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Incredible NASCAR & Racing Conversation With Kyle Larson! · 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
• 0:08
  aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to jags.com for
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  everything you need. Well, deep breath again, it's a
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  new year. The very first conversation in
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  the year 2024 is what I believe is the greatest race car driver
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  that I've ever seen. And if you don't believe me,
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  Tony Stewart said He's the best he's ever seen.
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  Kyle Larson. Welcome, Kyle.
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  Hey, how are you, Kenny? Man, I'm doing really good.
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  But first of all, I got to tell you, behind you is absolutely
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  beautiful. Are you in your home?
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  Yeah, we're at our house here in Arizona.
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  We spend we spend the offseason and in the first couple months
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  of the NASCAR season out here enjoying some good weather and
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  and just some time away from racing and racing people and and
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  just try to kind of recharge out here.
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  So yeah it's fun to get the Christmas decorations up.
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  They're coming down in a couple days and do some golf.
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  Owen just started flag football. There's all sorts of things to
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  do you know around here. So it's it's fun.
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  It's fun to kind of like I said, get away and and just recharge a
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  little bit. You know, like I tell everybody,
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  I put a lot of work into this, got all all my notes ready to
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  go. Always remind everybody I I do
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  my best to be prepared. But let's start right there.
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  Jimmie Johnson, our seven time NASCAR champion started doing
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  that. You know, moving out West, it
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  seems to me like when we live in Charlotte, NC, like I did for 27
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  years, it gets really intense. I like what you're doing there.
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  What made you decide to do that, to go out to Arizona and live a
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  little bit? Well, so we have some friends
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  out here in in two. I mean with the West Coast swing
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  in March, we always would spend, you know, week, week and a half
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  out here in Arizona renting an Airbnb and same thing in
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  November, you know, we rent a house.
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  And over the years I'm just like man, I just really love Arizona.
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  The weather is always amazing for the time of the year that
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  we're out here. You know, there's a bunch of
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  activities just, you know, great food, lots of things to do.
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  We're closer to our families, you know, So it just makes it a
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  little easier for us, You know, we're closer to our family but
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  not too close. So it's good.
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  And and last year, you know, Caitlin was pregnant with our
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  son Cooper, who actually just turned a year old a couple days
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  ago. But she wanted to have you know
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  the baby out here and and gets to you know we could spend some
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  time out here. So yeah we decided to to buy a
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  house and it's been fun. It's I've really, really enjoyed
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  it. It's like I said earlier it's
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  just it's just nice to kind of get away from the racing scene a
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  little bit. You kind of reset your mind get
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  recharged all of that. So it is nice I'm out here
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  because I'm like I'm itching to go racing again you know just
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  because I haven't been around the racing that much.
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  So I think it's good to to be out here and yeah, I I really
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  enjoy it. You know, like I said we have
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  some friends JP who kind of manages my life.
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  He moved out here as well. So we have some really close
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  friends and a lot of stuff to do.
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  So it's a It's a good time. I I guess now is the best time
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  for me to ask you this question because you you said you're
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  itching the race, so Vado is getting ready to start up.
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  It seems to me like that's going to just be right down the hill
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  from where you're at, sort of speak you're you're almost
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  already there, dirt racing is is starting up what, in a week or
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  two? This weekend I'll I'll head
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  there on Friday. Yeah it's only I'm I was on the
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  fence about driving or flying and five hour drive from here
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  but I decided to just get a commercial flight to El Paso and
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  and do that. So we'll head there Friday and
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  and yeah I mean I'm excited really excited to get get there.
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  It's a great track. Royal Jones and his whole crew
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  do a great job. I haven't raced the Dirt Late
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  Model since like June. I think it Tri-City.
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  So yeah, it's been been a while and I really enjoy the late
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  model too. So just excited to get in there,
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  get raced with Kevin and Jacqueline and Dave and
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  everybody who's who's you know part of the six car.
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  And yeah, hopefully we can go there and do good job and and
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  maybe get it win. A win or two would be nice.
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  Well, let's come back to dirt racing in a little bit.
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  Let's start like this. There were so many ways we could
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  start our conversation. But I really do want to go to
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  Tony Stewart. You're young, you're only 31
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  years old and I agree with what Tony Stewart said about you.
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  He said Kyle Larson is the best driver that he's ever seen in
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  his generation. He said that you are are better
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  than him. When Tony Stewart said that
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  about you, what went through your mind?
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  It's it's honestly, it's an honor First off, you know, to
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  like have a guy who I believe you know has been the most
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  talented race car driver that I've ever seen.
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  You know, growing up. You know, being able to jump in
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  from different disciplines and and compete at a high level, win
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  championships and races and all that.
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  You know, say that that I'm the best racer he's ever seen.
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  It's it's just it's an honor and and I don't know it's at times
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  you don't really believe it or want to believe it because you
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  you still know your you understand that you're young and
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  you know maybe I'm only halfway through my career and there's
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  still a lot left that I want to accomplish and feel like I can
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  accomplish. So yeah, when you hear
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  compliments like that it's really cool.
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  But at the same time it's like hard to appreciate it a ton
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  because I'm right in the thick of it.
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  So but it it is, it's awesome And you know, it's really cool
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  that I got to compete with Tony and race with him you know and
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  midgets and Sprint cars and NASCAR and and all of that.
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  So and two, you know, I've really tried to model my career
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  and career path and what I raise and what I do after him and and
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  and not only on the driving side but even you know the the team
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  ownership stuff that I did for a little bit.
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  You know, the promotion stuff that we're doing now really, you
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  know, he kind of laid the groundwork for all that, for for
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  a guy like me to want to try and emulate and copy.
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  So you know, who knows, maybe maybe now I might have to go
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  NHRA race and some some time will happen in my late 40s or
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  50s. But no, he's Tony's, Tony's
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  definitely the one guy that I've looked up to the most out of out
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  of any other race car drivers. So yeah, it means a lot when
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  when he speaks highly of me. I had a great conversation with
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  your brother-in-law Brad sweet five time world of Outlaw Sprint
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  car champion. You and him are starting high
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  limit you have. We'll get to that conversation a
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  little bit but when I was talking to Brad you came up a
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  little bit how can you not and he gave you a great compliment.
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  We were talking about your talent and and Brad said that
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  one of your best qualities is sometimes you don't that you
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  don't recognize how great you are.
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  He he says that sometimes it's oblivious to you Kyle and right
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  there you say it's because you're you're right in the
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  middle of your career. And I and I must say this I
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  don't want to be long winded about this question but I asked
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  Tony Stewart one time I said do you recognize you have a
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  God-given talent And he says every day I thank the man above
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  so it is is Brad right. You're just you're oblivious to
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  your talent. I.
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  I mean I don't know if oblivious is the right word, but yeah I
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  mean I obviously, like Tony said, you know I'm, I understand
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  that I do have a God-given talent and good.
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  Yeah. But again like when you're in
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  the middle of it. Yeah.
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  Like I said I'm only maybe who knows halfway through my career
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  I'm only 31. You know I I would love to race
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  through my 50s so yeah I don't know when you're racing 100
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  times a year and and you know trying to battle for wins and
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  run up front and all that and when you have good years it's
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  it's hard to like I don't know reflect on it and and really
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  appreciate it because you're already looking ahead to the
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  next year in the next race you want to win.
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  So I feel like that's where I'm at right now in my career but
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  obviously to you know I I know I've accomplished a lot and and
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  like I think back to like 2020 and 21 you know like now I mean
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  just a few years from then like it'll you know I'll think about
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  a race or a moment or or really you know like one of the Cup
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  Series championship is probably the one race.
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  I'm like I can't believe you know I did that.
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  So no, it's just I'm blessed to like I I obviously get to race
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  with some of the best car owners and crew chiefs in the business,
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  so that helps a lot. But more than just talent, it
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  does take a lot of work and and I feel like that's something
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  that I've gotten better at the last, you know, four or five
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  years is actually like understanding I have talent, but
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  trying to work to be better mentally, you're physically all
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  of that, you know it's important.
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  We have race car drivers that just run NASCAR.
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  You know, my brother Rusty, Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt
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  Junior, There are, you know, 95% of the NASCAR drivers that run
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  NASCAR and that's it. However, the last time I
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  remember seeing somebody like you is probably my other
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  brother, Kenny Schrader. You and Schrader share the same
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  desire to race everything you can.
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  Schrader's slowing up a little bit now he's he's kind of
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  running his mod. That's it.
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  But is, is that your goal? Is your goal to run everything
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  there is? Or is it just happen?
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  Well, I think, I think part of it just happens.
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  But again I go back to like Tony Stewart.
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  You know I when I was young like he was racing midgets, Sprint
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  cars, dirt late models, dirt modifieds, all while still
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  racing a Cup car or an IndyCar or or whatever.
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  And he was the guy that I look looked up to the most and you
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  know and and I I think probably I realized that I really enjoy
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  driving a lot of different cars and and you know I've had
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  success in it and you hear about AJ Foy Mario Andretti Tony
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  Stewart Parnelli Jones guys like that who are you know the best
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  of their generations. And so I think that probably
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  made it turn into the goal of mine of being in the same
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  category of driver as that And so yeah that's why I think I've
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  always pursued racing lots of different types of cars.
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  I feel like it makes me a better driver you know when you can
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  learn different disciplines and it makes you feel good too when
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  when you do do good and and I think the challenge of it also
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  is probably the most important piece but yeah it's just I I
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  enjoy it probably is the the biggest thing.
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  I want to brag on you one more time and then we'll we'll get in
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  some some fun. I like to remind people, you
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  know on Kenny conversation. So you're a NASCAR champion.
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  All right. Let's start like this.
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  Kyle Larson, 31 years old, already a NASCAR champion, won
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  the Kings Royal. One of the biggest wing Sprint
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  car races in the world or maybe, you know, close to the Knoxville
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  Nationals and you won the Knoxville Nationals.
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  You've won the Chili Bowl. This is the one that's pretty
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  incredible. You won the 24 Hours of Daytona
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  with Chip Ganassi. Listen, I can go on and on and
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  and it's show and tell time. So when it when it's like how am
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  I going to brag on Kyle? Because I didn't have enough
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  paper So I thought I'd make fun of how great you are.
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  Check this out. We can it it it.
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  This is your success. You see what I'm saying?
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  So when you see all that, these are, these are unbelievable
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  events. Now, out of all the
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  conversations I've ever done, I got to you and I went.
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  My Lord, you've done it all, although you're still so young.
