's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It will suck for a couple of years.

[TJ]

Yeah, it's going to.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, every repave does.

[TJ]

It does. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Right. And so it's inevitable that the product going to suffer just a little bit. But man, if they were smart enough just to pave those top two lanes.

[Ty Gibbs]

Holy.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Would that be cool.

[TJ]

I remember a truck race there not too long ago. I think Briscoe was in the trucks and he had Johnny Sauder was kind of running the bottom or laying up and. And Chase started running the fence and ran Johnny down like.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Quick. And then Johnny moved up.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But it's a great racetrack now.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Once they repave it entirely, it's going to degrade. It's going to. The product on the racetrack probably will suffer a little bit to the repave. But then if we can get three years, four years down the road, it'll be a great track as it is. I think it's a. I think it's put on some really good races. I think, you know, the Truck and the O'Reilly races that have happened there years over.

[Ty Gibbs]

Over.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Over the last couple of decades. To your point, T.J. they've. They were chasing the groove way up the racetrack using the top of the racetrack as long as they can keep the bumps out of it. That some got some bumps.

[TJ]

It's got some bumps that developed some

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

real bad ones into turn one. And you know, that was the point of repaving it. And I think the repave was more for IndyCar as you would, you know, as those cars would probably not handle that that much content as well as like the NASCAR guys. But that's my opinion, man. But I believe it doesn't matter because they're going to just pay the whole damn thing.

[TJ]

So is there not a way to. And I probably. I know we've had this discussion like this before, but like to. Does it have to be when they repave, does it have to be the asphalt that's going to last 30 years?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No. So. No.

[TJ]

You know what I mean?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

North Whitborough has already proved that with asphalt, they put down asphalt that they knew would age quickly and provide multiple grooves of racing. So they. They. The asphalt in the bottom groove versus the next groove and the next groove has different aggregate in it that's going to provide different grip levels. They did that intentionally. And it's also not the type of asphalt that they maybe paved Michigan or Charlotte with that they want. You know, they wanted to last forever. So they. They paved Michigan in 2012. I believe they paved Charlotte back then as well. They paved it with the best technology possible, and it was a mistake. And they realized that Charlotte suffered for a long time.

[TJ]

Long time.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Terrible races right around the bottom, nobody moving up off the bottom of the racetrack. And so they learned that putting down the best possible product that would last the longest is not that. Not the way to do it. And so when they repaved Wilkesboro, they used some say they used some ideas and some technology, not only to make the asphalt age quickly, they may have to repave it sooner than they would prefer, but they're going to have a better racing product over the years while it's on there. And also, it's my belief that each lane of asphalt, as you get up, higher up the racetrack, has more grip. And so I think the way that they do that is years ago in the 70s, when they were paving racetracks. TJ Dependent upon the geographical location, you use an aggregate, it may be granite, depending on where you are in the country. It may be crust, maybe seashells or that.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Like southeast is.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So they're good. That would fill up. Be a big part of the ratio of the. Well. Yeah. Well, that. I'm just saying, like, years ago, they used almost. Not waste materials, but, like, easily accessible granite, gravel, whatever.

[TJ]

Stuff wasn't really being used either.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They get out of a quarry, and they crush it up, and they'd mix that into the asphalt. And that was how. That was what you poured down onto the floor. And when they went and paved Charlotte, the technology had changed to where they were using rubber, polymers. So they were recycling tires and all types of stuff that they can't find real use for. It's waste products that they. And so this rubber is actually in the. In the asphalt. And so we went out on that racetrack, and it's like, holy, this thing's got a ton of grip. Well, it's rubber on rubber. You're. You're racing on.

[TJ]

Yeah. So it sticks.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So grippy. And that's why it didn't develop a middle groove or top groove. They had to go up there and spray it and try to figure out how to get people to move off the bottom. And that's why the racing at Charlotte and the oval sucked for so long. And so they went to. I think they went to Wilkesboro. And they can adjust how much of that polymer goes into each. Each lane changing, therefore, the grip level.

[TJ]

I think Wilkesboro raced Great. I mean, the leader could run kind of anywhere. There was cars running against the fence

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

all over the place.

[TJ]

Yeah. So could not Iowa. Could they not do something like that and make the racing good?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, they're going to repave the whole track. We'll see. We'll see. If they call up Marcus and those guys. Whoever paved Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro. That's who I would call 100%.

[TJ]

That track's great.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It is. It was one of everybody, all the. Go. Don't take my word for it. Go. Look at all the comments of all the drivers. This is the best repave I've ever seen. This track races better than any repave I've ever seen. Those are comments from drivers.

[TJ]

There's just so many different techniques. And honestly, even with the bump out of four, they bought them out. The character to it. It's fine. I mean, it's still great.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like unintended.

[TJ]

Yeah, but it's fine.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it is.

[TJ]

That's great.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Bumps are good at racetracks. Not. Not too big. Yeah, you don't want them big old tunnel, you know, Chicago tunnel bump. That's a big one.

[TJ]

Or Kentucky.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Kentucky.

[TJ]

Yeah, Kentucky. The stretch.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Travis Carter]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Ty Gibbs knocks off his second win.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Holds off Christopher Bell from the back, too.

[TJ]

From a penalty.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Yeah, he sure did. Had a.

[Travis Carter]

It wasn't a penalty. It was a slow pit stop.

[TJ]

Was it?

[Travis Carter]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Okay. Well, he still was in the very back, so.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Hey, he did a good job, man. Race smart. What could Chris. What could Christopher Bale have done differently?

[Travis Carter]

Yeah. Did you.

[TJ]

Tires.

[Travis Carter]

Did you see Kyle Petty's comments?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I didn't.

[Travis Carter]

He was saying that he needed to do something different. He kept trying the same move over and over again. Like, switch it up.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't know. So one, there was one turn down. So there was one time down in Turns 1 and 2 that Christopher Bill almost got to his outside.

[TJ]

Yeah, he's close. I saw that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So that was. Yeah, he. He almost got there. They go down in the turn three and four, and I think he went to the bottom for whatever reason. Whatever he did in three and four had Gibbs questioning whether C. Bell was going to completely change it up into one and two the next lap. And Ty Gibbs. I felt like the next time they go through turns one and two gave. Gave Christopher Bell even more opportunity on the outside and Christopher Bell had already committed to running the bottom or.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's like, dude, you just almost got there to the quarter panel the lap before and he went back into 1 and 2 and didn't try that again. I think if he had. If we watched that, if we were to see that lap, man, it was right there. I think if. I think if he would have ran that, tried that same move the second time.

[TJ]

Yeah. I don't know. I think Ty's blocks it. I do.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Ty was lower on this particular entry to one than the lap before. I mean, he'd have to run him. He would just have to run him out of the racetrack.

[TJ]

I saw what you're talking about. The thing that I think he was scared of is getting too high.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I get it. Yeah.

[TJ]

And then Bell with the tires getting low and just keeping position on him down the back and kind of, you know, if he gets. If he can shoot down into the three or four and keep position on him, he can move them up. Yeah, I think that's what he was worried about.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, he wasn't going to pass him on the bottom, I don't think.

[TJ]

Oh, not without using him up so well.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It was. I don't know what. What the hell else he could have done.

[TJ]

I thought Ty did a good job of defending.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Ty wasn't slow. I mean, what wasn't. Like, Ty was in a slow car. He was in a pretty fast race car.

[TJ]

No, his car was fast. Bell was just a tiny bit quicker.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah.

[TJ]

And it wasn't enough to. To just get up there and drive by him.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

And Ty. Every time I looked, Ty was positioned right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There's this. You know, I don't really. It's. There's this conversation on social media after the race about, damn, this car can't pass Christopher Bell faster. Couldn't. Couldn't do week after week after week. I mean, I don't know if I buy into that entirely.

[TJ]

I'm not buying. Not that I'm not buying it either.

[Travis Carter]

We saw Blaney go up there or Bell go up there and pass Blaney. I think this was different.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Like, to me, the. The tires were just too good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

In my opinion, this week, they were just too good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That was the thing. I mean, you got teams taking two

[TJ]

tires and staying in the top three.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Top three, got. Staying at guys staying out. That's. To me, that, to me is, you know. Yeah, it's tires a little too good.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And I would agree with that.

[TJ]

The two tires, four tires, couldn't run them out. When Chase Elliott went from literally not

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

being able to pass anybody back in the back of the pack, he was 20.

[TJ]

Struggling, struggling, 25th to 30th.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Put him up front, and boom. And kind of held on.

[TJ]

He did. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Because his tires were not as bad as they should have been.

[TJ]

Yeah, they should. He should have been eat up.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, clean air definitely makes a huge difference.

[TJ]

Oh, for sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And is the car perfect? No, it's not perfect. Does. Does the. You know, does the car suffer in traffic more than it should? Yeah. I mean, there's some work to do.

