Wrecking Teammates, Going Hunting and Fights in the NASCAR Hauler

Summary

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The Dale Jr. Download

Episode: Wrecking Teammates, Going Hunting and Fights in the NASCAR Hauler

Date: September 26, 2025
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Guests: Ryan Blaney, Chris Gabehart, Robin Pemberton

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the complexities of teamwork, competition, and conflict among NASCAR teammates, offering a firsthand look at racing strategy, playoff dynamics, and the unique culture inside the NASCAR garage. Dale Jr. is joined by Ryan Blaney, Chris Gabehart, and Robin Pemberton, who bring their unfiltered perspectives on on-track incidents, inner-team relationships, and wild stories from racing and life—including fearsome hunting escapades and legendary hauler fights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Value and Perils of Tire Testing

Ryan Blaney shares insights on recent tire testing and how it impacts team performance.

• Track-Specific Testing: The benefits and limitations of tire tests at Phoenix and New Hampshire, emphasizing how track similarities can guide strategy but tire compounds still present unknowns.
  • "You never know what you’re going to end up with tire wise...but they thought that they found something." — Ryan Blaney [01:54]
• Tire Fall-Off Advantage: Blaney notes their cars are slightly better with more tire degradation, letting them manage their stuff over longer runs.

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2. Playoff Performance and the Logano Factor

Dale Jr. discusses Joey Logano’s uncanny ability to elevate during the playoffs.

• Consistency vs. Clutch Performance: Regular season can be quiet, but Logano and his team peak in the playoffs.
  • "It's not a big surprise to me anymore... They're just gonna figure it out." — Ryan Blaney [03:17]
  • "He spoils all of our ideas...We're having to put him in there now." — Dale Jr. [04:03]
• Team Dynamics: Within Team Penske, open communication and mutual support last all the way to the championship finale, where they still race hard but obey one command:
  • "Race as hard as you want...but please just do not wreck each other, because then we look like fools." — Ryan Blaney [06:13]

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3. Teammate Tensions, Playoff Ethics, and Racing Etiquette

An in-depth debate about what drivers owe teammates during the playoffs.

• Recent Incident Reflection: Dale Jr. points out Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs' clash, questioning how teammates should balance their own ambitions with helping others.
  • "The guys who are not part of the playoffs...should be even easier [to pass]." — Ryan Blaney [07:24]
• Inside JGR: Chris Gabehart vents frustration about a teammate blocking playoff cars, calling for clarity from team leadership.
  • "My teammate out of the playoffs should not be the hardest car on the track to pass." — Chris Gabehart [10:20]
  • "Any break that you can cut your teammates, please do." — Chris Gabehart [12:29]
• Culture Clash: There's no universal philosophy—even within top-tier teams—over how much to help or hinder teammates outside the title hunt.
  • "If you're not in it, you do everything you can to help your teammates that are." — Chris Gabehart [18:08]

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4. Hunting Stories & Dale’s Dad’s Fearlessness

Dale Jr. recounts a harrowing hunting adventure with his legendary father, Dale Earnhardt Sr.

• Risk & Bonding: Stories of near-vertical tree stand climbs, lack of safety harnesses, and learning empathy at a young age.
  • "He'd have to screw the pegs into the tree individually and climb...50 foot into the air." — Dale Jr. [20:37]
  • "If daddy gets hurt, we’re both screwed here. Not just now, but, you know, long term. What happens, right?" — Dale Jr. [23:34]
• Memories that Last: Balancing fear and awe, Dale Jr. highlights the unique connection with his dad through shared adversity and accomplishment.

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5. NASCAR Legends’ War Stories

Robin Pemberton shares tales from the control tower, the garage, and the infamous NASCAR hauler.