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  What are the things that are on your radar first and foremost
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  that you still want to win, that somehow is not on that 2 foot
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  long list that you've already done?
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  There, honestly, there's a lot. I mean because there's a lot
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  that I haven't really got to compete in, you know and and
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  Indy 500 is obviously an easy one to talk about we're.
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  Going to talk about that. Yeah I would love to win that
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  but I'm I'm really just happy to be able to race it.
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  But then even you know I've I've been lucky enough to accomplish
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  a lot on the dirt side of things.
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  But again I mean there's not much I've competed in.
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  I think I ran the National Open once at Williams Grove.
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  I would love to win that test score 50.
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  You know I've only got to run that a couple times you know
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  Houston's Jackson Nationals in the late model side.
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  There's a lot you know that I would love to be able to
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  accomplish you know someday I'm I'm happy that I've won you know
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  1 crown jewel with the Crater classic.
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  But you know, if I could someday win the dream, the world, the
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  Show Me 100, the, you know, the list goes on and on.
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  There's so many big races. I'm laughing because most
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  drivers are like, I want to win the NASCAR this and you're over
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  here and I'm a dirt racer, so you know, we're kind of like,
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  you know, Prairie dirt classic. That's Fairberry.
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  Now, I mean there's there's definitely stuff in in NASCAR as
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  well. There's just less races.
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  Yeah, there's less, you know, marquee events, You know, the
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  Brickyard 400 would be cool. Daytona 500, I'm trying to
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  think, I mean, those might be the only two like marquee events
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  that are left on the NASCAR side that I would love to win.
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  I mean, I want to win at every racetrack.
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  That'd be great. I won.
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  I wanted Martinsville, which is unbelievable to me.
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  So that one feels like a like a crown jewel.
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  But I don't know. There's just that there's a lot,
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  and there's probably a lot that's not even on my radar as
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  of right now. Because, you know, who knows
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  where my life and career might go?
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  You know, 15 years from now when hopefully I'm still somewhere
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  close to my prime? And what other?
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  You know, racing might pop up, but 24 Hour Lamal would be fun
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  to run someday. And stuff like.
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  That, you know, I think fortunately for me, I think I
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  could have the opportunity to compete in a lot of big events.
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  But yeah, we just have to you kind of wait and see.
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  It's tough right now. You know, when I'm running every
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  weekend for points in the Cup Series, it's it's hard to go hit
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  all those big races. So let's let's have fun now.
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  I just wanted to establish you and everything that you've
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  already done. I think everybody would have
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  loved to have been a family on the wall.
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  When you told your coroner, Mr. H, Rick Hendrick, how did you
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  put the deal together? Tell me the moment.
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  Give me some details. How did you say Rick?
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  You need to let me race whatever I want to race.
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  Wow. So I mean it was, you know, I I
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  lost my job and all that in 2020 and I had, you know, went back
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  to dirt racing and had had a phenomenal season.
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  And I don't know, I think it was like June or July.
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  Jeff Gordon called me. He's like, hey, Mr. H says he
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  wants to meet with you. And I I have no idea what it's
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  about but you just need to get to Charlotte so we can go meet
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  with him. And I was I was at Port Royal
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  racing the Sprint car you know two day weekend that that
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  weekend and drove my bus because I was living in my motorhome
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  basically you know on the road racing for like 7 weeks at a
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  time. So I think that ended A7 week
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  stretch on the road. So we drove back to our place in
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  North Carolina all night. Then I drove down to, you know,
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  meet up with Jeff and Rick and yeah, basically the conversation
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  was going great and and he was saying how he missed seeing me
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  race in NASCAR and loves my style.
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  And it would really love to have me on his team.
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  And obviously I was excited about that.
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  And at the end of it he's like, well, is there anything that you
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  want? And you know, me, I was really
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  nervous just because you know, I had no real leg to stand on with
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  everything that went on with me. And I was just like I would
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  really love to keep racing this dirt stuff expecting him because
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  you know with with Hendrick Motorsports history, you know
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  they didn't really want their drivers running stuff outside of
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  NASCAR. So I was expecting him to kind
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  of laugh at me and and or or just, you know or kind of get
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  upset and say my focus wasn't where it needed to be and stuff
• 17:49
  like that. But you thankfully yeah.
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  I mean he was all good with it. You know, Jeff had, you know,
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  stepped in kind of right away and said that, you know, they
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  were changing their brand a little bit and and what they do
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  with their drivers and and they would be OK with it.
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  So yeah, never in a million years would I think that one, I
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  would be racing at Hendrick Motorsports and two, while
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  racing at Hendrick Motorsports be able to run whatever I wanted
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  to whenever I wanted to. They literally, they literally
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  never said no. You'll have to get permission
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  for all these races that I run and they have never said no.
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  And two, it's funny, you know, Cliff Daniel's like Khrushchev.
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  He's like a lot of times he's the one who's like, you need to
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  go race this race or you need to go do this, do that. 2021, I
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  think it was we are, you know, I wasn't going to run the National
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  Open because it was during NASCAR weekend and he, I can't
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  remember how it went. But he was like, you know are
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  you running National Open? I was like, no, you know it's in
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  the playoffs and this and that. He's like, no, you need to, you
• 18:53
  need to go there. You need to race.
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  You need to try to win that race.
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  So I think we've finished second.
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  So yeah, that's this is really cool to have the support of of
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  Cliff and Jeff and Rick and Jeff Andrews checking out like all of
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  them, you know, let me go kind of do what I want to do, which
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  is, which is awesome. Yeah.
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  So psychologically has the team has Jeff or Rick or your crew
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  chief, have they? Do they They feel like by giving
• 19:23
  you that freedom that keeps you keep some of this energy level?
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  You know, you could be holed up in the motorhome on a Friday,
• 19:33
  Saturday night, but you go run the dirt car or you go run
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  something like that. Does everybody think you're
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  better because you you go run the dirt car and you're not
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  sitting in the motorhome on Friday and Saturday night?
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  I. Mean I haven't really had that
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  conversation with them but I would assume that well first
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  I'll say I'm sure they would be happy or happier if I wasn't
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  racing every weekend or every weekday.
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  But I think they're allowing me to still do it.
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  So I think they believe in it like I do.
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  I I think it there's a balance that goes along with it.
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  Like I think you know there's a side that keeps me competitive,
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  keeps me race in racing situations keeps me learning all
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  of that. But then I mean I can't lie like
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  there's times of the year I'm I'm burnt out and I'm, I'm wore
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  out and. I just want to go home and
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  sleep. But you know, I'm got to go race
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  this race because once I commit to race, like I don't.
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  I don't like to, you know, say that I, oh, I'm tired.
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  I I can't go do it, you know, because the guys that I'm racing
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  for, Paul Silva, Kevin Rumley, like they're doing this for a
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  living. So when I'm not racing, I'm not
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  making them money. So once I commit, I want, I want
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  to commit, but it's definitely a balance.
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  I mean middle of the summer when I'm never home, like I get wore
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  out, you know, there's been a couple of times like last year,
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  you know, I could tell Cliff was frustrated with you know, me
• 20:54
  getting getting in late and having me up early and you know
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  a little bit tired and and I I feel like I'm always focused on
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  racing. But you know when when you have
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  that, you know an average race or something, it's easy to you
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  know, point that, you know, maybe you weren't 100% prepared
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  for the the race or whatever. But in my eyes, you know when
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  I'm racing all the time, like that's all I care about and I'm
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  and I'm focused on it all. I want to win every race.
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  I run all of that. So no, I it's it's like I said
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  it's a balance. But I I think more than anything
• 21:29
  it helps me overall, which is good.
• 21:31
  I feel like Rick is not just a champion, but I mean he's he
• 21:37
  seems to be a great human being and he hedged his bet and he and
• 21:42
  he became a champion. He said do whatever you want to
• 21:45
  do and you've already done everything for him.
• 21:47
  So I think he came out the winner.
• 21:49
  And it looks to me, you know, from my standpoint everybody
• 21:53
  received what they want out of the deal.
• 21:55
  Congratulations. I was your biggest fan during
• 21:59
  that time and I just think it's awesome.
• 22:02
  So one little one little bitty thing that I have wrote down
• 22:06
  here. How in the world, what plane,
• 22:10
  what planes, plural. I mean you'll you'll be at the
• 22:14
  Knoxville Nationals and you got to be in loud New Hampshire the
• 22:17
  next morning. What kind of travel are you
• 22:20
  organizing to do doing all this? Yeah, it's so.
• 22:25
  I do most of my logistics on my own.
• 22:31
  So I mean, I try to fly commercial as much as possible.
• 22:35
  I would say half the time at least I'm probably flying
• 22:37
  commercial to races. Martin shirks junior, he has a
• 22:41
  charter service through his aviation company so I I use that
• 22:46
  a fair amount. They're pretty cost effective.
• 22:50
  And then this past year you know for our high limit races, the
• 22:55
  midweek shows a lot of times we would take the Hendrick team
• 22:58
  plane. I would pay for that and that
• 23:01
  way we could take because of a lot of our employees this past
• 23:05
  season. You are located in, you know
• 23:07
  North Carolina. So we worked out you know, that
• 23:10
  we could all, you know fly together to the racetrack and
• 23:12
  and do our jobs and get home the same night, which is great.
• 23:16
  Currently I am in the the market of buying my own plane just for
• 23:21
  the logistics of of how much simpler it would be and I've
• 23:24
  gone 10 years of Cup racing without owning a plane.
• 23:27
  So I feel like I've done it. Yeah.
• 23:30
  I feel like, you know I I've done a a fair fair job of not,
• 23:35
  you know, wasting money and private flights or or private
• 23:39
  you know, stuff is is really expensive but you know the time
• 23:44
  is money and the convenience factor and all that.
• 23:47
  I think I'm getting to the point, my wife's getting the
• 23:48
  point you know where we have three kids.
• 23:51
  Like it's a lot you know to race as often as I do travel as much
• 23:56
  as we do and and you know I think we're to the point where
• 24:00
  you know convenience and all that that means means a lot.
• 24:04
  So we're definitely the market right now and I'm excited about
• 24:06
  that. You know it's like I said we've
• 24:08
  gone 10 years of of you know doing it, you know a good way.
• 24:13
  I'm ready to make life easier on all of us.
• 24:16
  My children would get roughed up years ago about me being a
• 24:19
  NASCAR driver. And I told my kids I said never
• 24:22
  apologize for your dad working his butt off.
• 24:25
  And you know, we had a King Air 200, We had a motorhome.