[TJ]

I feel like it was better this week, though, a little bit.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What I would like to have seen is for Christopher Bell to be able to get a little bit closer to him without having to be offset so much. So you can't. Because of the underbelly of the car, you can't follow directly behind Ty Gibbs. You have to go high, you have to go low. You can't follow directly behind him. You can't. You're going to lose gobs of car lengths. And so. Yeah. And that's what I don't like, and that's what I'd like to see worked on and improved. I want. I want to see the guy go down into the corner right on his ass, run right on his bumper. Through the entire corner.

[TJ]

Like O'Reilly cars.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I want to see that.

[TJ]

We could do it in O'Reilly on entry and exit. You could get up underneath somebody from the center off and they couldn't get in the throttle because they don't have the grip.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay.

[TJ]

And like, I want to see the guy behind have some offensive plays to make moves.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

So, I mean, a rally cars have it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Well, I don't. You know, I think the car took a little bit. Took a little bit more abuse than it probably deserved at the end of the day, but it's still there. Some work to be done.

[TJ]

I do see guys fighting, handling a little bit more than I. Than I probably have.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There was a lot of guys having a hard time getting drive up off the corner.

[TJ]

Like, even on entry, they would wiggle

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

up the track and that's fun.

[TJ]

No, I think that's great.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We need more of that.

[TJ]

Yeah, we need that on old tires.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No, that on older tires. We need tires that where they need to get the tires there to wear out a little more.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

To be. You don't need guys taking two tires at.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

At that place. As a. That. That ought not be a strategy. You ought to have guys begging for four tires at 40 laps.

[TJ]

Oh, my gosh. That's. I want that every week.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yes. Yes.

[TJ]

Yeah. I want that every week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Thinking, damn, I got to go another, you know, I don't know, 40 laps.

[TJ]

Yeah, I'm going to wreck. I need to pit.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Christ. All right. So the Chase standings changed quite a bit after this race. Reddick dropped to fourth. I mean, this guy. I don't know what the hell they need to do, but it's been. It's been incredible. Just a hell of a storyline to watch Redick dominate, get out to such a large lead. A lot, you know, a lot of conversation about whether he would even be caught in the regular season. I know they don't like us using that. That verbiage, but before the Chase, they wondered if he would be caught. Now he's fourth and, you know, he's 120 behind. He's lost 200 points.

[Travis Carter]

It was caught by three people.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So Ty Gibbs, and this is the other thing that I think is fascinating. Ty Gibbs shows us what a win can do. You know, he's launched two positions forward into second place in points. His, you know, if he starts there versus fourth, his chance to win the championship, the percentage goes up, you know, probably double digits. So I'm. I'm a little surprised by what a win can Do I think we're all learning. We knew that wins were weighed heavily. Yes, they're going to be more points for wins. All that bull. But, man, to see it in real time happening, you know, watching guys launch themselves forward after one event is pretty, pretty interesting. So wins are still massively important. Massively important.

[Travis Carter]

Like Bell even said, it's seven second places. If he had a couple of Those worth the 15 points, where he'd be absolutely.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So I like that because we need guys doing everything they can to win races. We don't need guys settling for second. We don't need Guy. And that no one is. I'm just saying, you know, that. That when you look at dissecting if this system's working well, I would say they did a tremendous job making sure that winning is important and winning still matters. The other thing that I found incredible has been the climb for Chase Briscoe, now fifth in points. Christopher Bell, now sixth in points, jumped four spots. Yep. Just incredible. Of course, yes. Christopher Bell, if you would have won a couple of them races, it'd be a completely different scenario. Really incredible scenario. But now Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell taking over fifth and sixth, two very coveted positions in the Chase format. Speaking of chases, Chase Elliott is now dropped to seventh. Very concerning. That team needs to turn it around. Jose Var still sort of hovering there around the backside of the top 10, as is Busher. And then Kyle Larson has dropped to 10th in points. I am, you know, if I'm Kyle and if I'm that team with just a handful of races, I'm scrambling, trying to figure out how to grab a couple of positions.

[Travis Carter]

Well, and he's lucky that that bunch right there is so tight. That one good race and he can't listen that I.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We go back to the start of the year, all the simulations said 85% chance that the champion comes out of the top six. Christopher Bell says midway through the year, guys, I think that might be more the top eight. Like, you still got a chance. And he's right. So Kyle Larson sitting back there in 10th. Even William Byron, they've got to be thinking, man, we just need, you know, I don't. I'm still in it. 10th, 10th is not a death sentence, but God, 8th, 7th, those. Those would be better. You know, over the next couple of weeks, it's going to be really, really interesting to see who can. Who can do what and who can sustain, who can maintain, who can maybe launch themselves forward. That there's some couple of guys. I don't. I don't love Larson's chances starting 10th in the Chase. Your deficit to first versus, you know, starting 10th versus starting six.

[Travis Carter]

Oh, yeah. The odds are just low.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So, you know, then you go on back, William, Byron Suarez, all these guys. I mean, there's an argument to be said that we need to cut this chase field down 10, down to 12.

[TJ]

Yeah, I can see that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

But I mean.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it doesn't really matter. Really matter.

[TJ]

I mean.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it doesn't really. I mean, you know, does it. Is it hurt anybody that Austin Cindrick, 16th and going to be in the Chase?

[TJ]

No.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. No, it's not going to hurt anybody. But if we want the cut line to be a conversation worth having at this point in the season, you're going to have to move that cut line to 12th or 10th, because I'm going to tell you right now, if the cut line was 10th and you got Kyle Larson sitting on top of that, the broadcast is going to be on it.

[TJ]

What's a much bigger.

[Travis Carter]

Oh, yeah.

[TJ]

Much bigger deal.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's a bigger deal. And that's why they. That's the argument for maybe there should be 10, 12 drivers going into the Chase instead of 16.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah. Because right now, 16th, you don't.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're not talking about it.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah. They don't really have a chance.

[TJ]

Yeah. I mean. Yeah, I agree.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No, and, you know, we, we discussed, we had internal conversations ourselves about this during June and July with TNT and, and, and Amazon and, you know, now you're starting to see it like, golly, man, if that, if that cut line was 10th, what a conversation that would be.

[TJ]

Even if, even if, you know, Priests or Ross or Brad would say we get to 16th, does it really, you know, does it really change the.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, this is the other thing. The. Is there a in there in their monetary bonus to making it. I remember last year and years. In years. I can't remember in years past when the Wood Brothers or rcr, they would say that, you know, don't get rid of winning your end because if we happen to bust off a win and lock ourselves in, it was like a $2 million swing.

[TJ]

I do actually remember some of that, too.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So that would be the one thing that would hold up the change might. The teams might fight for.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There being the larger field. Because if there's a monetary reward to making the Chase, then they don't want to give that up.

[TJ]

No.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But, man, it would be wild if we were sitting there trying to talk about, you know, Kyle Larson's 10th. Could he miss the Chase. Oh, my God.

[Travis Carter]

I mean, William Byner would be out right, like, wild two years ago as a regular season champion.

[TJ]

Well, you got guys that are fading towards that line in the, you know, eighth, ninth. I mean, seventh, eighth night.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

When, when we were doing the committee, I was voting for however many races we have in this chase, that's how many drivers we should have.

[Travis Carter]

I mean, it'd be. It'd be ramped up. 10 drivers, 10 races. Like, it would be so good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I think so.

[TJ]

To me, it should be. The numbers of drivers in the. At the end should be what's really mathematically possible.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

You know what I mean? Like.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like, you should have. You should.

[TJ]

You know, obviously, 10th place is a

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

stretch, but contenders only. Is that what you're kind of saying?

[TJ]

Yeah, like, you got to earn your spot.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Yeah. Like, if you're in that 10, you've earned it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'll tell you, man, if you take a picture, if you take. There's a photo of the 10 of us on the stage at Richmond back around 04

[TJ]

after the race. When you all did that, it was

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

like some wild, wild west, clean Eastwood. All of us standing up there. We just ran 400 laps, and we've all kind of cooled off, and everybody's standing up there in their uniforms, taking a picture of the first Chase group, you know, and you. You look at that, and I know we get stuck in nostalgia and all that bull, but it's. It's just. You look at each driver in that group and you're like, dude, legend, you know, and then you now, you know, at the end of this bride, right before this Chase, at the end of the regular season or whatever you call it, they're going to have 16 guys take a picture. Take. Take that picture. What are you going to think? Are you going to have the same reaction internally when you see it versus that 10?

[TJ]

No. You got some extras.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, a couple extra guys in there.

[TJ]

That's what I was saying. Like, that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Somebody who invited these guys. Yeah. Such. Such plus one.

[TJ]

But if you were in that 10, it was like you earned it.

[Travis Carter]

You.

[TJ]

You did it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I know. That's what I'm just saying. I mean.

