Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / The Motocross GOAT Ricky Carmichael!

Transcript

The Motocross GOAT Ricky Carmichael! · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny Conversation brought to
• 0:04
  you by Jags Where's that die cast?
• 0:07
  Right there. The leader in high performance
• 0:10
  aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to jags.com to
• 0:15
  make your car or truck orgy more awesome.
• 0:20
  Man, I've been, I've been excited about this one.
• 0:24
  The goat, I mean. That explains it all.
• 0:27
  Ricky, Carmichael, Ricky. Welcome to Kenny Conversation.
• 0:32
  I appreciate it Love your work love coffee with Kenny in the
• 0:36
  mornings and man I'm just. I'm glad to be on brother glad
• 0:41
  to be on. Had a little I.
• 0:43
  You know what when I sent you my e-mail I did you write.
• 0:45
  Did you send it to your the wrong one to your producer.
• 0:48
  I'm wondering, you said it was in there, but I did something
• 0:51
  wrong, that's for sure. You know, when I moved from
• 0:55
  Saint Louis down to North Carolina, I met a lot of country
• 0:59
  people and they had a lot of phrases and they said, Wallace,
• 1:03
  you done did two things wrong. I said, well, what's that they
• 1:07
  said? You thought and you thought
• 1:09
  wrong, so well, well, Ricky, listen, we we started talking a
• 1:18
  lot before we even got started. That's right.
• 1:22
  First of all, compliments to you, I said to you.
• 1:26
  When I look at you right now, you're a look of health.
• 1:28
  Your face is chiseled out. So let's start like this, my
• 1:32
  friend. I see you out on the road, still
• 1:35
  on your Triumph. But how are you looking so good?
• 1:39
  You still still in shape? Yeah you know I after I quit
• 1:45
  racing man, I I blew up like a damn tick and and honestly you
• 1:52
  know I I just it's all diet for me.
• 1:54
  I work out a lot, I ride Rd. bikes a lot and I'm I'm fairly
• 1:59
  active, but all dude. What I see the most results from
• 2:04
  is, is straight up dieting and consumption.
• 2:07
  It's not not as much as what I'm eating, it's how much I'm eating
• 2:12
  and it's always been that way. You and I were talking before we
• 2:15
  started started the podcast, the conversation, and it's been it
• 2:19
  was that way when I was burning all those calories when I was
• 2:21
  racing motocross. I mean, I still had to be on the
• 2:25
  nail with my diet or I would see, I would see a little gain.
• 2:29
  On the scale and out and and I I've never really said this to
• 2:32
  anyone and I, but I truly believe this when you have a
• 2:35
  slow metabolism and you have to be accountable for what your
• 2:39
  your intake is or or lack thereof.
• 2:42
  I think that instills discipline in other forms of of the sport.
• 2:47
  I really do, because if you got to be on the nail with the diet.
• 2:50
  Then you know, it treats you to be strict on other things and
• 2:53
  whether it's practicing or what have you.
• 2:56
  So yeah, that's that's it, man. Just lack of eating and eating
• 3:00
  the right stuff as well, man. I'll tell you what, you said
• 3:03
  that. So eloquent.
• 3:04
  I'll add to that. I have one nerve and you just
• 3:08
  stepped on it because I am the same as you.
• 3:12
  You know, I'm sitting here around one 65167, but buddy, I
• 3:17
  can get the one 89190 in a heartbeat.
• 3:21
  And like you said, the discipline that I mean, I I
• 3:25
  fight with my myself and I got places around my hometown of
• 3:30
  Arnold, MO. Where do I go eat, you know?
• 3:33
  Yeah, to make sure I eat good. I know.
• 3:37
  I'm telling you it's, you know, not to sit here and and.
• 3:40
  Cry about this and oh, what a bummer.
• 3:43
  We got a slow metabolism. Things could be a lot worse.
• 3:45
  But I tell you, I mean, you look great too.
• 3:47
  You've lost a lot of weight and I'm exactly like you.
• 3:49
  It just I I really have to to to be be on it with my diet.
• 3:54
  And unfortunately, man, I love anything bad for you As far as
• 3:58
  eating. I love it.
• 3:59
  I love drinking. It's crazy.
• 4:01
  I love sweets. I love fried food.
• 4:04
  I love chips. Anything bad, I love it.
• 4:07
  And and if there's one thing that I struggle working out,
• 4:11
  whatever, I am down for it. But the hardest thing for me,
• 4:14
  and always has been is my freaking Diet Man.
• 4:17
  Yeah, well, I'm with you. Listen, Kenny, conversation goes
• 4:22
  everywhere and just a quick preview.
• 4:25
  You know, we're going to start off with your motorcycling, but
• 4:30
  I want to remind everybody later in our conversation we're going
• 4:33
  to talk about you coming to NASCAR and everything you did.
• 4:37
  So you know, I I do this and it, it's kind of rhythmatic.
• 4:43
  I do it with everybody. And the reason I do it is not
• 4:46
  just to remind you, but to remind the young kids nowadays,
• 4:51
  you know, Brother Rusty, says Herman.
• 4:53
  There's a generation gap and you got to remind people because
• 4:56
  people remember what they want to.
• 4:59
  So let let's do it like this. I mean this is the this is the
• 5:02
  way I started out with Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick,
• 5:05
  everybody. So you're going to have to give
• 5:07
  me about a minute because you were that damn good.
• 5:11
  Fifteen time AMA championship course 10 outside you know
• 5:18
  Motocross 5, Supercross indoors. Now, Ricky, you stop me when any
• 5:23
  of this is wrong. No, that's you're exactly right.
• 5:26
  OK, Total hundred 150 wins. That's right, 102 in Motocross,
• 5:31
  48 in supercross. Yeah, this next one is just
• 5:36
  paralyzing. Just it made me stop. 2 perfect
• 5:41
  seasons in 125. Two 50s, actually, Yeah, we're
• 5:45
  at 4:50, Yeah. The premier class, Yeah, O 2002
• 5:50
  and then 2004. You were never beaten.
• 5:52
  You were never beaten in two years That that's insane.
• 5:59
  Five time winner of AM as Rider of the Year.
• 6:04
  I mean, Ricky, that's insane. And there's way more we can go
• 6:09
  to the, you know, the X Games and things of that nature.
• 6:12
  But I think that paints the picture.
• 6:14
  So when I read all that to you, where does that take your brain?
• 6:20
  What? What do you think?
• 6:21
  I you know. Kenny it happened so fast, you
• 6:25
  know. But the first thing that I think
• 6:28
  is I'm thankful for the opportunity that I got and I
• 6:31
  still look back and it it doesn't seem real And and
• 6:35
  honestly things were going by so quick.
• 6:37
  Like I like I just said that I didn't have really really time
• 6:41
  to grasp it and it really didn't set until later on, many, many
• 6:45
  years after I had retired from racing.
• 6:49
  But I'm just thankful for it, you know?
• 6:52
  I don't. I don't like a lot of attention.
• 6:55
  I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I never set
• 6:57
  out to do that. I just, you know what I was
• 7:00
  raised to go out there and do it 100% or don't do it at all and
• 7:04
  always do your best. Try not to make the same
• 7:06
  mistakes twice. And this is just where we ended
• 7:09
  up. But I got to give it to the the
• 7:12
  people that I had around me. That set me on the right path.
• 7:16
  Obviously I had wonderful, supportive parents that
• 7:19
  sacrifice everything like a lot of good parents do.
• 7:22
  And then of course my sponsors and mentors along the way and
• 7:26
  like I said, I mean there were no magic answers.
• 7:29
  There were no magic answers. It was just straight up hard
• 7:32
  work and out working the competition.
• 7:34
  If my competition we're doing 100 laps during the week of of
• 7:38
  practice and repetitions, you know I'm going to do 150.
• 7:42
  That is straight up what it was. It wasn't always easy.
• 7:47
  As you know, winning is never easy.
• 7:50
  And doing your best is never easy, but just it's simple.
• 7:54
  Just out trying to out work and and and learning from the
• 7:57
  mistakes that you make. But it was a hell of a ride.
• 8:01
  You know that this is such a deep conversation for a lot of
• 8:06
  competitors. You know Father John, when Kim
• 8:08
  and myself got married, he looked at me and he said what
• 8:12
  are you going to do Kenny, when you grow up?
• 8:14
  I said I'm going to be a race car driver.
• 8:16
  And and of course he said be careful, competition will kill
• 8:20
  you. So you know, Ricky, you're way
• 8:23
  up here and there's just no doubt about it.
• 8:25
  And then when you look at other competitors, they're always,
• 8:29
  they're always trying to figure out why they're not like you,
• 8:33
  you know, same with me and Jeff Gordon.
• 8:35
  Jeff Gordon was just damn good, I mean really gifted by God.
• 8:40
  So do you believe? And I did ask this question to
• 8:47
  some of the other greats. Do you believe that you have a
• 8:49
  little bit of God gifted talent? I I I don't.
• 8:54
  There are people on a motorcycle that have way more God-given
• 8:58
  talent than I do as far as riding ability.