Indianapolis Tire Debacle

• Behind the Scenes: How the 2008 Indy tire disaster unfolded, from pit lane scrounging to caution flags every 10 laps.
  • "We’re throwing the caution every 10 laps to get them home...you gotta save everybody from themselves." — Robin Pemberton [27:23]

The Jet Dryer Fire (2012 Daytona 500)

• Track & Truck in Flames: The dilemma of saving the racing surface after Juan Pablo Montoya’s crash with a jet dryer.
  • "I didn't give a...if the truck burned to the ground. We were trying to save the racetrack so we can run the race." — Robin Pemberton [29:20]

Fights in the Hauler

• Tony Stewart vs. Kurt Busch: An explosive meeting that turned physical when Stewart threw a punch.
  • “Tony comes across with a left hand and just drills him. The shiners, it’s happening already.” — Robin Pemberton [33:18]
  • "You didn’t tell me Tony was left handed. I’m blocking him like he’s right handed!" — Robin Pemberton [33:25]
• Other Garage Brawls: Reminiscing about altercations at Michigan and Indy, underscoring the rowdy reality of NASCAR tempers.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Story | |-----------|---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:54 | Ryan Blaney | "You never know what you’re going to end up with tire wise..." | | 03:17 | Ryan Blaney | "It's not a big surprise to me anymore... They're just gonna figure it out." | | 06:13 | Ryan Blaney | "Race as hard as you want...but please just do not wreck each other." | | 07:24 | Ryan Blaney | "The guys who are not part of the playoffs...should be even easier [to pass]." | | 10:20 | Chris Gabehart| "My teammate out of the playoffs should not be the hardest car on the track to pass." | | 12:29 | Chris Gabehart| "Any break that you can cut your teammates, please do." | | 18:08 | Chris Gabehart| "If you're not in it, you do everything you can to help your teammates that are." | | 20:37 | Dale Jr. | "He'd have to screw the pegs into the tree individually and climb...50 foot into the air." | | 23:34 | Dale Jr. | "If daddy gets hurt, we're both screwed here. Not just now, but, you know, long term." | | 27:23 | Robin Pemberton| "We're throwing the caution every 10 laps to get them home...you gotta save everybody from themselves." | | 29:20 | Robin Pemberton| "I didn't give a...if the truck burned to the ground. We were trying to save the racetrack so we can run the race." | | 33:18 | Robin Pemberton| "Tony comes across with a left hand and just drills him. The shiners, it's happening already." | | 33:25 | Robin Pemberton| "You didn't tell me Tony was left handed. I'm blocking him like he's right handed!" |

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:54] — Tire Test Benefits & Team Penske Dynamics (with Ryan Blaney)
• [04:41] — Playoff Competition and Balancing Teamwork vs. Rivalry
• [06:45] — Teammate Wrecks (Denny Hamlin & Ty Gibbs Discussion)
• [10:12] — Blaney on Racing Etiquette and Debriefing after Teammate Incidents
• [15:13] — Chris Gabehart on JGR Philosophy (or lack thereof) for Playoff Support
• [19:07] — Dale Jr.’s Legendary Hunting Stories with His Father
• [25:10] — Robin Pemberton on Tire Debacle at Indianapolis
• [27:55] — Jet Dryer Fire at Daytona: Track vs. Truck
• [32:03] — Hauler Fights: Tony Stewart’s Punch & NASCAR Garage Brawls

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

With characteristic candor and a friendly, sometimes irreverent tone, Dale Jr. and his guests offer both colorful storytelling and genuine insight into the pressures, etiquette, and unspoken rules that make NASCAR so dramatic. The episode is a must-listen for fans who want a behind-the-scenes sense of how decisions and tempers shape the sport both in the garage and on the track.

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Transcript

[Dale Jr.]

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[Ryan Blaney]

I thought the test was really helpful to us. Those, those guys went up there and had a great test. I guess, you know, you never know what you're going to end up with tire wise, right? You're running through like five or six different compounds of tire up there. But they thought that they found something just overall in general that kind of worked with a lot of the compounds that they were doing and luckily it was able to apply. So those tracks have kind of always been a strength of ours. But I think having that tire test was beneficial. I think that tire is better for us, like something that has more fall off I feel like our cars always run a little bit better because we can manage our stuff a little bit more. So, yeah, just you got to take advantage of tests, you know, and that 22 team did a great job of doing that.

[Dale Jr.]

Maybe you can explain this as well. It's a fun conversation in the sport how Joe Logano, right, will have a relatively quiet regular season, you know, pop off some wins, but for the most part, a lot of times kind of. Kind of just disappears. Some races doesn't make a ton of noise, but, man, when the playoffs come, y' all get better. Do you. Are you as, like, kind of impressed by what Joey can do, what his team can do as the rest of us, or you see it inside and internally, and it's not a big surprise to you?