[TJ]

Yeah, no, it's the same way.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So there's some things going on with brakes, brake pads. Should NASCAR let teams change brake pads? I guess, you know, when you show up to the racetrack and you might go out there and practice and you might realize we don't have the right. I guess this was the. So Denny Hamlin, jgr. Jgr Also, if you look over the course of the last couple of years, Right. Brake issues, brake problems, have kind of followed one particular organization, or actually two particular organizations more than most. And it's Joe Giz Racing and 2311. And so, you know, whatever. They have a different approach. They come to the racetrack, and we talked about it at Nashville, for example. Some teams were wide open on the front, and some teams were shut off. Everybody's got different. They can run different calipers, pads. There's a whole sort of method or idea to what you need to bring to the racetrack. And some teams get it right, and some teams get it. Get it really, really wrong, even. So much so that they will have failures on the racetrack during the race itself, or they lose their brakes entirely, such as what, I guess, Denny had happened during his race on Sunday. And so if you're at the racetrack and you're maybe realizing, I'm not in the right spot after practice, the question is, should NASCAR allow the teams to change the brake pads before the race? Is that the question?

[Travis Carter]

Correct.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Of course they should. What is the what. When did that become something we didn't?

[Travis Carter]

NASCAR says because it's not a single source part. It's something that you brought, you decided on. That's an issue that you've created. It's not like the brake rotor cracked, and that's a part that was provided to you. You made your bed, sleep in it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And so.

[Travis Carter]

And I honestly think that's what it should be.

[TJ]

Yeah, I'm okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You think NASCAR should not allow the brake pad to be changed.

[Travis Carter]

You want to fix it, Fix it. Go. When we go green, fix it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, but let me. Let me ask this question. So let me just put this scenario forth. We show up to the racetrack, I practice my car, and I say, these brakes are a little too sticky. Can we change the brake pad to a brake pad that's not quite as grippy? You don't want me to be able to do that.

[TJ]

I mean, I feel like you're adding a lot, if you can, because we'd all be changing every week. Would be doing a lot of that, I think.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So.

[TJ]

I'm fine with what Travis said. You show up and you run. You know, you took gamble on your setup, and there's a lot of dialing in on brakes now. And there was a test there. Redick, I think, tested.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

And he had brake issues, too. So I think some people choose to be more aggressive with it.

[Ty Gibbs]

And.

[TJ]

And like Travis said, you. You chose. You chose to go that route. Like, I know we used to change brakes all the time. We did, but it's just now it's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, look, not all the time. I. I think that I probably can count on both hands how many times I changed to something different in my career now. You know, we might go to the road courses and put in new pads for the race, or we might put in, you know, we might come with an old set of pads and start the next practice with a new set. I bud this some new brake pads. Break them in, you know, whatever. But I. I can't say that in, you know, I can't say that in all in the 20 years I raced that. At some point in the weekend, I switched to something different. I didn't do that more than a dozen times in my entire career. So. So I don't believe that if you open this option up, it's going to be this crazy. Guys are going to start carrying 2,000 pounds of brake equipment on the haulers and because that's. You got to worry about, you know,

[Travis Carter]

qualifying brake pads in there.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, that's what you got to worry about. Where, where. What are you at? Iowa? What kind of brake pad are you going to put in to qualify faster?

[Travis Carter]

Well, it's not necessarily maybe faster, but it's like, hey, let's try something here in practice that we might want to run for the chase. If it doesn't work, we're in a good spot. We'll go to the back, we'll fix the, change the brake pads to what we know, we'll go to the back, and then we're good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What's wrong with that?

[Travis Carter]

As now you're just, like, gaming the system. Are you okay with that?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's racing. That's like going to racetrack and changing a spring or changing the rear gear or changing the foam in your headrest. I mean, it's just an adjustment. It's never been this taboo, weird thing.

[Travis Carter]

So the other argument for on Denny's side is if a cracked brake rotor is a safety issue, how is. If the pad is. They said the pad is, like, defective. How is that not a safety issue? They were willing to go to the back and fix it for safety. Do you think that that's a legitimate.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I think you should just be able to change them. It's hard for me to stomach that we are where we are in such a short period of time in the way we look, the way we do things today. We would go to the racetrack, and if we wanted to change the pads or change the rotors or put new in. We just did it. And in such a short period of time, we have gotten to a place where nobody wants to do. Nobody wants nobody to be able to do. Why are we so rigid?

[TJ]

It's a lot different now, though, compared to what we had. We had three practices an hour each.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What does that have to do with brake pads, though?

[TJ]

Well, we. We ran a lot more laps.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, but what. What. So today was point, though. He's saying why the length of practice

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

doesn't matter if a guy wants to change brake pads.

[TJ]

Well, I mean, if you're trying to keep costs down, people are gonna do it every week. You're gonna.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're not keeping cost down. The cost.

[TJ]

We're gonna all be changing brakes every week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You won't.

[TJ]

I mean, you won't.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I've never. This wasn't a thing.

[TJ]

I just think the teams.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

When was changing brakes every week a thing ever.

[TJ]

I just think the way it is now, people are. They're going to find a way. They're going to start mixing me like,

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

oh, man, I got to. I got to change my brakes. What for? Well, I just. Everybody's changing their brakes. I got to change my brakes.

[TJ]

I do feel like there will be different. I do feel like Travis is right. We will. Teams will find ways to find a qualifying brake package and then a race break package because it's so different.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Great.

[Travis Carter]

What if you make it, though, that if you want to change your brake pads, that's. You're going to the back.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't. I. Okay.

[Travis Carter]

I'm just.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, that's fine, too. Trying to find a. I think that's fine. If you change your brake pads before the race. Sure.

[TJ]

Go the rear.

[Travis Carter]

Because then how many teams are going to be trying this if they know. Yeah, we're going to have to move to the back if we do this. So is it really worth.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But I don't mind them qualifying on one pad and racing on a different pad. Damn. The teams need something to do besides pushing cars around through tech all day.

[TJ]

Yeah, I mean, I'm.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All of our road guys go to the racetrack and they eager. They are eager to have a mechanical job to do, something to change, something to work on. And, you know, a lot of our road guys that used to be on the road years ago have left because they've left the road because they don't want to go to the racetrack and sit around and hold a umbrella and push a car through tech and then go race. Yeah, they want to go to the racetrack. Do A little practice change. A spring can change something and go faster and work on it.

[TJ]

Yeah. Change an upper, change this, do that something. Track bar when you truck, arm something.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't think this break thing is a big deal. Should NASCAR let teams change brake pads? I believe they should. I believe there should be some reasonable understanding, common sense. If you need to send them to the back. If it's a change before the race and it, you know, and everybody agrees, hey, okay, you can do it, but you got to go to the back. Fine. I think if it happens before qualifying, maybe you leave it alone. I think if you change anything on your car, I guess after qualifying, if we're doing it that way, you know, you may go to the rear.

[Travis Carter]

I like that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Since we're going to add a little practice, I think got to open it up a little bit.

[TJ]

I'd be fine with. If you change it, you got to take a little bit of a penalty for it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Sure.

[TJ]

Because that would slow down the whole different packages and stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Carson Quapo got his second win at Iowa. Second win in a row. Pretty awesome deal. Just some good strategy. It was odd how everybody kind of started. Usually with the O'Reilly series, the strategy is really straightforward. Everybody does pretty much the exact same thing. Every now and then you get a couple guys that'll jump off the strategy, but those are more Hail Marys. But all the guys that are genuinely in the. In contention to win the race follow the same sort of path. But for whatever reason, this weekend, cut the field got cut. Cut in half in terms of what they wanted to do. Probably something to do with the durability of the tire itself. But Carson Copple and his. His.

[TJ]

His crew, the fuel the deal was at was fuel.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, Fuel.

[TJ]

People were trying to, like, we were real close to the window. And so.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, well, Carson and Rodney and those guys did a great job of putting themselves in position to have the track position necessary to pull it off. And a couple late restarts and got the job done. That launches Carson into a great position. Let's see, all 30ish points clear of Sheldon Creed. In second place is Mr. Kwapple. Jesse Love drops to fourth after a tough race in Iowa. Corey Day still fifth in points. Then you got Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith back in eighth place for Junior Motorsports. Parker Ritzlav having an awesome season, just ahead of Sam Mayer in 10th. It's, you know, Justin had a pretty solid car, looked like he might have a chance to win it got knocked around there late in the race, which kind of happens sometimes if you get. If you lose that track position, you know, and things get desperate late in the race.

[TJ]

Hard to get through that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, tough to get through it.

[TJ]

He almost did it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's, you know, I think we can. We can. You know, looking forward. I. I don't want to look. I don't want to get too far into this, but Carson Kwapple and Rodney Childers there together through the rest of the year, everybody wondered, you know, what the. Are they doing at the start of the season. Carson's not in the one car all year. Why? Why? Why? Well, as we're sort of positioning ourselves for the chase, the, you know, if I take Carson out of that car when Connor Zillich comes here to run and stick him in that one car, Conor Zillich in that one car, and go to Justin Marks and say, hey, Justin, when Connor's in the one, we're going to get the pit crew. They were one of the better crews on pit road last year with the 88 team. We're going to get that pit crew on the one car. I would like to you to commit them to the car the entire season so that when Carson gets in it, he's in the chase with this pit crew. Last year, pit crew was a little bit of a weak spot for Carson and his team, and I wanted to fix that issue. And so this is lined up perfectly. We got a pretty solid crew on pit road, Rodney on the box. So it's going to be quite interesting to see Justin, Carson and whomever else may join this battle to try to win the championship in the. In the O'Reilly series. And I think that, you know, Creed, Jesse love defending his title. Corey Day could get hot. He's had a little bit of a slump here. Struggling just a little bit, but they could pop off some wins anytime. Austin Hill is always a threat. I never count him out.