• 9:01
  Where I feel like I was given a gift is I was able at a very,
• 9:07
  very young age to learn the sacrifices that my parents were
• 9:11
  making form for me. To to make it to someday being
• 9:15
  the best ever or or or make a living at riding motorcycles.
• 9:19
  I was able to recognize that at a very young age.
• 9:23
  I would say probably 9 to 11 years old.
• 9:26
  Where's when I recognize like, man, I can see what my parents
• 9:29
  are doing and honestly I hated race and I just didn't want to
• 9:32
  let them down straight up. Yeah.
• 9:35
  So listen, I loved racing, you know, like I, I at the end of
• 9:39
  the day I loved it. But there were times going to
• 9:41
  practice during the week. I was like praying.
• 9:44
  Singing for rain or, you know, so I wouldn't have to practice
• 9:47
  that day or or, you know, hoping God, you know, I hate this for
• 9:51
  my father. But I'm like, man, I wish his
• 9:53
  bikes would go wrong with it today.
• 9:57
  I hate that for my dad. But I think you've all been
• 10:01
  there. Yeah, it was so redundant, you
• 10:04
  know, You know, you go back 11 years old, 12 years old, I mean.
• 10:08
  It got better those days, kind of went away when you got 1617.
• 10:11
  You can learn to kind of hone in on your skills, but you see your
• 10:14
  other friends out there having a good time playing with their
• 10:17
  buddies. And I had to go out to this
• 10:18
  track and just sweat my tail off and I was miserable.
• 10:22
  And of course my equipment always sucked.
• 10:24
  It was ragged, wore out vibrating all that crap.
• 10:28
  But nevertheless, going back to your original question, I think
• 10:31
  I had a God-given talent to recognize what my parents were
• 10:34
  doing for me, and then their mental ability.
• 10:37
  To to kind of be to to help me get to where I ended up.
• 10:42
  Kenny. Not so much on the motorcycle
• 10:44
  because there were guys that could do things a lot better on
• 10:48
  motorcycles than me. But I had the mental fortitude
• 10:51
  and I think that's something that I was born with.
• 10:53
  I truly believe. And and and Kenny, you know this
• 10:56
  and you have probably seen this. There are some things you cannot
• 10:59
  teach. There are some things you can.
• 11:02
  I want one of my great mentors, Johnny O'Mara.
• 11:06
  He was a supercross champion in his own right and and he's
• 11:10
  worked with the best in the business and he took, he used
• 11:13
  and he used to tell the people the same thing that he told me.
• 11:16
  But it seemed like those people never would learn from what he
• 11:19
  said and I would ask him like dude, did you not tell them
• 11:22
  like, hey, be mindful of this. He's like dude, I used to I told
• 11:25
  him the same things I used to tell you and I just think it's
• 11:29
  it's stuff that you're born with.
• 11:30
  So that's what I think that I was born with the the mental
• 11:33
  side of things. Ricky Johnson was kind of my
• 11:37
  teammate when he came to NASCAR and ran some truck race.
• 11:41
  Oh, I didn't realize that. Really.
• 11:43
  Oh, yeah. Oh yeah.
• 11:44
  And and it got to know him. What a what a clean.
• 11:47
  Oh yeah. God godly man.
• 11:49
  And I will never forget talking to him about his heydays and how
• 11:53
  great he was. And he he would say that he
• 11:57
  would find the guy that was the best and he would try to get on
• 12:02
  the track and practice behind him without that, that great
• 12:06
  racer known to try to time time you know the course.
• 12:12
  In other words you know how many whoops can you clear, you know
• 12:18
  sometimes, not sometimes. But when he said that to me, and
• 12:23
  I'm just going to ask you and you, you'll clear it out of my
• 12:25
  head, is, is motor motocross supercross is?
• 12:30
  Is it about being aggressive or is it about being technical?
• 12:33
  Because he would say he would just try to be technical and
• 12:36
  follow the best early in his career.
• 12:40
  There are, there's a certain aspect where it's tech.
• 12:43
  If you can be technical and aggressive, you got the best of
• 12:46
  both the worlds. For me, I couldn't get, I
• 12:49
  couldn't get to that technical level like some of my great
• 12:51
  competitors that I raced against that like they relied more on
• 12:55
  their, their, their. Technical side of their ability
• 12:59
  where I relied on freaking just hanging it out dude, all through
• 13:02
  the wall. Yeah, I wasn't worried.
• 13:04
  I wasn't worried about being perfect.
• 13:06
  Yeah, I wanted to try to be perfect and I and and I.
• 13:09
  There was some precision there. If let's just say I was at 8.5
• 13:14
  and the guys I was trying to beat was at a 10, but my
• 13:17
  aggression would take me to a 10.5 and essentially in my hard
• 13:21
  work. Would essentially put me over
• 13:24
  over the top and that's how I would get the results and get
• 13:27
  the wins that I would. Because as you know at a high
• 13:29
  level you can only rely on your ability for so long.
• 13:34
  And then at some point, the guy that works the hardest is going
• 13:38
  to, you know, he's going to surpass you because of his hard
• 13:42
  work and dedication, so. I I wish I had the precision.
• 13:46
  I did work on it. But at the end of the day in my
• 13:49
  back pocket, I knew I had the aggression and I was willing to
• 13:51
  hang it out. And, you know, I was willing to
• 13:54
  hang it out. You know, you see how Larson
• 13:56
  guys like that, they ain't scared to get a little sideways.
• 13:58
  We go back to Vegas. You and I were talking about
• 14:00
  that race, but I think it was that race.
• 14:03
  But anyhow, you got to be willing to get out of that
• 14:06
  comfort zone. You got to be comfortable being
• 14:08
  uncomfortable and that was that suited my style.
• 14:12
  You know you are worldly and you did you did text me and said
• 14:17
  what about Ryan Blaney. You know they said he was
• 14:20
  illegal after the race. Now a full day almost two days
• 14:23
  later they gave it back to him. You are when I say you're
• 14:27
  worldly you wanted to know you said Kenny they they roughed him
• 14:32
  up about the length of his shocked.
• 14:34
  Was that an advantage? And your and your question kind
• 14:37
  of made me have a peek inside your brain because you really,
• 14:42
  you were thinking competition, you know?
• 14:44
  Did that really make him better? Right.
• 14:49
  I like the way you think. Are you?
• 14:51
  You know, now that you're not really racing competitively,
• 14:54
  you're still thinking? Like, oh absolutely, 100%.
• 14:58
  You know, what Do you ever get like the older you got?
• 15:02
  Did you, did you ever feel like you found more of a passion and
• 15:06
  setting your race car up and you could win?
• 15:09
  Just basically how? You set your race car up.
• 15:12
  I mean, and race cars different than two wheels.
• 15:15
  I shouldn't even. That's really not a fair
• 15:17
  question to you, but we all still do our idiosyncrasies.
• 15:21
  Right, right. So that's where the older that I
• 15:24
  got that I could win kind of on a technicality or or I could win
• 15:29
  just knowing like, OK, well the tracks going to get like this.
• 15:31
  So I'm going to change my ride height to rely more on front end
• 15:36
  grip or rear end grip. Or you know, I want the bike to
• 15:40
  mechanically turn for me a lot like car racing, you know, you
• 15:43
  want as much mechanical grip and that thing to turn on its own so
• 15:47
  you don't have to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
• 15:50
  And that's what I really enjoyed the late in the later stages of
• 15:55
  my career and could win a lot of races just on being aware of
• 15:58
  what the track and forecasting what track is going to be like
• 16:03
  and that's that's kind of the difference.
• 16:04
  So yes, when I was asking you about Blaney, I was.
• 16:07
  I was just curious. You know, because when they were
• 16:09
  talking about what the, you know, it being a little bit
• 16:12
  lower. OK, well like how much are we
• 16:14
  looking like, what is that advantage?
• 16:17
  Is it like 1/4, I think I asked you was it 1/4 a second average
• 16:20
  a lap, you know, or is it, you know, a 10th of a second?
• 16:25
  What like is it a substantial game, but doesn't matter?
• 16:29
  Now it's a moot point because they they they retracted the
• 16:32
  penalty. But I but I still think I want
• 16:36
  your fans and people that admire you to know that about you.
• 16:40
  You know the the conversation. I listen.
• 16:43
  I listen extremely hard. You know, obviously I've done 3
• 16:46
  pages of notes on you, but. Did awesome.
• 16:49
  Well, I mean, I do my. I'm a big fan of yours, you
• 16:52
  know, I mean, Ditto, man. Anytime anybody does something
• 16:57
  like you did, you know, it's like a dog.
• 16:59
  You know, suddenly you wake up, your ears go up, you're like,
• 17:01
  Jesus, this guy went unbeatable, you know, and you know it, you
• 17:05
  know, it's hard. So motocross, you're forced to
• 17:11
  race at an extremely early, early age.
• 17:14
  As as to where in auto racing, I'm 60 and I'm retired.
• 17:20
  I retired at 58, quit NASCAR at like 53.
• 17:27
  But with you, you are in a sport comparable to well, I don't know
• 17:32
  if there's a sport like yours. Yeah, I mean definitely not.
