The boys. Yo, it's the boy Zach the intern. It's not Will.
He's taking the day off and has given me the extreme pleasure in introducing today's guests. Let me just go ahead and tell you today's guest is one of the most anticipated ones since we've started this podcast. The boy Dale Earnhardt Jr. Said down with us today and had a awesome conversation. We talked a lot about Redskins football, football in general. Then we dive deep into his plane crash they had back last year and kind of how his outlook on life has changed and how that event
changed his life. Then me, being his biggest fan, I get to ask him some of the questions that I've always wanted to ask him and it's just really cool moment for me. So, without further ado, here's NASCAR's most popular driver and my personal hero, Delle Earnhardt Jr.
I'm on, baby, do you this morning? Mam is pregnant, not feeling too hot and Dale, what's up?
Man?
Sounds like my house?
Yeah, it's crazy.
They're pregnant too.
How far all stressed well? Tailings due July sixteen, So we're right around the corner right now. And this whole this whole craziness going on. I don't even know if I'll be able to do in the labor room or anything like that. What does your wife do?
They're doing October.
But I've.
I've read a lot about some of the challenges that women they are pregnant are facing. Man, they're you know, the father's not able to be in there sometimes, and they're even not even having the same doctor they've been working with, and it's just crazy.
It sucks.
I can't imagine.
That's go ahead.
Sorry, I was just gonna say, it's just super stressful for us to imagine for the wife, it's got to be over the.
Top, no doubt. It's definitely what you feel super helpless sometimes is you're not like you're just like, hey, I like, I know you don't feel good, but you haven't felt it in the wild, Like what can I What can I do? And it's like a lot of times you can't really do anything about it. And my daughter, my daughter's going through a phase or she's two and a half and she's going through a phase of like trying
to figure out boundaries. Yeah, so she's trying to make her decisions all time, and for some reason, she's made a decision that she's not a fan of Dad right now, and so like we're in this tuggle war battle, like she's always wants mama right now, and Mama's like kind of doing like turn nert like nest and do her thing. So this morning I've been running up down the stairs trying to wrangler and all that. So that two and a half, she's about to be three in.
July, and I got two months. She'd been two in April thirtieth.
Oh yeah, and she's thirty right away.
Yeah, she's pretty me and her pretty tight right now. I hoping that hoping that's pretty, that stays consistent.
Well are you guys, Oh, go ahead, we'll say.
I was gonna say, are your guys well just kidding, I was gonna ask. I was gonna ask, since you guys are both pregnant, are like the appointment you guys are having now?
Like I don't know anything about that.
You don't have the kind of you don't have to do, are you guys get on the phone and they kind of tell you.
Hey, we can mean yeah, all the central stuff for not you know, for for every for our for our safety, for their safety, you know, they just said it's not critical, don't come in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Our r O B G y N was basically like, if you unless it's emergency, pretty much don't don't contact me or don't come in, ye right, And so it's I mean, you know how this is too when we're like, you're pregnant. That I hate when people say you guys are right now you and I are. We we did the we did the fun part and now it's they got the hard part right. But it's one of those things that's like, you know, everything feels different and weird, and their body is growing and morphing all the time.
It's just like can't feel comfortable. And if it was if it was us, like men had to get pregnant, we we go. You couldn't even talk to me if I get sick, it's game, he can't and you can't talk to me at all about nothing.
So I will say selfishly, right when this all went down and they tell us that our visits were all canceled, we were two weeks from going to get blood tests to make sure everything's okay, plus find out sex, and we haven't done that. So that's been driving me crazy because we wanted to find out. We wanted to know. It's freaking me out. I want to know, you know, more.
Than more than anything of like finding out the sex. It's like that blood test. If you know everything's kind of progressing our way, that's a big load off your shoulders for sure. Just I was big on wanting a little a little boy, because I don't know, you know you yere, I had a brother. You know, you just use you as.
You know your dude.
You want a little you.
I know, I want to you stereotically, just want to throw the ball around with my buddy, not saying can't. Any person that watches this podcast, I know when't get bill balls too, Like I dated a softball player in college, but like, uh, I don't know, man, Like it was just it was something I really wanted. And then, you know, one day I was like totally cool that. I was like, you know what, actually I'd be totally fine with another girl. And then we found out the sex. We weren't to
find it out, and I'm having another girl. So I'm also that I'm like Kobe out here, man, Yeah, pretty.
I'll be okay with another girl too, I am. I was, Yeah, I was so much fun and Amy's amazing, So just having more versions of them on the on the property to be awesome, no doubt, I really, you know either way, I don't have any feelings about it yet. I'm sure uh, once we find out, and if it is a boy, I'll have all these thoughts and things that I never even expected.
So if if you do, will be the third No.
No, no, no no. We already have a name now. We got a name. The name Yeah, So we had a name for a boy before I was born a couple of years ago, and it's such a cool name. And I was like, well, if we have a boy any other you know, that's the name. So I like it. I will keep it a secret. But girl names are tough, man be couldn't The girl name took forever to figure out girl.
The girl name was it are and came a lot easier than the boy names because I don't know. I got a buddy who's got the coolest name for a son. You can steal it if you want because you don't know him, but I can't steal it, and I want it real bad. His name was Stetson, and I thought, I was like, that name is badass man. That is a great that's it's awesome. Yeah, if we were gonna have a boy, I want to name it Whalen and then yeah after whaling Jennings. Yes that yeah, dude, that's that.
I think those old country names are awesome. They're strong, they're powerful. They set the tone. Yeah, you're setting you're sitting in the tone with that background. Man, you got the help basically one step above the leather helmet on the redskins right there, and then you know who's held it's.
Nineteen eighty five day. But oh really check this. So are we recording to podcasting?
Oh, you're bustling with the boys.
That's well.
I don't want to run them run. I want to save it for the podcast. But I went to I had an appearance for a racetrack. So Talladego Mo Speedway sent me over to the College Football Hall of Fame and so I went over to that building, huge building. I'm sure you guys have been there, and I collicked helmets and I have probably I don't know about eighty to one hundred helmets different college teams and probably about
a third of the NFL. And I was at this appearance walking around in this college Football Hall of Fame, really cool place, and they got this huge rack of helmets on the wall, and they surprised me with having Dave Butts come in and he I knew it immediately when I saw him. And he comes walking up and he's got this helmet in his hand and I look at it and I'm like, I wonder, why the hell is he carrying a helmet around and it's beat the
hell and I was like, that's a real helmet. And he walks up to me and he handed it to me. He's like, here, once you have this, and I was like, oh, man, you got kids. Certainly your boys or somebody in your family wants this. And he's like, ah, they don't. They probably won't appreciate as much as you. I said, well, listen here, I'm gonna keep this saying and if you ever wanted you telling boys there, you know, they can have it right back. I'll get right back to them,
but I'll be the keeper for a while. So, uh, I don't have a lot of game warn or game use stuff, particularly from you know, the eighties or seventies, some of that historical stuff. So Dave was a great lineman for the Redskins on the Hogs. Hogs offensive line is what they called it. And yeah, yeah, so I was a big I was really appreciative that he did that and got some Elvis Presley stuff over my shoulder. My mama was a huge Elvis fan, and I was a little boy. She would keep me on the weekends.
Dad would go racing and I'd stay at mama's house and she had Elvis playing all the time in her house all the time, just twenty four to seven Elvis singing long. So I know, being an Elvis fan over that what made Yeah. Well, so when I was little, I guess around nineteen eighty two. The first game I really remember watching was the Redskins against the Miami Dolphins and Super Bowl. And my mom and dad divorced in seventy eight and she moved to Norfolk, Virginia, Chesapeake Bay.