• 24:30
  It it just Kyle, you know I was doing so many appearances for
• 24:33
  Square DI justified buying an airplane because I was gone
• 24:37
  every week. You know, taking care of
• 24:39
  sponsors. But I agree with your wife, you
• 24:42
  know, it's not just you. It's definitely a family affair
• 24:46
  and she's a superstar. Your kids are too.
• 24:49
  We all love watching you. It's it's so much fun kind of
• 24:53
  watching your show. So let's Speaking of a show.
• 24:58
  I think that's a show in itself right there.
• 25:00
  Just the Larson's loading up, going to New Vader.
• 25:06
  Yeah, if you could, if you could bus around for trip, whether it
• 25:11
  be to vacation or racetrack, whatever it's it'd be, it'd be a
• 25:16
  good reality show, comedy show, whatever.
• 25:18
  It's it's stressful. It's stressful for sure, But I
• 25:22
  enjoy having the family around and too.
• 25:24
  I mean, I also, I enjoy getting to go race, you know, by myself
• 25:28
  some as well. You know, they don't go to every
• 25:30
  race, but it's it's a nice getaway sometimes, you know,
• 25:33
  from the crazy life at home to go to go race, which racing's
• 25:36
  always, you know, really relaxing to me.
• 25:38
  So, but I do it. I enjoy them coming and and
• 25:42
  experience it all and it's just tough.
• 25:44
  You know, as our kids are getting older, they're kind of
• 25:46
  into their own activities, so they don't get to go as much
• 25:48
  anymore. Let's switch gears.
• 25:52
  We'd be shorting your fans if we didn't and we're going to get
• 25:54
  back to dirt racing. We're we're going to talk about
• 25:57
  High Limit in a minute and Chili Bowl and Australia.
• 26:01
  But we got to cover some of the the big stuff first.
• 26:05
  You are going to race the Indy 500 this year.
• 26:09
  Hendrick Motorsports McLaren. Can you just shed a little bit
• 26:14
  of light on? I mean we watched your play out.
• 26:18
  We watched you fit your seat. We watched you test.
• 26:22
  Where are you at right now in the whole Indianapolis 500
• 26:26
  situation? Right now there, there really
• 26:30
  hasn't been much going on. You know, I had heard rumblings
• 26:33
  about maybe getting to do a test at Phoenix, but I think that's
• 26:37
  kind of came and went. But I believe there's an open
• 26:42
  test in the beginning of April or something that I'm definitely
• 26:45
  doing at the Speedway. So that'll be my first time on
• 26:48
  track, you know, with other cars on the track.
• 26:52
  So we'd be nice to kind of get into a situation where, you
• 26:56
  know, people are passing me or I get to pass somebody, you know,
• 26:58
  stuff like that to try and just get me a little bit more up to
• 27:01
  speed before we get to the month of May.
• 27:04
  But yeah, I don't know, I just been training this offseason.
• 27:07
  You know, there's a gym here in Scottsdale where we're at that I
• 27:10
  I go to. So the IndyCar stuff was
• 27:13
  definitely a little more. It definitely takes a little bit
• 27:15
  more strength than than the stock car.
• 27:20
  So yeah, just trying to be ready on that side of things and
• 27:24
  you've been watching on board stuff, just trying to just learn
• 27:28
  any any little thing really. So but yeah, I'm excited about
• 27:33
  it. It's, I don't know, I I try not
• 27:36
  to think about it too much because I feel like it's going
• 27:38
  to make the time feel like it takes forever to get to the
• 27:41
  month of May. But for sure, I mean I'm excited
• 27:43
  to get there, decided to get racing.
• 27:46
  I mean, honestly nervous as well.
• 27:49
  I think it'd be hard not to be nervous about, you know, going
• 27:52
  220 or 245 and qualifying and all that.
• 27:57
  So, But you know, I know I'm with a great team.
• 28:01
  I'm proud that Rick Hendricks involved in it as well.
• 28:04
  I think, you know, if you had asked him four years ago if he
• 28:08
  would ever be a part of any 500, he'd probably say heck now, so.
• 28:12
  He's a chance for Rick to go to Victor Lane because you very
• 28:17
  much can win this. So when you were doing your
• 28:20
  testing and you just mentioned being more physical, I would
• 28:24
  assume that's in the G Force, but what are some of the things
• 28:28
  that caught you off guard surprise you riding the IndyCar?
• 28:34
  Yeah, I mean there, it really wasn't too surprised.
• 28:38
  Like nothing was too surprising to me.
• 28:41
  And the physical part of it stuff was, you know, the GS are
• 28:44
  not really like a little bit like I did notice you know, a
• 28:47
  couple, you know, a few times like in the corners, like if you
• 28:50
  exhaled before you turned in the corner, it was like hard to kind
• 28:53
  of like inhale while you're in the corner.
• 28:55
  But it wasn't, it wasn't a, you know, Wilder or a bunch, but
• 28:58
  it's definitely more than a stock car.
• 29:00
  Like, I've never noticed that before really in any anything
• 29:02
  that I've driven. So just the weight on your body
• 29:06
  and lungs, you know, the cockpits are so small.
• 29:10
  Like everything I've ever ran has rib supports.
• 29:12
  There's not much rib support in there.
• 29:14
  It's like when you get in the corner, like your core wants to,
• 29:16
  you know, shift over some down the straightaways and even down
• 29:20
  pit lane. Honestly, like the cars want to
• 29:23
  pull left on their own, like really hard.
• 29:25
  So you're like, always kind of turning right a little bit in
• 29:28
  like for whatever reason, my thumb, my thumbs would get, you
• 29:31
  know, kind of cramped up and tight.
• 29:33
  But with each run it got, you know, I think I was just maybe
• 29:36
  tensed up. But with each run it got, you
• 29:38
  know, a little bit easier. So yeah, I don't know.
• 29:42
  We'll see. I'm sure by the time you get
• 29:44
  your 2 1/2 weeks of track time, your body and and muscles and
• 29:48
  muscle memory and all that will be pretty dialed in.
• 29:51
  But yeah, it it's definitely, it's definitely different.
• 29:54
  You know, they don't have power steering, all that.
• 29:58
  So yeah, it's it's it's its own way different than anything I've
• 30:02
  I've driven before, but it's it's pretty cool.
• 30:06
  I'm going to call an audible right now.
• 30:09
  I feel like it is mouthy as I've been my whole life and I I grew
• 30:13
  up hyperactive and but I do have the ability to listen really
• 30:18
  well and we're going to call an audible right now.
• 30:20
  Just listen to you explain some things.
• 30:23
  How the hell did you start start racing?
• 30:25
  I I mean, you don't really have anybody.
• 30:29
  I mean, did family, I never heard of anybody.
• 30:32
  Did you start racing by yourself?
• 30:35
  Some I'm first generation racer, but my my parents are massive
• 30:41
  race fans. Probably the biggest race fans I
• 30:43
  think anybody can know and they my my dad's been that way his
• 30:47
  whole life. But you know him and my mom
• 30:49
  started dating in their teenage years and and went to W Capitol
• 30:53
  Raceway and you know he got her into it.
• 30:56
  She became, you know, addicted to racing.
• 30:58
  And my dad actually grew up just a few doors down from Tim Green.
• 31:02
  So you know, he kind of, like I said, has been around it his
• 31:05
  whole life And my dad likes to build things and you know, build
• 31:10
  slot cars, go karts, all that. So you know him and his buddies
• 31:14
  would always go race, go karts, just fun karts.
• 31:16
  And you know, he built me a go Kart when I was like 4 and got
• 31:21
  to play around and out a little bit.
• 31:23
  And then we bought my first go Kart from Kyle Hurst, who just
• 31:30
  lived, you know, a few blocks away from us or neighborhoods
• 31:33
  away from us. And yeah, we started going
• 31:36
  racing ever since then. So yeah, I was seven I guess at
• 31:40
  that time and ran go karts, outlaw karts for full time every
• 31:45
  week, you know, two nights a week basically till I was 14,
• 31:49
  then got into Sprint cars. So unbelievable.
• 31:52
  You know we hear of Al Unser junior, Al Unser senior.
• 31:57
  You know, Bobby Unser, Michael Andretti, Mario Andretti and
• 32:01
  here you are. That is very rare.
• 32:04
  I, you know, I guess in some way you're a little bit like Tony or
• 32:08
  even Kenny. Well, Kenny Schrader's dad was
• 32:10
  was Bill and raced locally, but that is actually very amazing to
• 32:17
  me. Now, when you started racing,
• 32:20
  help me out in kind of order here.
• 32:23
  Did you Enrico Abreu come up a little bit together?
• 32:27
  I mean I see the videos are everywhere, you and him running
• 32:32
  the little vineyard racetrack there did.
• 32:35
  Was he one of your friends that you started racing with?
• 32:37
  So, no, I mean he would. He started his career late, like
• 32:43
  he was maybe 15 or 16. Maybe that's funny, I.
• 32:50
  Was so yeah. So I raced go karts from a la
• 32:54
  cars from 7:00 to I was 14. I got into Sprint cars.
• 32:58
  I was racing for Dave and Debbie Virtulo and yeah, we somehow I
• 33:04
  don't I can't remember how it all happened or worked but Rico
• 33:06
  had this nice you know I hadn't met him yet.
• 33:09
  But they're you know we're putting on this little
• 33:13
  exhibition race at their vineyard track that they have
• 33:16
  there in Saint Helena. So a bunch of us were going
• 33:19
  there. I don't know.
• 33:19
  There's probably 20 of us maybe. And yeah, that was the first
• 33:24
  night I believe I met Rico and and then, yeah, quickly after
• 33:29
  that we became really good friends.
• 33:32
  You know, Rich Stadelhoffer, who, you know, does a lot of
• 33:34
  work with the Abreu's. He started sponsoring our Sprint
• 33:38
  car. So I think that was probably,
• 33:41
  that was probably the third year I was racing.
• 33:43
  So I was probably, yeah, like close to 17.
• 33:46
  And then, yeah, Dave Abreu and Rich Stadelhoffer, they're
• 33:49
  really good, really big for my career.
• 33:51
  You know, Staddle off first started sponsoring the 83 V that
• 33:53
  I was running. Then, you know, he helped us
• 33:56
  transition to racing for the cading family of the following
• 33:59
  year, which I think Then Rico, the second year I was probably
• 34:05
  cading. So Rico probably started running
• 34:06
  for cadings in 2011, maybe 10. I was.
• 34:10
  I was there with the cadings in 2010.
• 34:13
  I I think Rico wasn't there until 11.