• 17:37
  Definitely not on the auto side of things and that was the tough
• 17:41
  thing. We'll get into it a little bit
• 17:42
  but but before we we close the door on on motocross and
• 17:45
  supercross racing, I think what people don't understand, a lot
• 17:49
  of people as you know are great fans and people that follow both
• 17:52
  disciplines, you know on the four wheel side and the two
• 17:55
  wheel side, specially motocross dirt bike racing.
• 17:59
  You know you start riding at a very, very young age and you
• 18:02
  have the ability and the resources to go ride during the
• 18:05
  week can't really do that on the four wheel side so and and you
• 18:09
  don't have a roll cage around you and one thing that never
• 18:12
  changes is gravity and so the risk that you're taking during
• 18:16
  the week and you're always looking for that freaking 10th
• 18:19
  of a second and and it ain't. If it's when you're going to
• 18:22
  bust that ass on on two wheels 100 and 120% it's just you keep
• 18:27
  going. Mark Martin would say it all the
• 18:29
  time. You know, you just, it's going
• 18:33
  to happen. So the burnout factor is is big.
• 18:38
  It's a little less now, just the world we live in, the generation
• 18:42
  we live in, you know, those guys are happy, They're making great
• 18:45
  money, they're happy with. Running up front rather than, I
• 18:48
  mean, they all want to win, but they're happy with the third.
• 18:51
  You know, like, ah, it's a pretty good night.
• 18:53
  We're back in my day. Like, damn it, if we didn't win,
• 18:55
  we were pissed. And we're going to go work our
• 18:57
  tail off the next week and and try to get that, try to get that
• 19:01
  win. So yeah, the the burnout factor
• 19:06
  is a lot more because you're riding hell 3 three times a
• 19:09
  week. You race on Saturday, fly home
• 19:11
  Sunday. I would ride Monday, Tuesday,
• 19:14
  take Wednesday off ride Thursday, fly Friday, race
• 19:18
  Saturday, and you're doing race simulation and you know or if
• 19:23
  you you need you would do you would practice some corners kind
• 19:25
  of like football and baseball. You're able to hone in on
• 19:28
  certain aspects of the of the craft.
• 19:30
  You know I'd work on corner entry, corner exit.
• 19:33
  I'd work work on momentum through the corners.
• 19:35
  I'd work on rhythm Lanes, like trying to stay lower, drive
• 19:38
  through the face of the jumps. And just get better than like I
• 19:41
  said I do race simulation to get my you know keep my base my
• 19:45
  cardiovascular base good and and and on top of things.
• 19:49
  So yeah, the burnout factor is a lot more and.
• 19:52
  You, you, you know, obviously you just can't.
• 19:54
  You can't physically can't race at a high level and motorcycles
• 19:58
  like you can on four wheels, unfortunately.
• 20:01
  And what do you, what do you think Now we've seen this in
• 20:03
  NASCAR and this is the reason I asked the question, you know
• 20:06
  Harry Gant, my brother Rusty that you know 5051, now we're
• 20:10
  seeing Jeff Gordon and everybody they're done at 42 because you
• 20:16
  know with all the technology, you know the kids were getting
• 20:18
  into race and they starting so much earlier.
• 20:20
  So in in motocross, what do you think the age is right now where
• 20:25
  they're going? I've had enough.
• 20:27
  It's it's a little bit older just because.
• 20:30
  Yeah, just because the grind like they're riding less during
• 20:35
  the week. So you're going to get a little
• 20:36
  more longevity because of that. I feel like the the intensity is
• 20:41
  there. It just may be the mindset like
• 20:43
  they. Like I said, they all want to
• 20:45
  win, but they're happy with the podium, you know, and it wasn't
• 20:49
  like that back in our day. The bikes are a lot better but
• 20:52
  you know the stakes are higher because they're going faster and
• 20:57
  and they hit the deck. When they hit the deck it's a
• 20:59
  lot harder because of the speeds are so much faster.
• 21:02
  But I think because of just the intensity and and not the lack
• 21:07
  of grind, but the longevity is just a little bit more because
• 21:12
  of. Yeah, maybe that maybe the
• 21:14
  mental side of things that then just being happy and not being
• 21:19
  so hard nosed like back in the day I guess.
• 21:22
  So the longevity is a little more so it's at the age Kenny
• 21:26
  would probably be. They probably bowed around 33
• 21:31
  where in my day like 27 was, I mean 30 was just like you're on
• 21:35
  the, you're on the back end now. Guys are going like they're
• 21:38
  having good years at 3133. I I feel like it's my opinion
• 21:44
  and I'm talking to the greatest right here.
• 21:47
  You know, I I think in in baseball, you know Jimmy
• 21:51
  Edmonds, one of our great outfield.
• 21:52
  Yeah. I know, I know, Edmonds.
• 21:55
  OK, Jimmy went to 38 and I'm. He was running his ass off in
• 21:58
  the outfield. Yeah.
• 22:00
  So in my opinion, you guys are probably one of the only sports.
• 22:05
  I mean, you know, motors and tires.
• 22:08
  I'm not talking about being gymnasts, but you guys quit.
• 22:11
  You probably quit the earliest of anybody because yeah. 100
• 22:15
  percent, 100% that us and I feel like Moto GP you know that's a
• 22:19
  pinnacle of all 2 wheel Rd. racing.
• 22:23
  Whirl Racing. Yeah it's just it's just you
• 22:26
  know it's a it's a younger person sport and you just
• 22:29
  physically can't physically can't do it.
• 22:31
  But to your point, you start so young and it's it's so much
• 22:35
  easier to go ride. Injuries are a lot more as well
• 22:40
  and yeah, it's a bummer, that's the negative part.
• 22:43
  So I mean lucratively, it's so important to go out and and make
• 22:48
  as much money as you can if you never want to work again when
• 22:51
  you're when you retire from racing, which is, which is hard
• 22:54
  to do. If you're not winning multiple,
• 22:57
  multiple championships because that's where you know you went
• 23:01
  in those championships, that's where those championship bonuses
• 23:04
  rack up and you can put a lot of way you know, so you brought it
• 23:08
  up. So I'm going to strike the iron
• 23:09
  while it's hot. Yeah, brother, brother Rusty
• 23:12
  always taught me or the Great Dick Trickle or Dale Earnhardt
• 23:16
  senior. I listened, although I'm
• 23:18
  hyperactive, a little little rough around the edges.
• 23:21
  I I do hear Rusty always had this saying.
• 23:24
  He goes Herman, that's my nickname.
• 23:26
  He says get your head in the carburetor, you know.
• 23:29
  And what he meant was pay attention to your equipment.
• 23:32
  So with that being said you are the greatest of all time.
• 23:35
  There's just no doubt it's it's not even a nickname.
• 23:38
  You are. I don't know, man.
• 23:40
  I say that the the winningest I'll claim, but there's so many
• 23:44
  great guys. I mean, like McGrath, Hey, it's
• 23:47
  my it's my it's my show. Sorry dude.
• 23:51
  Soccer. Soccer, here you go.
• 23:54
  Well, I appreciate that. That would remind me.
• 23:57
  Rusty would say, Rusty be telling a story.
• 24:00
  We'd be drinking beer and I and he's damn lying.
• 24:03
  And here I am, seven years younger than him.
• 24:05
  And I said that ain't the way the story went.
• 24:08
  Rusty and her Rusty would put his hand in front of my face.
• 24:12
  He'd say, shut up, Herman. It's my story.
• 24:16
  I love it. I love it.
• 24:18
  I. Appreciate that.
• 24:20
  I mean you really are same same. I mean I guess it's all kind of
• 24:28
  the same year when I, when I look at Motocross and I look at
• 24:34
  you won 10 championships motocross, 5 supercross to this
• 24:40
  to this day right now, man, I love turning that TV on and
• 24:44
  watching you guys run indoors on Supercross in, in your mind,
• 24:50
  what do you think is the one that got Motocross, supercross
• 24:55
  where it's at indoors or outdoors?
• 24:58
  I think indoors. Did you know it's gnarly?
• 25:01
  Yeah, yeah. It's gnarly.
• 25:03
  It's, it's easier to comprehend. It's in a big stadium.
• 25:08
  It's like a show, you know, Our promoters did a fantastic job.
• 25:14
  Like I always thought this for, I always thought this for.
• 25:19
  Over 4 wheels when I kind of dipped into the to the NASCAR
• 25:22
  side of things, man, if you had a hell of a promoter that could
• 25:26
  rent a stadium and and have a really good format, I don't know
• 25:32
  why you wouldn't pack the damn house, you know?
• 25:34
  I mean, that's what we're doing at Supercross.
• 25:36
  You know you make it entertaining.
• 25:38
  For when there aren't cars on the track.
• 25:40
  But yeah, I think Supercross is what progressed, it progressed
• 25:44
  it made it more pop, made dirt bikes, dirt biking, more
• 25:47
  popular. I think the X Games certainly
• 25:50
  helped cross notoriety because I'd see people and they give you
• 25:53
  why, Why I feel like that is true, because I would.