Nothing but Redskins fans up there. So when I go visit her, everything was Redskins. If you went into the store, all the sports stuff was Redskins decals, whatever. In the convenience store, everything was Redskins logos, and so she would buy me helmets and uniforms. I still have, like these jerseys and these old tiny little helmets with the plastic guard on them from when I was like twelve years
old getting these guests for Christmas. And we didn't have a team in Charlotte, we didn't have a team in North Carolina. It was basically we had a lot of in North Carolina back then in the eighties.
We had a lot of.
Falcons fans, Redskins fans, and there were Cowboys fans all across the country, and so it was kind of mixed bag. But when the Panthers came at that point, I was so invested. We'd won Super Bowls, Joe Gibbs, all that good stuff was happening, and I just couldn't change, man. And I'm still as die hard today, I guess as I was any point, even after everything we've been through over the last couple of decades been real hard. But when you're in, you're in.
Man.
I can't imagine undoing all that investment, emotional, personal investment, and trying to pour it back into something else I really want. You know, people always ask me about the Panthers and whether I pull for them, and I do, and because the you know, a successful sports team in Charlotte. I live thirty minutes from downtown, and a successful sports team in that area, man is great for everybody, great for business, great for everything, And so I want them
to win a lot. If Sins can't win, I want the Panthers to win, it'll.
Be the Titans. So you can't can't be mad about that. I was actually very upset.
M Yeah, we we we It's been frustrating, but you know, we got a new coach. Ron's coming in. You know, I always say that every off seasons a reason for new hope, right, And when you're a Redskins fan or or a fan of a team that's been notoriously kind of struggling to put it together, every year is like a time to wipe the slate clean emotionally and personally and and and start new. And I love to. I mean every day I'm checking my phone for any piece
of news. I can't get enough. I can't soak up enough information, just opinion articles, whatever it is about who we're what we're going to do in the draft, or how things are going with training camp, what the positional battles are and all that stuff. So year round, you're you're a fan, right, and trying to find positivity and and and hope and anything you're reading about the team and the changes they're making.
Uh.
Jay Gruden was a great coach, a lot of fun. I enjoyed him as our coach. But yeah, I mean, after a certain period of time, when you're sort of having the same results, maybe it's time to for everybody to do something different. And so I feel like, if anything, maybe he was just as relieved as we were to be making a change to try something else. And Ron seems to be so respected by the people that he coaches,
and uh, kind of a tough, defensive guy. You know, we need somebody to come into the organization, and all organizations needed. I believe in ruling with iron fist. You know, when we talk about NASCAR and rules and rule breakers and cheaters. You know, nothing wrong with cheating, getting creative, but if you get caught, I want you busted hard. I mean I want you, I want I want the sport to come down on you hard man, you know,
and set an example. It's more about the perception, you know, putting that perception out there that we run this show, you know, and.
You can see you can say shit on here.
Bro Yeah, that's what we need. Run this ship man, So we need our coach to be tough, and he's tough. Run I don't think takes any ship off anybody. So we'll see how it goes.
You followed all the all the draft stuff right now. Obviously us picked number two. You're seeing Chase Young, You're seeing Chase Young everywhere? Yeah, were you excited about that?
You know? I am? You know, and uh, you know we picked We've picked it too before and uh with with Robert Griffin and and uh all that was, uh, you know, going so well that first year things were awesome, team looked amazing and and and then things kind of went south. But you know, so we've been here before. We've we've we've been at number two before with opportunity and and and uh, I think all the Redskins fans out there are kind of tempering their expectations. Of course.
I think if we draft Chase we're gonna be happy. We'll just see how kind of what kind of player he becomes in the NFL. The rumors about maybe you know, the Interesting Tour or anybody else for that matter, obviously sound and look like smoking mirrors. But you know, and I like our quarterback that we have now. But I think toa is, you know, if he's healthy, if the hip is good, and if he can go out there, I think he you know, he's gonna be a great quarterback.
And so you can't pass on great quarterbacks, right, you can't give up the opportunity to draft a great quarterback. And so I don't know if I have a problem with whatever they do. If they trade back, I'm open to it. I feel like we got all new guys in there running the ship. You got the front office changed, you got the coaching staff change. So I think I I think if we had the same people in the same positions as we did last year and the years
before and they traded back, I'd be disappointed. But now I'm kind of like, hey, maybe these guys know what they're doing.
Well. There's a lot of depth in the draft too, especially like receivers super heavy in the draft. Off of the tackle super heavy in the draft. Because I'm like, obviously playing in the NFL is one thing, but like once you have your team and you kind of like you've been playing on it for a little bit, you always like that the free agency in the draft, like it's it's it is an exciting time of the year.
It's like a new transition. Like you said, it's like new hopes or like for me, I'm looking at all these boards and seeing what what the drafts strong and all that, And I've seen a couple of things saying that Chase Young might go one. Overall, he's that, he's that talented all that. So if Chase goes one, were you thinking Joe Burrow? Are thinking tua?
If you had I mean that's true, you're saying tua.
Yeah, you're saying you saying a lot of tua. But there's that chance you only want.
To pick away from Burrow, right, I think you would take him? You know which one?
Which one you take?
Joe?
Yeah, because of the health strictly, because you know the health concerns with two of there's just so many questions marks Unfortunately, you know, consider you know how everybody's locked down. Nobody can see anybody. We can't really you know, nobody can move around because of the virus stuff that we're you know, coaches and evaluators aren't able to really get their eyes on these players and sit down and spend
time with them. That's that's hurting I think to at this particular point because he once prove to everybody that he's helped him ready to rock. But Joe, I like Joe a lot. But what do you guys think about his personality? So you know, he's he's a brash guy, ain't afraid to lay it out there, be himself. How do you feel that guy that that's awesome in college
in a in a college atmosphere. How do you think that transitions over to the NFL if you're drafting, if you're a personnel guy, or you're a coach and you're drafting him, do you just let the guy run and do his thing? Do you kind of rain him in a little bit, tell him how to maybe add a little professionalism, a little polished to what he's doing.
Well, you got to take this one. I'll go after you.
Now.
Are you saying it from a way that he's like edgy out there outside of play?
Yeah, kind of like a gamic man kind of guy. You know, he kind of reminds me of that in his personality a little bit.
Yeah. I mean, in my opinion, I don't think you should ever, you shouldn't micro manage him. So you got to let him himself and let him lead with his personality and stuff. But if there's some things that you have questions about off the field, like yeah, you just have some guys around him, or you just mentor him along the way, but you gotta let him be himself because you want to be as comfortables possible the moment he steps in the door, you know what I'm saying.
And then say he stepped into the Tips facility like Taylor, like all the boys and the leaders and stuff would be around him that he would be himself.
But I know Raves and those guys everybody would kind of ads some that.
Professionalism that you're talking about, But you definitely don't want to try and change to him because that kind of makes him who he is.
He kind of has that swag about himself, that confidence that he plays with. But that would be That's what I would do if I was a coach.
Yeah.
For there's a lot of the times like being professional is a good thing. I myself, Dale, I am not a professional person professional approach right in a lot of ways. But I do think like being you is what got you into the position you were. They're just like you for racing just like me for football, well for football, like those are those are things that like being ours, like you got yourself And just for me, speaking from personal experience, when I was at Michigan my senior year.
When I was at Michigan, they told me, hey, you need to be literally use the words of vanilla. You have to be mister like all American, clean cut, like you know, business guy the whole time. And I was I was drinking the kool aid like no one's business. I was drunk on Michigan. So I was like, absolutely, I'm one hundred percent in it. And so I did it, and really along the way, like lost myself. I really wasn't like the same person. If anything, my ego got bigger.