[TJ]

Yeah, he's solid all the time.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So it's going to be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out. The last couple of weeks have been really good for Carson in terms of his. His. His career. Things are looking positive on trying to put together his full season next year, and so pretty excited about that. Also, great run by Raja to be able to bring it home in second.

[TJ]

Massive resource at the end for Raj.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, he just did a great job, and those are the kind of days that he needs to have. If he can't, he thinks, you know, man, got a win, got to win. What do I do to win? But I'm like, man, you Know when you're not going to be able to win every single race, when you're not winning, you need to be able to bring it home in those seconds, in those thirds.

[TJ]

Top fives.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Top fives, yes. You got to get those when you can get them. He's back in 14th position. The cutoff is 12. 12 teams get into the playoff or the chase for the O' rally series and Raja right now is 15 points out.

[Travis Carter]

Yep.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So doable. Right in front of him. Taylor Gray, Brent Cruz and Swallow, all JGR cars. So tough job for Raja, but he still got a shot at it.

[Travis Carter]

Tj, have you noticed anything different in Carson these past few weeks? You know, he's been knocked on the door. He finally gets to win off week and now another one. Have you just seen anything?

[TJ]

No. Carson just continues to grow every week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it's a little difference.

[TJ]

So, yeah, he's definitely, his confidence is up.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No, no, no. I, I think it's the consistency of being in the one car. We, him and Rodney kind of feel like their season's just beginning and they've got to quickly establish a momentum that the teams that have been doing this for half a year have established. Going in and out of that car has not been ideal. It's what we needed to do so that he would be in a good spot across the board in terms of crew and everything else for the Chase. But it wasn't ideal and he wasn't able to establish, I guess, the, the, the rapport with Rodney that, that he would have otherwise. So they're having to play a little catch up, but they're doing a really, really good job. But Raja did an awesome job this weekend. Also looking really promising for his deal to come together for next year. And, you know, a lot of work to do to figure out where we're in, where we're going to line up and end up for 20, 27. But excited to see how this chase plays out and whether we're going to be going to the banquet or not.

[TJ]

Is this the position you thought? Is this the screen you would see coming to this point?

[Travis Carter]

I don't know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We're looking at the points on the screen.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, I don't know. I didn't know what to expect from Justin's team because of the change in Overstreet going on to that car. And Overstreet and Quap struggled last year to get the results, so I wasn't sure why that was the case because they, the year before when Overstreet and Quapo ran those five races together. They almost won a couple of them.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So I wasn't sure what was going on with that and but Justin and Overstreet's really overachieved and they've got a lot of confidence. Hopefully, you know, with six wins, that's an incredible season and a chance to get more. So do you they the banquet. So we end the season in Homestead. All right. And we have the intention of going into Key west and having a sort of rap party podcast with Dirty Mo Media. We're going to do like a two hour show and we're going to get all the personalities on a little bit of DBC action. Amy's going to jump on for a while. We're just going to have big catch all review of the year, end of season. And we're doing that on Monday after the Sunday Champion cup race, championship race. And we're doing it around lunchtime. Okay. In town in Key West. And so Tuesday night is the O'Reilly banquet back in Homestead.

[Travis Carter]

Oh, perfect. Yeah, celebrate. Go to Homestead, celebrate some more.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We'll have a good, we'll have a good bar crawl in on Monday in Key west and then we'll go to, we'll go back up the road to Homestead hopefully to celebrate a championship.

[TJ]

That'd be fun. Oh, yeah.

[Travis Carter]

And then go back to Key West.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Now we'll be heading on home.

[TJ]

I do miss the.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's no fun. Well, that's what I got.

[TJ]

I mean, I do miss the Phoenix. To Key west or Phoenix. Yeah, but we did that a couple times. That was always fun.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it was.

[Travis Carter]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So we got Ty Gibbs, race winner from Iowa on the Dale Jr. Download. First off, Ty, I know you got a lot going on, man. So I appreciate you giving us some time today and coming on the show.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yes, sir. I appreciate you having me back on. It's been a minute where yet I'm in my house right now.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Right home. Got you some helmets.

[Ty Gibbs]

Got some helmets. All right.

[TJ]

There's a helmet on the end. What was that helmet? Was that a football?

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah, it's my brother's football helmet.

[TJ]

Oh, nice.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, that's pretty damn cool.

[Ty Gibbs]

I know, dude. He gave me the, I took, I was like, because I want to start having the helmet collection.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes.

[Ty Gibbs]

And so I just was like, hey, let me take it and just keep the gloves on it too. And he's like, all right, that was it.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Where. What are some helmets that some. So I have a helmet collection. I have a football helmet collection. A lot of college, a lot of NFL, probably maybe roughly 120 helmets in total. What are some helmets that you would love to add to that collection? How are you going to get it started, man?

[Ty Gibbs]

I don't know. I think, I mean, I think, you know, trading helmets with, with people is cool, but I think a helmet obviously is like, it's like an art piece. Right. But also there's like a whole story and picture that's brought with a helmet too because it's seen a lot in racing. And so I don't know, I mean, for me I think it'd be cool. Like my, my both my brothers are a big, big baseball, so one of them's a catcher. You know, if he makes it, makes it all the way, which he has a good shot, then I think it'd be cool, like to have a catcher summit and everything. That'd be, I think that'd be super cool. And then I've got some great motocross helmets. I'd like to get some more, but yeah, I've got a lot of my dad's old motocross stuff from the shop, and so I've.

[TJ]

Which motocross helmets you got?

[Ty Gibbs]

I mean, I have so many from Justin Barshaw, Justin Brayton. I've got stuff from, man Josh Grant, like, just so much. He had so much stuff. I've got a Stanford football helmet, too. That's pretty cool. So.

[TJ]

Yeah, that's pretty sweet.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah. Actually, I think my mom has it. I think they hung it up in her office or something. I don't know. But they got a lot of stuff jumping around here. But when you're younger, you don't think of it like. Like, you don't think of it being like, that special. Then you get older. Like, that's pretty sick.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I agree. I agree. All right, man. So great run this past weekend. Really good job holding onto the lead late in the race. Just good smart driving, you know, when you're, I guess in the last couple of laps, how much. How much are you really driving in the mirror? How much are you looking out the windshield? I always felt like that there was this sort of part of me where I was split in half and kind of doing both at the same time almost.

[Ty Gibbs]

I was about to say that. I would say probably that because you're kind of like my mirror. Like the digital mirrors. Mine's like on the left, so I can kind of like. I'm, like, turned and I'm like looking at. Out the left front, you know, mirror or window. And then I'm like, the mirror's below, so I can kind of split both lanes. And then. Yeah, just like, watch on that. Kind of. Honestly, like, don't really remember much just because you're racing. You're kind of just like in, like, La La Land, basically. But then whenever you. I don't know if you've had this, but then whenever you start to realize what's going on, then your heart rate gets up and you kind of got to wind back down a little bit. So it's bad. But I was like, 40 laps of that. So it was fun. I honestly had a blast. And it was cool watching, like, the onboard from Christopher because I felt so loose. And then the watch, I was like, okay, that solidifies it. Like, I look. That's what I look like. So it's good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It is fun watching on boards of the cars behind you because, you know, we never get the vantage point of looking at our car and seeing what our car looks like on the racetrack. And it's certainly not fun to watch Someone else drive your car. But if you get on boards and see, you know, what your car, how hard you're working to your point, you know, it kind of adds some credibility to the effort that you put behind the wheel because you felt like, you know, you're on the ragged edge there at the end of the race. Did you realize early in the race that you had that good a race car? I mean, how do you quantify the value of what your car can do early in the race? Are you like, man, this thing can win if I can get to the front or are you unsure?

[Ty Gibbs]

I mean, honestly, I don't know. I feel like I've never really felt like maybe a couple times, but not like it didn't feel like great, you know, because you're in fourth place. Like, the traffic's still pretty bad. So I. But I just picture, like, if you're in the top six and you. Everything goes good, you can make some spots up in pit road, good green flag cycle, like, you got a shot in the top six. That's just the way I look at it. And so I just was like, I'm just gonna stick with it. And then we came down and we had a little bit of a cluster on pit road and then had the, you know, dig her way back, so it was cool. But man, that second stage, dude, that second stage felt longer than the first stage and the third stage combined. I don't know if maybe just because I had to come from the back or that's just how long it took, but I was like, man, we got another stage left.