• 25:57
  Well this is when I was still racing actively and and
• 26:00
  Motocross and supercross. I'd be at the gym and someone
• 26:03
  say, hey, I think I saw you on TV, you do that X game stuff
• 26:06
  like. No I don't do that.
• 26:09
  You know I I'm, I I do the racing side of stuff but it just
• 26:13
  you know it it it brought people to like man I've seen that I've
• 26:18
  seen that on on TV before and then they and then they become
• 26:22
  fans of all Motorsports and and two wheel racing.
• 26:25
  That makes sense. No, it makes sense that I'm
• 26:27
  sitting here. I'm always looking at my notes,
• 26:30
  and my notes say, you know, some Summer X Games 3 Gold, two
• 26:36
  bronze. Are you saying that made you a
• 26:39
  little more popular than just normal motocross Supercross.
• 26:43
  Well, I never, I never made. I mean, you think, you know, the
• 26:46
  thing was, I mean when you were younger, like man, if I could
• 26:49
  ever be on SportsCenter, man, that would be awesome.
• 26:51
  And I never made SportsCenter for all of my accolades and
• 26:55
  racing. By God, I went into the X Games
• 26:58
  and jumped over a stupid pole for this stuff up and I made
• 27:02
  freaking XO Sports Center like 2.
• 27:06
  This is way easier, right? And I've done all these things,
• 27:11
  accomplished all these wins and championships and all that.
• 27:15
  I couldn't even get a nugget on Sports Center when I go jump
• 27:18
  over a stupid pole. And here I am.
• 27:21
  Isn't that the way life is? Because Daryl Waltrip you know,
• 27:26
  champion over and over. Daryl said to me, you know he
• 27:30
  would talk in depth to me because he was kind of a tutor
• 27:33
  to me. He goes Herman, he said I've
• 27:35
  done it all in NASCAR and he says nobody knows me.
• 27:38
  He says but I go on damn a cars cartoon and and he's more Daryl
• 27:45
  Waltrip more known in in this generation as the the movie.
• 27:51
  So sometimes we Ricky, some tell me your thoughts on this.
• 27:55
  Do sometimes in life we get things when we least expect it
• 27:59
  that are better than what we work for.
• 28:01
  Sometimes I think when you're not looking for things, you find
• 28:04
  it, you know, it's like when you going through life and you know
• 28:08
  you're trying to find a significant other, you know it's
• 28:11
  like that. People always saying it's
• 28:12
  something to be said for it. It's like, you know, don't
• 28:15
  you'll find it when you're least looking for it and you just
• 28:17
  we've we've just rattled off two things, me being on
• 28:19
  SportsCenter. And DW being more popular
• 28:23
  because he's on a stinking cartoon.
• 28:25
  Yeah, that pissed the hey, that pissed him off too, by the way.
• 28:30
  Did it Really? Oh, yeah, I hear you, man.
• 28:34
  Well, look, look at us. We're already 30 minutes into
• 28:37
  this. So before I lose time, you know,
• 28:42
  before we go into NASCAR, which you spent a little time there,
• 28:46
  let's wrap it up on the motorcycle side because there's
• 28:49
  so many sides to you. The when you were, when you were
• 28:55
  so competitive in winning everything, where was there ever
• 28:58
  that rider that pushed your limits?
• 29:01
  And you're like this son of A and you had to lay the wheel to
• 29:04
  him every once in a while. Was there ever somebody that
• 29:07
  came after you on the track and even verbally off the track?
• 29:11
  And I don't want you to, you know, to not be mean.
• 29:15
  But who was that guy? And did it ever happen?
• 29:18
  Yeah, never. Never verbally.
• 29:20
  And luckily for me, Kenny, I got to race against the best in the
• 29:24
  business Just from how I was born and and and the and the
• 29:28
  time that I came up through motocross and supercross race
• 29:32
  and I got to race the king of of Supercross, Jeremy McGrath.
• 29:36
  He's got 72 wins. I mean, it's just unbelievable.
• 29:40
  It's going to be tough for anybody.
• 29:42
  To to to beat that. Jeremy was one of the kindest
• 29:46
  racers and what I mean by that is he'd race you hard but you
• 29:51
  never had to look to your left, you know on the left hand corner
• 29:54
  or even right hand corner. You never had to look over your
• 29:56
  shoulder because he wasn't going to you know, he just wasn't that
• 30:00
  type of writer. You know James Stewart, I had
• 30:04
  great, great battles with him, especially when he, you know, he
• 30:08
  was later in his career and he had learned and.
• 30:11
  He had the bumps and bruises. He's a little more wild but
• 30:14
  never really would attack you. But he'd race you hard and give
• 30:17
  you a little elbow grease. But the one guy I will say, and
• 30:20
  I have a tremendous around of respect for him, but I just I I
• 30:24
  I can trust him in a way. But I knew he'd sweep the leg if
• 30:28
  he had an opportunity and that would be a Chad Reed.
• 30:30
  The Aussie. That guy what?
• 30:33
  What was So what was so hard about him is, you know I talked
• 30:37
  about earlier when we were talking is.
• 30:40
  You know how I would, I would be willing to hang it out and he
• 30:44
  never would go out of his comfort zone so, but his comfort
• 30:48
  zone was just fast enough to where if you wanted to beat him,
• 30:52
  you had to, you had to push that limit.
• 30:54
  So he was a like a damn thorn in my side.
• 30:56
  He really was. Of all the people that are
• 30:59
  racing that I raced, I knew like McGrath, I could ride the edge
• 31:03
  and I was going to beat him. I knew, like Stewart, all I had
• 31:07
  to do was match his speed and if I could just match him.
• 31:10
  I wanted I, yes, I wanted to beat him.
• 31:12
  But I'm like, if I can just follow him, pressure him, he's
• 31:15
  going to make a mistake and I'm going to win it.
• 31:17
  It. It didn't always work out like
• 31:19
  that, but if I tried to go faster, he's just going to go
• 31:22
  faster. So that was kind of my strategy
• 31:24
  for James Stewart. But Chad Reed, I mean, he was
• 31:27
  just good and I had to rely on a mistake from him because his
• 31:30
  comfort level was just enough to where I had to ride out of my
• 31:35
  comfort zone to beat him. And just he was so.
• 31:38
  Solid. You're like, oh man, this is
• 31:39
  going to be a great night. He got a bad start and he'd be
• 31:43
  second or third by the end of the race, so but never off the
• 31:46
  track verbally or anything like that.
• 31:49
  But those three guys are the racers that kind of kind of come
• 31:53
  to my head. But those are the guys that I
• 31:55
  raced hard for, for championships for multiple,
• 31:58
  multiple years. Yeah, that's good stuff.
• 32:00
  And Charlie clip that right there that that that was a
• 32:04
  highlight. I I love that.
• 32:05
  Thank you. Thank you for sharing that with
• 32:07
  us because you know sometimes competitors they got at the Hee
• 32:11
  Haw they really don't know. But you said that so good.
• 32:14
  Just that guy that you know the the story that I've been sharing
• 32:17
  lately is that I read the great tennis player Bjorn Borg.
• 32:22
  He said when I when I was playing tennis, I was bitter and
• 32:26
  I got rid of all my Wimbledon trophies, got rid of everything
• 32:29
  and then later on in life came to peace at what he was doing,
• 32:34
  realized he was good, so he went and spent millions of dollars on
• 32:37
  his trophies. And get getting them back,
• 32:39
  getting them back. And you know, it isn't that
• 32:43
  unbelievable. Oh, it's unbelievable.
• 32:45
  Like now I gave away all my shit, dude.
• 32:48
  I I I mean, I say all of it. I don't have my first
• 32:51
  motorcycle. I don't have my second
• 32:52
  motorcycle. I got 3 championship motorcycles
• 32:55
  here. That Suzuki gave me two and
• 32:58
  Kawasaki gave me one. I don't have any other
• 33:01
  motorcycles. I gave away helmets, gear.
• 33:04
  I mean, I don't have anything. And now here I am, you know, 20
• 33:09
  years post retirement post racing for for for a living
• 33:13
  professionally. And I'm like, damn, I wish I
• 33:16
  would have kept majority of the stuff.
• 33:19
  It would have been cool to reflect, but you don't know that
• 33:21
  at the time and and to be honest, I mean we had to sell a
• 33:24
  lot of our stuff. To get another motorcycle, it
• 33:28
  could keep on going racing and damn at your stage.
• 33:30
  So I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I I can resonate with
• 33:33
  what you're saying. No, no, there's no interrupting
• 33:35
  me. You're you're first.
• 33:36
  No, it is your show. It's your show.
• 33:39
  Stop it Kenny. Kenny conversations where Kenny
• 33:43
  for once shuts up and and I I wonder where Schrader's at and
• 33:47
  he's like, oh, Schrader would say, oh, so you can shut up.
• 33:51
  Let me go back to about 10 minutes ago and I do want to
• 33:56
  talk about maybe are you looking for any of your old stuff but
• 34:01
  remember that one. Are you looking for any year old
• 34:04
  stuff. But let's cover this one first
• 34:06
  for all the kids out there that probably should have taken an
• 34:11
  economic class. And I'm not prying because
• 34:16
  you're the one that brought it up.