I thought I was better than I was. I thought I was bigger than I was my last year, and it kind of ruined that senior year for me that could have been way more special than it actually was. And then I come to the Titans and the kind of similar thing happened to me my second year. I was stolen into a leadership role right away, and they were telling me how to act and be myself, and
my career was someone on the rocks. They were talking about replacing me in the draft with Lanry Tunsel, which they've got he's got extraordinary lungs and had that video go on the draft because all worked out for me in that way. But I mean after that, after that, my second year, I realized, like, you you got to be yourself and people can tigure to leave it. But if you're a hundred percent yourself, you cannot be mad
with the result that you get. You know, and there's but there's a level like you can't just be off the rail. You can't be Joe exotic. I don't know if you've watched that documentary that things why you can't. You can't be Joe exotic, but you can. You can have your flair, you can have your things that make you you, and then still be a team player, be the guy that can come in and because I kind of like a quarterback that's like, for lack of a better word, doesn't give a shit, like I'm gonna sling
this thing, I'm gonna throw in there. Brett Farbas that way. Jake Cutler, you know you always picture him with a cigarette hanging out of his nuse. He doesn't give a shit. And uh, one of my friends. I used to be super close with Zach Mettenberger. He was the same way he came in. We were playing the Patriots. Marcus Mariota got hurt. We were playing the Patriots, like week eleven my second year or two and fourteen was three and
thirteen year. We actually got better than the year before, and we're gonna pick at one, but we were playing the Patriots. Get absolutely donkey, not even a chance, and Marcus gets hurt, just salting the wound, and I'm kind of like leaning down in the huddle, and someone comes in and I started, I'm starting the smell, and I started, I start smelling like Skull winter Green or like Copenhagen the winter Green. I'm like, I know that, I know that smell. And I look up and I'm not joking.
Zach had the same face mask as the one behind you. He had the bar down the middle, he had the one strap across the top, and he had a fat lip. I swear to god it was that far outside of his lips. And first play throws to Delaney Walker. Delaney is running across the middle, stiff arm's a guy hurdles a guy like just absolutely barrowing through the entire Patriots defense and scored. Still lost by twenty one points, but
damn it, I will remember that forever. It was one of the coolest ding things I've ever seen in my entire life. And he just did He just didn't give a shit. I mean, obviously his career is not where he wants it to be in all that, but like, at the same time, you gotta love the situations like that, guys in the locker room going to like, man, you see that, that's pretty cool, and he you know, and and you kind of respect those types of things. You still got to perform and do all that stuff. But
Joe's got I think he has the talent. I'm not a quarterback guru.
I don't know about Yeah.
Yeah, well what would you if you're if you're the head coach, what would you want to do?
Now, well, there's you know, as a broadcaster in in in racing, I love our guys to be, you know, really colorful and and we got to have the villains, we got to have the heroes, We got to have all the players and all the personalities in the in the I guess controversial guys even kind of have a place to bring awareness and interest to our sports get people watch. So I kind of want that, and I like players that are that way. I certainly wasn't, you know,
a fan of vanilla players throughout the Riskins histories. I like John Riggins. I liked him because of the way he was as a person and how he he didn't give a damn either when he was you know, you know, when he was playing. He kind of did his own thing. But I also like guys like Daryl Green and Arn't Monk that were role models and and just workming like and you can depend on them. Art was Art was going to run the pattern, he was going to catch the ball, He's gonna get a first down. And yeah,
Ryan Carriden is another great guy. Uh that that's a great role model. But I like the bad guys too. I like the guys that that are that are mouthy. Dexter Manley was one of my favorite players. He was pretty rough around the edges, and so as a coach, I think, you know, you definitely want your guy to have some personality and bring some you know, bring some
color to the locker room. I imagine, just as long as you're succeeding on the field, studying and doing all the job, doing your job right, doing your job and working hard and understanding everything that that is required your position. I suppose that you can be whoever you want. And I think that's why people I mentioned Jimmy Mann. I think that's why he worked his deal work. He was out there. He was colorful, but he won, you know, and he and he played well and he was tough.
You know, he could, he could, he he could play in some pretty difficult situations.
We're gonna hold that thought. And you guys know the drill. You understand it by now. We're gonna read a couple ads.
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Dude, you're a huge football fan. This is like an entire football podcast right now.
That's what it's kind of what it's become. Our podcast is low key football.
Well.
I knew he was.
I knew he was a Skins fan, but I ain't know like the depths right here.
Dude, you're you're a sport I've just been throughout the years.
I had Russ Grim as my offensive line coach.
Wow.
Really he was a Yeah, it was like two years ago. That guy kept he had a refrigerator in his office and he had it was full of bud light at all times and the only time. Dude, he is He was like the most legendary like guy you would run through a wall four and some of his stories, I mean, I can't tell really any of them on a podcast, but he was. He was an unbelievable guy. He like fifteen fifteen office line was statistically the one of the
worst in the entire league. And then Mike Malarkey brought in Russ Grim pretty much the same guys like literally no one different. I think we drafted Jack Conflin in the first round that year, eight overall, and statist turned into the number one off offutilne in the league. And Russ does not teach technique. He does not teach like you know, stepping over a bag and waddling up to a linebacker. What he teaches is camaraderie with the boys.
Like he teaches you to be like you are playing next to you, find out what you played for visually, and then play for these guys and you're good. And I've never been a part of a title whole line in maybe twenty sixteen, that whole entire group was just like always together, bandon brothers mentality, like got down and dirty and I and then pretty much all that had to do with Russ. So I can't imagine him back in the day being a hog. All those guys out
there just killing people. I think they're like a turnover margin plus like five, like it was, it was an absolutely ridiculous number like that Will like the turnover margin was insane.
Liked he send you, didn't he send you a photo of like is don he have like a fake limb or.
Something like that?
Oh? Yeah, he ended up losing his leg. He cut his he cut his foot, uh in the middle of the year, and he never took care of it ever, not once. Actually, like they literal would tell him, hey, Russ, you gotta walk on this treadmill. He'd be like, well, you know, I walked from here to my car and bag.
That's enough walking for me. And he just he was this old school guy man couldn't tell him nothing and ended up having some medical stuff going on when we were playing the Patriots in divisional round where he couldn't really stand up or anything and ended up losing his right leg. But I called him up and true Russ Grim fashion, I'm like, hey, man, like, how you doing. You are right? He's like, yeah, you know, it's all
good socks or buy one, get one free. Now I only have to pay did not literally not a care in the world. Sent me a picture. He's he's out at the pool, got his lego bandaged up with some girl picking up like, you know, picking up a drink for him and turned butts out there. He's just like the double thumbs up, you know. And he's just the man just lives his best life. He is the way I don't know, like if you had all the money in the world and didn't care and it was just like,
whatever's gonna happen happened. Then he is. He is an all time guy. I can't say enough good things about Russ. He made me a fan of the Hawks.
Him and Clinton Diddier came out to the race in the mid nineties and I got a picture of me and them two standing in my dad's race and holler, that's awesome. Yeah, as soon as you mentioned the name man, that picture comes to my mind. And I remember the first time I saw you know, Joe Gibbs became an owner in our sport, uh and has become extremely successful
championship owner. And I knew that he had owned drag racing cars and been in motorsports before, and when the word came that he was going to own a race team in our sport, you know, I got really excited. And I remember the first time I saw him at a racetrack, and uh, I was screaming at him and hollering at him like like a huge fan, but uh, which I was, But I you know, I just couldn't.
I was seeing him in person. It was like seeing you know, your favorite celebrity walking around and there's Joe Gibbs walking it, walking around at Atlanta Motor Speedway is after the race, and he's walking down through the pits. Everybody's kind of cleaning up, picking stuff up and getting out of there and getting ready to go home. And there he is. And I was like, Joe Gibbs, Joe Gibbs, I couldn't Yeah, And now.
I flipped out, man, fan boydal.
Were you that way when I came to the racetrack and road with you?
It will will man, It's it's been crazy and ever ever since.
Question, it's different now like Gibbs, Yeah, like back then, I never even met a player.
You know, I've never even met a player. I've been watching them guys on TV on the whole life, and I mean, to meet a player would be insane. And uh, here's the coach, the guy that leads them. And ever since, you know, since then, I've been able to to be around the organization a little bit and spend more time and getting to know some of the guys. I mean, I'll tell you one thing, man, I don't this is I don't mind, I don't care. It's embarrassing, but who cares.