[Ryan Blaney]

It's not a big surprise to me anymore. I've been teammates with Joey for long enough to. Where I know and how good he is and how kind of methodical that he goes about things. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't surprise me. I mean, I know those guys are going to be. Even if they don't have the year that people think is impressive through the regular season, you know, they're going to just get better and better, find ways to be better, whether that's thinking outside the box, maybe more from what you're comfortable with, from a crew chief or driver side, driving differently, taking different chances, like they're just gonna figure it out. And it's pretty impressive how. How good those. That two. Those two people of Paul and Joey are together and just how they're. They kind of playing on things and stuff. It's. Yeah, it's got. It's damn impressive.

[Dale Jr.]

It is. It's frustrating as a. As a person in my role, because we try to predict or we try to guess or we try to think we know what, you know, what's going to happen or who's going to advance and who's. Who's, you know, and who the favorite might be. And he spoils all of our ideas. Well, not anymore. We're.

[Ryan Blaney]

We're having to put him in there now.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ryan Blaney]

It blows my mind, honestly, of people who like the outside world that doubts that duo of like, no, just write them off. No, they're going to be there and they're going to be really, really good. It's just they're very. That's a very talented team, you know, and it starts with those two guys for sure.

[Dale Jr.]

In your organization. You've. Y' all have. Y' all have went into the finals and Raced each other in the playoff, in the finals at Phoenix, nose to tail. And so how, I guess, you know, how far into this process does the working together continue? Yeah, at what point? I guess. I guess, I mean, maybe it's already. Maybe, you know, you already have that confidence and you're kind of looking across the table at the comp meeting going, it's you and me, bud. You know, we.

[Ryan Blaney]

I guess I'll.

[Chris Gabehart]

Yeah.

[Ryan Blaney]

I'll put it into perspective for you of, like, I think our team, all the team, Penske and the Wood brothers, we work better than anybody else together. Like any other team. I feel like our communication line from the drivers, engineers, crew chiefs is 10 times better than everybody else. And I can just speak on that just because I don't. I got buddies in other teams, and we kind of compare it, and it's like, I feel like we do a little bit more. But a great example is Joey and I raced for the championship last year at Phoenix. Same comp meetings, same discussions. How are we both going to be better? Like, nothing changed. You know, that's your competition. But we're trying to figure out how do we run 1, 2 in this deal. Roger doesn't care who runs first or second. He just wants to run first and second, and that's just how it's always been. And I think that's the expectation that Roger's always put on us, is if we have one car or two car or three cars in this deal, like, we're going to try our best to all finish 1, 2, 3 or something like that.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Ryan Blaney]

And that's just the way it operates over there. And that all comes from Roger. And I'd say the racing around each other, there's never, like, there's no team orders ever. The only thing that Roger has ever said is just don't wreck each other like trying to win the race. Right. Like, he doesn't, like, be foolish and be running one, two and wreck each other out of first and second. Yeah. You know, he has an expectation. Race as hard as you want.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Ryan Blaney]

Like, have at it. I don't care who runs first or second, but please just do not wreck each other doing it, because then we look like a bunch of fools.

[Dale Jr.]

You talk about not wrecking teammates. We saw just that very thing happened this past weekend with Denny and. And Ty. And I think everybody understands the common sense approach to this. But it's still fascinating, I think, to see it play out in front of everybody on such a big stage.

[Ryan Blaney]

Yeah. I wonder what that meeting was like.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, well, imagine it might be happening right this minute for all we know. But that's a tough situation, I think to try to help Ty understand, you know, what would have been the better choice to make in that situation.

[Ryan Blaney]

Yeah, that's tough. You know, I mean, I. I feel like, you know, the guys who are not just in general, the guys who are not part of the playoffs, I feel like they genuinely will be more respectful to guys that are in it in certain situations. Some situations race hard. I get it. Like we're coming down to a finish or something like that. Like, yeah, I fully expect to get raced hard when it's your teammate and he's not in it and you guys are in it. That's a little bit different to me. Should be even easier. It should be way easier. But I mean, I can't. I don't know what all is going on there. I don't know the relationship with that. And you know, why Ty decided to run him super hard like he did. He and. And bell him, you know, Hamlin and bell and so. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think that would happen in our camp, guys.

[Dale Jr.]

Fall is here, Travis. You know, the beers are colder. Football is back. I know you gotta be excited about that. It is my favorite time of the year.