• 34:18
  Go ahead, Are you? Financially, obviously, you look
• 34:22
  like you are. You look incredible.
• 34:25
  But you, you were able to make enough money in in such a short
• 34:29
  time span. You know, like we talked about
• 34:31
  how early you have to quit. I follow your every move on
• 34:35
  Instagram. I mean, you're getting it on
• 34:37
  with Triumph. Yeah.
• 34:39
  So because of all your success, I don't even know how to ask it.
• 34:43
  But you know what I'm asking. Oh yeah, go ahead.
• 34:45
  No. So I I I I made a.
• 34:47
  Great. I made a great living for
• 34:49
  myself. I won a lot of championships.
• 34:53
  And I'll give you so my first year in 1997 was my first year
• 34:58
  professional. I signed a three-year deal with
• 35:02
  Pro Circuit Kawasaki and it was a 30,000 the first year, 60,000
• 35:09
  the second year and 90,000 the third year.
• 35:12
  I got about halfway through my second season, then we started
• 35:16
  renegotiating and I signed a contract, but in in in my.
• 35:22
  Championship bonus. My first year in 1997 when I won
• 35:26
  the 125 Pro Motocross Championship, I got $120,000 and
• 35:33
  you get pro, you get, you know, you get per race win bonuses and
• 35:38
  also all that fun stuff. But then you know, later on in
• 35:41
  my career, Kenny, I was for Supercross Championship at the
• 35:44
  premier level was, you know, $1,000,000 championships.
• 35:48
  So definitely, it was a good ride I did.
• 35:51
  I did really well for myself along the way.
• 35:54
  And yeah, I mean I for for my, for my.
• 35:58
  For me personally, I work because I love doing it.
• 36:01
  I love my my role at NBC as an analyst for Super Motocross
• 36:07
  World Championship. You see, you see us on there all
• 36:09
  the time, all the time. Yeah, and then that I do with
• 36:15
  Monster, that I do with Fox Racing, that I do a Triumph Now
• 36:19
  that's the newest thing. I've been with them for three
• 36:22
  years doing adventure riding and we are about to launch in
• 36:26
  February. They should be on the showroom
• 36:28
  for us. I'm hoping sometime around there
• 36:31
  Triumph is going to have a motocross, supercross bike and
• 36:33
  enduro model as well. So I was a huge part of that
• 36:36
  building that. From the ground up with them,
• 36:39
  which is a really, really fun project for me.
• 36:43
  So just to keep myself busy, man, that that's why I do it.
• 36:48
  I mean obviously, yes, it's good to to still be earning a few
• 36:53
  dollars. You know, I don't have to, don't
• 36:56
  have to touch my principles or my investments or anything like
• 36:59
  that because of that. And then, you know, I'll be 44
• 37:03
  in November. And who knows?
• 37:05
  You know, my wife. My wife is a part owner and a
• 37:08
  lot a firm here in Tallahassee, so I must want to keep on
• 37:13
  rolling, that's why. But yes, monetarily, I'm I was
• 37:16
  very blessed and don't have to work if I don't want to.
• 37:19
  And I want the kids to hear that I'm such a big fan of yours on
• 37:25
  Instagram that while my head was bopping and weaving.
• 37:28
  So here, here I am. And so I'm going to go to this
• 37:32
  picture. I really want to talk about this
• 37:34
  Triumph bike because you know, Rusty, my brother Rusty and
• 37:37
  Steven, we. Yeah, we know that those bikes
• 37:39
  are coming, Ricky, where you're on asphalt going down the road,
• 37:42
  then you jump on the dirt. They are this this one here.
• 37:47
  Yeah, that's Swing Arm City. Yeah, so and and this is off the
• 37:53
  cuff. Yeah, I was going where you were
• 37:55
  going. Tell me about Triumph and and
• 37:57
  and I see you doing a lot of riding with with that bike and
• 38:01
  where are we with motorcycles nowadays?
• 38:03
  Yeah, so the the adventure world, it was huge and I feel
• 38:07
  like it really took off and escalated when when when COVID
• 38:11
  came around people wanted to be outside.
• 38:13
  So those adventure bikes, the Tiger 900, they got a Tiger
• 38:17
  1200. I believe they had a 750 as
• 38:20
  well, but they they you can go on Rd.
• 38:26
  And off road they're very versatile.
• 38:28
  Tigers are a little more geared towards towards the road and
• 38:33
  like touring bikes but you they have off road capabilities like
• 38:38
  good good gravel roads, Jeep trails.
• 38:41
  Got to be careful with the single track.
• 38:42
  You know you got to be choosy on the single track.
• 38:44
  A super tight single trap can be can be challenging like we we
• 38:49
  climbed the engineer pass for anyone that's ever been to
• 38:51
  Colorado. We we did go up over engineer
• 38:55
  pass just right outside of your array on those on those bikes.
• 38:58
  So they have the capabilities to do that.
• 39:02
  But yeah it's it, it's been a lot of fun.
• 39:04
  You can go out you can make great memories but that off road
• 39:07
  riding or adventure riding is coming.
• 39:10
  That category has been absolutely massive, as you know,
• 39:13
  with your brother and your and your nephew being in on the
• 39:16
  roadside of things. It's.
• 39:18
  You, you can't turn a blind eye to that adventure category
• 39:21
  because it is, it is growing. Absolutely.
• 39:24
  And it's so fast, so fast, and it's a lot of fun.
• 39:27
  Like I said, you can go anywhere.
• 39:29
  And the great thing about it is like we we do a, we do a summer
• 39:32
  ride each year and you're not, you're not married to just one
• 39:37
  pass. You know, you can go, you can go
• 39:39
  off road. It's like, man, it'd be really
• 39:41
  cool to go over here. Boom, you hop on it.
• 39:43
  You hop on a dirt trail. And you go, I mean, you guys go
• 39:46
  out to Sturgis every year. Imagine if you could hop on some
• 39:49
  dirt roads. Nothing too gnarly, nothing too
• 39:51
  crazy, but still safe and fun. You have the ability to do that,
• 39:56
  and that's what I think people like about it.
• 39:58
  And I really do like when you get off your bike nowadays, you
• 40:03
  give a nice little wrap up on Instagram.
• 40:05
  It's a good way to follow what you're up to, and I think that's
• 40:09
  really what drew my attention to it.
• 40:11
  But being honest, you know. Rusty and Steven are building
• 40:15
  these Harley-Davidson daggers and we got the saying that, hey,
• 40:19
  listen, it ain't all about riding your girl on the back.
• 40:21
  Now they're racing baggers and and then and then.
• 40:24
  That's cool by the way. That is cool.
• 40:26
  And I and I took that and then I started seeing you.
• 40:30
  You know, we're on that ride that Triumph.
• 40:33
  And I said, well look at here the the motorcycle world is, is
• 40:36
  changing in every way. It's it's not you got to have
• 40:39
  this bike and you got to have that bike.
• 40:41
  Look at Ricky going down the highway and jumping on dirt.
• 40:44
  That's right. Yeah, I really like that.
• 40:46
  Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And the and the greatest thing
• 40:49
  too about it, Kenny, is as you know, anytime you're on your
• 40:52
  motorcycles, you're making memories with some of your
• 40:55
  closest friends and it's something that you can bring
• 40:57
  with you to the day you die. And it's where you go.
• 41:00
  It's the people you meet and but you still get that fixed.
• 41:04
  You get that need a little more different with the adventure
• 41:07
  stuff than than the baggers, just because you're you're on
• 41:09
  the road most of the time but you you know you guys still have
• 41:13
  a great time just like we do on the adventure bikes.
• 41:15
  We're able to go off road if if, if we want to and if we want to
• 41:19
  stay on road we can. And it's about building memories
• 41:22
  and having a good time and and at the end of the day being
• 41:24
  safe. I went on the Cow Petty Cherry
• 41:27
  ride this year. I saw that dude.
• 41:28
  I got to do that, man. It looks and then he's asked me
• 41:31
  so many times and I just need to.
• 41:34
  I just need to put it on the damn calendar.
• 41:36
  Is it is it fun? I can't do you got you got
• 41:38
  straighter to do that. Oh, so listen, since since you
• 41:42
  like it, I'm going to tell you. And this is what made me think
• 41:45
  of it, You know, Kyle's been doing that a long time and he
• 41:49
  said to me very seriously, he goes, you know, I used to think
• 41:51
  this was about motorcycles. He says it's about people and
• 41:55
  and and so he's been asking me for years and I said, Kyle, I I
• 42:03
  have something that that God gave me that that I don't deal
• 42:07
  with very good. I said you put me on a
• 42:10
  motorcycle with it, with a a close face helmet, I'll go nuts.
• 42:15
  I'll be talking to myself, you know, he goes.
• 42:19
  Hold on, he says. The cow Petty charity Right now,
• 42:25
  you know. You know, I better have a
• 42:26
  microphone to talk to my. Buddy, What are you doing there,
• 42:29
  buddy? That's right, we got.