• 34:16
  So then, yeah, then we were kind of like, you know, best friends,
• 34:20
  you know, like team mates in a way.
• 34:22
  You know, his 2012, I started getting like actually race for
• 34:28
  David, you and their Indiana stuff with Dave Davy Jones.
• 34:33
  So I ran their nominee car, which is a, you know, a fun
• 34:36
  story. I guess we can get into that
• 34:38
  later if you want. And then that transitioned into
• 34:42
  him owning a bunch of wing Sprint car stuff for us.
• 34:45
  And I ran, Yeah, for them. For, I don't know, 2012 and 13.
• 34:50
  I think the first time I really watched you air it out, you and
• 34:55
  I were in the middle of Arizona somewhere.
• 34:58
  You were in an open wheel. Mitt Peoria, AZ, Great Canyon.
• 35:02
  Canyon, yeah. Well, you were.
• 35:04
  I thought I saw you at the pit gate.
• 35:07
  You were just getting known. I looked at you and gave you a
• 35:10
  big compliment and man, you aired that thing out and you,
• 35:14
  you and those open will midgets. Your ability to not make them
• 35:20
  bike is more amazing to me. People will flip a lot.
• 35:24
  And then drivers like you do, you have, what do you do when a
• 35:30
  track's rough and everybody's flipping?
• 35:33
  What do you do? What kind of driving talent do
• 35:36
  you use to defend to not make it bike?
• 35:41
  You got to run the shit out of it.
• 35:43
  When it's run it across the is that what you do really I.
• 35:46
  Mean you can't slide into it, but you got to have your speed,
• 35:50
  your wheel spin I think I feel like, I mean depending on how it
• 35:53
  is you got to run. You got to run into it quick and
• 35:57
  and be loaded. I feel like with the brake pedal
• 35:59
  some but you can't be erratic with your feet because then you
• 36:02
  get the car kind of going crazy. But yeah, I I love when it's
• 36:07
  when it's heavy and rough because usually the guys that
• 36:11
  aired out like you said and and run harder than others, you know
• 36:14
  their cars operate a little bit better and and they're faster.
• 36:18
  So I I'm always smiling when I see it.
• 36:21
  You know, there's a plane delay or something and we know we
• 36:25
  consider racing because I I feel like that's, you know, where I
• 36:29
  can have a big advantage over over, you know, majority of the
• 36:32
  field. That's interesting what you
• 36:34
  said. I want to dive into that just a
• 36:36
  little bit more because I got a friend in town his name's Mike
• 36:40
  Harrison and when a track is just we just junk he he leaves
• 36:46
  us all. I mean he's he's the best there
• 36:48
  is and I and I feel like you know that's that's when you
• 36:54
  guys. I mean, when I first started
• 36:56
  dirt racing, I was like 44 years old.
• 37:00
  And I'm like, I'd see the track just destroyed and I'm like, Oh
• 37:02
  my God. But you and Mike thrive on that
• 37:06
  stuff. And do you feel like it's.
• 37:10
  I mean, is it, is it down here? Is it playing the piano, loading
• 37:13
  like you're saying? Do you load the brake and gas?
• 37:16
  And I mean it's nothing like like I would think that what I
• 37:19
  do right now is, you know, I go in on the right front because I
• 37:23
  don't want the right rear to see first.
• 37:25
  Yeah, yeah. I mean I think it all just
• 37:28
  depends like I'm I'm just I'm picturing kind of one layer on
• 37:32
  the bottom smoother and then there's like some rough
• 37:35
  choppiness through the middle and you can go way above it,
• 37:38
  find you know some a lot of grip and smoother surface or
• 37:42
  whatever. But run through the holes, Yeah,
• 37:44
  I mean, I think you definitely can't hit it two sideways, but
• 37:47
  you got to get your wheel spin up as much as you can, which
• 37:52
  takes a lot of confidence. I think, you know, like entering
• 37:55
  card, but you got to enter straight.
• 37:58
  I feel like all of that. So I don't know.
• 38:02
  There's definitely a handful guys that got it figured out.
• 38:05
  I really don't know like what my driving style is.
• 38:07
  It's. Just God-given talent.
• 38:09
  You you adjust in the millisecond, don't you?
• 38:13
  I guess I don't. Like, I I'm really, really bad
• 38:17
  at like, you know, drivers will come over.
• 38:18
  Like, what are you doing? You know, how are you using
• 38:20
  brake? Are you lifting this and that?
• 38:22
  Or like me trying to coach Owen? Like, I'm terrible at it because
• 38:25
  I don't pay attention to what I'm doing.
• 38:27
  I'm just doing it, I guess. But yeah, I don't know.
• 38:32
  I'm a terrible coach. It's all good.
• 38:34
  I I understand you're you're just going and doing and these
• 38:38
  are these are God-given talents that we do so dirt racers.
• 38:44
  I find them really interesting. You know I I grew up around dirt
• 38:49
  we raced Tri-City Speedway Granite City, IL.
• 38:52
  My dad Russ my brother Mike Rusty went to USAC right away.
• 38:58
  We raced you know AJ Floyd in stock cars.
• 39:01
  We don't see them anymore. I don't want to be long winded
• 39:05
  here but I got to tell you why I'm asking this question.
• 39:09
  It seemed like when I came up, everybody loved NASCAR.
• 39:14
  NASCAR, I mean, I love NASCAR and I wanted to go NASCAR and I
• 39:20
  started in asphalt because I knew that's how I could make a
• 39:25
  living. Nowadays I see some drivers like
• 39:31
  a Bobby Pierce, my dear friend Nick Hoffman.
• 39:37
  Now we got Ricky Thornton, so I want to say this and I I need
• 39:41
  your response. So I had to set you up so badly
• 39:45
  and I and I hope and Ricky tells me he listens.
• 39:50
  I want to say Ricky Thornton, you've got so much talent that
• 39:53
  it's time for you to go NASCAR because I feel like if you just
• 39:57
  ran it five years, you'd make so much money that you wouldn't
• 40:01
  have to worry about it again. So the there seems to be like
• 40:06
  some drivers. Don't like NASCAR?
• 40:11
  What? What would you say to like a
• 40:13
  Ricky Thornton right now? I don't want to see him go all
• 40:16
  the way to 40 years old. I'd like to see Ricky try to
• 40:19
  make it NASCAR and get that big hit.
• 40:23
  What do you what do you think about everything I just said?
• 40:27
  Well, I mean, I don't think Ricky would make as much money
• 40:30
  in five years as he is racing. You know, dirt stuff.
• 40:34
  So. That's good stuff right there.
• 40:36
  Yeah, no, honestly, I feel like you've got to think it's going
• 40:40
  to take him five years or so to make it to the Cup Series.
• 40:43
  So, and even when you get to the Cup Series like these days, I
• 40:47
  guarantee Ricky Thornton's making more than half the
• 40:50
  drivers are so. Probably that's a quote right
• 40:54
  there. Oh, no, I, I, I, I would I mean
• 40:59
  he's probably my age, right, 3132, like what's the point?
• 41:04
  Like just keep doing what you're doing and and all that.
• 41:08
  I mean I think you know for for really young guys who have who
• 41:12
  have a runway of of racing like then yeah.
• 41:15
  I mean if you can you know you can go try and try and you know
• 41:20
  grind it out and make it for you know four or five years.
• 41:23
  And if it doesn't work out you can still go back and have a
• 41:26
  great career in dirt. But you know, right now Ricky's
• 41:28
  in his prime and and that's almost probably too late to to
• 41:32
  try and make it to the Cubs here.
• 41:34
  So yeah, I don't know. And two, I don't know if that's
• 41:39
  really where his interests are at or or if that's where they
• 41:43
  were at. I'm trying to make the NASCAR.
• 41:44
  I think anybody would take the opportunity if given to them,
• 41:48
  but I don't know. It's just it's tough.
• 41:51
  There's not many seats. It's not guaranteed to make it.
• 41:54
  It doesn't matter, you know how good you are.
• 41:56
  Things got to line up the right way.
• 41:58
  You can't just go plug somebody in a mid pack Xfinity car and go
• 42:03
  you know, win races. It's really hard to, it's really
• 42:07
  hard for me to tell who's talented and and payment stuff.
• 42:10
  So, but no, I think Ricky's doing just fine how he is.
• 42:15
  I mean the guy just made or his car made like $1,000,000 or more
• 42:19
  than that this year. So that's just racing, you know,
• 42:23
  that's something to talk about merchandise and all that.
• 42:25
  So he's doing just fine. You know, when I started racing
• 42:29
  in NASCAR, you know everybody, we were making millions of
• 42:34
  dollars a year and kidding, conversation is just about
• 42:40
  information, right? I mean, me, I'm making, I was
• 42:43
  making millions of dollars a year and I'm good to go.
• 42:46
  And I look at some of my dirt racing friends and I worry about
• 42:49
  them, but I guess it's not my job, you know?
• 42:52
  I'm always talking to Gordy Gundaker and Nick Hoffman.
• 42:59
  The reason I said that, the reason I just told you that I
• 43:02
  was making millions back then I was bringing my own sponsors,
• 43:06
  Square D, all that. But I guess it's true.
• 43:11
  Do NASCAR cup drivers just make a lot less money Now?
• 43:15
  I've, I've been hearing that. Yeah man I don't know
• 43:18
  everybody's deal but I mean you still have your your top tier
• 43:23
  drivers that probably still are not making anywhere near what
• 43:26
  Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon or anything like that.
• 43:30
  But you're still I mean I make a really good living like I'm
• 43:33
  totally happy with with my contract and and all that but
• 43:37
  it's still not to nearly the level probably not close to even
• 43:42
  half of maybe what Jimmy was getting paid in his heyday.
• 43:45
  But I'm still, I know I'm making way more than than a good
• 43:50
  majority of the field you know. So I just, I just, I don't know,
• 43:55
  it's just I think I don't really know what to think, but I think
• 43:59
  a lot of guys are just happy to say they're a Cup Series driver
• 44:02
  and they don't care. They just want to be there and
• 44:04
  racing on Sundays and that just hurts the whole overall you know
• 44:11
  I guess driver side of it and trying to have leverage for for
• 44:15
  some of these drivers to make more money.
• 44:17
  So I mean, yeah, there's there's, I bet you the top four
• 44:23
  drivers in the world Outlaw Sprint Car Series are making
• 44:26
  more money than, you know, a third to half of the Cup Series
• 44:32
  guys, probably half the Cup Series guys.
• 44:34
  So yeah, that's pretty crazy to think about.
