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Why Did Jimmie Johnson Come Back To NASCAR? · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Hello everyone and welcome back to the Kenny Wallace Show
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  brought to you by Jags, the leader in high performance
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  aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to jags.com for
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  everything you need to fix your vehicles up.
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  I'm really excited because basically this is the first show
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  of the year and racing has started.
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  They're down there in Daytona for the Daytona 500 and the big
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  story in the garage area is this one.
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  Why is our seven time champion? Why is Jimmie Johnson putting
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  himself through so much pain? As they say in AM debate radio?
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  You know, when you're listening to radio, you're just listening.
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  So let me paint the picture for you.
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  I don't know why that struck me so funny.
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  I guess I I grew up on KMOX radio right here in Saint Louis
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  and I love AM radio. It's so much fun.
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  So Jimmy Johnson on Thursday night before the Daytona 500
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  seven time champ, certainly going to have a provisional or
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  something because he's our seven time NASCAR champion.
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  He's right there with Dale Earnhardt senior and Richard
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  Petty. Jimmie Johnson is great.
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  Like, wow. But here's where the story gets
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  a little wild. All right, Jimmie Johnson leaves
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  NASCAR, right, he leaves. And around this time Jimmie's
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  like, I'm moving out West. I need to get away from
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  Charlotte, NC. I've talked to my crew chief,
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  Chad Canal. So I've talked to my owner, Rick
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  Hendrick. And they're like, OK, Jimmy, you
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  can move out West, away from the team.
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  And, you know, just make sure you check in.
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  You're part of the meeting, so you know, the herminator.
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  Now let me throw my disclaimer out there.
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  This is all this is all Kenny Wallace thinking.
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  And you know, there's an old, there's an old saying.
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  I have a memory like an elephant.
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  Oh, you remember, do you? Yes, I remember Jimmie Johnson
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  towards the end of his NASCAR career, take one.
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  Meaning the first time he goes out on the West Coast, wants to
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  get away, be mentally strong. He's out there, he's riding
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  trail bikes. He's doing the skiing.
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  You know, I I'm mentally clear. I'm.
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  I'm mentally strong and I get it.
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  I mean, that's the same reason I moved to St.
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  Louis, MO, to get away from everything being so toxic in
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  North Carolina. So Jimmie Johnson inevitably
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  quits, NASCAR quits it. I mean, that's just the way it
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  is. That's all there is to it.
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  He quit. He he doesn't have anything to
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  do with Hendrick anymore. The team that he won those 7
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  championships, he doesn't have any executive decisions.
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  He's just flat ass gone. Jimmie Johnson is gone from
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  NASCAR. He's gone from Rick Hendrick, so
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  he goes IndyCar racing. Now when he's IndyCar racing,
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  he's got this big sponsor called Carvana, right where they make
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  you an offer for your vehicle. They bring a truck to your
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  house, they load your vehicle up, and that's Carvana.
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  Carvana, however you want to say it, respond right here.
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  Carvana, Carvana. You say potato, I say potato.
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  Anyway, great sponsor. So Jimmie Johnson runs two years
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  of IndyCar racing, right? OK, he has a good race or so.
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  But this is, this is Jimmie Johnson, the West Coast kid.
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  You know, Travis Pastrana is his buddy.
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  So he's kind of got that X Games in him.
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  I'm going to run NASCAR. I'm going to run in the car.
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  You know, I'm going to golf. I'm going to Jimmie Johnson's
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  going to air it out, right. He's a West Coast kid.
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  So I get it. I get that mentality.
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  But Indy cars proved to be a little difficult, right?
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  Let's he's 48 now. Let's back it up.
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  You know, he goes IndyCar racing, what, 44 years old?
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  Those cars pull a lot of G forces.
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  You know, this is Kenny saying this, you know, kind of hard to,
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  once you get in your mid 40s, kind of hard to teaching an old
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  dog new tricks. Now I'd like what Tony Stewart's
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  doing because you're just going drag racing straight you know
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  you're done 6 seconds and and that's that's everything right.