• 42:31
  So on our rides we use. We use communication, Cardo,
• 42:35
  they make a great. Yeah.
• 42:37
  They make great stuff. And yeah, I mean we it's always,
• 42:40
  we're always busting chops on on our buddies on the rides and
• 42:44
  stuff like that. And it is, it's about the people
• 42:46
  and and destinations that you go.
• 42:48
  We came across this place. You ever been to Darby, Montana?
• 42:51
  It's for Yellowstone's film. Probably close, but yeah, you
• 42:54
  all. Do we stay at this killer
• 42:56
  little? They they, they got these cabins
• 42:59
  on this little Creek running through there.
• 43:00
  We get there early and have some salt.
• 43:03
  Beverages and enjoy ourselves and go into town and we we eat
• 43:07
  some good dinner and go to the local bar there, shoot darts and
• 43:11
  all that fun stuff. But that's like a destination
• 43:13
  that we go to and it's stuff. Have we never been on adventure
• 43:17
  bikes or been on a a motorcycle? We'd never, probably never had
• 43:21
  no reason to go there but it's an awesome place so it's a brick
• 43:23
  making memories and then it's like you said social media is
• 43:27
  everything and you do a great job on social media and I would
• 43:30
  say the two wheel world has done a great job and and not extreme
• 43:35
  sports but. You know, dirt bike riding and
• 43:38
  stuff, we're kind of on the forefront of social media and
• 43:41
  it's it's a way of business. But everyone's allowed to follow
• 43:44
  along and and even though you're not there in the flesh,
• 43:47
  hopefully you feel like you're a part of.
• 43:48
  We want people to feel like they're a part of the ride and
• 43:51
  the journey. Well, well, you're you're really
• 43:53
  good at it because like I told you, I listen to your quick
• 43:57
  little videos when you get off the bike.
• 43:59
  But going back to Kyle Petty, he's geared that deal more for
• 44:04
  the hyperactive world. You know, that's where we're at
• 44:07
  now. Everybody's hyper.
• 44:08
  Nobody can wait for anything. So Kyle's got that deal where I
• 44:13
  think our longest ride would maybe be 2 1/2 hours as to where
• 44:18
  back in the day they really went across.
• 44:21
  The days, yeah. And you know, geared more to the
• 44:24
  older people, the hyper people. I mean, you'd be stretching it
• 44:28
  if we were on the bike 3 hours because we stopped out in the
• 44:32
  middle of the desert and at a nice little gas station.
• 44:36
  You know, there's that one gas station in the and we got a nice
• 44:40
  box lunch. But there is so much the Kyle
• 44:44
  Petty Charity ride is it changed my life and Kim and myself are
• 44:49
  going to do it again. So if you ever get a chance, it
• 44:53
  it's fun. It's, it's fun.
• 44:55
  Well, OK, look, I've done messed up.
• 44:59
  I've got you already at 50 minutes, so.
• 45:01
  I I mean, dude, you I I ain't got.
• 45:03
  I don't have anywhere to be. You know what?
• 45:06
  And and you sound just like Tony Stewart.
• 45:09
  Tony's like let's keep talking. So let's let's go to this one
• 45:16
  sheet of notes I got here. You shocked the sports world
• 45:21
  when you came to NASCAR. Let's, yeah, take a drink
• 45:26
  because we're going to go to NASCAR now.
• 45:28
  So I'll just kind of let you have the lead here.
• 45:31
  And I'm going to say this, why NASCAR?
• 45:34
  How did that happen? OK.
• 45:36
  So it was 2005 and I had already did my final deal with Suzuki.
• 45:44
  So I knew I was going to ride for Suzuki 2005 six in part
• 45:48
  time. In O seven, we're around 2005 or
• 45:51
  6. Casey Kane was a fan of
• 45:55
  Supercross and he had reached out to me, him and his
• 45:57
  management group and said hey man, would you ever like to try
• 46:02
  4 Wheels Casey Kane? Yeah.
• 46:05
  And I'm like hell yeah. So we became buddies and and and
• 46:10
  one thing led to another and this is like the the short
• 46:13
  version just from a time perspective.
• 46:15
  But he gave me an opportunity and I I this is when he was
• 46:19
  driving for Everhan. And Everton Ham had that.
• 46:25
  I don't even know what that program was at the time, but he
• 46:27
  had a late model program coming up through there and I drove his
• 46:33
  late model car at Hickory. Never been in the Dang car
• 46:36
  before or ever in my life, but went up there.
• 46:40
  Yep, went there. Had a great time.
• 46:43
  Casey was kind of mentoring me. One thing led to another and.
• 46:49
  I guess Gibbs got wind of it and then Bobby Ginn got wind of it
• 46:54
  also, and this is so. Then next thing I know, Fast
• 46:57
  forward. Like like I said, this is a
• 46:58
  short version. I'm like a ping pong ball all
• 47:00
  over the place. I am too.
• 47:02
  So now like I'm getting towards O 7 and then like I'm talking to
• 47:07
  to to JD, I'm talking to Coach. And at the time, they're wanting
• 47:13
  to start motocross the supercross, you know, so like
• 47:16
  probably just like, hey, you know what, we'll give you an
• 47:19
  opportunity over here. Development program will put you
• 47:23
  in here, but you're going to be behind these guys.
• 47:26
  But on the flip side, we want you to try to help us on our
• 47:29
  motorcycle deal. So I'm like, OK, man, sounds
• 47:31
  like a good deal. And then Bobby Ginn and Jay Fry
• 47:35
  and all them were kind of courting me and saying, hey,
• 47:38
  we're going to have this race team over here and.
• 47:41
  We're going to have Mark Martin driving for us.
• 47:43
  So the reason that I ended up at Bobby again was being mentored
• 47:49
  by Mark Martin. I was going to be able to run
• 47:51
  his late model stuff for the first year and a half like O 7,
• 47:56
  get get my feet wet and super late model stuff and then move
• 47:59
  on to the to the E series and then that's where I end up going
• 48:03
  and and and racing for Schrader and.
• 48:07
  Yeah, so I ended up signing with Bobby Ginn because my manager at
• 48:09
  the time knew some people over there and so that's how I got
• 48:14
  into it, all because of Kasey Kahne.
• 48:16
  And so let's see here that I had AI signed a three-year deal with
• 48:21
  Bobby Ginn. We all know how that went that
• 48:24
  like this. Ricky, one second here, Let me
• 48:26
  let me brag on you, OK? Go ahead.
• 48:29
  So you drove for Kenny Schrader, Kevin Harvick, Turner
• 48:34
  Motorsports. That's it.
• 48:37
  Awesome. OK.
• 48:39
  You were the 2009 NASCAR Truck Series most popular driver you
• 48:44
  ran and and this is just a reminder for all of our
• 48:47
  motorcycle fans out there and and you had a lot of them stand
• 48:51
  on the front straight away at Loudon and cheer you on but.
• 48:54
  I remember you came up to me. I had a that was when I was
• 48:57
  raising the E series for Schrader.
• 48:59
  I thought we was going to win that damn thing.
• 49:01
  Yeah, And. And I got something to say about
• 49:04
  that race, but let's finish this. 68 truck races.
• 49:08
  It ain't like you came in and left you that.
• 49:10
  That's couple years. 68 truck races.
• 49:13
  Here's what I really like. This tells me how good you are.
• 49:17
  18 top tens, 8 races in almost the big boys, 8 races in the
• 49:24
  Xfinity Series, one top ten. That is extremely hard to do.
• 49:31
  And I want to say this about what we just talked about at
• 49:34
  Loudon. What really impressed me at
• 49:39
  Loudon was like motorcycle racing, Ricky.
• 49:43
  I raced my whole life and I know all the idiosyncrasies at
• 49:47
  Loudon, you were fighting for the lead.
• 49:50
  It's a flat track. It's a goofy ass track.
• 49:53
  You're running on the apron, you're straddling and you stayed
• 49:57
  with it and you did not. You did not spin out.
• 50:00
  You did not wreck. I was really proud of you at
• 50:03
  that moment. Tell me what you remember about
• 50:05
  that great race for the win. Yeah, well I remember.
• 50:09
  So we went up there to test and this is I came in at a difficult
• 50:12
  time and of NASCAR as you remember like that O seven time,
• 50:18
  that's when they stopped, couldn't test anymore.
• 50:20
  And so now I'm leaving. Right.
• 50:23
  Like all this. And so I'm like, oh man, so now
• 50:27
  I'm coming in and in the Truck Series that time, I mean, it was
• 50:30
  stacked. Right.
• 50:32
  It was sack and all. In all reality, I probably would
• 50:34
  have had better luck in the Xfinity Series.
• 50:36
  I mean, dude, I'm racing against Hornaday, Skinner, Bodine, you
• 50:40
  name them, dude, they they were there.
• 50:42
  Yeah, and it was tough. But I learned a lot from them.
• 50:46
  And but go back to Loudon. I remember we were trying to
• 50:49
  right front coil bind. Oh yeah, we couldn't get it
• 50:53
  right. Hideous.