• 44:38
  But yeah, everybody chooses their own, their own route, I
• 44:41
  guess. Yeah, it it's changed a lot.
• 44:44
  Do do you think, do you think yourself and Christopher Bell
• 44:49
  are sort of the last of the Mohicans?
• 44:51
  You know, there's an old story out there, the very last of the
• 44:54
  Indians. You'll never see them again.
• 44:56
  I mean, do you ever think we'll see?
• 44:58
  You know, I mean, you and Christopher had this God-given
• 45:02
  talent. You made it.
• 45:03
  You made it in NASCAR. From listening to you right now,
• 45:07
  it it it sounds to me like that it's getting harder.
• 45:11
  I wouldn't say it's getting harder, no.
• 45:13
  I mean, at least I don't. I don't personally believe it's
• 45:16
  any harder nowadays to make it to the Cup Series than it was
• 45:20
  when I came in in 2012. I think the best, maybe not all
• 45:26
  the best drivers make it to the Cup Series.
• 45:27
  But you know, if you've Got Talent, you can make it to the
• 45:33
  Cup Series. So and and without bringing a
• 45:35
  dime. I believe so you know if you if
• 45:39
  you're young I I believe you need to be young I mean Josh
• 45:42
  Berry he's he's he's made it you know and he's older than I am.
• 45:47
  But yeah I mean if you're if you're young and you're kicking
• 45:50
  ass and winning races like you don't need to bring money and
• 45:54
  and that's I I do get. I do get annoyed and a little
• 45:57
  frustrated when I hear people say oh you have to bring
• 45:59
  millions of dollars and this and that.
• 46:02
  No you don't you know you you can still if you if you show
• 46:06
  that you're really good and you represent A-Team and sponsors
• 46:10
  and companies and all that good. You don't need to bring
• 46:13
  anything. You don't need to have a rich
• 46:14
  dad. I hate hearing about rich dads
• 46:17
  and all this. If you've Got Talent you can
• 46:19
  make it. So yeah.
• 46:23
  Rick Hendrick, he wants the best drivers in his car.
• 46:25
  Rodger Penske wants the best drivers in his car.
• 46:28
  Joe Gibbs wants the best drivers in their car.
• 46:30
  So they're going, if you've Got Talent, you you can make it so
• 46:35
  it doesn't. It doesn't take money in my
• 46:37
  opinion. So that sets me up for this.
• 46:40
  And I'm sure you knew this was coming.
• 46:44
  You were doing something You and your brother-in-law Brad Sweet I
• 46:48
  guess as I read it flow the app. So you tell tell me when I'm
• 46:53
  wrong. You, Brad Sweet, your
• 46:57
  brother-in-law and Flo you have started high Limit racing.
• 47:03
  I think it's awesome because you have the Lucas Oil Late Models
• 47:08
  right now. You've got the world of Outlaw
• 47:10
  Late Models right now, two series in World of Outlaw Late
• 47:14
  Models in Lucas Oil. They they've thrive together.
• 47:19
  It appears from reading everything is that you all are
• 47:23
  starting high limit racing so Sprint car racers can make a
• 47:27
  living. Your pay is going to be really
• 47:29
  good. Is that is that what that's
• 47:32
  about? I think that's the main goal for
• 47:35
  sure. For me, I mean, that's where the
• 47:37
  whole idea of of trying to start a series, you even back back
• 47:43
  before we started the National Series was.
• 47:45
  You know, I, and really, I mean I think once I went late model
• 47:48
  racing is when I realized that man like, 'cause I didn't pay
• 47:51
  any attention to late models. I read that.
• 47:54
  I was just like man, these guys are making really good money.
• 47:58
  I mean there is 2050 thousand 100,000 win races every other
• 48:03
  week it seems like and nowadays like every week we're Sprint
• 48:07
  cars like nobody paid attention all they were happy.
• 48:11
  I mean a $15,000 win race was like oh this is awesome and
• 48:16
  that's what late model guys racing for on the daily so and
• 48:21
  two you know I I really was you know when like there's no
• 48:27
  exclusivity I guess to late law racing like if you're an outlaw
• 48:30
  guy you can go run Lucas race if you're a Lucas guy you can go
• 48:33
  run outlaw races and Sprint cars is is controlled you know the
• 48:38
  outlaws you know they've done a really good job of of building
• 48:41
  their brand and especially on the Sprint car side and and you
• 48:44
  know controlling their drivers and and and too I mean they race
• 48:49
  a lot so there's not even a whole opportunity for them to go
• 48:51
  race other stuff But yeah I don't think outlawed drivers and
• 48:55
  teens we're aware that there was a freedom side of it on on the
• 48:59
  late model side so you know that was important to me but but
• 49:03
  really just when I see guys like Davenport and Overton and all
• 49:08
  them clearing $1,000,000 on a season and in the best Sprint
• 49:13
  car guy was like 600. I'm like man these are the this
• 49:18
  to me they're equal like equal series and racing like why can't
• 49:22
  you know Sprint car guys make that much money.
• 49:23
  So yeah RR you know we're trying to start the series to build the
• 49:29
  sport, have a little competition, you know raise
• 49:32
  purses, raise all of that. Make things you know easier on
• 49:36
  the teams on our side of things. You know like I mentioned
• 49:39
  freedom's a big factor trying to you know come up with a
• 49:44
  different business plan to with our charter system and all that
• 49:47
  to make car owners potentially make or have value with their
• 49:52
  race team down the road. So yeah just trying to just
• 49:56
  trying to adjust the game a little bit and and try and just
• 50:01
  make everybody make a little bit more money and and because this
• 50:04
  sport is super expensive and and right now I mean you know when
• 50:08
  you own in a team you're you just own assets you don't own
• 50:11
  anything other than that. So having, hopefully having some
• 50:14
  value to the team will mean something.
• 50:17
  I created controversy when, you know, we got this YouTube show
• 50:20
  and this is Kenny conversation. This is the mature side of me.
• 50:25
  Then we got the Kenny Wallace show where I say what I think
• 50:29
  now I don't, I don't try to, you know, hit the beehive.
• 50:32
  I don't, I don't try to create controversy.
• 50:34
  But when I was saying I, I did a Kenny Wallace show and I said
• 50:39
  dirt racers cannot make a living.
• 50:42
  Maybe, maybe the top three. After talking to your
• 50:46
  brother-in-law, he told me that I I created controversy.
• 50:51
  He said fans were coming up to him.
• 50:53
  Kenny Wallace says you can't make a living.
• 50:55
  Well, if you go back and watch my conversation, he says I was
• 50:59
  right. He said it's like the top three
• 51:01
  are running away, you know, with the Napa auto parts sponsorship,
• 51:06
  then you got 456. So I like what you're doing
• 51:12
  because number one, I believe dirt racers are very talented.
• 51:18
  The the great Dale Earnhardt senior, and you probably heard
• 51:22
  me say this before. Senior was a good friend of mine
• 51:25
  and I don't know why we got along, but he said to me one
• 51:29
  day, he said, Herman, there's thousands of great race car
• 51:33
  drivers all over the world. They all can't be NASCAR.
• 51:37
  They only start in 39 or 40. And there's thousands of good
• 51:41
  race car drivers in every county, every region.
• 51:44
  So I like what you're doing just for the fact that there's
• 51:49
  nothing wrong with two divisions.
• 51:53
  I'm really happy that you didn't make me look too bad and that
• 51:57
  you did agree your your high limit is is what it is high
• 52:02
  limit. You guys are going to get it on
• 52:05
  what do you know what what are? Do you have any idea what might
• 52:09
  be your marquee events this year?
• 52:12
  Like what are the big ones? We have, let's see, a handful of
• 52:17
  100,000 win races, got Skagit, Nationals, Gold Cup will be 100
• 52:23
  grand from, you know, it used to be 50.
• 52:26
  And then like the 2011, it went down to like 12 and it's creeped
• 52:31
  up to 20. So we're going 100 grand there.
• 52:34
  Eldora's 100 grand. We have the Tuscarora 50, I
• 52:37
  think that's like 75 grand maybe something like that.
• 52:42
  I'm missing a couple. We have we have a handful of big
• 52:46
  events and plus you know with the freedom side of it, you know
• 52:49
  we haven't, we haven't scheduled on top of the other you know big
• 52:52
  races that the Outlaws have. So you know if you're a high
• 52:55
  limit driver you can go I think compete in like 7 or 800,000 to
• 52:59
  win races. So yeah that's that's pretty
• 53:04
  awesome and and all that. So yeah like you know you could
• 53:08
  go around Houston's Knox, the Nationals, Kings Royal these
• 53:15
  might be the three. I think on the outlaw side you
• 53:16
  can run a national open. So yeah it's there's a lot of
• 53:21
  big races you know the Sprint car world these days and it's
• 53:25
  it's great to see it's it's really cool to see and more
• 53:27
  traveling teams than there's been in a long time.
• 53:30
  I think the Outlaws have like 11 or 12 currently committed.
• 53:33
  We have 16, I believe, with still hopefully a couple more
• 53:36
  coming. So yeah, it's it's pretty
• 53:40
  spectacular what's what's going on in the sprinkle world right
• 53:42
  now and I'm glad to be a part of it.
• 53:44
  I'm glad to feel like we're helping the sport long term to
• 53:48
  to move to the next level. And you know Brad and I and Flo,
• 53:51
  we all have a lot of big ideas on on how to make it even bigger
• 53:55
  and better. It's just you got to start out
• 53:57
  somewhere and you know this will rat.
• 54:00
  So yeah, I'm excited. We're only like a month away
• 54:02
  from from racing. So pretty, pretty wild.
• 54:06
  Yeah, I'm kind of a numbers guy. I, I look at, OK, the world of
• 54:09
  outlaw guys. You're going to have those guys,
• 54:12
  top guys making a living. Now you're going to have a high
• 54:14
  limit guys up there making a living.
• 54:15
  Now totality, we're going to have more wing dirt Sprint car
• 54:20
  drivers making a living because of you starting high limits.
• 54:24
  So good on good on you Kyle. You're paying it forward.
• 54:28
  And there's no doubt in my mind that your popularity, like Brad
• 54:32
  said, your brother-in-law, he paid a big compliment to you.
• 54:36
  You know, you bring the fans in, you're so good, they sell these
• 54:40
  places out to come see you. Hey, by the way, that that was
• 54:44
  not going to be a question. When they when you know, when
• 54:50
  you know in your heart there to see you, does that weigh on you
• 54:54
  at all or are you oblivious to it?
• 54:58
  I don't. Know.