[TJ]

Yeah, yeah, the end went quick. Yeah, the end went. The end of the race. The last part of the race went fast.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah. So it was like all over.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But yeah, you got. Well, I just before. Before. TJ's got a question for you. I wanted to ask you one more thing you mentioned about. You are genuinely in your mind, you're thinking, I'm a contender for this championship. I think the rest of the industry feels that as well. You're obviously in a great position being second points and winning races at a great time in the year. When do you really truly start to. I mean, how do. How does the driver get ready for that 10 race run you've been doing? You've been doing the, you know, you've been, you know, racing under a certain system for so long. And I think that, you know, the mindset's a little bit different with this system. How do you and the team, I guess, approach the chase and genuinely give yourself that Ideal shot to win. Win at all.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah, I mean, I think going back to the first point, like, you know, thinking, like, going as a contender. Right. Like, I really appreciate that coming from you, but I just. I don't know. I just. I think, why not show up and not want to, like, win the championship? And so I just look at it like that, and I'm just like, well, I mean, I got a shot, but also, like, you know, even last year when we were not good, I'm still like, I'm going for it. Like, I can still do it. You know what I mean? Until the playoffs start.

[Travis Carter]

Right.

[Ty Gibbs]

You know, I'll make it, but, like, I'm like, I'm all in. And I just. I'm like, we're going to hammer down and try to go in it. My guys are pretty really good, solid group of guys around me, really laid back. So we kind of just take it week by week and, you know, day by day. Honestly, like, you know, and so it's not like, you know, this huge style, like, okay, the playoffs start here. We got to have this many points. Like, we just take a week by week, try to try to hammer down every weekend and take it like that. I don't think it's like. I think it's pretty, like, simple from our standpoint, you know, So I don't know. That's just the way we do it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

So the end of the race, you know, the 20s, running you down, getting closer and closer. He was running higher than pretty much anybody on the racetrack. He was up against the edge of the black and one of the pioneers kind of of that line. What move were you most worried about him pulling on you if he got close? Were you worried about him getting to the bottom, or were you just full protecting the right rear?

[Ty Gibbs]

Honestly, I just. He was so strong getting into turn three, and it would kind of slide himself, and I was so loose in the corner. So I'm getting in there and I'm, like, holding the wheel straight and I'm puckered up, and he could just bomb it in there and then slide up and I could get pointed and get a good run off. So, like, I was just like, I have to cover somewhat of the bottom and turn and turn three and four. I'm like, I have to cover some of the bottom to, like, keep him behind me because he's so fast at the time, at the whole time. So I'd say that probably the bottom three, four, like, he just driving so he could.

[TJ]

I noticed that in practice. I noticed it in practice, he could drive it in. Yeah. And some guys run. He was running. Him and Larson would kind of run a. Like a slider line in three and four, where they would just drive in real hard and let it wash up off of four, but, you know, into one, it looked like you were dead set on not letting him get to the right rear, because obviously if he gets outside in the middle one and two, it's going to be tough to hold him off there.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah, I would say for sure. And, I mean, it's so easy to take people's airway, like, if you just move up a half a car length. So it's just like, might as well. He's. I gotta keep behind me so fast, so.

[TJ]

So all I heard you say is need to take the camera out of the car and make Hirschman work harder.

[Ty Gibbs]

Honestly, I think if he took the digital camera out of the car, I think there it would be a mix of drivers that probably even wouldn't be in the cup series anymore. Honestly, like, I mean, I think Dale could probably speak on that, but I swear, sometimes, like, man, if there was no digital cameras in here, like, some of these guys definitely would not be in cup, man.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, yeah, that's interesting. I think that it's.

[Ty Gibbs]

Dude, I saw that we had the same mirror in a train, like a bus, like a transit bus.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Ty Gibbs]

I was in the Transit Bucks in la and I was like, dude, I think that's the same mirror I run in my cup car.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I would.

[Ty Gibbs]

That was a fun fact. That was surprising. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I would be. For going back to the regular mirror we used to run years ago. Would you.

[TJ]

Before that?

[Ty Gibbs]

I would, 100%. Before that, I think it would. I mean, you know, obviously we'd want to have a car that races a little better in dirtier, but for the time being, like, I think if he took those out, like, it would be. I think it make the racing a little bit better because you can't just sit there and, like, look at your iPad and just blip. Go up and just screw host somebody on their line.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

The mirror is so clear and. And provides so much information.

[Ty Gibbs]

You. Yeah, a couple years ago, my radio broke with, like, 45 laps ago. Or. No, it was probably like, 25 on a road course. And I just didn't have any communication the whole time. And thank goodness, it went green to the end after we pitted. So I just spotted for myself the mirror. I could see everything from the mirror.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was solo. I got one last question for you. Over this year, your mother has been more, more in the, in the spotlight. We've, I think we, I say we, the media here, us to podcast and, and Amazon and so forth, have, have talked and, and showcased a bit about her, her sort of shift into this very critical role at the Joe Gives Racing. What is, what does that feel like for you as you watch her sort of get some of this credit, becoming this leader? I've been on some calls with her as we start to navigate the future of the O'Reilly series and so forth, and it's, it's just really impressive to listen to her talk and her, her position and strength. How, how does that feel for you? Because we're all being, you knew, you know her. She's your mother. You've known her your whole life. We're all being introduced to her, many of us, for the very first time over the course of this past year in terms of her professional position in the sport. What's your take on that? How's that made you feel? How proud, I guess, are you?

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah, I'm very, I'm very proud. You know, my mom had to step in the big role coming from, you know, kind of what my dad was doing. And my dad, you know, was doing a lot, and she's taken on a lot of, obviously, and she's been doing a great job. So I just think she, you know, I'm very proud of her, obviously, and I just think, you know, she takes it as she, she wants and she can have a lot of spotlight or she doesn't have to have a lot. She's, you know, kind of, you know, pretty humble and doesn't want a ton. So for them to do the pieces on the, on the, on the Prime, I think were really important and kind of the show, her background and, and I think that's important that, you know, obviously like to have women and in sports and big business, I think it's super important, especially for, like, the younger crowd, too, so. But it's been cool. You know, she's very. She's like the most competitive person I probably know, honestly, because, like, I'll be sitting there watching Xfinity Race and somebody makes a mistake in one of our cars, she just calls me. She's like, what the hell is he doing? She's just, she's after it. So. But it's been really cool, you know. And then I got to watch, you know, Kelly and her, you know, on, on your guys's podcast. I thought that was a great podcast, and I thought, you know, it was a, it was a super fun to listen to, so it's been cool so seen that. And I just think you can relate to me like, you know, people like this has been your environment for so long and now you have family members coming in and they kind of get to see how it is. I think that's super special.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes. Yeah, absolutely man. Way good, good job this past weekend. Good luck going forward. You're in a great spot to make make a run for that championship. And you know how to win championships because you've done it before. The Dell Jr. Download is brought to you by FanDuel Baseball fans, do you think you know who's going to hit a homer today? Well, FanDuel is giving you a free chance to call your shot. With Daily Dingers. Joining the action is easy. Just make your free pick on who's hitting a home run in their game and if you're right, you'll get a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. You got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. And don't forget, you get to make a free pick every day during MLB season. Just another reason why fanduel is the home for home runs. So are you ready to play your game today? It couldn't be any easier. On FanDuel, you log in, you check what different boosts they are offering, you click the one you want and you go fire off your bet. It's that simple. And if you're a good friend like I am, you can also share your bets with your friends so that they can tail your bet. Join all the [e-mail] that's fanduel.com to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer, play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel. An official partner of the MLB must

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Guys, if you know me, you know that I haven't stopped talking about Arby's Buffalo Chicken sandwiches for months now. Check out the Buffalo chicken slider. Buffalo Chicken sliders are fantastic. Fantastic. It's awesome. They have a Buffalo chicken slider, and man, is it good. The folks at Arby's heard me and they said, we'll do you one better. They're going to put that awesome sandwich right into their 799 meet three box. So now you too can enjoy the crispy, saucy perfection that is the Buffalo Ranch Chicken sandwich at an unbeatable price. You're not going to believe how much food you get in the box. The sandwich, that's just the start. You also get curly fries, mozzarella sticks, a peach cobbler roll, and a drink. It's all your Arby's favorites, all for just $7.99 in the meet and three box. And you don't have to race me to get one, but you ought to hurry. But over to an Arby's and try the $7.99 meat three box with the buffalo Ranch Chicken sandwich because it's only going to be available in the box for a limited time. Available for limited time at participating locations. While supplies last. Prices may vary. Get your meet in three box at an Arby's near you today. Hey, Everybody, it's Dale Jr. We're live here at the Dirty Mo Media Studios. And we got asked Junior and it's time for Xfinity to wave the red flag on Internet price hikes and the green flag for savings. You get the speed, reliable WI fi that you need locked in at one price for five years. No surprises, no late yellows. Right to victory Lane. Just like we like it. That's Xfinity. Imagine that. Let's go right into the questions.

[Travis Carter]

I think before we get to the questions, we're just going to ask. The chat is Iowa short track. Right? That's what we want to know.

[TJ]

Straight up, right to the beginning.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, let's just. While you. While we're talking, they can think about that. There's been quite the debate.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I believe it is not. I think anything under a mile is a. It falls into its own bucket. And then anything under a half mile is a short track.