• 50:54
  That's very touchy. Yeah, and I didn't have enough
• 50:57
  experience at the time. To to to to tell them, man, this
• 51:02
  is where it really needs to be. But what I did know is every
• 51:05
  time we went back to the conventional set up, the thing
• 51:07
  would just, it would roll the center so good.
• 51:10
  And I wasn't blowing the right front up, right.
• 51:13
  Yep. You're saying that's what we.
• 51:15
  That's what we went with and I just, I just knew like, man, I
• 51:20
  could just carry my momentum through the center of the corner
• 51:22
  and it was relatively easy. So that's what we went with kind
• 51:26
  of old school conventional set up, not right front coil bind.
• 51:30
  And they did a great job with with my set up and I loved, I
• 51:34
  loved that racetrack and I did always run, ran well at
• 51:38
  Martinsville and anything with timing like some Rd. courses
• 51:41
  always did well there. Just because I feel like with
• 51:44
  the timing and the braking and the getting off the gas and not
• 51:48
  having to rely on Arrow really helped me kind of.
• 51:54
  Fill the gap of my lack of experience because of the timing
• 51:57
  and it brought me back to Supercross.
• 52:00
  And so that's what I remember of that race.
• 52:03
  I'm like, oh, we're going to, we have a good chance to win.
• 52:05
  Obviously we didn't, but hell, I think we got like 3rd or 4th.
• 52:08
  There's a hell of a race. Hell of a.
• 52:10
  Race. It was great.
• 52:11
  It was great. I remember you came up there,
• 52:13
  Montoya came up there. Of course Schrader came up
• 52:17
  there, but I. I I tell you what that was some
• 52:19
  of the funnest racing that I ever did when I got to to to
• 52:23
  drive for for Schrader. So the for the fans that are
• 52:28
  like what the hell is he talking about.
• 52:30
  Coil coil binding makes the front end run lower down the
• 52:34
  straightaway can create speed can can you can gain a tenth or
• 52:39
  two. Coil binding, because the front
• 52:41
  end is now very low, conventional set up, the front
• 52:44
  end is going to be a little higher, but you got a little
• 52:47
  more consistency. It's always on the right front
• 52:50
  and that's what you liked about that.
• 52:52
  And I just went through this Dale Earnhardt junior.
• 52:55
  Yeah, had that when you did that, Yeah, I went and run the
• 52:59
  Cars Tour race. Just two weeks ago and I went
• 53:03
  through the exact same thing. All the young kids are running
• 53:06
  this, you know, all the bump stops and and and they put in
• 53:09
  the old man setup for him. And I said, oh, that's way
• 53:11
  better, right? Totally.
• 53:15
  I will tell you one, one time we went, this is when I I think I
• 53:20
  went there in Kevin's car. He sent me to Kentucky one time.
• 53:24
  They had a they had a test and I went there in an ARCA car dude,
• 53:28
  and we tried a left front coil bind and I loved that.
• 53:34
  I mean I felt like I I mean I just felt I had really good feel
• 53:38
  for the left front and I loved I I absolutely loved loved that
• 53:43
  never ended up racing with it I don't believe.
• 53:45
  But man I love when we tested it it was awesome.
• 53:49
  Like, holy crap man if I could run this this would be this
• 53:52
  would be great. We we're going through an era
• 53:55
  right now where you know this new next Gen. car is the same
• 54:01
  and now now we've got drivers that have never won coming to
• 54:06
  the top and winning. My brother Ross, you know
• 54:09
  Michael McDowell, you've got Ross Chastain, these guys are
• 54:12
  winning because all the cars are equal.
• 54:15
  So some drivers that you thought that were never that great.
• 54:19
  But Ricky, you just, you just touched on something when you
• 54:23
  were in NASCAR, it was about the race car.
• 54:27
  Now Kevin Harvick was always great and there's no doubt about
• 54:30
  that. Kevin Harvick is great, but what
• 54:34
  made good drivers, even great was what you just said, those
• 54:40
  great teams back then, they could get an advantage and
• 54:44
  become unbeatable. So yes, that left front coil
• 54:48
  binding. Kevin's team, they were on it
• 54:52
  and that's cool. You got to experience that?
• 54:57
  I mean, my learning, my learning curve was so steep.
• 55:00
  There's some things that I was proud of.
• 55:03
  Going back to the Truck Series, I mean, I had a great time in
• 55:06
  the E series. I sat on the pole at one of the
• 55:09
  races, had some good finishes and yeah, and and it was, it was
• 55:14
  stacked back then. It was, you know, that's when
• 55:18
  DEI had their development program.
• 55:20
  I'm racing against Austin Dillon, Trevor Bain.
• 55:24
  I mean, I mean, you know how fast those people are, Trevor.
• 55:28
  Trevor Bain won the Daytona 500. Yeah, look at look at look at
• 55:31
  them today at 2 Daytona 500 champions.
• 55:35
  So it's cool. I got, I got to race against a
• 55:37
  lot of good guys. I had an absolutely great time.
• 55:40
  Then we go to the Truck Series and then I think I won the pole
• 55:43
  in Atlanta one time and ran LED that day.
• 55:46
  Balls that tracks. You're running 200 miles out
• 55:49
  around there. I loved Atlanta.
• 55:50
  You know, this was before the repay.
• 55:52
  But the reason that I liked it is because you could adjust to
• 55:57
  the truck. When the tires were going off
• 56:00
  you could you know you could you yeah you adapted to the to the
• 56:04
  tires as they started to fall off and I loved I absolutely
• 56:09
  love that rate that that race track I love Texas always did
• 56:12
  well at Texas and then that you know the smaller tracks were
• 56:15
  always easy for easier for me just because like we already
• 56:19
  talked about the timing and and and less less reliant on arrow.
• 56:23
  The arrow for me was the biggest learning curve.
• 56:27
  I I wish I could have learned how Arrow works a little bit
• 56:31
  quicker. I think my results would have
• 56:33
  been a little bit better. But hey, you know what?
• 56:36
  I was still thankful for the opportunity about the time I got
• 56:38
  the arrow figured out and and and how to use it towards my
• 56:43
  advantage. Yeah the my my NASCAR ride was
• 56:46
  over. So kind of closing this NASCAR
• 56:50
  thing out, we look at, we look at Travis Pastrana, who came,
• 56:55
  Ricky Johnson came and raced with me in the red dog truck.
• 57:00
  Not comparing you all to each other, but you definitely had
• 57:03
  the most success out of those three.
• 57:08
  Money was money just too catastrophic?
• 57:12
  Was it just so unbelievable to to stay going?
• 57:16
  No, what happened was and and it's a great question so
• 57:20
  everyone's wants to know man what happened.
• 57:22
  So everything was going great and Monster was going to leave
• 57:28
  Turner and and they went to KBM. Everybody knows all that and
• 57:33
  they liked Kyle and they they wanted to go from the Truck
• 57:37
  Series to the Nationwide Series. And so this is how the story
• 57:40
  went. They were going to take their
• 57:43
  their sponsorship to to KBM. And as they did that, I was
• 57:50
  going to drive part time. And now remember KBMS was just
• 57:55
  starting their nationwide program and we had got
• 57:58
  everything. Remember that and I was going to
• 58:02
  drive like 18 races in 2012, I think it was or maybe 1312 or
• 58:08
  13. And Kyle was.
• 58:10
  Kyle was going to do the other ones and to be like it was going
• 58:12
  to be great, Kyle was going to mentor me.
• 58:15
  And I was going to learn and so you know and he was going to, I
• 58:19
  was going to cut my teeth with him in the Nationwide, which is
• 58:22
  now it's Xfinity. So we're about ready to go.
• 58:26
  This was Texas, OK. And I'll never forget this.
• 58:30
  We were sitting at, I was sitting at a Starbucks in my
• 58:32
  rental car, myself and my manager, and we're talking to
• 58:34
  Rick Wren, who was running the joint at the time.
• 58:37
  And we're like, OK. Got all the got all the
• 58:42
  specifics done we'll fly up to Nash or Charlotte like like that
• 58:46
  Monday or Tuesday after Texas well everyone knows what
• 58:51
  happened at Texas with with with Kyle and and and Horn.
• 58:56
  So then things got on the rocks right the next two weeks.
• 59:00
  Well, got it. Got them back on the tracks
• 59:04
  after Phoenix. And, you know, we, we, we go
• 59:09
  into Homestead. Everything's good.
• 59:11
  Same type situation. Hey, everything's good.
• 59:15
  We're back on track. Eminem's still going to sponsor
• 59:18
  me in the Cup. Monsters, we're ready to rip.
• 59:21
  OK. I'm like, all right, I'm going
• 59:22
  to fly up. We've got the truck banquet on
• 59:26
  Sunday or Monday, and Miami, I'll fly up on Wednesday.
• 59:31
  Well. Hurt had some issues on Sunday
• 59:35
  at Homestead and then got let go by Penske, right?
• 59:40
  I think that that my memory serves me right.
• 59:43
  And then that was around Tuesday.
• 59:48
  I Did. He get let go pretty quick,
• 59:49
  didn't he? He there.