[Chris Gabehart]

A little crisp in the year. You crack that cold beer open, it's.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, I love it.

[Chris Gabehart]

It is the best.

[Dale Jr.]

That's right. But if you're still rocking, you know, the old beat up boxers under those flannels and jeans, you know, we gotta talk.

[Chris Gabehart]

It's time to upgrade to me undies. These things are ridiculously soft.

[Dale Jr.]

They're perfect.

[Chris Gabehart]

Whether you're just gonna be hanging around watching football games on the couch all day, or you're going out tailgating, going to the games, and it doesn't matter. Me undies is perfect.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, Travis. I mean, they're made with a fabric that feels like a cloud, but they still breathe. You know, when things heat up and you know, they've got legit stretch, whether you're crushing wings on the couch, tossing the pigskin around, I mean, you're covered.

[Chris Gabehart]

That's what's important to me is I think people have seen what I'm like at a football game. I'm up and down, I'm crouching, I'm jumping. I can't be having my. My underwear riding me like that. And me undies, not an issue.

[Dale Jr.]

I'll tell you what, this is my favorite underwear to wear at the track. And I know that might, might Sound strange, but when you're walking around the track, it's a long day, you're sweating. It' it is like the perfect, most comfortable thing to wear. Yeah.

[Chris Gabehart]

You're on pit road, you got your, like, your audio belt on. You're trying to get to your next interview or the driver or whatever. You ain't got time to deal with the wrinkles and all that stuff that happens with the old boxers.

[Dale Jr.]

Absolutely not. You know, with Halloween too, you can get some fun Halloween themed underwear. You see any of that? There's like, there's one with a bunch of different things on there. There's like a skeleton, there's ghosts, pumpkins. It's perfect. Like, you don't want to just have.

[Chris Gabehart]

Like the boring, like just, just blue, black colors. Like freshen it up, guys.

[Dale Jr.]

Come on, give me some good designs. Yeah. Right now, as a listener of the show, you can get cozy and spooky for less with deals up to 50% [e-mail] dalejr and enter the promo code dalejr.

[Chris Gabehart]

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[Dale Jr.]

Hey, guys.

[Chris Gabehart]

Welcome to actions detrimental post loud New Hampshire early in stage two, between you.

[Ryan Blaney]

And the 54, what happened there, we.

[Chris Gabehart]

Were racing really too hard. And what in my mind was, was entirely too hard. And I know this is going to trigger some people about, oh, racing hard. When you're racing a teammate, you know, a, a teammate and B, a teammate with nothing to gain. Like, we're not, we, we. I agree that everyone should race to, to win the race. However, we're not racing to win the race. We're racing at the time for 11th place. We're battling me, the, the 20, the 19. We're all battling and scratching and clawing to try to get some stage points, which is going to be life or death for us. It's, it's our air that we need to move on. I felt as though, you know, a little bit wronged in the sense of, you know, my, my teammate out of the playoffs should not be the hardest car on the track to pass. I mean, for God's sakes, Ross Chastain, let me buy if there's anyone that probably, you know, he's on the cut line. But even in the first stage, like, I pressured him. I pressured him. He's like, well, you know, he more than likely, what he thought was that, well, I'm not going to hold him up for this entire 60 lap run, I might as well just get back in line, you know, try to keep it to from someone else joining this party and passing me along with you. And so it's just this is the racecraft that I feel like is missing that understanding the situation. And certainly I felt as though this thing is hard enough to win anyway. But if you're going to have to race your teammates harder than anyone on the racetrack, then this will be really, really tough for any one of us to win. Is there a philosophy within these race teams or even just in jgr on.

[Robin Pemberton]

How.

[Chris Gabehart]

Teammates should race each other in.

[Dale Jr.]

These situations, or is it not like.

[Ryan Blaney]

A clear thing where everyone's on the.