[TJ]

Minus Richmond.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Minus Richmond. Yeah.

[TJ]

Doesn't make sense.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I was not a short track. Seven eighths of a mile. It's big. It's the same as Richmond almost quarter mile larger.

[Travis Carter]

Before we get to the questions, we actually have gifts for both of you guys.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Gifts?

[Travis Carter]

Since you created. You coined this term.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, gosh.

[Travis Carter]

We wanted to on behalf of Jesus.

[TJ]

Gosh dang.

[Travis Carter]

But tj, we have a different gift for you.

[Russell]

Yes.

[TJ]

Can't just have Danny Bros. You gotta

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

have the Brad boys.

[TJ]

Oh, that's good. I like it. It's perfect.

[Travis Carter]

We got a Brad boy shirt for Tjenny.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Denny has. Has DHR T shirts.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, he's got his own. Go to his website and get all sorts of stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Denny Bros.

[TJ]

Thanks for the gifts. Well, it's nice.

[Travis Carter]

We have. We have a song that goes along.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Brad, please don't play this.

[Travis Carter]

What you gonna do when you finish? P32.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, good Lord.

[TJ]

27.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay.

[Travis Carter]

Dale. What? Might as well just start. What are you opening?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, somebody gave me a box of Max race cars from 1991.

[TJ]

Whoa.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'll give you a pack. TJ.

[TJ]

Thanks.

[Travis Carter]

I need to go. When I was back home, I went through some cards, and one of the cards I found my dad is one of Rick Hendrick.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes, sir.

[TJ]

You open one.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I will. Yeah.

[TJ]

All right, let's go ahead.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And.

[Travis Carter]

Well, speaking of cards, fans want to know what's a card that you have on your list that's like you kind of want, but you're like, I don't know if I want to spend.

[TJ]

Oh, that kind.

[Travis Carter]

Like, not like this one. Not absorb like a crazy number, but

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

just like right now. I got my list right here.

[TJ]

First one I pull the Winston 1990. Your dad.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Let's see.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, let's see it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

The Chipper Jones 91 Desert Shield 1991. Desert Shield is a card I'd like to have, but it's a little pricey. The Frank Thomas 1990 tops with. With the no name. Hank Aaron, 1954, tops. Number 128. Jackie Robinson, 1956, tops. Number 30. Let's see. Nolan Ryan, 1968, tops. Number 177. And those are the ones that I've looked at and I've looked at them from prices and I was like, holy crap.

[TJ]

Yeah, there's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. And I mean, you know, there's all kinds of that. There any. You know, that. That. Those are the ones that just. On my own. The list. Yeah. That I made for myself that I wanted to get.

[TJ]

My main card is probably the tech mobile Josh Allen card.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He badly wants that one.

[TJ]

I do. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Cool card. So there was some dudes that showed up last week and had a bunch of cards in their car.

[TJ]

Yeah, tons of cards.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And we bought the cards and I've been going through them and so that's been fun. I've always been interested in like buying a bolt collection on a whim. Right. And just like the. There, there's some. There's a adrenaline of like man, what are we gonna find? Hopefully we don't. You know, hopefully it will break even. And I feel like I'm doing pretty good with this little pack I bought. I had to. I'm having to like the cards were stored in a really bad space. They're in good shape, but they're dirty dusty. So I'm having to like take these little cloths that you clean glasses with and clean every card front and back, one at a time.

[TJ]

The. The bin he's talking about, it's like a. A bin you would store Christmas ornament. Like a huge bin. And the cards were all just kind of.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But there's like tossed in. There were. There were a. There's probably 50 or so Ken Griffey juniors in there and there's some really cool 90s, early 90s football. There's some tops, finest Dan Marino. Just a lot of. There's a lot of decent cars in there. Nothing crazy. There was a couple of the Billy Ripken the error card but it's the black box. So it's like the, the. Not the best, not the most valuable one, but it's still a four or five dollar card.

[TJ]

Yeah, there's a lot. There's. This was a big collection.

[Travis Carter]

Oh yeah. This one fan says Jeff Jr. 82. His car that he wants is a BAKER Mayfield Downtown 2018.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There you go.

[TJ]

Yeah, the downtown cars are always nice.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Downtowns are cool. I'm more into the vintage stuff. I like, you know, I like Nolan Ryan, Griffey Jr. Bo Jackson, anything from, you know, all Pete Rose, all the greats from the 60s, 70s, even the 50s. I just. It's just expensive. Obviously if you further you go back. I've got a couple of mantles that I bought but I mean I'm buying, you know, mid grade.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Not know.

[TJ]

But even like a three or two or three or four is super high.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I just think it's cool to have the card.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Owning a mantle is just neat, you know.

[TJ]

I know my brother in law's got two of them and I think you should.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Randy Johnson is one of my favorite players to collect. He's also in his car. He's just a. I don't know. I like Randy Johnson. There's just a bunch of players that, you know. Greg Maddox, Smoltz, Glavin.

[TJ]

Smoltz. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

As a Braves guy.

[Travis Carter]

So yeah, there's something about like, why is that coming to my dad's stuff? Like the older players, like going through like a present, present day pack. Like, yeah, you might be like the cards look cooler but like not.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, it's fun going through the old stuff because you know what the value of it is? It's, it's, it's realized.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's value.

[TJ]

It's already done. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're 30 years removed. So it is what it is.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Now it might go up a little bit.

[TJ]

It does over time a little.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But you know, like this, you don't have to guess, man, is this going to be worth anything in two years? Is this guy going to tank? Like, I got a. I got a really bad ass Bo Nicks. And I'm like, man, I don't even know whether to keep her.

[TJ]

I know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Should I get rid of it? Should I keep it? Am I going to regret keeping it? It's like, crap.

[TJ]

It's like the Jackson darts. Everyone wants the Jackson darts. Who knows?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You don't have to do that with the older stuff. Donnie Wingo, crew Chief, Dick Beatty, H.B. bailey, one of the independents, Charlie Glatzbach. Oh, Charlie, you know, it was wild. Charlie raced in Junior Johnson Chevrolet back in like the early 70s, late 60s at Charlotte merger Speedway. Like this guy was running cup in like the late 60s and early 70s and then he just disappeared. He resurfaces running ARCA cars in a Richard Childress black, you know, Chevrolet, Monte Carlo, Lumino, whatever. At Talladega they go, they'd show up and run Talladega at the ARCA race and just kick everybody's ass. Leo Jackson, race num race number three from 1990, Kyle Petty in the peak antifreeze colors, beautiful race car.

[TJ]

That was a good race car.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Pontiac. Kyle did the tire testing. This was back when the radial was relatively new. In 1990. The radio came in in 89. Kyle did some of the testing for the radial tire. His crew chief, Gary Nelson at the time was on the show talking about that. And they kicked everybody's ass at some of those racetracks due to their knowledge of the tire and Kyle's ability to take care of it. This is race 22 in 1990, dad at Richmond, which is where we're going this weekend. Another race. Race 26, race for seven, DK Ulrich. And then memorable, memorable moments is just a nothing crazy, a Couple cars going,

[TJ]

a lot of black marks.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Tracy, Leslie, while you, Travis Carter, another memorable moment at Martinsville. And then Andy Petrie. I mean this is a, this is a very underwhelming pack.

[Travis Carter]

While you keep going through that, people want to know what was your thoughts on the cars tour this past weekend?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it's great. I was going to talk about the car store. So we go to Richmond which is our throwback race. We got a lot of great throwback schemes. We're all excited. We're posting social media clips and I'm engaging with all this all week long, ma'.

[TJ]

Am.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's going to be a great weekend. This is a big weekend for us. We get a lot of people that watch the throwback race at Hickory and and they usually get a really great crowd at Hickory Motor Speedway as well. Weather screwed us over so we had some rain on race day and it pushed everything back. We worked really hard to get the race in as opposed to making everybody turn around, go home, then come back again. Try not to cost the teams another night in a hotel, things like that. And everybody wants to be home on Sunday if they can. So we start the pro race pretty late. I think it was, I don't know, 10 o' clock or so. And the pro race was a bit of a disaster. A lot of crashing. We had a guy mischiefs twice which is rare in the pros. The pro is basically a two speed so they don't have a lot of missed shifts. Well, this guy missed shifts twice. Destroyed the field.

[TJ]

Yeah, initial start was rough.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh well it was. And there's a lot of other wrecks in that particular race for whatever reason. Usually the pros don't do that. They did this particular weekend. Hickory can be a little bit of a bull ring potential to wreck cars. Theirs goes up a little bit but anyways the pros could have done better but it was a rough race. The complete opposite for the late model stocks. Epic race but no one saw it. It happened at 1 o' clock in the morning, ended at 2:30. One of our best races of the year that no one saw. Corey Haim qualified up front with Honeycutt. Those two guys don't love each other. They duked it out. That ended in drama. Lee Poliam ends up racing his own car because his current driver was in Iowa racing the O'Reilly series. And so he gets up there racing for the lead with Honeycutt. Drama ensues and so just a lot of really big moments and you know, so it was a great race. But no one really saw it. I was sitting there in the bed, had the iPad propped up, had it turned on, trying my hardest to stay awake. And I did see the finish of the lamel stock race.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, it's tough.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like you said, it is what it is. I mean, I'm sorry, man. It ain't like we want to put a race on it.