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  Really 3 seconds. So it doesn't go very good for
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  Jimmy but we're going to give Jimmy a break because he's a
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  seven time champion and let's make this very clear.
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  Jimmy Johnson's phone number right here, and he's a friend of
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  mine and he and Jimmy Johnson will come on, Kenny.
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  Conversation. Just.
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  I'm waiting for the desk to settle with Jimmy.
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  He's got a lot going on. He's he's he's living overseas.
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  He's been out to the West Coast. Jimmy Jimmy's got a lot going
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  on. All right, Now that I've told
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  you all that, what did that take?
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  Two minutes. 3 minutes. The question begs this, why in
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  the hell at 48 years old A7 time champion, he's done it all.
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  I know he's a racer. I get that.
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  Look, both hands up. Stop right there.
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  Hey Herman, why are you racing at 60 years old?
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  Well, because I realized that retirement and the the word
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  content is not in my vocabulary. So I get it.
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  Jimmy's a gamer. He wants to compete.
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  But that's not all. I'm going to tell you right now
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  why Jimmie Johnson came back to NASCAR.
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  So Thursday night for the dual 150's Jimmie Johnson almost was
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  was within 2 football fields of not making the Daytona 500.
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  That's why I'm doing this show so I I can see Charlie right
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  now. What's the headlines of this
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  show going to be? Our seven time champion was just
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  happy to make a race. What?
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  That's the truth. That's the hard, cold facts of
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  my dear friend Jimmy Johnson. This is an incredible
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  conversation. I mean, this is 1 where we're
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  sitting at the bar, right? Jimmie Johnson is just happy to
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  make the Daytona 500. How the hell did we get in this
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  situation? Right.
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  All right, so I'm going to tell you why Jimmy wants to be a car
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  owner. So he's teaming up with Maury
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  Gallagher, the owner of Allegiant Airlines, the CEO of
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  Allegiant Airlines. You know, airplanes, commercial
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  airliners, Maury Maurice Gallagher.
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  However you want to say his name, Maury Gallagher, CEO of
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  Allegiant Airlines, is worth $464 million.
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  Jimmy, Now this is me. This is me.
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  I'm putting words in Jimmy's mouth.
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  Hey, Wallace, don't be putting words in my mouth, Jimmy.
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  I'm not. I'm just once Jimmy Johnson's
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  watching this, he's going to come on Kenny conversation.
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  But if I'm dead on, he's going to go.
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  Herman, you were right. So I didn't want to bother Jimmy
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  right now because he's down there for the Daytona 500.
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  So I'm taking a shot and I'm admitting it right here.
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  I'm taking a shot. Except this is coffee, not beer.
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  So Jimmie Johnson wants to be like Jeff Gordon.
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  Jeff Gordon, second in charge at Hendrick, It's Rick Hendrick,
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  then Jeff Gordon. All right.
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  Jimmie Johnson wants to be like Tony Stewart, Stewart Haas
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  Racing. Jimmie Johnson wants to be like
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  Denny Hamlin, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, the owner of 23
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  Racing. Jimmie Johnson wants to be like
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  Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway, RFK, right?
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  I painted the picture for you. All these race car drivers are
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  saying, you know the $100 million that I have right now in
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  my bank account. Now I'm going to repeat this.
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  This is going to be hard for you normal people.
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  I'm normal too. It's going to be hard for you
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  all to understand this one. If you have $100 million.
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  Now, I'm inflated in it a lot. It's probably got 50 million.
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  But let's say, let's say these drivers have $100 million when
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  they retire. It's not enough.
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  And here's why, because they live in extravagant lifestyle.
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  Hey, send my Lear 40 over there to pick my wife up.
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  Hey, I got four houses. I got one in Kennebunkport,
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  Maine, because we're doing, my wife's a model.
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  You know, I'm doing the New York scene.
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  I'm doing the LA scene. You fly a jet out to LA, that's,
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  that's 20 grand, boom like that. Especially if you're living over
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  there in Charlotte. Imagine living in a different
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  country. So all of a sudden you're
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  spending 100 grand a month because you're wanting to go to
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  Barrett Jackson, you're wanting to drink the wine.