I was the Angelo Hall so oh, d Hall.
Yeah, I was at a game. I don't even know. I can't remember what game it was. But I was walking down the hall and the d Backs are all huddled up doing their thing, right, you know, twenty feet from the field, getting ready to go out for the game. And I know I can imagine, like what that moment's like. Uh, you know, those guys are tuning into each other, They're getting in their zone. There ain't nothing going on as
far as they know outside that bubble. And I come walking by and d Angelo Hall looks and goes, what's up, Junior? And I was like, I can go home now. This is gonna getting better. I don't care if they went by a hunter be better than this moment right here. And yeah, I mean he was a beast and such a cool guy. But for him to acknowledge me, and even in that moment when they're really getting ready to buckle down and and things couldn't be more serious, just flew me away.
Man.
I couldn't believe. I've had a couple of other experiences like that, but man, that first.
The halls all time you are huh, yeah, the hall is all time.
It was my first year that It was the year we went to the playoffs and we lost the Green Bay But when we made that run and clinching division against the Eagles, I had sack Sam Bradford and I did this funny little like gentleman's dad thing, And like the next week, U the Hall s with his kids and they're playing a board game and his kids like, oh, I'm doing the little company.
They start dabbing, and the Hall.
Sends it to me, and I was just thinking, like, man, yo, d Angel Halls text me what his kids are doing. That's imitating me, And I thought it was like the coolest thing in the world. But the Halls all time, man, Yeah, he's great.
Yeah.
Sorry about all the Redskins talk, Taylor, I know, man, what else?
You love it? It's interesting just to just to learn about that stuff, because, like I mean, Tennessee does have history, be coming from the from Houston and all that, but like those team to have like one of the most rich histories of all the NFL teams. So it's fun to learn about you growing up. And I mean, obviously I learned a little bit about with Will he put there for so long and had so much success there
and his you know, coming from an undrafted guy. You got it, buddy, you're putting your friends on the podcast, all be nice. You e've been just to be able to be undrafted and then to come and you know, have the story he did. Will's you know, five ft ten white guy doesn't belong in the NFL, but he's been doing it. You know what I'm saying, This will be your apro and so I don't I don't doubt that was be on our team this year. Will. Would you ever go back to the Redskins?
I would? I would? You know they're there, Yeah, I mean I I do.
They're like there's been that salty bitterness, but it has it has nothing to do with like my uh starting point, Like the Redskins is where I started everything, you know what I mean, Like that's where I have the majority of my relationships. That's probably why I got better when I was when I left, because you're so close to an organization.
Uh.
But yeah, I I for sure would if they were, if they through their hat in the ring, I would for sure consider going back to the Redskins.
Dude?
Does all the turnover make that decision easier?
I mean there there there's a couple of decisions that, like, you know, happen that you're kind of like, Okay, they're they're they're going toward a better direction. I won't say exactly those decisions you probably know, but but yeah, man, you just knew how hard the guys worked in the locker room and how hard actually a lot of those coaches worked.
And so when when stuff wasn't happening.
It's such a hard place too, because DC is like this media frenzy of creating bad stories and stuff like that. You don't really get it as much Taylor picture like ten Paul Kaharski's in DC.
Not that Paulkaharski.
I'm not saying he's just he plays the good Dylan role in Tennessee. But it's more like people have real agendas and vandettas with tearing some of the Redskins apart sometimes. And so it's like that all the time, Like when RG three was happening, and her cousins like, I won't go down all.
Those rabbit holes just because we have a podcast with Dayla and our junior.
But uh, that's why I think so interesting too, is your uh you're telling these stories and it's just you know, you have your own status in the NASCAR world, and to hear stories about you talking about the Hall and even though you didn't talk about any of the stories with me, but like the old Hogs and the Redskins, it's just cool to kind of hear that stuff and everybody's I don't know, everybody gets excited and you seem to love football and.
The Redskins and it's fascinating.
Yeah, well, appreciate it.
Man.
We don't make our memories that we've been telling. We've been telling each other for a couple years now. We're going to drink some beers in Nashville.
Dude, I know, and no one ever believes me, And I'm like, dude.
Yeah, we all have. We've all we've all been that group text talking about that three of us.
Taylor like, I want, I actually want to do like through chat, but I feel like you would think I'm like weirdly flexing.
So I have this weird battle on my head on not to say too much.
You know, Dale, will you and I will me, we'll we'll we'll get each other's numbers from each other. It'll be it'll be fine. Everything will work out. It'll be fine, Dale, It'll be fine. I'm doing it right now.
Anyway, Taylor, Hey, here's a here's actually a good pivot point, since we're talking about our new blooming friendship right here, this trio Dale you have, you're known to have a western a full Western town commute with a saloon where.
You actually host parties. And we talk about our friendship.
But I've yet to receive that invite.
Here's an opportunity. You invite the boys the next time you have it.
Yeah, take Taylor, he'll get he'll.
Get a private jet. He'll fl me and him to Charlotte and we'll go to one of these parties. Tell us about those parties.
Well, I have to tell you the the Western Town is a legit Western town. It's it's got a saloon, a big giant saloon, hotel rooms upstairs, got a bank, got to share this office with two jail cells. Got a church. I've actually had my friend of mine use that Western Town church and all that to get married.
Had about one hundred people down there. It's got a straight it's got to rode down the middle the whole thing, right, And I was I used to live across the street from my dad's race shop, and I had a part I had a club in my basement of my house, and we just would trash it. I mean just you could do your floors. Your shoes would stick to the floor by the end of the night or the next day trying to clean up the place because it was
so messy. And so when I moved to this new house, in this new piece of property, I said, I want to place to party. We're still partying, we're still drinking, raising hell, and I want a place to do it. But I don't want it near my house because I would I would, I would smoke cigarettes. I let every bolth cigarettes and they're chilling and crashing and tearing up stuff, and it's just like it would ruin the whole house, right, And so we built a Western Town built a saloon.
And I saw Willie Nelson had bought this piece of property. I'm watching sixty Minutes and Willie Nelson is on it. And he bought this piece of property that had a Western town movie set on it with a bunch of sides, and he finished out the saloon so he could go in there and hang out. And I thought, that's great idea, That's what I'll do. So we drew it on a napkin, and we hired a bunch of local contractors. They came out here and they built it, and we run power
to it. And we've had it down there for fifteen, sixteen, eighteen years. It's been down in a long time. And we used to party all the time, like every week after the race on to about Wednesday, and then we'd chill out. But these days we don't party down there as much as I wish we did. But now it's like we have it now. We use it like for family day, for our company outings, and I've rented it out for commercials and music video shoots and stuff like that.
And but the beer cooler still down there, is still cold, there's still beer in it, there's still liquor as on the bar. And anytime you guys want to come over here, I guess when I have a party, I have to let you know if make it out.
Yay, hold on, I'm fired up Dale. I'm from from Cave Creek, Arizona. All right, people in that town, it's literally a small town. There's no franchise lout in it. We let a dairy queen in the eighties and that was a huge deal, right, the whole town gathered around for that thing, very fired up. But well, yeah, but it's got like a nice charm.
Yeah. I don't want to compare. I really don't want to disrespect them.
We shouldn't we just and so you own a like just owning a western town. I don't know. I don't know a bus, and I'm very proud of that.
But that's where that's how it starts.
What's that? Oh, oh, Jude, I'm I'm one hundred percent. I don't know if you know this. When we have a bus with your with your number on it, of course I know. It's pretty killer. It's pretty killer. I love to say. It's the reason why we bought it. It was two grand, that's why we bought it. But the character that came with it was beautiful. It doesn't have all.