[Chris Gabehart]

Same page about it? Well, I, I first, I, I don't think we're on the same page. I have always went back to what is the last thing Joe has said when it comes to non playoff cars and playoff cars. He, he has had this conversation multiple times with everyone in the room, but I think it probably needs to be said again. And so I, what I've heard is that if you're a non playoff car, any break that you can cut your teammates, please do. Me and the 20 were fighting so hard to get around the 54 that we ended up fighting each other. And then finally when we got singled out, we both ran him down again. And we're thinking, and I'm thinking, okay, I'm just going to go on by. I'm clearly faster. And it was just arrow block this corner, arrow block that corner. And then when you get beside, it's like, okay, like, what else do I have to prove that we're clearly faster? I'm definitely going to pass you. We got 60 laps to the end of this stage. What are we doing? You're not going to hold me off for 60 laps. The 20 is right behind me. These are your two teammates that need these points. I just didn't, I didn't understand where the mindset was there. And still, and I still don't. But if, you know, it's possible. Ty feels like he doesn't owe us anything and that's just a different mindset and it's okay to have. But you would think that one day the roles would be reversed and certainly he probably would be upset if we did not let him go. If the roles were reversed and he was fighting to move on to the next round.

[Dale Jr.]

Were you going into turn one? Were you just trying to move him up out of the groove and get by him?

[Chris Gabehart]

Well, it was twofold because I was All I was pretty much there into turn one, and then he moved down to the middle lane to, like, cut mine. Cut the nose off. If you cut across someone's nose, especially if they're running really close to you, it'll make their car kind of lift up and take off. So I think he was just trying to cut across my nose to make me lose air, you know, just to further arrow block me. And I was so close to him that I'm like, hell, no, you're not going to do that. And so, yeah, I tried to shove him up to the next lane to get my position, and unfortunately, it spun them out.

[Dale Jr.]

Y' all are going to have your competition meetings this afternoon. How does this get resolved ahead of.

[Chris Gabehart]

That or during that? Is it a conversation with just Ty? Chris Gabehart is obviously in this now, who you have a great relationship with per past years. Yeah, I mean, what I'm asking. What I want to happen is just leadership. Step in and tell us what. What do you want us to do? If you want us all to just race each other, cutthroat, no matter what your position is in stature in the standings, we can definitely do that. Like, I expect myself and the 19 and the 20 to race really, really hard because we're all battling each other to get above this cut line or maintain our status above the cut line. If. If I get eliminated or the 19 gets eliminated or the 20 gets eliminated, and then we've established this. No rules. You guys just do whatever you want to do. That's just. None of us are going to win. You're racing against where we have seen year in, year out, and it will. It will continue to happen more and more. Like it or not, teammates are going to start giving spots this time of the year. This is just. This is the time of the year, and it's just going to get more and more. You're not always going to see it. It won't always be on tv, but starting with about five races to go, you're going to see those that are out of the playoffs or those who have affiliations with will start heating spots to those who need it. And so if you're going up against that and not only not being good teammates, but yet being the most difficult ones to pass, none of us have a shot. We might as well just hang this thing up because it's just. It's too difficult to win naturally. Much less if. If we're going to have the. Well, everyone just races for themselves. And it doesn't matter, you know, whether you're racing for a championship or not. And which, you know, from my standpoint, I would think that, you know, Ty would want one of us to win a championship. It's. His name's on the building. You said that you wanted them to. The higher ups to, you know, handle this, but Joe said this is the drivers there. So is that you and Ty just having a conversation or the four drivers getting together or. Yeah, the challenge is I think that me and Ty are gonna be on different. Will have different opinions. Therefore, you need leadership to step in and say, well, this is how we want it done. And then we will play by those rules. Whatever those rules are.

[Dale Jr.]

I will.

[Chris Gabehart]

I will play by those rules. But I've been told in the past if you're not in it, you do everything you can to help your teammates that are in it.

[Dale Jr.]

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[Chris Gabehart]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Chris Gabehart]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Chris Gabehart]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Chris Gabehart]

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[Dale Jr.]