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  You want to hang out with Mr. Rick, right?
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  I know how much money these guys spend.
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  And it is like, whoa, OK, wow. So you're Jimmy Johnson, you're
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  Jeff Gordon, you're Brad Keselowski, you're Denny Hamlin.
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  And you're like, these guys are going through some money, like
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  quick. And I'm 50 now and I, I got to
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  do something. So after Jimmy Johnson does all
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  this, he looks around, he goes, I need to, I want to be a car
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  owner. I want to be a car owner.
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  But Jimmy, to be a coroner with Maury Gallagher, the CEO of
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  Allegiant Airlines. Jimmy wants to pair himself up
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  with a real wealthy dude, right? Because he doesn't want this
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  team to go down South. Jimmy's super smart.
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  He looks around, he goes, man, what coroner's got a shit load
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  of money? Charlie, don't.
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  Don't beat that out. I fit that right word right in
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  where it needs to be. So you look at, you know,
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  Keselowski, you know that that's that.
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  That's Roush Fenway. Lots of money.
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  You know, you look at all these guys.
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  You look at Denny Hamlin, who's got more money than than Michael
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  Jordan. He's making $40 million a year
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  on on selling tennis shoes, and he's retired.
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  So Jimmy Johnson does it right. But here's why Jimmy Johnson's
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  driving the race car. OK, let's take a look at that
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  team. OK, so Maury Gallagher owns it.
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  Richard Petty sold his shares back to Maury Gallagher.
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  So Maury's the only owner. Jimmie Johnson comes in.
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  Now there's two owners, right? The King, which I respect,
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  immense. The King is just there, and he's
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  making his money, doing his deal.
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  But if you look at it, the King sold his shares back.
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  So the King doesn't own Richard. Petty does not own anything with
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  this team. He's just, he's just there and
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  he's making money and he's doing things and he's awesome and he's
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  the face of NASCAR. So when you look at Legacy Club
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  is the name Legacy Club is owned by Maury Gallagher and now Jimmy
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  Johnson. So Jimmy needs to either put 5
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  or 10 million of his own money in or he's got to do what's
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  right. So Jimmy, now this is where it
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  gets good. Jimmy brings Carvana sponsorship
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  from his IndyCar try, right? Carvana likes him.
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  So Jimmy's there with all this money now, and now Maury
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  Gallagher's going all right, now we're big time.
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  Look here, everybody's, everybody's coming to my garage
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  area. Just like Tony Stewart did with
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  Stewart Haas, right? Gene Haas was a gabillionaire,
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  but he he really wasn't taking series because he wasn't winning
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  anything until Tony Stewart came.
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  So this is what's going on right here at Legacy Club.
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  Jimmie Johnson, the seven time champ and it doesn't hurt to
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  have Richard Petty the king there.
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  They're really making Maury Gallagher and this Legacy Club
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  team, that's what it's called Legacy Club.
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  They're making this this team really strong right now.
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  And in the meanwhile Jimmy Johnson is going to become a
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  real owner and get real money in return so Jimmy now can go ahead
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  and live this great lifestyle. You know, put the black jacket
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  on like Jeff Corn, walk around. Let me tell you what you need to
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  do here. You know, that's the way it is.
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  So I love Jimmie Johnson to death.
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  I think, look, here's the end. This was a great move by Jimmy.
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  Brilliant move because he saw what Jeff Gordon's doing.
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  He saw what all these heroes Rusty Wallace, my brother owns 9
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  dealerships. I mean, doing good, right?
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  But these guys spend so much money that it is hard to keep
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  this pace up. I'm telling you, if you got $100
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  million and you're 48 years old and you run this lifestyle, you,
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  you got to, you got to keep an eye on the checkbook, right?
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  Because if you're in the stock market right now and you know
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  you can't count on the stock market, gain 10,000 points every
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  three years, all right. I understand money.
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  I'm smart with money. So good Move by Jimmie Johnson.
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  So that's why. And this is where Paul Harvey,
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  you kids don't understand this. I I've been saying this lately.