[TJ]

Schedule it then.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, we didn't schedule it for midnight or one o' clock in the morning, but we, we, we. It's better for us to get the race in and get everybody out of there and get everybody home. And so I saw a lot of the pro race and the. They tore up. I fell asleep, woke back up with like 15 laps to go in the late mile stock race. And I'm. I turn, I'm like, I grabbed the iPad. I'm like, damn, 15 to go. And I'm watching them run and I'm looking at the field and I'm like, well, it looks like there's a lot of cars, not a lot of damage. Maybe they didn't have a show like the pros. All right, man, this is. Must have been a. Oh, it didn't look like they can pass really well. But then I went back and looked at the highlights and I'm like, damn, what a race. A lot of big moments in that particular event. So I was really happy, you know, with, with them getting it in. And man, it. We feel terrible when we have to ask our teams to do an extra thing like another night at a hotel or come in and, you know, run on a Sunday morning so we didn't have to do that. That was nice to avoid. Yeah. Going to Anderson next, I believe in a couple of weeks start. The season slows down in the summer, and now we're start. We'll start to turn the corner and ramp it back up and running twice a month till we get to the end of the year. Gotcha.

[Travis Carter]

Saw some controversy last night with Kyle Larson.

[TJ]

Oh, I saw that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, yeah. In the Knoxville race.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Was a different speedway. What was, wasn't, wasn't Knoxville.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What was it?

[Travis Carter]

I forget. I'd have to. Maybe the chat knows Oskaloosa. Yeah, that sounds all right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's where it was, I guess I just like.

[TJ]

Well, they were in Knoxville over the weekend. They were.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I saw the clip this morning. It just looks similar.

[TJ]

It does.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He. Look, man, I don't know whether it was a good clean move or not, but apparently the guy said after the race that Larson was dead or something.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, yeah, sounds like the car owner didn't say some kind things that Larson either.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I, I'm. I'm here for it, man. Drama.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's what makes motorsports good is when there's a little controversy, you don't want it to be. You want it to be on the track. You want it to be, you know,

[TJ]

and nobody got up, got upside down or anything. I mean, it was the guy, I think.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

I think I still finished third.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So, like, I don't even. In the car store race. I think Honeycutt got taken out, Lee spun out, Heim spun out. You don't want that to happen. But it's drama. It's. It's.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Adds to it, man.

[TJ]

It does.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It was compelling.

[Travis Carter]

I love, though, that Heim's coming down and doing some of these races. Like, I. I want more of that stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, the car stores getting that kind of reputation, like you can. You can get down in the cars tour if you still. If you like grassroots racing, if you come from that form of motorsports and you want to come back and, you know, honeymoon or whatever you call that, going to come down there and have a little fun.

[Travis Carter]

What also gives some of these people that maybe don't have the opportunity to go to a cup race or whatever a chance to see some of their favorite drivers or even a driver they don't like, but is really good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's right.

[Travis Carter]

Another question for the guy's name. Want to know how many pairs of asics do you own?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Too many. I used to buy those things like crazy. I haven't bought a pair of asics in a long time, but I still wear them. I still have. I'm not wearing them right now, but I've got a bunch in storage that I'm not wearing.

[Travis Carter]

It's. Once you find that one shoe that fits perfect, it's like, let me get it in every color, and you just know it fits perfectly.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Travis Carter]

Elliot Tracer, 35, wants to know how much of a threat do you think Corey Hyman will be next year for the Chase?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, he'll make it. Corey Hymn should make the chase next year if it's 16 drivers.

[Travis Carter]

I don't know if you think he might have.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You mean championship or chase?

[Travis Carter]

Chase.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. He should make it. 16 drivers. He makes it.

[Travis Carter]

Do you think there'll be a little. We've seen him win a couple races, but he's had like three weeks off to prepare for it. Do you think racing week in and

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

week out makes him better? Hey, shout out to Whoever sent me chopsticks.

[Travis Carter]

Wait, what? What?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, some. Somebody mailed.

[Travis Carter]

Oh, they listened.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I thought I brought.

[TJ]

Oh, they're right behind your iPad.

[Travis Carter]

In front of your iPad.

[TJ]

Yeah, they're on the backside here.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Somebody. Somebody listened to the bless your heart show. Bless your heart is not a racing podcast, everybody. It's just me and my wife. So, you know, if you're not into, you know, just lifestyle podcast, you know, no worries. But me and Amy talk about, you know, just regular life. And I was talking about how when I went to South Korea and I sat down at this restaurant to eat, and they plopped down in front of me, this piece, this Tupperware full of metal chopsticks, and I was like, oh, where's the wooden, you know, throwaways? Somebody mailed me a pack of chopsticks. So I think I just might, like, for one week, eat with chopsticks only. There's a lot. How else am I going to use these?

[TJ]

Yeah,

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Arby's. Yeah, we have the meats.

[TJ]

I bet you could pick up a buffalo chicken slider with that.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, I don't know how. You're a lot of things you're probably not gonna be able to use chopsticks for.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'll figure it out.

[Travis Carter]

Please give it a try.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Always keep them in the truck. Yeah. Keep them in my pickup truck.

[Travis Carter]

Yes. Your fingers don't get dirty eating chips.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That'd be hilarious. Driving around, see somebody in the car next to you eating the chopsticks. It's like, all right, man, now.

[Travis Carter]

You're gonna stab yourself now.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, calm down. I know how to use chopsticks. I'm the best in my family. Using them while driving, though.

[Travis Carter]

Also, you're going up against Amy Isla Nicole.

[Ty Gibbs]

Congrats.

[TJ]

I don't even know how to use them. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All right.

[Travis Carter]

I don't use. I just use a fork when I get sushi.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So O'Reilly is off this weekend, and next to Daytona. Yeah. And I probably won't go to Richmond and then New Hampshire. I'm probably not going to go to that one.

[Travis Carter]

You could go to Richmond with your Dan Bros T shirt, and then I'm

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

probably going to go to Daytona. That's my plans.

[TJ]

Why? Why Daytona?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Because we might, you know, cut off. Yeah. I don't know. Just. Cause Daytona. It's Daytona, man.

[TJ]

We either win or wreck them. All right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I know.

[TJ]

I mean, I feel like we have a good shot.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Thank you, Xfinity, for waving the red flag on Internet price hikes and Raven raising the green Flag for savings. Now you get the speed and reliable WI fi that you need, all at one price for five years. No surprises or late yellows. Right to Victory Lane. Just like we like it. Hey, this is Dale Hart Jr. And for all the latest Dale Jr. Download gear, including the I'm Will drink some beer T shirt we've been talking about here around the office, head over to shop.dirtymomedia.com for all the latest merch. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets. All right, let's crank it up. It's time for Dirty Modo. This segment is brought to you by FanDuel, the premier gaming destination of the United States. We head to Richmond, and Vegas has Hamlin, Bell, Logano, Blaney, and Larson as the top five. I feel like that that's the top five from every week, at least. Last week for Iowa, and TJ thinks that Iowa and Richmond are the same racetrack, so that makes sense. From Las Vegas is this. And I'll tell you this, too. The Penske cars always seem to have ran well at. At Richmond. They have. They've always just seemed to go there and be sneaky. But I'm not sure it's just a JGR Penske race. Russell, you join us. Thank you for being here. What's your thoughts?

[Russell]

I have it as a Penske JGR race. Sorry. Sorry to disagree with you.

[TJ]

He shoots you right now.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What about ma'? Am? What about our guy? Austin Dillon ran pretty solid this past weekend at Richmond Point 2, Richmond 2.0.

[Russell]

So he is my sleeper. When are the last two races there?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Man, you're calling the mother that won the last two races there a sleeper? Well, he.

[Russell]

Because when else have you said his name this year?

[TJ]

Just. It doesn't matter. He's still fat. When did you say your name? When did you say his name? The years before. You didn't then? He's right there.

[Russell]

I said his name last year. We went to Richmond.

[TJ]

Yeah, but when before that, did you say it? You didn't.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Did you have him as a sleeper last year? Probably, yeah.

[Travis Carter]

Do you have last year's model?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I guess if he gets three in a row, is he a sleeper in 2027?

[Russell]

He's going to be a sleeper as long as. As long as he doesn't run well every week.

[TJ]

He just ran top 10 or 11.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, because.

[Russell]

Because it's. It's Richmond 2.0.

[TJ]

Iowa is Iowa, short track, but then

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

he can't be a sleeper anymore, so.

[Russell]

Okay, so what do you want to call him then?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

A favorite well, yeah, look at the books.

[Russell]

Where is he in the books?

[TJ]

He's just not a sleeper. You were kind of expecting him to run good. That's not a sleeper. I expect him to run good here.

[Travis Carter]

Okay. Would you be shocked if he won, Russ?