I have a bus, what you do? I have a bus on my property and it's the same as y'all's. It's got a couple uh dynants in it. We put some old old bench seats like out of an old Chevy Seville and stuff like that in it to sit and chill. And it's like a bar inside the bus and we painted it like the Bull Durham bus from the movie Bull Durham.
Yeah, the great movie, great movie.
Five hundred dollar bus. All we got into it and it's a great place to sit and have a drink. But uh, that's how it starts, man. You get a bus. Then the next thing, you know, you want something a little larger, you want something a little different. And I went with the western town theme. I don't know which guy what you guys will go Taylor.
Taylor would for sure do that, dude. I can see him like loving dude.
Yeah, yeah, no, I think a western town might be the next move on the start looking for places. I'll probably I'll probably buy the whole town of Bonta, Missouri and go make myself a western town.
We started with basically just the square Yeah, we just started with the saloon. I mean, it's just a square room and that's what it started as. And we, over a period of several years, just kept adding things to it. I'm like, well, we got to have a Berkemtowe shed, so we built a mercantile shed, and then we had to have a doc. We had to have a place a barber. Western town's got to have the barber shop. Man,
It's just a facade. It's like a it's like the front of it, and it's like two feet deep inside the windows, and you just got kinds of stuff sitting in there that makes it look like a barber shop. It's not real, but the saloon's entirely functional.
Have you been?
Have you been to Catalina Island and areas in California?
I have it.
Okay, So I had this great I made. I'm in California right now. I mean as neat as you can actually see the island from where I'm at. Weird, flex, That was stupid but.
To say.
But so I had this great idea last year. It's like Valentine's Day weekend. I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna take my wife to Catalina Island. So we go. We had a helicopter. The helicopter takes Catalina Island. That's part of the story. I'm not actually trying to flex again, And uh, there's actually two parts. This turn just turned
into a two part story. So buckle Updale, and we're flying with this guy, and this guy's telling all these crazy stories to us, and he starts telling us about how he was a pilot for a bunch of athletes and he was a he was Kobe Bryant's pilot and he would fly Kobe everywhere all the time. And long story short, like of that story, there's two, there's none coming up. That was the pilot that was with Kobe when he unfortunately passed away. It was it was crazy. It was it was a crazy game.
But he was an.
Unbelievable he was Ulie guy. From a little bit of time we got to know him. But we flew to Catalina and in the front when we first flapt, You're like, wow, this is the cutest town I've ever seen in my entire life. It's like this tiny little island. They have buffalo. It's beautiful. And then you get like one block in and you realize, like it's just a It literally is
like a stage prop set. Like everything's nice in front, and then you get like you get like one block in, it's kind of like, you know, like there's stuff all over the ground. Things are kind of dirty. It's it's a it's a little rough and we were there in the winter time, so it wasn't like a tourist time, Mike, it was it was ah, that little Harry there for a second. Dale it was a little sketchy getting out of there, a little nervous.
What about the buffalo. So there's this buffalo hanging out.
So there on the island. Some guy and like, oh, took him from Idaho or whatever and brought all these buffalo to Catalen Island to film a Western movie. And once he finished the Western movie, he's like, well it toss more to take these buffalo back. He just left the buffalo there. And now they're like and now like indigenous there. I guess like they can't go back. Hold they like they've like had generations of like this born and now these now these buffalo are just like well
we're just Cali buffalo. Now we just we just chill out here on this two mile radius island. It's a creat it's a it's a weird it's a weird setup because it's very it's all based on tourism. And but there's a high school, there's like an actual town and then they'll like to get on ferries go to Long Beach to play football games. Ah yeah, So it's a it's a weird setup, not even airport or nothing. But yeah, that's my story about kind of a western town.
The second business for the boys comes to us from FreeFly. A couple of weeks ago. I got a box of clothing from this company, and you know, I think they're based out of don't quote me on this. I think they're based out of North Carolina, just because one of my good buddies was telling me about free Fly before they even shipped us this box. And it's not because
they were shipping it to us. I just heard about it already, and so then when they shifted there, I was like, hey, yo, free Fly just shipped us a bunch of stuff, and he's like, yeah, let me know how the clothing is. The clothing is made from Get this. The clothing is made from bamboo, butter soft bamboo, and
it's fucking unbelievable. You take this stuff out and you feel it, and you're like your first thought is like, Okay, it's gonna be another clothing brand that kind of feels like the polyester, like the you know, the dry fit stuff you wear for workouts. I grab it, I pick it up on my Holy shit, I'm like, hey, babe, like check out this material.
Throw it over to her.
She grabs and she's like, Yeah, this is like the softest shit I've ever I've ever felt.
She's like, who's this from? Like the cat's called free Fly. I can't wait. I've been wearing it, you know, just on our walks.
Around the area right now, around the green ways or by the park because obviously quarantine. But I can't wait to get on the golf course with these bad boys working out in it, all that fun stuff. Here's the background on free Fly. Free Fly was founded by Montana by a Montana fishing guy and two Nike marketers. They identified a big problem in the outdoor world with their clothing because it was too complicated and too uncomfortable.
Together, they quit their jobs, big.
Swinging dick move right there, and made it their mission to create the most comfortable shirt imaginable. On top of being super super comfortable, free Flies bamboo clothing has upf some protection, wix away moisture and won't hold odor hold odor. I can attest to that. I'm a big pit guy. I'm a big pit sweater dude, and low backsweater, and this stuff wicks away at the pits and it doesn't.
Hold your odor.
So you know that smell when you first put on one of those dry fits from like Nike or Ditas or one of them, And usually you gotta wash it right away because you can smell yourself because the material just doesn't mesh well. Not with free Fly. Odor doesn't show right away. It wicks away moisture. All this mon stuff from fishing to hitting the gym or lounging around the house. This stuff is unreal comfortable. Boys, you can get twenty percent off. Oh in girls, my bad shot
out to girls too. You can get twenty percent off when you visit FreeFly apparel dot com backslash bussing again. That's FreeFly apparel dot Com backslash bussing for twenty percent off your entire order.
Go check them out. They're for the boys.
If they're for the boys, we're for those boys. Now back to this Banger podcast with Dale Junior. Shout out to boy Dale, it's a mac. I can't wait for you guys to finish this episode. Yo, Taylor bringing up the Kobe Bryant's pilot. You actually gotten a recent crash back?
What was that in August last year?
Yeah? Sometimes can you.
Can you tell us about that a little bit?
And then can you also tell us probably how you guys probably sat back and reflected after seeing the Kobe news and thinking you were in something you know, similar, something that could have been you know.
So yeah, well you know the you know, where do I even start the We were in a really you know, we were in a bad accident and very scary, you know. We I've flown all my life, and I think, you know, I look back and I flew wrote in king Air prop planes and Brazilians prop planes and just anything. I never have questioned it, right, I got on it. Here, here we go, We're going somewhere. I don't even I don't even care when I never questioned it. I got
on every plane whatever. I never looked at it and went, I don't want to get on that. I figured it's good, We're good. I trust. I trust what's happening here, no matter what it was. And we fly as race teams. We fly private even on you know, even the team planes are privately owned aircraft. We rarely have ever flew commercial.
And so you know, for all these years, you know, I just took it for granted that I was you know, putting my trust in all the people that either you know, were the mechanics on these planes or the pilots on these planes, and and the history of the plane itself. So I got a brand new plane from Cessna. It's a really nice plane, and I'm we're flying it. We've been flying it a while, and we've landed it into
that airport before, and it was a great day. And we're flying on in there, and I remember being a couple of miles from the airport looking down the ground. Everything's going just like it's supposed to go, and uh, we came down in to land and we landed.
We bounced.
Basically when you land a plane, you kind of want to land the rear tires first, obviously, and then then bring the tail, bring the nose down. And when we landed, we landed sort of flat, and a plane bounced back up in the air. And when it landed the first time, it shut all the blinds and so now we can't see out. We just know we bounced up in the air.
