Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Here's How NASCAR "Retires" a Driver | Coffee With Kenny

Transcript

Here's How NASCAR "Retires" a Driver | Coffee With Kenny · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  Happy Sunday morning, everybody. I know that a lot of you were
• 0:06
  wondering, Herman, where's the crooked downspout?
• 0:12
  How come you don't go to the front of the house anymore?
• 0:16
  Da, da, there it is, ladies and gentlemen.
• 0:22
  It's called a gutter, but the professionals call it a
• 0:26
  downspout. Very technical situation.
• 0:32
  OK, we're going to get right to it today.
• 0:35
  I noticed something yesterday that piqued my curiosity.
• 0:41
  I noticed that NASCAR, the Xfinity Series, they put out a
• 0:47
  flyer. They were promoting the
• 0:49
  Nashville race and I thought, this doesn't make any sense.
• 0:55
  You know, we just did the big Kenny conversation with Justin
• 0:59
  Agar. Justin Agar and his his mom,
• 1:03
  Dorothy, Mike, the dad, Big Gator, Little Gator, last year's
• 1:09
  champion. So in the Xfinity Series last
• 1:13
  year, Justin Agar was the champion.
• 1:16
  And well, certainly if he's the champion moving forward, we're
• 1:21
  going to we're going to promote him.
• 1:24
  Last year, Justin Ogar, Lil Gator champion, race winner,
• 1:29
  wins a lot. So they're they're promoting on
• 1:33
  social media. The Nashville race that happened
• 1:36
  last night and they got Connor Zilich upfront.
• 1:40
  He's the man Connor Zilich, arms crossed.
• 1:45
  I'm #1 Connor Zilich, I'm #1 around the corner in the back
• 1:51
  are two other drivers. One of them's Justin Agar.
• 1:56
  Yep, just like an old cow, they put in Justin Agar out to
• 2:07
  pasture. Last year's Xfinity champion
• 2:12
  race winner. They put no Justin Agar out to
• 2:16
  pasture. Made me think of my days.
• 2:23
  I was, you know, and still am full of piss and vinegar.
• 2:28
  Put the cup down so you can see the gutter downspout.
• 2:32
  Wallace. I'll never forget the year that
• 2:35
  I, I thought to myself that they're not using me anywhere.
• 2:39
  And you know, in my heyday in the Bush trad National series,
• 2:44
  in the Nationwide Series, in the Xfinity Series, once again,
• 2:50
  everybody, it's all the same, just a different sponsor.
• 2:55
  By the way, I want to throw that Nationwide one in there just to
• 2:58
  get you a little bit because you all like you were in the Bush
• 3:00
  days. I'm like, nationwide.
• 3:03
  You forgot about Nationwide, didn't you?
• 3:06
  Nationwide is on your side. So I noticed that they, they,
• 3:12
  the year started and they quit using me, quit advertising me.
• 3:17
  So by God, I'm going to debull this.
• 3:21
  So I called NASCAR president at the time.
• 3:24
  The man was Mike Helton. To me, Mike Helton is still the
• 3:27
  man I call Mike. And I said, Mike, how's it
• 3:31
  going? Hey Herm, I'm doing good.
• 3:35
  I said. Well, Mike, I noticed something
• 3:37
  that kind of bothers me because, you know, I have sponsors.
• 3:40
  Sponsors like to be promoted. I said, I don't see you
• 3:45
  promoting me anywhere. Why are you not using me?
• 3:52
  Mike Helton takes a deep pause. Just like I did with his coffee.
• 3:57
  There was this awkward silence. Herman, you're getting a little
• 4:06
  long in the tooth for us old people.
• 4:10
  Long the tooth means you're getting old, buddy.
• 4:16
  That was hard to hear, hard to take.
• 4:20
  You know, I, I heard that was it Angie Dickinson, one of the lady
• 4:28
  models, She said the the hard thing about getting old is they,
• 4:33
  they put you out to pasture. Guess who won the Xfinity race
• 4:36
  last night? Justin Allgar.
• 4:42
  By God, if they're going to put Gunner Connor Zilig up front,
• 4:47
  Justin around the side, last year's champion might as well
• 4:52
  just keep winning the races. Here's what's a little bit sad
• 4:58
  for me. If you go to Kenny conversation
• 5:02
  right now, Justin Agar announces that he will not break my most
• 5:09
  starts record and that he's probably going to retire after
• 5:13
  next year. So Justin Agar says next year's
• 5:18
  is last year going to go back home to Springfield, IL and run
• 5:23
  the old DNM speed shop, better well known as Hoosier Tire
• 5:28
  Midwest. Justin says.
• 5:31
  Justin Agar tells me on Kenny conversation, you know, next
• 5:36
  year I'm going to be 40. I said damn, OK, still young.
• 5:40
  I quit at 50, but Justin's got to a beautiful family operation,
• 5:47
  his dad, Mike Algar, Gator and Mama Dorothy.
• 5:52
  They started Hoosier Tire Midwest, the largest Hoosier
• 5:56
  tire dealership in America, a speed shop.
• 6:03
  They sell a lot of race car parts.
• 6:04
  They do a wonderful job. So it was all fitting, it all
• 6:10
  tied together for me when I saw that picture and I thought to
• 6:14
  myself, well, I'll be damned. I remember those days.
• 6:21
  And then here's here's the the rest of the story.
• 6:28
  Justin Agar wins the race at Nashville last night.
• 6:32
  Guess who runs second? Yep, you got it, Connor Zilich.
• 6:41
  It's almost like the new guard is bumping the old guard in the
• 6:45
  ass, except in this situation, the old guard is still winning.
• 6:52
  My message to The CW channel, to NASCAR, to Xfinity, do not,
• 7:01
  whatever you do, insult my intelligence.
• 7:05
  Do not put the man that is still winning the races and
• 7:11
  championships out to pasture. And I'm not sensitive.
• 7:17
  Justin Agar is your champion. Last year he won the race last
• 7:21
  night. You promote him and remember
• 7:25
  this. Go back through your record
• 7:27
  books. Tell me who your most popular
• 7:29
  driver has been for the last 3-4 years.
• 7:35
  That's right, Justin Agar. Everybody at NASCAR and
• 7:41
  everybody at the Xfinity Series and everybody at The CW Channel.
• 7:45
  You're wrong and I'm right. Put Justin Agar in the front of
• 7:51
  all your advertisement. He'll tell you when it's time to
• 7:55
  be put out. The guard put out the pasture.
• 8:01
  Happy Sunday, everybody.