You'll also get an exclusive hero card free with your purchase. To find all the channels you can get, head to tabletv.com Ryan that's T A B L O-TV.com Ryan hey, guys. Jill Jr. And I are in the Dirty Mo Media Studios again this week for another round of Bless yous Heart, one of my favorite hunting stories. I've always liked telling stories about how big of a badass my dad was. And so if you haven't noticed, I try to slide it in there every now and then and not be too obvious about it. But there's a picture that I have on my phone of my dad, and I always show it to people because it speaks clearly to how fearless and determined he was. And he's. It's a picture of him in a deer stand and this picture is taken from 150 yards away, right? So you get the ground, the field, the entire tree, and dad up in the top. And he is literally 50ft, 40ft in the air, like twice the height that you truly needed to be. Certainly too high to bow hunt. He would have to screw the pegs into the tree individually and climb this tree, screwing in one peg at a time as he climbed up, as he climbed up with the stand. And then he would have to mount the stand up at this tree, 50 foot into the air, right? He's got the bag of pegs, he's crawling, climb up tree, climbs up the tree. And then maybe he goes down and gets to stand, takes the stand back up there. But this picture is just really a speaks to just his, his, his, his crazy. The first time I went hunting with dad, I don't remember climbing the stand, but I remember we were in a chain up and the bottom of the chain up is about twice the size of the seat I'm sitting on. Okay. Like it's, it's just like a grate, right? It's a great. And it kind of, it kind of spreads out. If you sit on it and put your feet down, your toes are at the edge of the grateful. And it was cold as hell and early in the morning and I balled up. I was six. I balled up under his legs, under his seat. This story makes me laid so uncomfortable.

[Robin Pemberton]

I can't believe this.

[Dale Jr.]

On this. Laid on this thing and slept under his legs. You know, we hunted in the morning. We got out of the street stand at 11 o' clock and went on about our day. The next time I go hunting with him, we walk up to this tree and this is the first time I ever shot a deer. We were in Alabama. We get up to this tree and it's a tall ass tree, there's not a limb on it. Right at the very top, this tree split and he had a couple two by fours with a chain up in this tree. We get to the bottom of this stand and I'm just going to do whatever he says, right? So we get to the bottom of the stand, he goes, all right, you start up and I'll go up behind you. I get going, I start climbing up. I'm like, I can barely reach the pegs, they're so spread apart. He put these pegs as far apart as possible. So he didn't have to do so many. So he didn't have to put so many in there. Yeah, but I can't get My foot to the next peg. All the way up this tree. I'm crawling up this thing, and he's having to push each foot. Insane. He's having to. Because I would get my foot up, and I'd be about 6 inches or so short of the next peg, and he would push my foot from underneath to the next peg.

[Robin Pemberton]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dale Jr.]

And neither one of you are tethered to anything? We had no safety harness, Nothing. Like, we hunt with safety harnesses now, and you don't get in a stand without one. And so. But then there was no safety harnesses, nothing. So we. We got our guns on our backs, you know, and we're. So you had a gun, too? Yeah, I had a gun. He had a gun. Oh, this is your first year? Yes. Yeah. Okay. And so we go up in this. We go up in this stand. We finally get up in there. We. When we get to the top, I am. I've been terrified all this way up. Yeah. I'm scared. You're already traumatized. I'm scared. Not. Not. I'm scared more for him, you know, than me. Like, I'm. I'm. And that goes back to, like, my empathy, I guess. It's like, I wasn't really. I'm like, yeah, whatever happens to me, happens to me. But I was worried about him.

[Robin Pemberton]

Why?

[Dale Jr.]

Because he's the breadwinner. He's like, the greatest thing on earth.

[Robin Pemberton]

You didn't stop to think, how am I going to get the hell down from here?

[Dale Jr.]

I didn't worry about it.

[Robin Pemberton]

Oh, my God.

[Dale Jr.]

I was worried about the greatest man that I knew existed, having something happen to him. And so it's a hard thing to explain or understand, but I wasn't really worried about me. If something happened to me, he was there, Right. If I fail, if I got hurt, the greatest man on earth was going to be there to take care of me. If daddy gets hurt, we're both screwed here. Not just now, but, you know, long term. What happens, right, if he break his back or something? Yeah. So we finally get up there, and I'm so relieved. We sat there for a couple hours. We shot a deer. I shot that deer at 150 yards. It dropped right where it was. He was as happy as if he'd shot his own deer, which is awesome. Yeah. And then we had to get down, and he had to go down underneath me and take each foot and help me find the next peg. Cause I had to kind of drop down to the next peg. It was the. I will never forget It. It was terrifying. That's something I wouldn't forget either. But, I mean, of course, it's this great memory.

[Robin Pemberton]

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[Robin Pemberton]

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[Dale Jr.]

Our guest today is Robin Pemberton. He's been on the show before. Do you remember the Indianapolis tire debacle?

[Robin Pemberton]

Oh, my God.

[Dale Jr.]

I did the tire test for that one. Yes. For that race. That was me and Vickers.

[Robin Pemberton]

Congratulations. Right?

[Dale Jr.]