And I don't know if we're ten feet in the air or one hundred feet feet in the air, right, but I know we got to get down on that runway, and it's not a really long runway, and we don't have a lot of time to be bouncing and taking up you know, taking up time trying to get the plane on the ground. So we came down again just as hard, if not harder, and uh, the land again on the right side broke again. You know, the the uh, the the blinds are shut, so you've got no reference
of what's going on outside. You don't know what you don't know what's up and up, up or down left
and right. You're just kind of in this tube moving And so I could tell the plane that was tilted when we came down the same time, and I thought, in my mind, I'm like, mechanically, we're broken the right side gear and now we're on the wing and that wing dragon and that tail, that that stuff dragging sort of turned the plane started to turn the plane, and in my mind again the mechanical and narrow race car driver Mine starts thinking, now we're the plane's turned, the
plane's turning with the wing, the left wing up in the air, and that's that's probably gonna try to create some lift and bring the plane up in the air, and you know, and and cartwheel the plane, So you know, you're thinking you're gonna be You're you're gonna die. You know, you're thinking in that moment that that this is this
is how it's gonna happen. And so you're you know, in a lot of situations when you're for example, you're racing a car and it's dangerous and you're crashing, you never think ever that you never give up hope that you're you're gonna get out one piece or you're gonna you know, you never think about getting injured. But anytime trying to put this in and trying to articulate this,
but you know, you assume risk. You know, when you when you're running out a guy and you're gonna tackle him and you lined up for a really bad angle and you're gonna hit this guy really hard and it might hurt you, it might hurt him, but you're taking that risk. You assume that. You know it. You know you're not gonna die. You don't never think in your mind you could die, but you might hurt yourself and you might hurt him. But you got to take you know,
you put yourself in a position. You do that with racing. You never do that with airplanes, and so here we are and the plane starts to starts to turn, and I'm thinking it's gonna lift, create and lift like that, like the way it's positioned, and it ended up going off the runway, which broke the left side gear and uh got the planet, got the plane back on the ground to where it wasn't going to create lyft underneath it,
and then it got really rough. We haen we we went down into sort of a ditch ravine area and when it hit that, that was extremely violent, and we slid a little bit further and it came to stop, and uh, I started hollering for Amy. The whole interior of the plane doesn't isn't recognizable anymore. Panels and things are or are or moot missing and loosen in different places. Everything's moved, and uh, you know, just trying to In that moment, you just sort of think, am I broken?
And I got my daughter Ailah, and I got I got to look at her and check her, and she's, you know, screaming, and I'm thinking, God, please don't let nothing be wrong with her. Please don't let nothing be wrong with my girl. Right, And so I look at her real quick and I said, you know, as far as I can tell, and just this split second, you know she's gonna be okay. I hand her to Amy. Amy's trying to get her barons, and I was like, Amy, check,
I look really good. Just that's all you need to do right now is look at her and check her legs, arms, and check her head as she gonna you know, she got any kind of bruise on her head or head her head or anything, I don't know. And so I gave Amy that responsibility in that moment. And then I because I wanted to find a way out. I wanted to figure out how I knew we had a hatch in the back. You know, we got the door, the
planes kind of leaned over. I'm thinking, I don't know if we know them the front door, because that way of the plane's position, probably not gonna be able to get that open. So I'm thinking, get that hatch in the back of it. Let's create an opportunity to leave. So I went back there and I'm seeing smoke coming out of the toilet, and so Black Dark picked smoke. I'm like, all right, I hollered up to the front. I was like, we're on fire.
We've gotta go.
Y'all need the plane. The pilot sure up. They're doing all they're trained to do a series of things when they're in the situation. They got to fire off the extinguishers. They got to shut this down, turn them, you know. They you can't climb, you can't leave motors running and carry it on. So they're doing all the things as fast as they can to get everything to where the plane is as safe as possible and the circumstances it's in.
So they're up. They're doing that right when when when I saw the smoke, I was like, yeah, come on, man, we're on fire. We gotta we gotta move a little faster. I couldn't get that hatch open. And uh, I'm I'm trying to like, he'll get that hatch open, and I can't get it open. That smoke's getting worse and worse. We'd we'd went through a chain link fence and had wrapped around that door and wouldn't allow the door to open away I needed it to. So we're trying to
get that open. It ain't happening. And I turned back and I hollered at the other pilot and I said, I can't get it open. Amy hollers at him and says, try the front door one more time because we had tried it and couldn't get it to move. And he goes up there to the front door and turns a handle and kicks it and it popped open about two inches, I mean two feet. And so we climbed up the stairs. So the stairs are now it's the stairs when the plane. When the door ups up, you know, you walk up
the stairs. Well, now we're walking. We're climbing up the bottom of the stairs or to get out of the plane. And so the lead pilot goes to get out of the plane to build. Then he's like, hand me the baby. So I go up there to hand him the baby. Now I get out of the plane, and I'm still a bit.
I can't.
In the entire time all this is going on, I still am not one hundred percent sure that Island is okay. During this whole process, I'm still wanting I still need more information about Isla, my little girl. You know, it's like dominating my thoughts and I still, you know, with my head injuries and the issues that I've had with that, I'm thinking, man, she's not even two years old.
Yet she can't.
I can't have her dealing with stuff like that. And so anyways, I'm just I need to know. I need to see her, right. And so I took a step to go because he took off running. The pilot I gave him is leant and he takes off running. I climb out and I'm like, come back, I gotta see you. I got check ala damn he's running. I can hardly walk. My back is tore all the hell and I could hardly move. And so he took off until turn around and I'm helping Amy get out, and the damn grass
was on fire underneath us. It was crazy as hell. It was like in the movies. And then we had to pull our dog out and then our second pilot come out. It was just a really I haven't talked about her relived it in a long in a while, but it was very, very scary, you know. And then you're riding to then they put Amy in her own ambulance with island. Then I'm in an ambulance by myself, and I still don't know if Island's one hundred percent, and I'm really tore up emotionally. The guy riding in
an ambulance. Did the coolest thing ever. He calls the other ambulance on his cell phone and puts my wife on the phone and gives it to me and so I can talk to her. And I said, you know, finally I was like, Amy, got a chance to really look at Isla and take take you know, see what's going on with her. She okay, And you know, so I kind of finally got some relief of because that was so stressful. And you know, Amy, I've been in race car crashes, flips, just really bad stuff, caught on fire,
done all kinds of crazy stuff in race cars. So when you crash a car, even really badly, the first thought that you really have is, well, we got another car in the hauller because we take two to the racetrack. It's a backup car, is what they call it. I wonder how good that backup car is? Is it as good as the one I just crashed? That's your first thought. You don't think about damn, that was a close near death experience. You don't never even think about stuff like that.
You just think, man, I gotta get back on the track. How do how good is the other car? Let's go, you know, load that loaded, load to crash. One up, we'll get the other one out. Let's go. And so I was seasoned, and when it happened, I got out, you know, all that happened. As soon as I knew everybody was okay and everybody was healthy, I went into, Okay, what's this? Uh you know, how what what's the next move? What do we need to do. There's got to be
some rules, regulations, steps we need to take. Uhh, the financial ask, you know, fallout or whatever.
You know.
I'm starting to go into that mode, you know. And uh and and man, I really in a week was back on a plane, or even sooner was back on a plane flying now, a little bit more nervous about landings and so forth, but I got right back to it. Amy on the other hand, had a harder time with it. She that was like completely life shattering or altering for her, and she still struggles today with getting comfortable to fly.
Now.
I admit, I cannot put my daughter on a plane right now. I still ain't. She remembers it happening when we take her own planes now, she has a reaction when we take off, when we hit turbulence when we land. She used to not you know, but now she has reactions. She remembers something about that day. And now she gets older, five ten, twenty forty years old, She's not going to remember what happened to her when she was younger than two years old, but for now she does, you know.