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  Paul Harvey did radio and he would say, and that's the end of
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  the story, So Jimmie Johnson decides he wants to get into car
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  ownership because you can make money.
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  He can live the extravagant lifestyle.
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  He can. He can hang out with the Barrett
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  Jackson dudes. He can, you know, get the condo
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  in up there in New York. He can fly across the pond.
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  He can keep spending 100 grand a month or more and not have to
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  worry about depleting the checkbook.
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  Jimmy Johnson's a gamer. He wants to be a car owner.
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  He found Maury Gallagher. And Jimmy brings some money.
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  Maybe, I don't know, Jimmy's going to come on the show.
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  I won't ask him that. But let's just assume Jimmy
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  brings 510,000,000. He gives it to Maury.
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  Now he's a player. He brings Carvana.
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  Now he's running some races. Now he's he's letting the world
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  know. Look, Jimmy Johnson's racing.
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  You know he's in the sport. So there you got it.
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  Great, brilliant move by Jimmy Johnson.
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  And listen, this was the story on social media.
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  Jimmy's biggest fans were going, Oh my God, why is Jimmy doing
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  this? He's a seven time champion.
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  He almost missed the date. Listen, Jimmy Johnson came off
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  Turn 4 and was not in the Daytona 500.
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  JJ Ellie goes high because he's got this big move on Ross
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  Chastain and and JJ Ellie thinks he's going to pack.
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  JJ or no. OK JJ Ellie thinks he's going to
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  pass pack Ross Chastain and ask so he moves up so he doesn't hit
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  him so hard. Jimmy just stay straight.
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  Jimmy don't make no move he just stay straight. 2 football fields
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  later, Jimmy Johnson makes the Daytona 500.
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  But can you see on Jimmie Johnson's resume, Jimmie Johnson
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  missed the Daytona 500 after coming back and and making a
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  try. Listen, Jimmie Johnson can do
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  whatever you want. He's one of he is probably the
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  greatest race car driver. Respond right here and here's
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  why. Jimmie Johnson is the greatest
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  NASCAR driver of all time right now.
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  Kyle Larson's there, but Kyle doesn't have 7 championships
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  racing against Tony Stewart. Jeff Gordon.
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  You got to remember Jimmie Johnson won 7 championships
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  racing against Jeff Gordon, racing against Tony Stewart.
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  So we we certainly did not want to see Jimmie Johnson miss the
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  Daytona 500 and that's why I'm doing this show.
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  Why is Jimmie Johnson after a three-year layoff, Why is he
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  coming back? And I just told you why.
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  This is what he had to do to get in to, you know, get ownership
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  stake at at Legacy Club. All right, So that was pretty
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  good. Let's look at it.
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  That was a 17 minute show. I think it was well worth it.
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  I think you're going to like it. I think you're down there in
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  Daytona. You're going to like this show.
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  I paint the picture. I tell the truth.
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  And wow, Jimmy had to go through a lot and really put his put it
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  on the line and and and become a a car owner.
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  I applaud Jimmy Johnson. Thank you, Jimmy.
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  I think you're going to elevate Legacy club like Tony Stewart
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  did at Stewart Haas. Let me see.
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  Let me look at my notes. Yep, Yep, Yep.
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  Yep. All right.
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  Remember, he's 48 years old. There's nobody in our sport
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  right now. That old Harvick just left and
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  went to the TV booth here, here. Jimmy Johnson started his career
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  back up at 48 years old, and now we know why.
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  And that is the rest of the story.
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  All right, everybody. Remember we are in podcast form.
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  This is 18 minutes long, 19 minutes long.
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  You're probably going to be able to listen to this one on your
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  way to work because it's so short.
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  So remember, we are in podcast form, We are on iTunes, we are
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  Spotify. And I always forget to say this.
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  Subscribe right here will you please?
• 18:15
  We're so close to the 100,000 subscriber trophy from YouTube
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  and love you all, the Daytona 500, NASCAR's biggest race until
• 18:28
  the next show. Goodbye everybody.