• 54:59
  I mean I I think I try to stay oblivious to it's like focus on
• 55:03
  on racing but I mean I'll I'll like some.
• 55:07
  I just went and ran an outlaw Kart race, go Kart race at the
• 55:11
  track. I grew up racing at Red Bluff.
• 55:13
  You know it was. Awesome.
• 55:14
  Four weeks ago. And I mean, the crowd wasn't
• 55:18
  that big, I thought. But like, you know, I'm standing
• 55:21
  there watching Owen race here because I was there racing.
• 55:23
  They're like, look at this place.
• 55:24
  Like it hasn't been this packed super.
• 55:27
  Yeah, I'm like. And they're like, it's 'cause
• 55:30
  you're here, I'm like, what? Like I didn't even notice.
• 55:32
  So but no, that mean that makes me feel good, like cause a lot
• 55:36
  of those fans there I guarantee had never been to an outlaw Kart
• 55:39
  race. But they probably got grandkids
• 55:41
  or kids or or whatever. And and you know, probably maybe
• 55:47
  a handful of them went home and you know Christmas is coming up
• 55:49
  and maybe they maybe they bought their own, you know, go Kart or
• 55:52
  or whatever. So that that sort of stuff does
• 55:55
  make me feel good you know going to these race tracks and
• 55:59
  whatever and and seeing the crowds big I I don't know when
• 56:03
  you're there like who knows you know how much I'm really helping
• 56:05
  the crowd but it's it's neat. So I I just I just really like
• 56:12
  to feel like I'm making an impact on the sport again going
• 56:15
  back to like Tony Stewart you know it's it's very similar like
• 56:18
  what him in case he were doing when they're in their primes
• 56:21
  their NASCAR career and you know moving the needle for for what I
• 56:25
  love is is their track racing is is really great.
• 56:29
  Those outlaw carts, those are really popular.
• 56:31
  My, my son-in-law, Brody, Pompey.
• 56:34
  He married my youngest daughter. He didn't really know what he
• 56:38
  wanted to do in life, but he's building them right here in my
• 56:42
  shop now. Just started.
• 56:43
  He's headed to Oklahoma tonight. Fusion carts.
• 56:48
  These outlaw carts, I feel like, did they start out there on the
• 56:53
  West Coast? They're like go karts with
• 56:57
  motorcycle motors on wings. They're fast.
• 57:00
  Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, it originated in Red
• 57:03
  Bluff, at the Red Bluff Outlaws, I don't know, 30-40 years at 40,
• 57:09
  probably close to 40 years ago. But yeah, kind of it's really
• 57:14
  like it was really big on the West Coast at Red Bluff Cycling.
• 57:16
  But they, you know, they're also in Oregon or Idaho a little bit,
• 57:20
  you know, other tracks in California and I'd say, I don't
• 57:24
  know, 15 ish years ago it started kind of sprinkle outside
• 57:28
  of either the western region and the Iowa, you know, they had a
• 57:33
  big, big races there outside of Knoxville, English Creek
• 57:36
  Speedway, you know, then it got big in North Carolina for a
• 57:41
  little while, like really big in North Carolina for a little
• 57:43
  while. And then the micros have kind of
• 57:44
  taken over at Millbridge. But yeah, no, it's it's cool it
• 57:49
  it's there. Outlaw carts are about as wild
• 57:53
  of a race car as you can get in. They shake.
• 57:55
  They made my eyes vibrate. Yeah, yeah, you get into like a
• 57:59
  2 stroke, 500CC engine, like your legs are numb, your heads.
• 58:04
  I know you use a big steering wheel.
• 58:06
  Does that help? I don't use a big steering, I I
• 58:09
  use whatever is normal. But I do like when I run outlaw
• 58:12
  cart stuff. Now I would say the last seven
• 58:14
  or eight years I'm I'm a really big four stroke guy.
• 58:18
  I I really like because you can run either a 2 stroke 500 or you
• 58:21
  can run like a four stroke you know 450.
• 58:25
  I don't know what the rules are but up to like a 520 something 4
• 58:28
  stroke and four strokes to me are just smoother.
• 58:32
  Like it just feels like like a more national race car.
• 58:35
  Like you can throttle it. Like the two strokes are
• 58:37
  explosive and you got to use the clutch a lot and four stroke you
• 58:41
  can just throttle and so I I really like running the four
• 58:45
  stroke but like an indoor track at Red Bluff everybody swears
• 58:48
  that the two strokes, 2 strokes stuffs way better I think.
• 58:52
  But the four strokes stuff to me is a better, better engine,
• 58:56
  better training tool probably for for young kids coming up but
• 59:00
  they're wild. I always leave my backs bruised
• 59:02
  up and and all of that. So yes, it's fun.
• 59:06
  It's fun. What do you do with your right
• 59:09
  elbow? I always find the motors in the
• 59:11
  way. What did you what is your
• 59:12
  technique there? I don't know.
• 59:15
  I've I've never, I've never had an issue.
• 59:17
  But maybe I'm just smaller, you know, my seat's smaller, so I
• 59:21
  probably have just more room for my elbow to tuck in, I'm
• 59:23
  guessing because yeah, they're like big guys.
• 59:26
  They got to race with their elbow, yeah.
• 59:27
  Yeah. No, it's it's like what?
• 59:31
  The hell are they doing? I don't do that.
• 59:34
  It's great. I hadn't been an outlaw cart in
• 59:36
  like 4 years probably. And like back in I was like,
• 59:39
  man, this thing is tiny. Like people are, you know, just
• 59:41
  line up for here. I'm like Oh my gosh, I'm like
• 59:43
  about to crash just under yellow.
• 59:46
  So it's it's crazy. Especially Red Bluff.
• 59:49
  Red Bluff is nuts. Nuts the high lane and the low
• 59:53
  lane and well, when you run around that bottom, you got to
• 59:55
  make sure you don't wash out, don't you?
• 59:58
  It's going to be a big wreck. I mean, I mean it's just like
• 1:00:02
  anything else but in the go Kart stuff, you got to be ready on
• 1:00:04
  the clutch, like there's a clutch, you know, on the
• 1:00:07
  steering wheel, just like a dirt bike, you know, having a clutch
• 1:00:09
  there, it'd be on your steering wheel so, but a track like Red
• 1:00:12
  Bluff, you know, there's a lot of like crashes and stuff.
• 1:00:14
  So you got to be ready to like you know, pull the clutch, keep
• 1:00:17
  the engine going and and drive away from the wreck and all
• 1:00:19
  that. So that's probably like not
• 1:00:23
  being in it for four years or just being ready on the clutch.
• 1:00:26
  So but no it's it's they're they're awesome little race cars
• 1:00:31
  and they race with some great race tracks like cycling where I
• 1:00:35
  grew up cycling, I would say it was my my favorite track you
• 1:00:38
  race Ala carts. It's, I mean it gets ice slick.
• 1:00:42
  They have, they make you run a hard tire so it gets ice slick
• 1:00:45
  and I mean you're off the throttle a lot.
• 1:00:48
  You know you're pulling slide jobs, running the cushion like,
• 1:00:50
  you know, close to the wall. It really, really taught me you
• 1:00:54
  how to race. I mean, I came from cycling.
• 1:00:56
  Tyler Reddick. Matt De Benedetto.
• 1:00:59
  Brad. Sweet colors.
• 1:01:00
  Robert Blue. There's a lot there's a lot
• 1:01:04
  more. But it's they're they're great.
• 1:01:06
  I mean, like I said they're they're the most violent, rough,
• 1:01:10
  wild vehicles you can drive. So if you can, if you can learn
• 1:01:13
  how to tame those you can drive anything.
• 1:01:15
  I. I feel like those videos on
• 1:01:17
  YouTube from Red Bluff, I I sit there and watch them like this.
• 1:01:22
  And like you, you made me laugh just now because you said you
• 1:01:25
  got to be ready on the clutch because you, you know, there's a
• 1:01:28
  good chance of wrecking. So you don't want to kill the
• 1:01:30
  motor, I guess, right. You want to.
• 1:01:32
  OK, so we were already in an hour, and the fans tell me,
• 1:01:36
  Kenny, quit talking about how long you've gone.
• 1:01:40
  But when I see an hour, I'm like, OK, you know, I don't want
• 1:01:43
  you to start tweaking on me. So let's start going downhill
• 1:01:47
  here a little bit, in a good way, in a good way.
• 1:01:50
  This question is not meant derogatory whatsoever, so please
• 1:01:56
  don't take it wrong. We saw a new phenomenon starting
• 1:02:00
  in NASCAR, all the drivers quitting at at like 42 years
• 1:02:07
  old, whether it's Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Clint
• 1:02:12
  Boyer, I got a list here. I mean, it goes on and on.
• 1:02:17
  It seemed unbelievable that Kevin Harvick went to 48, you
• 1:02:23
  know, or whatever he is. I'm not asking you to answer,
• 1:02:26
  'cause I know you can't. Do you see yourself going past
• 1:02:32
  42, since that seems to be the new quitting point?
• 1:02:37
  I mean it's it's it's hard to, it's hard to say like when
• 1:02:40
  you're in it. I don't.
• 1:02:42
  I mean, like sitting here right now, like I don't see myself
• 1:02:45
  going to 40. OK, that's the one.
• 1:02:48
  Almost, you know, but. That's not me, that's not me
• 1:02:51
  retiring from racing like, right, that's that.
• 1:02:55
  I think I'm different than than others, you know, like Kevin, I
• 1:02:58
  mean, he's retiring not maybe from full time racing, but, you
• 1:03:03
  know, he's got a plan to go in the booth and all that.
• 1:03:05
  You know, a lot of these drivers too, I mean, I don't think they
• 1:03:07
  meant to be done at 42. I just think they got kind of
• 1:03:10
  pushed out of the sport a little bit with, you know, young
• 1:03:12
  drivers coming up who who could be paid a lot less than what
• 1:03:16
  they're making, stuff like that. But then like for me, you know,
• 1:03:21
  going back to what we talked about early in the show, like
• 1:03:24
  there's a lot of stuff that I want to accomplish while I'm
• 1:03:26
  still my prime. So you know, I'm 31 right now.
• 1:03:31
  I've been in this, I'm going going into my 11th season in the
• 1:03:35
  Cup Series. So like I've already been in it
• 1:03:36
  for a while. So my eyes, if, you know, if I
• 1:03:41
  could raise another seven or eight, seven or eight years, you
• 1:03:44
  know, I can earn a lot of money. I can set myself up really well
• 1:03:48
  and and I can go you know still be in my prime hopefully and go
• 1:03:53
  compete for you know Premier Dirt Series Championship you
• 1:03:59
  know and high Limit hopefully is taken off by then and that's the
• 1:04:01
  premiere series and and go try and win a championship there,
• 1:04:05
  try and win a championship and whatever the big late model
• 1:04:07
  series is stuff like that. You know, I'm still young.