So I don't like taking her own planes. I don't like putting her through that stress. I feel selfish because I'm taking her where I want to go. She has no idea where we're going, no idea. She's not her wish to get on this plane and go to wherever we're going in our destination, and I feel selfish for doing it. So I don't like putting her on planes because she doesn't enjoy it and it stresses her out. So that's the hard part for me. Otherwise I'm comfortable. I've already gotten another plane.
I'm back.
I still kept one of my pilots from that from that incident, and I'm back in the air and I'm back going. We went to uh We went to therapy. I believe in therapy, you know, I believe in talking to somebody you've got problems. We all got stuff. We got to deal with. I got stuff from my childhood that I still need work on and probably don't put enough time in. But so we went right to a therapist to say, hey, is there anything you can do. We're ready to work. So me and Amy did a
little bit of work there which helped us. She continues to do some work with some with some with some folks to to help her understand how to comfortably fly and get back and you know in the flying her on a regular basis. Uh, but she's way behind, you know me, She's probably where any of anybody else would
be given the situation. But I think, uh, you know, when when you hear about you know you, I don't you know, I don't know how to I don't know how to articulate the the emotions when you see something like that happened to Kobe. I think the the initial reaction that you have is that you know, there's lives
destroyed and and people's hearts are broken. I can I kind of related more to losing my dad than than than our plane crash, right because you know, Kobe lost his life, his daughter and and and other people on
the plane. There's people here that are hurting and and sad and just there's a hole and man, it never you're never gonna feel You're never gonna it's never gonna be the same, you know, And so that that that part is that's the worst part, is that you know that their hearts are so broken, and uh, you know, and and I don't you know, I always uh you know, I feel like I feel like that, I don't know, I always felt like I don't know if this is
a defense mechanism, if it's b S or what. But I felt like when I got here, my destiny was already made, you know, when I when I was born. I know I'm responsible for the decisions I make. And this might be getting a little bit in the weeds, but I feel like that I'm just gonna live my life and whatever's destined to happen to me, however I'm supposed to go, is how I was already decided. And so that I think it's probably BS to be honest with you, but it leaves me without responsibility of it.
You know.
I know I need to make what decision to do what I need to do for my family. I don't need to do anything stupid. It's gonna put me at risk, but you know, I it's the only way that I can live without fear, without worry. I lost my mom last year to lung cancer, and for for for the last probably six or eight months, I have done nothing but worry about dying and leaving my daughter too young? You know, Man, am I gonna be around when she's If I died at sixty seven or so, like my mom,
my daughter would be twenty two. I mean, how would that affect her? God? I got to live longer, you know. And so stupid. I know that's silly. And my wife is annoyed to death by my by mine by the way I am, I'm just weird, but.
So I real quick, real quick, I don't I don't think what you're saying at all is bs. I think it's almost a uniquely beautiful way to live life, because I mean, yes, you don't want to leave your family, tor really and I kind of a very similar in the way you are, as like, I'm kind of just I don't want to live in it and the fear I don't want to go If I go out in the ocean for whatever reason, I don't want to think,
oh what if a shark gets me? Some things that are statistically probably not going to happen a plane accident, for instance, Like statistically, that's not going to happen to you, you know, And it's I think the way you're living is a lot of ways that people should try to live because you don't live with barriers. You don't live in a situation where I can't do this or I can't do that. If anything, it seems like an amplifize because I hear the emotion in your voice. It seems
like an amplifize. The love you have for your family, the love you have for your daughter, the love you have for your next kid is like you're making you don't know how long you're gonna have. And like, I think that's the crazy thing about Kobe is like I mean,
I grew up watching Kobe. Like everybody talks about Kobe Lebron and Michael Jordan, and it's like I didn't never, never really saw Michael play, you know, And I've obviously Lebron played like Kobe was like a figure, like an untouched figure, like a Greek god type of guy that we see so little in the sports world. And for someone like him to go in a situation that's so sudden.
It really puts things into perspective. But it also shows that like if you look at the way Kobe lived his life, if you look at the way he handled himself, what he did in such a short time when he was retired, I think he wanted, uh what he was nominated for a gold and glower, an Emmy or something. I think he won an Emmy. His family loved him, had four daughters, he had, he was he did so much with with quality that like the quantity doesn't matter.
I mean, we can all live alive to eighty and be shitty, or we can you know, or we can be lived to forty and be an incredible person, you know. And that's that's the decisions we make on a day to day basis. So I think, I mean, I understand why you would think that's BS, but in a lot of ways, I think it's a beautiful thing. And I try to live my way, well my life that way as well as trying to let's not fear of the
unknown of the possibilities. Now, I'm sure it's very different when you've been in situations like that plane crash, like some of the car crashes you've been in watching situations like your dad like I can't, I can't imagine those things, and then to watch situation like what happened your dad and then say, oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep I'm gonna race, I'm gonna keep racing. I'm gonna keep doing this.
That's It says a lot about your character and how much you do believe that you're you know, on an arrow from point A to point B, you know, and and without anything getting in your way.
That's the way I feel. I feel like that my destinies already chosen, and I live that way because I don't want to live in fear. I don't want to. I don't want to avoid opportunity and avoid experiences out of fear. And and I don't want to certainly imprint this on my this fear on my child, you know, and and and create you know, fears and unrealistic things for her. So but I do you know that there's
I'm just now getting sort of free of. I was really way free of the plain incident that that for me has subsided pretty good, and I don't have it doesn't affect me in my day to day. It took a while me and Amy would sit around and just tell each other every five minutes. Man, I just thought about it. Man, I just thought about it. Man, I just I just thought about that moment. We were doing it all day long, every day, and we don't anymore. It doesn't come up in my thoughts like it used
to my mom's death. That's starting to subside a little bit, that worry of dying at fear of man, did I take care of my body? Did I do the things I needed to do to to give myself the opportunity to to see my child grow up and and and be who she can be. All that worry is starting to subside a little bit. It sucks, though, how those events in your life can certainly grab a hold of you and steer you the wrong way or get your you know, get your mental your mental state sort of
sort of locked up for for a while. And that's why I believe in the therapy, you know, just going and if you need it, if you need to talk to somebody. I mean, there's some really really good therapists out there. Me and Amy's met this one lady named Jane, and uh, I was a real real bad boyfriend, just not I just not. I just was. I can't. I had no concern for Amy what made her happy. It was about me what I wanted to do in the moment. And man, I was selfish, so selfish, I'm why she
hung in there, but she did. But we met this lame named Jane Man and James fixed it, fixed me, fixed she fixed my ship.
Man.
She made me the man I wanted to be and the husband I wanted to be. And we didn't meet, and Amy would have never made it have we not met Jane, you know. And I think I'd been through therapy when I was a kid, and but I never really believed in it like that until until we met Jane. When Jane did what she did for me and my wife and our relationship, she basically guaranteed me a happy life in marriage, something I wanted but didn't know how to obtain. And uh, ever since then, man, I've been
I've been a believer in it. If you if I feel like I need to need a little tune up, I call her up.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that's man. I appreciate your insight.
You have every reason in the world to kind of have those defense mechanisms up or worrying because of you know, all the experiences you've been through with Lucy and your mom, your dad, the plane crash, like being a father, a husband,
all this stuff. So I love I think the insights awesome here and we definitely appreciate you being so open about and candid with everything like that was I could you can, like Taylor said, you can definitely see the passion and the emotion and everything behind what you're saying with I know we're running out of time, but we would be We would be terrible bosses to our to our young little Zach who's listening behind the screen right now.
Who I You know, everybody is a huge day fan in the racing room, but this man, Zach, he did not sleep with this night, and I know he would. We have to bring him on the same a couple of times. Maybe ask about I racing or your Hall of Fame. Nudge like he's all about it, bro Zach, get on here, dud, Zach, let's go back.
Okay, Yeah, no, I appreciate you talking to me.
Yeah.
They I don't know if they hyped it up enough.