• 59:52
  There was AI know a lot. And let's just say there was a
• 59:54
  lot of drama there. A lot.
• 59:57
  Unfortunately, he wasn't going to be driving for for Penske the
• 1:00:01
  next year. And as soon as that happened,
• 1:00:04
  they're like, hey, don't come up Wednesday.
• 1:00:07
  And as soon as soon as I didn't go up there on that Wednesday.
• 1:00:11
  And I maybe I'm a little confused on the specific days,
• 1:00:15
  but all I knew is Gwen Kurt wouldn't be riding for driving
• 1:00:20
  for Penske the following year. I'm like, well, I know what.
• 1:00:25
  I know what this means. And of course, yeah, the the
• 1:00:29
  next thing you you know is he's he's driving for his brother,
• 1:00:32
  which I have. I'm not bummed at that.
• 1:00:36
  I'm not upset at that. Would I love the opportunity?
• 1:00:39
  Of course I I would have. But I'm also, you know, I'm
• 1:00:42
  smart. I try to be smart about
• 1:00:44
  business. And I can't blame Monster.
• 1:00:46
  I can't blame Kyle for hiring his brother.
• 1:00:51
  I mean, blood is thicker than water and straight up facts.
• 1:00:55
  I mean, Kurt could run circles around me.
• 1:00:57
  So you want. I mean, Monster wants to win.
• 1:00:59
  Kyle certainly does. Kurt does.
• 1:01:01
  You have to hire Kurt over me, dude.
• 1:01:04
  I mean, come on. So I was, I was just thankful to
• 1:01:07
  even be in the conversation. But yeah, they went with Kurt,
• 1:01:13
  which I would have done every single day of the week and twice
• 1:01:17
  on Sunday. So like I said, I'm not.
• 1:01:19
  I'm not bummed about it and they made the right, the right, the
• 1:01:24
  right decision. So that's how my NASCAR deal
• 1:01:27
  ended. Well, you know what, We we've
• 1:01:30
  all seen the movie. There's a lot of ups and downs
• 1:01:33
  and yeah, hell, I I never really even knew what happened.
• 1:01:38
  But thanks for telling us that, Ricky.
• 1:01:40
  I'm because I mean, it always comes down, you know, when I
• 1:01:44
  talk. Well, obviously I had to get on
• 1:01:46
  my own sponsors and you know in in the Xfinity Series it was
• 1:01:51
  always. $6 million a year a cup was always, you know, if you
• 1:01:56
  were Jimmie Johnson and Rick Hendrick, it was 20 million a
• 1:01:58
  year and it was it's not easy. But man, you you you kicked some
• 1:02:05
  butt and let's say you you, you, you know, I kind of, I mean, I I
• 1:02:10
  always give my opinion and that's what I'm known for.
• 1:02:13
  I I think NASCAR was very unlucky right there because.
• 1:02:19
  The eyeballs you were bringing a load of of your people, eyeballs
• 1:02:23
  with you and we we talked about that.
• 1:02:26
  We we remember all the motocross fans and lining the fences and
• 1:02:31
  cheering you on. So no drama.
• 1:02:35
  So what. It's all good.
• 1:02:37
  Hey, and I I want to say to like a lot of people that I I had a
• 1:02:41
  great what I loved about NASCAR racing.
• 1:02:43
  Listen every sport has their problems.
• 1:02:46
  You know what I mean? Like it ain't Peaches and cream
• 1:02:48
  anywhere as, as you know Wallace, but it's it's it's just
• 1:02:52
  like you know like I'm I'm happy for the opportunity.
• 1:02:56
  I was always there's so many great drivers that were willing
• 1:03:00
  to help me. Guys that I were race and that I
• 1:03:02
  was racing against. I mean that just happened and we
• 1:03:07
  don't. Yeah, we that just don't happen
• 1:03:08
  in supercross motocross. So that's that's what I loved
• 1:03:11
  about it. I loved the fans.
• 1:03:12
  They were super, super gracious. And yeah, I mean, I I love it.
• 1:03:17
  I mean NASCAR is a love of mine and it gave.
• 1:03:21
  It was a great opportunity that I've picked up some great
• 1:03:23
  friends along the way. Yeah.
• 1:03:26
  Like me. Yeah.
• 1:03:28
  Amen. Amen.
• 1:03:29
  I love it. I can't wait.
• 1:03:31
  Can't you know what I love about you know love listen to you when
• 1:03:34
  you are on on Fox Sports and now that you're not on the TV gig
• 1:03:40
  anymore and you're doing your own thing, it's it's been a lot
• 1:03:43
  of fun. You can speak freely and and and
• 1:03:46
  you bring, you bring the real stuff to the table.
• 1:03:50
  I am. I'm 60 years old now.
• 1:03:52
  I'm. I'm retired.
• 1:03:53
  Good for you. I run the hell out of my dirt
• 1:03:56
  car. I stay young.
• 1:03:57
  I eat grilled chicken. I I have me and Mark.
• 1:04:00
  Mark talked about. Good Omega fat.
• 1:04:02
  Some salmon. I'm doing my very best, buddy.
• 1:04:06
  I want, I'm, I'm. I'm looking at you.
• 1:04:08
  And hey, now I see, I, I look at you want to be like you, man.
• 1:04:15
  Hey, I'm telling you I want to I want to be like you.
• 1:04:17
  But hey, I will say about racing dirt.
• 1:04:20
  Some of the funnest times I've ever had in four wheels was
• 1:04:24
  doing the prelude to the dream that was.
• 1:04:27
  I mean it's just like this, a grin driving the whole time.
• 1:04:30
  And that's my claim of fame. I think I maybe want I got
• 1:04:33
  second to Ambrose and my heat race at at the Prelude and then
• 1:04:39
  I think I got six in the feature, but I got AI, got a
• 1:04:42
  picture. I was leading all the boys there
• 1:04:46
  early on in the future, or might have been bite him in the heat,
• 1:04:49
  but man, that was a fun event. Have you have you seen how Dirt
• 1:04:53
  Super Late models have changed the racing world?
• 1:04:56
  They're paying $1 million to win.
• 1:04:58
  Davenport is one that, you know O'Neill Hudson, O'Neill, which
• 1:05:03
  is, you know, we call him the New Deal.
• 1:05:06
  His father retired, but he makes a last corner pass on Sunday
• 1:05:11
  night. I didn't see it.
• 1:05:13
  When's the Lucas Oil Championship and wins $100,000?
• 1:05:17
  These guys with with, with the flow of stream, you know, with
• 1:05:22
  flow, flow vision, flow dirt vision streaming, they're
• 1:05:27
  paying. I mean, every single race is
• 1:05:29
  paying 20,000 to win, 100,000 to win.
• 1:05:32
  Are you paying attention to all that?
• 1:05:34
  Yeah, yeah, it's massive. The streaming, I mean, you know
• 1:05:37
  we stream all of our stuff on Peacock and even got it, I got
• 1:05:41
  got a podcast title 24. It's on Peacock.
• 1:05:44
  Check it out. But it's there you go, there you
• 1:05:49
  go. Presented by NBC Sports they
• 1:05:54
  we're very thankful for them. But yeah, the streaming is huge
• 1:05:57
  and I think it's done a lot for for like you guys that are in
• 1:06:01
  super remote areas giving the respect that it's due like them
• 1:06:05
  dirt cars, you guys racing out in the middle of Dang nowhere
• 1:06:08
  and same for like and same for the Motocrosses.
• 1:06:12
  I mean we're not in massive metropolitan area so the
• 1:06:15
  streaming packages have really done a lot of good for for some
• 1:06:20
  of these race series. I'm I'm happy for all of the
• 1:06:23
  drivers, athletes and sponsors. Everything it's it's perfect.
• 1:06:28
  Ricky, you have officially became either the leader or
• 1:06:32
  second only to Tony Stewart. We are at an hour and 7 minutes.
• 1:06:35
  Listen, you have been absolutely incredible.
• 1:06:38
  I I got to be honest, I've lost sleep the last two nights.
• 1:06:42
  I started last week when I called you.
• 1:06:45
  Because I didn't want to mess this up and I you.
• 1:06:48
  I've had a wonderful time. Oh, I did too.
• 1:06:50
  I like I said, I'm. I'm happy for you man.
• 1:06:52
  I just love how happy you are. Thank you for for having me on.
• 1:06:56
  Anytime I can talk to the four wheel world, I really did.
• 1:07:00
  You guys were always so gracious to me.
• 1:07:02
  Your your fans, my fans in the four wheel side.
• 1:07:06
  I love it. I I truly do and appreciate
• 1:07:10
  appreciate you having me on. And anytime you need anything
• 1:07:12
  for me and my world, I'm glad to have you.
• 1:07:15
  Man, that makes me happy. It really does.
• 1:07:17
  Have a friend like you will listen up everybody.
• 1:07:19
  We are in podcast form. The Kenny Wallace Show is
• 1:07:23
  showing up on podcast. We are in iTunes, Spotify.
• 1:07:27
  Check us out Ricky. Until next time buddy.
• 1:07:31
  Thank you so much and goodbye everybody.
• 1:07:33
  That's right.