• 1:04:12
  So yeah, I I don't know. Like I said, it's hard to say,
• 1:04:16
  It's hard to predict, you know, right now.
• 1:04:18
  But I've done it a long time and and you know, like I said, I
• 1:04:23
  think what's important to me is, is still getting to go do and
• 1:04:26
  try to accomplish some big things while having the time to
• 1:04:29
  do it down the road while I'm still, you know, close to my
• 1:04:32
  prime. Clint Boyer, I'll see him at
• 1:04:35
  Sturgis every year and we're like minded, we're all centered
• 1:04:39
  and he made a good point, he says.
• 1:04:42
  You know when you start racing at six years old, 40 year old
• 1:04:48
  feels like you're 100 and I can understand your point.
• 1:04:51
  Clint Clint has ran himself hard.
• 1:04:56
  I don't think him feeling 100 has anything to do with him
• 1:04:58
  racing. That's all done outside the race
• 1:05:01
  car. You you mentioned something
• 1:05:05
  right there and I just kind of want to finish on it.
• 1:05:09
  I believe everybody in the sport, whether you've said it, I
• 1:05:14
  believe everybody in the sport feels like you are going to
• 1:05:20
  retire from NASCAR and then start doing what you want full
• 1:05:25
  time. And I guess that's pretty much
• 1:05:28
  what you said. And I I I think that's awesome.
• 1:05:31
  Because you you're giving NASCAR 20 years of your life.
• 1:05:35
  Yeah, and and too, I don't want people to get spun out about it.
• 1:05:39
  I'm, I'm not saying, like, I'm not saying I'm retiring at 30,
• 1:05:42
  whatever. And no, that I'm not retiring at
• 1:05:44
  30. Ever.
• 1:05:45
  But I love racing in NASCAR. I I would not be racing in
• 1:05:50
  NASCAR if I didn't love it. I think a lot of race fans feel
• 1:05:53
  that I don't like racing in NASCAR.
• 1:05:55
  I'm just doing it to make money and then I'm going to go retire
• 1:05:59
  and and all that. I I would have done that a long
• 1:06:02
  time ago. If I didn't, if I didn't love
• 1:06:03
  what I'm doing and love racing in NASCAR and competing for wins
• 1:06:08
  and racing for the best team in in the sport.
• 1:06:10
  I love, absolutely love what I'm doing right now.
• 1:06:15
  So and I and and who knows if I'm if I'm still loving it, you
• 1:06:20
  know, in eight years or whatever I could still go race NASCAR.
• 1:06:24
  You know your life changes. So I could.
• 1:06:27
  I who knows I could be in NASCAR till I'm 50.
• 1:06:30
  But you know, I I love what I'm doing.
• 1:06:34
  I get to raise dirt stuff all the time.
• 1:06:36
  I get to race NASCAR all the time and it's a blast.
• 1:06:41
  Yeah, well, it it's best to leave before they push out.
• 1:06:45
  And I don't think they'd ever push you out in the million
• 1:06:47
  years you you fall in that category of the great Jeff
• 1:06:51
  Gordon. And as we saw with my dear
• 1:06:54
  friends like Matt Kenseth and Bobby Labonte, they pushed those
• 1:06:58
  guys out and they didn't deserve that.
• 1:07:00
  Those are my dear friends. All right.
• 1:07:02
  So a a couple things here towards the end.
• 1:07:07
  I've got to ask you this one, this one here.
• 1:07:11
  I've always wondered, you know Dave Despain?
• 1:07:13
  You were a little kid when Dave Despain had a really good show
• 1:07:17
  called Wind Tunnel and he said something.
• 1:07:20
  He said fast race car drivers find fast rides.
• 1:07:25
  So with your wisdom, and I don't mean this to be a loaded
• 1:07:30
  question, but what race car driver do you see right now that
• 1:07:36
  draws your attention a lot than less?
• 1:07:40
  In other words, every time. Who do you find going?
• 1:07:43
  That guy? That guy's a good driver.
• 1:07:45
  Like a young kid coming up. Just anything you give me.
• 1:07:48
  It could be, it could be 610 drivers.
• 1:07:50
  Just what's your names? Well, I think for me personally,
• 1:07:54
  I think the next like young kid who's up and coming is
• 1:07:58
  definitely Corey Day. I don't see anybody.
• 1:08:02
  Yeah, I I don't see anybody even close to his level and he's only
• 1:08:08
  he's still in high school, so. I've never even heard of him.
• 1:08:11
  Tell me about him. Oh, he's.
• 1:08:13
  I mean, he's he's basically me like he's.
• 1:08:17
  He's. He's he's, I mean he's better
• 1:08:21
  than I am or I was obviously at that age.
• 1:08:23
  I mean he's in a lot better rides than I was at in at that
• 1:08:27
  age. But still like he his racecraft,
• 1:08:30
  his maturity on the track, off the track, like all that, he's
• 1:08:34
  really, really good and he can run harder than anybody on the
• 1:08:40
  race track and be in control. So he's definitely the next kid
• 1:08:44
  coming up. That probably will make it.
• 1:08:46
  What's he race? What is it?
• 1:08:49
  Wing Sprint cars hobby. Don't.
• 1:08:51
  Yeah, he won like he won an outlaw race.
• 1:08:53
  He won the Gold Cup this year at Chico.
• 1:08:55
  He won an Outlaw race. He'll be running with us on our
• 1:08:59
  High Limit series. So I'm excited about that
• 1:09:02
  because yeah, the race fans are going to get to you see some,
• 1:09:06
  you know, new young kid come up that's probably going to make it
• 1:09:09
  someday. So yeah, he he's that guy.
• 1:09:12
  But you know, I saw on Twitter all the, you know, I don't know,
• 1:09:17
  a month and a half ago, I I don't think maybe you
• 1:09:19
  participated in it. But it was like a bunch of
• 1:09:20
  questions like who you know, you had to answer the driver, like
• 1:09:24
  your favorite driver, who's the best driver you ever seen all
• 1:09:26
  this and that. And you know Christopher Bell,
• 1:09:30
  he's, he's still like he's the best that I get to race with on
• 1:09:35
  a weekly basis. And it's it's sad that he
• 1:09:37
  doesn't get to run dirt anymore because he is so good and dirt
• 1:09:43
  racing needs you know him a part of it still.
• 1:09:46
  And I know he is with, you know, the ownership side with the
• 1:09:48
  Sprint car a little bit on the development side and then micros
• 1:09:50
  and all that. But I guess I'm happy that I
• 1:09:53
  don't have to race with him every weekend because I can you
• 1:09:55
  know win a few more races. But he's he's really good.
• 1:10:00
  You know. Obviously Brad.
• 1:10:01
  Sweet what he's doing Rico right now.
• 1:10:05
  Yeah, no, it's it's all fun. That's good stuff.
• 1:10:09
  So, you know, the fans would throw things at me if I didn't
• 1:10:14
  talk to you about the Chili Bowl.
• 1:10:17
  So, you know, there was a time there that I was going to the
• 1:10:20
  Chili Bowl every year. And I know slamming Sammy
• 1:10:25
  Swindell and his son, they were incredible.
• 1:10:30
  But for me, the golden era of the Chili Bowl was you and Rico
• 1:10:36
  and and Christopher Bell. I mean, when you guys were
• 1:10:39
  there, it was magical and you know, last lap passes.
• 1:10:44
  So do you ever see yourself going back to the Chili Bowl?
• 1:10:49
  Yeah, I think, I mean, for sure. I think I'll go back to the
• 1:10:51
  Chili Bowl someday. I I just got to the point where
• 1:10:55
  I don't know. I I've done it literally half my
• 1:10:59
  life and I wasn't even 30 years old yet, so I was kind of ready
• 1:11:05
  to do something different. And you know, I like I watched a
• 1:11:10
  ton of the shoot out this past week.
• 1:11:12
  Me too. I'll.
• 1:11:14
  Watch every lap of the Chili Bowl.
• 1:11:16
  Like I still love the Chili Bowl.
• 1:11:17
  I just, I I just. I'm at a point in my life where
• 1:11:19
  I just needed to do something different.
• 1:11:21
  And Envato was, you know, produces amazing racing.
• 1:11:27
  And I really enjoy the Dirt Late Model.
• 1:11:29
  So it's like you know that that's a fun thing for me to get
• 1:11:32
  to go do. I can go around six races and I
• 1:11:34
  don't know 10 days or something where Chili Bowl, you're you're
• 1:11:39
  there all week and you get to race twice.
• 1:11:42
  Although the Chili Bowl is way more fun because you get to be
• 1:11:45
  there with all your friends and all that.
• 1:11:47
  But again, I think I just grew out of the Chili Bowl for, you
• 1:11:51
  know, a little bit. You know, I wanted to win it so
• 1:11:53
  bad. I'd been so close to winning for
• 1:11:55
  so long. And even before I won, I always
• 1:11:58
  told everybody around me and they wouldn't believe me.
• 1:12:00
  But I was like, I'm going to run the Chili Bowl until I win and
• 1:12:03
  then I'm going to run it until I lose.
• 1:12:05
  And when I lose, I'm going to be done.
• 1:12:06
  And that's that's what I've done.
• 1:12:08
  So but I'll definitely go back someday I think is if Owen still
• 1:12:12
  continues to like racing and and wants to you know move up the
• 1:12:15
  ladder you know and and if he can go race the Chili Bowl
• 1:12:19
  someday that's probably when I'll go back.
• 1:12:22
  So we'll see. Yeah I think next year I'd love
• 1:12:25
  to go to Australia and go race Perth.
• 1:12:29
  Yeah, PER I mean anywhere really, But Perth looks, Perth
• 1:12:31
  looks awesome. I saw your tweet.
• 1:12:33
  You said you're making, basically you're making me want
• 1:12:36
  to go Rico. Yeah.
• 1:12:39
  Brad and Rico and Calvin's and they they put on a phenomenal
• 1:12:44
  race. I don't know if you got to watch
• 1:12:45
  it, but yeah, so I want to go to Australia.
• 1:12:48
  It's, and I've gone to Australia before.
• 1:12:50
  I've gone to New Zealand this time of year.
• 1:12:52
  Like, it's fun. It's more than just racing.