[Russell]

I would be shocked if he won, but I would not be shocked if he finished top 10.

[TJ]

Okay, well, that's not really a sleeper. The guy that's won here before, she isn't a sleeper to me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All right.

[Travis Carter]

Okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, look, I'm trying to get him to. To this to change his mind about it being a Joe Gibbs Racing Penske race.

[Russell]

No, I think one of those are going to win.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Austin Dillon in there.

[Russell]

Do you think Austin Dillon is going to win the race?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You got. I mean, Josh Berry is more of a sleeper.

[Travis Carter]

He's a sleeper, too.

[Russell]

He's one of my two sleepers this week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Jeez. Okay.

[Russell]

He's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, Bubba Wallace is a sleeper.

[Russell]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'm reading.

[Russell]

You're reading.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're reading your notes?

[Russell]

Yeah.

[Travis Carter]

Okay. Using Russ's words against him.

[Russell]

He is, because. Go up further.

[Travis Carter]

Who's.

[Russell]

Who's the first hot person there?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

First hot drivers. Austin Dillon.

[Russell]

I think I'm busted.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You got him ahead of Denny Hamlin.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yeah.

[Russell]

Oh, you won the last two races there.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Let's talk about this. Our guy, Kyle Larson sitting 10th in points. Where's your confidence in Kyle Larson this weekend?

[Russell]

It's not good. It's not good, man, because this really hasn't been a great track for. For Hendrick anyway.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You know, it has been. I'll tell you, man, it's a. Richmond is a strange damn track. It has always been a racetrack that's super hit or miss for teams. It is. You know, most short tracks are pretty much, you know, like Martinsville, for example. You have a lot of teams that are really solid there, but it's more driver based. And you would assume Richmond would be really, you know, driver oriented, and that's. That might be the case for Austin Dillon. Whatever they have.

[TJ]

Sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

At that racetrack, it just, you know,

[TJ]

they just click with him.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Clicks. And they can't replicate it anywhere else, which, you know, Rich Richmond's just always been a track. You could take the same exact setup one year, set on the pole, run in the top three, go back with the exact same in the second Richmond race and be 20th.

[TJ]

Yes.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And not know what the hell's going on.

[TJ]

I agree.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And I'm. When all the years that I drove the Bud car there, we had great runs, we had bad runs, we were all over the place in Rear Spring chasing this racetrack and it is a, it's, it's an annoying thing trying to figure out how to get to drive up off turn four and get the car to turn in the middle the. So it's, it's just, you know, interesting to me. I always, to your point, like Hendrick's not been great there in the past, but it's just one of those tracks where just you just, they, they just could show up and, and have it dialed in.

[TJ]

Yeah, it'd be really good.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You just. I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up and ran well to like, like

[TJ]

the 39 at Iowa. He showed up in the O'Reilly race and was really fat. I mean he had a really good shot at winning that race too. But.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So Chase Elliott, you have him as cold on here as well. Only two top ten finishes in the last nine short track races. What tracks are you including in those nine?

[Russell]

Well, I'm including all tracks under a mile for a short track.

[Ty Gibbs]

Yes.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay, so we go there.

[Russell]

But, but really when you look at it, he hasn't finished the top ten in the last nine races period. So.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But is he had a win at Martinsville this year. Okay, so that's short track.

[Russell]

Yeah, that was one of. That was one of the two.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay.

[TJ]

Gateway. Not a short track.

[Russell]

It's not?

[Travis Carter]

No.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Dang. I don't know how TJ thinks it's a short track.

[Russell]

Yeah, it's pretty long, tj.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, it is.

[TJ]

That's okay. It's got tight corners, slow corners, tight corners.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I guess if you, you make. If you make a 2 1/2 mile paperclip. It's a short track cuz the corners are tight.

[Travis Carter]

Five miles tight.

[TJ]

That's short track. Not far from it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Gateway Austin, Austin Dillon is +1200. I think it's a, it's a hell of a bet to make.

[TJ]

What's Josh Berry.

[Travis Carter]

Josh Barry to win is 4,500.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Terrible.

[Ty Gibbs]

Wow.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'd rather bet Josh Barry at New Hampshire. Almost won that race last year.

[TJ]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Travis Carter]

I just think Josh Berry top 10 +190.

[TJ]

Josh has got a little momentum right now and I feel like they're going to be. I feel like Josh could have a good weekend.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I do too. I would take. Let's bet all. Let's bet Austin and Josh Berry Top 10 together.

[Russell]

I like that.

[Travis Carter]

Plus 371.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I love it. Let's do it.

[TJ]

Josh was fast. All weight. All race in Iowa too.

[Travis Carter]

But $5 Tim's cashed in last week.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

One one unit.

[TJ]

Tim's did.

[Travis Carter]

He had Gibbs to win.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Good for him.

[Travis Carter]

Plus thousand.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What a gambler.

[Travis Carter]

He didn't tell me, though, beforehand.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What a gambler. What a risk taker.

[Travis Carter]

What other drivers of. Russ.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Ty Gibbs.

[Russell]

I got Ty Gibbs.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What is he think about Ty Gibbs?

[Russell]

I love Ty Gibbs.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He's not in the Vegas top five.

[Russell]

Yeah, he won at Richmond 2.0, so I don't know how it was last

[Travis Carter]

week, you know, well, two to Vegas, he's sixth. Okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So it's not like Vegas.

[Russell]

Where's Joey Logano?

[Travis Carter]

He's third. Oh, thanks for listening.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He was all right at Vegas or he was all right at Richmond 2.0.

[Travis Carter]

He almost.

[Russell]

He was.

[TJ]

He was all right.

[Travis Carter]

Yeah, he was up there and then he fell back. Oh, they had the bad pit stop.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Russell]

Yeah.

[TJ]

I think Ryan Blaney is the guy to beat this weekend.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What's Blaney's Richmond races been like?

[Russell]

It was not good until last year. Yeah, like last year was his first top five.

[TJ]

But he's been. He's been really fast, hasn't he? Like last year he was.

[Russell]

He's had some good races, but I would say this is definitely a track where he struggles. I, I would not say he's been super fast here.

[TJ]

I think he's going to be good.

[Russell]

You know, he's led under 200 laps here. It's like, that's not good for him when you look at that.

[TJ]

But it's trending.

[Russell]

It's trending better. Yes. He was third here last year.

[TJ]

That's pretty good.

[Travis Carter]

Russ. What about Briscoe, the other JGR driver that we haven't.

[Russell]

I don't, I don't like him at Richmond. He doesn't have a top 10 there. I would, I would stay away from him of a. Of the JGR drivers.

[TJ]

What about Bowman? I feel like he always creeps into the top 10 here.

[Russell]

I think when you look at this, he's. He reminds me of the best Hendrick driver there. Like when I think back of that, of Richmond.

[TJ]

So to me, it's probably maybe his second best track to Kansas.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, man.

[Travis Carter]

I,

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I think I love the run that Josh Berry's on. I'm, I'm more. I feel good about Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, top 10 parlay. If you guys think it's interesting enough to put. What, what is Bowman top 10?

[Travis Carter]

I don't want anything to do with Bowman, but I'll go check it for you. Bowman top 10. He's plus 300 on his own.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Damn.

[Travis Carter]

You don't need to parlay him.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, you could do. Bet that by itself. Yeah. Solid.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. I would do a bad bet. No, I don't.

[TJ]

I'm telling you, he runs. He runs good there.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. What if you. I don't. I want to.

[Travis Carter]

I know what you're going to. No parlays with Bowman.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

All right. The best average finish on short tracks this year goes to Ty Gibbs 2.5. But you're counting Iowa, which isn't a short track, so I don't know what that does to his average. All right. The Sturdy Modo segment is brought to you by FanDuel, the premier gaming destination of the United States. Great show, tj. Thanks for coming in today.

[TJ]

Yeah, it was a good show.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep. Again, we got Ken Reagan tomorrow for our interview and then, bless your heart, on Thursday. It's going to be a lot of fun. And then obviously, look forward to the cup race this weekend, Richmond. We're all going to be tuned in to see how good Richmond races this come weekend. One of my favorite racetracks that I used to race at. Thanks for joining us at the Arby studio. Don't forget about Arby's new meet in three box. We get more meal for our money. At Arby's, we have the meats. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Instagram, Facebook X and TikTok. With a Capital One Saver card, you'll earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, and at grocery stores. And for a limited time, new card members can earn a $250 cash bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months. So grab a bite, grab a seat and earn unlimited 3% cash back with the saver card. Capital One what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.comsavor for details.

[Russell]

If you're like me, you have a lot of things on your mind. Work things, family things. What's for dinner things. So here's one last thing to think about. Protecting your engine. Just swing by your local take five for an oil change and ask for Pennzoil Platinum. Full synthetic motor oil. It helps protect against wear, keeps your engine running clean, and gives you the kind of peace of mind you don't have to overthink. Just remember one thing. Ask for Pennzoil Platinum by name at your local Take 5 Pennzoil. Long may we drive.