That's my fault. Me and Vickers and somebody else, we showed up for the tire test, and it was common to, like, go run 20 laps and get in the cords. You know, we didn't see them doing it in 10 laps.

[Robin Pemberton]

Right.

[Dale Jr.]

But you'd run a tire and get in the cord, get a little bit of cording on the right front or something. In 20 laps or something like that.

[Robin Pemberton]

That was. I'm up in the tower and this hitting the fan, it's like. It starts out at, like, 35 laps or something like that. So Mike says, you. You got to go down there. We gotta, you know, go down there and see what's going on. It's like, okay. So I went down there, and I'm walking around, I'm looking, and I, you know, radio back. I said, it's bad. I said, they're gonna have to, you know, may run out of tires. So then there was a. Then Goodyear had the inventory list, and they had the list of who had tires and who didn't. They had. Right. You can't make this up. My. My brother, I think Blaney was driving. So Ryan, they didn't practice and save tires, so they had extra for the race because he saw it already. So I had to take tires for my poor brother that played it good on Friday and Saturday and, you know, and give them to somebody else, right? So I'm walking up and down the street there, and it is looking like they're thinking about there's. There's. Goodyear. Always had a backup tire out in somewhere. Trucks, trailers, trailer loads. And so Jeff Gordon gets on. I'm in Jeff's pits. Jeff Gordon gets, you know, gets on the radio to Steve and says, you better tell NASCAR we got a show. And whatever. He said, you know, you gotta fix this. And Steve said, robin, standing in the pits, he goes, oh. Oh, God. You know what I mean? But it was that. It was horrible.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. I think we got to where we were throwing the caution every 10 laps.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, it was right there near the.

[Dale Jr.]

End of the race just to get.

[Robin Pemberton]

Them home, you know, you gotta save everybody from themselves. Right. You weren't gonna pit.

[Dale Jr.]

No.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, right.

[Dale Jr.]

That was crazy. You would run as hard as you thought you could if you knew somebody was gonna shred a tire and tear the right rear quarter panel off, you know, you knew it was gonna happen. You just didn't know who. You didn't want to be. You. I blew a right rear tire, I guess. Leading the race on lap 26.

[Robin Pemberton]

Oh, Lord.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. The 2012 Daytona 500. You said in a documentary that fire teams that were trying to not extinguish the truck that was on fire, but rather the racing surface to keep it cool and keep it from burning. This is when Juan Pablo hit the jet dryer. Hit the jet dryer. So Juan had been in some sort of an accident or something. Had a little bit of crash damage. They were repairing.

[Robin Pemberton]

Trailing arm was broke. That's when they didn't weld the trailing arm so they would flex more.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes. So he's going to accident.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, I've heard of that. I'm sure.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes, I have. He's been in an accident and it has now damaged a piece that was already intentionally compromised. And he's going down the back straightaway and the rear end basically come out of the race car and send him into the freaking. Sent him into the crash. And I have that car in my race car graveyard. Oh, wow.

[Robin Pemberton]

Okay.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. So I got a race car graveyard. Yeah, you know that.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, I do.

[Dale Jr.]

And basically just.

[Robin Pemberton]

I need to get over there.

[Dale Jr.]

They've just been given to me. I've not never bought a crash, but in this race, I remember this. We all parked on the back straightaway while you guys figure this out. So the track. Hadn't the track just been repaved?

[Robin Pemberton]

Yes, we were on a fresh paved track.

[Dale Jr.]

Right. And so you're trying to not only put out a fire of the truck itself, but also save the surface of the racetrack that's trying to melt and slide down the hill.

[Robin Pemberton]

Darryl criticized us on national TV for not putting out the fire. Ah, they're not shooting at the fire. I didn't give a. If the truck burned to the ground. We were trying to save the racetrack so we can run the race.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, it did make a. It did do an impression on the surface.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah. And it was. It was. Remember listening to Boyer because we used to listen a lot of drivers, and he said, you could hear the gravel you hit go across. You could hear the gravel, right? Yeah, but it was funny. So all that stuff's happening. Mike. Mike sends me down. He's like, you got to go back there. I said, okay. So they called.

[Dale Jr.]