• 1:12:54
  Whatever. I've gone there, like it's it's
• 1:12:56
  really a vacation with racing that kind of helps pay for
• 1:13:00
  vacation. So yeah, Paul Silva, he's trying
• 1:13:03
  to line it up right now like he's getting everything
• 1:13:05
  organized to ship there. We just kind of we we just got
• 1:13:08
  to find somewhere to like store everything you know if there's a
• 1:13:12
  truck and trailer that somebody can loan to us you know for the
• 1:13:16
  couple weeks that we would need it obviously it's expensive too.
• 1:13:20
  So you know we would need we would love to have some support
• 1:13:23
  from a a local company in Australia to to help them
• 1:13:26
  promote them to make you offset cost for us a little bit because
• 1:13:31
  yeah it's it's a it's tough like that's why there's not that many
• 1:13:35
  if any team owners that send stuff there because it's
• 1:13:39
  expensive so but but I'm yeah I'll probably be in Australia
• 1:13:43
  next year just we got to line some things out still.
• 1:13:46
  So having fun here, like me and Schrader would say, let's say
• 1:13:51
  you wanted to go to Australia but but now Rico's there and
• 1:13:55
  he's winning, does that make you want to go more?
• 1:13:59
  No, I mean it doesn't. I think what the the winning
• 1:14:02
  part I don't care about. Really.
• 1:14:05
  No, but I think getting to go there with people who you have
• 1:14:08
  fun with and enjoy being around, I think that's what's you like.
• 1:14:12
  When I used to go to New Zealand, what made the trip fun
• 1:14:14
  for me was, you know, you you build your relationships and
• 1:14:17
  your friendships there. Like, I'm really good friends
• 1:14:19
  with Harley Taylor, who I was racing for there in New Zealand,
• 1:14:22
  but when I was going it was Tyler, Courtney Logan CV, Chris
• 1:14:27
  Wyndham, Spencer based in like all.
• 1:14:29
  Your homeboys, Yeah. All my homeboys and and also I
• 1:14:34
  think that's what will make you'll go in Australia if if if
• 1:14:37
  everybody goes to Perth again or or wherever I end up going you
• 1:14:40
  know Rico if he's there again Brad would hopefully go you know
• 1:14:44
  Carson Sedo I know he's talked about wanting to go and race
• 1:14:46
  there and hopefully you know maybe the races get even bigger
• 1:14:50
  there next year because Australia's kind of confusing to
• 1:14:53
  me. You know like there it's such a
• 1:14:54
  big country in the tracks are all spread apart so far that you
• 1:14:58
  know there's a group of guys racing on the eastern side of
• 1:15:01
  Australia and then a group on the western side.
• 1:15:03
  Like if there was some big races where like everybody could get
• 1:15:07
  to you know the same track I think that would make this the
• 1:15:10
  the racing really good. Obviously the fan base bigger
• 1:15:14
  and and just the overall experience more fun, So we'll
• 1:15:17
  see kind of where where it goes for next year.
• 1:15:19
  But yeah, I look forward to getting to hopefully go to
• 1:15:21
  Australia. Yeah, those battles at Perth
• 1:15:24
  have been unbelievable. I mean, I think Perth kind of
• 1:15:28
  looks like an Eldora with less banking or what do you think?
• 1:15:33
  Yeah, I haven't talked to like Brad or Rico, like what they
• 1:15:37
  feel it compares to, but the the way it races I feel like is a
• 1:15:41
  lot like Eldora to me. It looks it's definitely not 1/2
• 1:15:45
  mile. I don't think so.
• 1:15:46
  Smaller than Eldora and less banking, but.
• 1:15:51
  Good racing, good racing, yeah. Great.
• 1:15:54
  And to the track prep looks amazing.
• 1:15:56
  They look really efficient with their programs And two, like if
• 1:16:00
  I could go to Perth next year and race like I want to race
• 1:16:03
  everything I want to. I want to race the Midget, I
• 1:16:05
  want to race a dirt late model, I want to race them.
• 1:16:07
  Yes, they have all those racing on the same night.
• 1:16:10
  So that's what, you know, I would want to do get get my
• 1:16:14
  money's worth going down there and racing.
• 1:16:17
  All right. We come to the very end and all
• 1:16:21
  the drivers, we've been very lucky here on Kenny conversation
• 1:16:25
  to talk with the best and I'm very thankful that you're
• 1:16:30
  opening up 2024. I've always wanted to talk to
• 1:16:34
  you, so I always ask the drivers this at the end because NASCAR
• 1:16:40
  is so big. So three things.
• 1:16:45
  Your thoughts on the NASCAR today?
• 1:16:49
  What do you think of NASCAR today?
• 1:16:53
  I think there's a lot of negative people out there about
• 1:16:55
  where how far is that today? Because I I believe NASCAR is in
• 1:16:59
  a great spot. They're really, you know,
• 1:17:02
  thinking outside the box. I think for so long.
• 1:17:04
  NASCAR just did the same thing year after year where, you know,
• 1:17:09
  they're trying to shake up the schedule a lot, which I love.
• 1:17:14
  Even the next Gen. stuff is is a you know, kind of different
• 1:17:17
  business idea for the sport and team owners and all that.
• 1:17:20
  So I feel like NASCAR more than they used to be or are much more
• 1:17:25
  forward thinking now. So I feel like teams, drivers,
• 1:17:31
  you know, the organization and NASCAR are all working together
• 1:17:34
  closer than they ever have and and that only means good things.
• 1:17:37
  So obviously every, every sport maybe besides NFL has seen a dip
• 1:17:44
  in audience, you know, whether it be at the sporting event or
• 1:17:48
  on TV and that's just the way you kind of life is right now.
• 1:17:51
  But I do feel like NASCAR has held their own much stronger
• 1:17:55
  than the other sports. So yeah, I think they're doing a
• 1:17:59
  great job. They've got great people in
• 1:18:01
  place and and I'm, you know, proud to be, you know,
• 1:18:04
  representing them on the racetrack.
• 1:18:06
  And the next one is your thoughts on this when what we're
• 1:18:11
  going to go into our third year with the next Gen. car, this,
• 1:18:14
  this car, the reason we asked this question, Kyle, this car
• 1:18:18
  changed in NASCAR. We've never seen anything like
• 1:18:21
  it. Your thoughts on that car?
• 1:18:24
  Selfishly, you know, with being a Hendrick Motorsports, I would
• 1:18:26
  love for it to have stayed because.
• 1:18:28
  Yeah, really. Fast and you know Hendrick was
• 1:18:31
  in 2020 and 21, but no, I I think, I think it's cool.
• 1:18:36
  I I think the next Gen. stuff is fun.
• 1:18:37
  It's definitely a a tougher race car to drive.
• 1:18:41
  The style of racing has gotten way more, you know, elbows up
• 1:18:45
  and and aggressive because the cars are way tougher.
• 1:18:48
  So you've had to adjust your driving style a fair bit.
• 1:18:53
  And yeah, I mean it's it's fun. So there's, you know, things
• 1:18:58
  that are worse or whatever you'd like to see better.
• 1:19:01
  Like the cars have more grip on the short tracks, the brakes are
• 1:19:06
  better, you know, so it's harder to pass I would say at short
• 1:19:11
  tracks and road courses than it used to be.
• 1:19:12
  But the intermediate stuff, the amount of half tracks are way
• 1:19:15
  more fun. So yeah, it's it's it's been
• 1:19:19
  enjoyable and I feel like Hendrick Motorsports has done a
• 1:19:21
  really good job too of of learning the vehicle and and
• 1:19:24
  developing and getting better and you had a great season.
• 1:19:28
  Hendrick did this past year and came up a little bit short of
• 1:19:31
  the championship, but hopefully be better here this year.
• 1:19:35
  And I think you're going to be the first driver that I'm going
• 1:19:37
  to get rid of. The third question in 2023, the
• 1:19:42
  third one we always ended was tech inspection, you know the
• 1:19:46
  record-breaking Hendrick $400,000 fines.
• 1:19:50
  But it seems like it seems like that's kind of subsided now it
• 1:19:54
  it seems to me like the teams have got the message.
• 1:19:58
  Maybe you will be the last driver I asked that question
• 1:20:02
  too, but. We'll ease out of it right now.
• 1:20:06
  Tech inspection, I mean it it became record-breaking with this
• 1:20:10
  new next Gen. car. What was your thoughts on that?
• 1:20:15
  I don't know. I I was.
• 1:20:17
  Gone to the. Technical side of it, so I I
• 1:20:20
  don't know. And we're sitting here in the
• 1:20:22
  offseason, so who knows what people have been developing?
• 1:20:26
  Good point. Yeah, I mean I I think you'll
• 1:20:28
  always probably you you'll see you'll probably, I would assume,
• 1:20:32
  see more fines and stuff coming in the first few months of the
• 1:20:35
  season. And then you know, once people
• 1:20:38
  kind of get their hands slapped and and get scared, maybe
• 1:20:42
  they'll stop a little bit or or they'll get better at cheating.
• 1:20:44
  But I don't know, it's, it's tough.
• 1:20:48
  You know, everybody's cars are in essence the same.
• 1:20:52
  So you know trying to find those areas to be a little bit better
• 1:20:56
  and you know payment raises are always trying to push the
• 1:20:58
  envelope. So it just is what it is and and
• 1:21:02
  now start trying to crack down. So I I respect that as well.
• 1:21:06
  Well Kyle, you've been incredible and I want to remind
• 1:21:09
  all the fans that we are in podcast form.
• 1:21:12
  We are showing up big time. They're more than normal now and
• 1:21:16
  you know, an hour and 20 minute conversation.
• 1:21:18
  That means you can listen to Kyle Larson on the way to work
• 1:21:22
  and then you can work real fast and get excited because you get
• 1:21:24
  to listen to the rest of the Kyle Larson, Kenny conversation
• 1:21:28
  on the way home. So check us out on iTunes,
• 1:21:32
  Spotify and Cowless and do good down there in Vadel.
• 1:21:36
  And I know race season starting here in a day or two.
• 1:21:40
  So thank you so much for finally being on Kenny conversation.
• 1:21:45
  Yeah. Thank you, Kenny.
• 1:21:45
  I enjoyed it. I had a blast.
• 1:21:47
  And yeah, look forward to seeing you at the racetrack soon.
• 1:21:50
  Makes a lot. And all right, everybody until
• 1:21:53
  the next one. We got some good ones lined up.
• 1:21:55
  I know Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch, they're all coming on.
• 1:21:59
  So Happy New Year, everybody.