But I'm a huge fan and I admire you a lot for the person you are the racer that you are, just your social presence, you as a business person. So yeah, so it's it's an honor to finally meet you after twenty years.
I guess I've been very nice. Yeah, that's real kind Zach, thank you A question for him?
Yeah, I guess I got a question or two for you. And now I had to I had to really think about this. It took me a while, but I guess I started watching you, like I guess my younger like teenager years, And that's kind of like when like Steve Latart, y'all, you and Steve Watart got together. Yep. So do you feel like you as a person or like you as a racer?
Like do you feel.
Like like did he have an overall effect on you as a person or a driver? I mean, I mean you definitely started having success again. Yeah, five wins, thirty six top tens or thirty six top Yeah, thirty six top tens something or seventy four tops? Uh, you had thirty six top fives. I mean, I like Steve with tartle loot. I thought, y'are good together.
Steve was my crew chief in the last several years of success that we had at a HINDRT Motorsports in my career one day till five hundred and twenty fourteen, but uh, probably about six seven races there and a short sp spent of time, and then he went to broadcasting and h I cried the moment that I heard that he was going to leave at the end of the year. I cried, a grown man, I think forty years old roughly, and I called him and I was like, dude, this rumor can't be true. And He's like, I do that.
Gotta be home, get more time with my kids. I gotta do it. And I was like, but we're just doing so good, how could you leave? But anyhow, we became the best of friends and we still are today. And he was one of the reasons, big reasons why I went into broadcasting, because I because I get to hang out with him again. I'm back in the booths with my buddy. But Steve's approach to crew chiefing, he's basically kind of like a coach. He was a cheerleader. He's so there's a lot of ways that guys go
about this. When I raced with Tony Eury Sr. Early in my career, we called him Rosie because his cheeks were always red, and he was always mad, and he would just chew your butt and uh, he hardly ever praised you, but man, you can make a mistake, and he was there on you. And he intimidated people right, and he people wanted to bust their butts to not get in trouble. That's why he ran his show and it was effective. Steve A. Tart was the other way around,
or vastly different. He was a cheerleader. You know, we run a good lap, he'd say that. He'd say, hey, that's a great lap, keep going. Or if we were having trouble that day, you know, he was always positive, man, we're gonna turn this around. And he was one of the first people. So most crew chiefs, most crew chiefs, car owners, they believe that they have built you the best car, and they believe that if it's not going well, you need to change something. And that's pretty much how
most of the people approach it to the driver. They put it on the driver, like, hey, man, what are you doing wrong? And Steve A. Tart was the first guy that ever told me after a race, we got to get these cars better. I had never heard that in my life, and he goes, Man, we just got to get the car better. It's not good enough. I'm like, damn, you saw that too. That is so nice to hear, because you can't drive a slow car fast. I mean
it's a slow car. And so there's these moments where you know, he just was so so good, and Dude, I would get out of the car and I'd go I I'd be like, man, that guy believes in me. He believes I can do it. I'm coming back next week and I'm gonna give him my best because he believes in me. He thinks I can do this. And man, it's a it's a it's so good. It's such you know, he was just perfect, and uh, you know he he's
he's a great friend. We still communicate a lot. But man, I'm glad you asked that question because I love praising old Steve.
I enjoyed, like I enjoyed watching y'all.
And I think that announcement about him leaving came out before the Daytona five hundred, So then y'all won the Daytona five hundred, and that probably just made it all the more special.
Yeah, it was funny because he went into that final season knowing that it was his last and he called that whole season the strategy like a wild man. You know, usually if you're nervous about making a mistake and losing your job, you're very conservative. Well, he knew he wasn't gonna be working there next year, so he called the strategy for each race really aggressively, really loose, like, hey, man, let's do it. Let's let's hey, let's put it out there.
We'll stay out here, we're not pitting, stay out there. This might win, might not. We're doing it. And we won. We won both of poke. Yeah, both Mark on this wild strategy. He would have never did that strategy the year before that, and he knew. He's like, hey, now care, I'm not here next year, so let's go. And it was awesome. Is that, dude?
Is that the year that you also ran out of fuel in the last lap at Charlotte Charlotte?
I don't know.
I think been two thousand before. Yeah, no, I remember Heartbreaker.
I remember that you wanted to win the World six hundred so bad, and last lap you're leading backstretch. I think you run out of fuel and you're like, it comes over the radio art, I'm out of fuel.
It hurt. Yeah, we did that. Remember at the Vegas that happened to brack Yeah, almost one Vegas man.
Yeah, I know you can always look back like it's so close.
Yeah, but it's no close though.
Yeah, you can say it's good to be close and you look back on them. But it's been really cool watching you out on I Racing too. I started I racing back in November, and then all this has started coming up now, so it's cool to see you back out racing again.
I was on the service since so started in two thousand and eight, but then I took like a seven year break and I came back in November two. It's me and you came back right about.
Oh yeah, right, okay, Yeah.
It's fun.
That't rocking. He's rocking up. Busting with a boy's car.
Yeah, yep. I can graphic design, so I love the busting with the boys car.
I'm gonna make sure I put your name down and so I can send you a friend requiest.
Okay, okay, let's go.
Let's get this the busting of the boy's car. Dude.
Yeah, I got to see this car. Anyways, I'll send you one.
I got a picture of it right here because I sent it to Will. Let's see, Will, what's crazy?
Zach?
That's crazy? You and Dale don't text me. That's wild. Blows my mind, man, Taylor.
When you got off the phone, when you got off the phone the other night, I forget what brought it up. But Zach was sitting there and he was like, y'all want to show you? Uh there they run like TV like the iRacing thing looks like a legit NASCAR race commentators are talking the whole time. He's got a full on busting with the boys car like and it looks real.
It's crazy.
Which one are you?
I'm in the three car?
You know.
Oh boy, that looks good.
Let's see.
Oh yeah, all right, I like it.
I like that. Look at that.
I like that number font man.
Yeah, it's a throwback.
Yes you know.
Yeah, but no our race in the league and they've got like commentators and everything. So yeah, no, I that it's it's really cool.
It is fun. So I'm gonna be doing that here in to be it. I got We're gonna run. There's an indie race on ye yeah, this Saturday on nb CSN, and I gotta go practice at three o'clock for that, But I'm looking forward to it. IM a little nervous. I haven't spent a lot of time in the Indy Car, I know.
Do you ever want to do the Indy Car double?
No, that's much work. Yeah, I'd be flying. You gotta fly, you got you know, you've you gotta be in for Indy for the eighty five hundred. You got to be there all month, right, they got this whole thing right, And not only do you got to practice and drive the car, qualify race, but they have all the obligations, requirements, media, fan engagement, all that stuff happened in all month long parade. You got to be in all that stuff. Plus you have it happening on the flip side at the Coke
six hundred, this whole thing during the whole weekend. I mean, the back and forth. It's too much. I couldn't do it. Yeah, yeah I will.
I remember watching Kurt Busch do it and then like everything that he went through, and I think I think Saysny like sponsored him and like flew him back and he got like IV's as soon as he got done with the Indy five hundred to get back to Charlotte.
As as grumpy as he is, I can't believe.
Yeah, he's a he's an interesting dude. But I I really appreciate you like talking to me and like taking my questions.
I guess the problem, buddy. I'll see you online, man.
Yeah, definitely, that'd be awesome.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm glad this have it because that got to ask a lot of the good racing turn it somewhat into the racing theme. But there we appreciate you.
Man.
You got to thank you very much for this conversation.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Whenever everything gets back to normal, will have to get you on that bus, dude.
I know I'm gonna come to Nashville. We're gonna drink some beers from running down the street, fool. We'll get in the bus, we'll do a podcast.
I love it all right, all right, man, Hey, thank you very much. Great.
Me and Exact will be there with coffees. I'll be waiting for you to thank you very much.
May you take it easy, man,