You always had to go back there.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, it was good. Sometimes I needed a field trip. Wasn't fun in the tower, but so the police come and got me and run me around to the back, because they turn the lights on, and, I mean, I'm back there, and I am telling you, there is. It was like. It smelled like a 747 crash back there with all the fuel all over. And it rained, right? And it all laying on top. The thing that saved it is it was all laying on top of the top of the water back there. So I kept the pair of dress shoes that I had on that night. I kept. I had to get them resold because I couldn't get the smell out of the closet. Anyway, so I'm back there walking around and just checking and radioing back to Mike, and my cell phone rings, and there's Ryan.

[Dale Jr.]

Your brother.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, well, Blaney. Him and Blaney, they're leading the race. Yeah, they're leading the race. And he says. He's like. He's like, how you guys doing back there? I said, it's okay. He's like, you know, it's raining. I said, I'm standing 200 yards from your car. I know it's raining. Oh, oh, oh. I just thought you needed to know. I said, I know, I know. I got it. I got it. But we would do that. Funnin around, you know what I mean? So I called Mike in the tower. I said, mike, it's raining back here. Yeah. How bad is it? I said, you know, it's not too bad, but it's. You know, it's raining. He goes, okay, I know who's leading a race and hanging up.

[Dale Jr.]

So I was like, I. We were all out of our cars, and we were all standing on the back straightaway, and I think it was me and Biffle and a couple other people. And we were laughing like, hey, man, it. We're good. Let Blaney win.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

And we're off. We're good.

[Robin Pemberton]

You're ready to go. You checked out, right?

[Dale Jr.]

And Carl Edwards walks up, and he's like, nuh, I'm not. I want to finish this race. And I'm like, of course you do.

[Robin Pemberton]

What was the night that I Forget the race. Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch got into it on something. Something. And then we called him to the hauler.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. So might have been maybe Daytona. He was.

[Robin Pemberton]

There's a night race at Daytona. Daytona maybe.

[Dale Jr.]

Or was it Kurt? Tony and Kurt? Because apparently.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

The river was. Tony popped Kurt.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, yeah. So. So we're in. Mike says, okay, you, you, you, you guard Tony and I'll take Kyle. This is Mike.

[Dale Jr.]

Kurt.

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah. Or Kurt.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Robin Pemberton]

You know. And I said, okay, well, you know, so they come in and they're sitting in this. They're talking and they're not getting very far with the conversation. And it's not. Nobody's bending, right? And they're starting to lean up and they're leaning, leaning, leaning. They stand up. So I stand, you know, I get up and I got Tony behind me, right? And I'm kind of keeping him away. And Mike's got Kurt up here, you know, just a little bit. And Tony comes across with a left hand and just drills him. So now, I mean, the shiners, it's gonna. It's happening already, right? And we said, you know, well, we're not getting anywhere. You got, you know, we're gonna talk about this, whatever, whatever. So they walk out and I turn to Mike. I said, you didn't tell me Tony was left handed. I'm balking him. Like, he's right handed. You didn't tell me he was left handed. He said, hell, I didn't know. You know, like, it's like, oh, my God.

[Dale Jr.]

Watch Tony's left.

[Robin Pemberton]

Jesus. Oh, man, it's. Oh.

[Dale Jr.]

Was that as bad as it ever got?

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

In the holler?

[Robin Pemberton]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Dale Jr.]

The. Were you there when. When Kurt and Spencer were going at it at Michigan.

[Robin Pemberton]

No.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Robin Pemberton]

No, I think I was on the bottom. American Ford. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was.

[Dale Jr.]

Trying to think of some other Michigan moments.

[Robin Pemberton]

Indy. They wrecked it. Indy.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, he got wrecked. Yeah, that was the. That was the beginning of it. Y check out DirtyMome Media on Instagram, Facebook X and TikTok.

[Ryan Blaney]

Tyler Redick here from 2311 Racing.

[Chris Gabehart]

Game night's fun until someone spends five.

[Ryan Blaney]

Minutes lining up one shot. Chalk.

[Chris Gabehart]

Breathe.

[Ryan Blaney]

Rechock.

[Chris Gabehart]

Still aiming while they figure it out.

[Dale Jr.]

I fire up Champa Casino. I can spin anywhere, anytime.

[Chris Gabehart]

And there's always a new social casino game every week. Spins happen way faster than that shot. Waitings for amateurs play [e-mail]. let's Chumba.

[Robin Pemberton]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Chris Gabehart]

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[Dale Jr.]

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