MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 18, 2018) – This week’s edition of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s eponymous Dirty Mo Radio podcast, the Dale Jr. Download, was quite the treasure trove for longtime fans, done-wrong drivers and long-ago memorabilia. Earnhardt Jr. dished on Dale Earnhardt Sr. souvenirs, track prep at Kentucky and a host of other topics on the network’s signature program.
In relating a tale of helping celebrate the 88th birthday of Martha Earnhardt, Dale Jr.’s paternal grandmother, last week—both Dale and Amy, along with new addition Isla Rose, attended and shared the ice-cream cake provided by Aunt Cathy Watkins—talk soon turned to the days when the younger Earnhardt would spend time in the neighborhood.
“I was running back to the house one day, fell and slashed my knee open,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was a five-inch gash that was about an inch wide, and I could see bone in it. I fell in the grass and landed on a busted end of a brick that was hidden in there.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, the doctor who stitched the gash up had no anesthetic. You can guess how that went from there, but if you want to know, simply download the podcast and find out. There’s a story of Dale Sr. nearly losing a finger to an unruly go-kart gear in there, too.
Kentucky Speedway track prep: Once the gory details were done, Earnhardt Jr. moved on to the past week’s race at Kentucky Speedway, focusing on a weekly Twitter poll that asks if the race was a good one or not.
“The results (of the poll) aren’t good for this weekend,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Last year’s race was 27% yes, a good race. It’s not in favor for a lot of people. We had two great races at Kentucky...The NXS race was really exciting, an entertaining race. Not even having to stretch the truth, it was a good race.
“I got up Saturday morning with confidence that we were going to see a great race like we did the night before,” he continued. “There were some parts of the race that were good...but the end didn’t provide much fireworks. I worry about going back to Kentucky next year and doing the same thing, having the same result and reaction. How many times can you say, ‘can we do something...?’”
The 15-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver talked about the track prep and liberal use of the tire dragon to set alternate racing lines to help the event. “I don’t know if there’s anything you can do with the tire dragon,” he said. “They dragged in the bottom. It improves the life of the tire. If there’s a repave and we don’t use the dragon, the risk goes up for the inside of the tire. At times, using it in the groove is helpful, but if you’re using it to create a groove, then I would only use it to put in the outside groove. If you have x amount of hours to do it, use it on the outside. Track prep and the influence it has on what kind of race it is, that’s important in dirt racing and drag racing. I want it to be done...”
Vintage Visit: Those who follow Earnhardt Jr. on Twitter know that he has been searching for vintage T-shirts to add to his collection, and an old family friend showed up to help him out. Connie Goodman and her husband Rick joined the crew in the Axalta Racing Studio for some surprises, including a still-in-the-bag XL-sized shirt bearing the likeness of Dale Earnhardt Sr. celebrating his 1979 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award...the very one he’d been Tweeting about needing to find.
“There was a shirt made that said 1979 Rookie of the Year,” Dale Jr. said. “It has Dad on it and there’s not many of them around. I have one or two at the house, but they’re Amy’s size and I didn’t have any that fit me. A 1980 large isn’t going to fit me. It’s going to have to be an XL to fit me.” Lo and behold, Connie Goodman, pulled one out of the bag and presented it to him. “That’s the shirt! This is it. Brand new still in the bag,” Earnhardt Jr. exclaimed.
Miss Connie was not done, pulling item after item out for discussion. “We followed your dad’s career, and once he won the Rookie of the Year, we bought the souvenirs,” she said. “He started out at the dirt track in Concord, driving for James Miller, who is my cousin. We have some pretty cool stuff.” The only price she asked of the host was a few minutes to sit and talk. That prompted Davis to exclaim, “that’s just Earnhardt awesomeness!” In addition to the above, there are tales of Dale Sr.’s early racing accomplishments as well as some incidents that may not have made much news then, but are golden these days. Among them are stories of Dale Sr. biting a teacher and beating up a deer. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to get the whole of it.
Did You See That?: In the popular segment, talk centered on drivers getting retribution for on-track transgressions, and that cued Dale Jr. to talk about the one time in his career he parked a driver for no reason.
“I wrecked Stanton Barrett at Pikes Peak, and he didn’t do anything,” he said. “I just needed a caution. It’s the one time I’m like, “man, that would be the one that I’d take back.’ We get on racing some more, and Tony Stewart and I got into it. I ran into him about 15 times and he finally fenced me. We got called to the NASCAR trailer, and I’m standing in the hauler, just waiting for everybody to show up.
“This guy comes in the side door of the hauler and starts yelling at me. It was the owner of Stanton’s car, chewing me up one side and down the other. I had completely forgotten that I had done that to Stanton. That was uncharacteristic of me, and I ended up getting in a fight with the crew chief.”
For all this and more, tune in to www.dalejr.com and hit the Dirty Mo Radio link at the top, or simply click here. Of course, there’s the 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday broadcast version of the Dale Jr. Download on NBC Sports Network, and the podcast is available free of charge on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and all major podcasting platforms..