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From NASCAR Fortresses To The 2026 Blazer EV SS · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:04
  Don Armstrong: Time now for Jeff's Motor Minute.
• 0:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Alrighty.
• 0:07
  Jeff Dziekan: You got this mark?
• 0:07
  Jeff Dziekan: You want me to do it?
• 0:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah, go ahead.
• 0:10
  Jeff Dziekan: Just go it.
• 0:11
  Jeff Dziekan: I'll let you do the intro and I'll pop it.
• 0:13
  Jeff Dziekan: Okay, so from rookie contracts to racing wealth.
• 0:16
  Jeff Dziekan: These are the uh homes of some of the NASCAR drivers that we all know and and not necessarily your current.
• 0:24
  Jeff Dziekan: So what happens when speed, fame, and big wins turn into real estate, real world?
• 0:28
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, for NASCAR's biggest star, success doesn't just stay on the track, it shows up in the homes they build.
• 0:34
  Jeff Dziekan: From a quiet lakeside retreat to jaw-dropping mansions.
• 0:37
  Jeff Dziekan: So here we go.
• 0:38
  Jeff Dziekan: The first one on the block is uh Kevin Harvick's$3.5 million European castle.
• 0:43
  Jeff Dziekan: It's a 12,000 square foot Oak Ridge mansion.
• 0:46
  Jeff Dziekan: It looks more like a European fortress rather than a race car driver's pad.
• 0:50
  Jeff Dziekan: 2014 NASCAR champion.
• 0:53
  Jeff Dziekan: He listed the five-bedroom home featuring a garden for$3.5 million.
• 0:57
  Jeff Dziekan: It's a fitting residence for a man with 121 National Series wins, ranking him third all-time in NASCAR history.
• 1:04
  Jeff Dziekan: I like it, but I don't like the big hill there.
• 1:07
  Jeff Dziekan: I would probably trip and roll down it.
• 1:08
  Jeff Dziekan: The next one we have is Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s$3.7 million Pirate Paradise.
• 1:15
  Jeff Dziekan: Earnhardt, his love for history in the Key West, built this pirate home.
• 1:19
  Jeff Dziekan: 3,300 square foot nautical escape features rope-wrapped columns, shipwheels, and even a secret hatch.
• 1:26
  Jeff Dziekan: Don't know where it goes.
• 1:28
  Jeff Dziekan: 26 time cup winner listed the five-bedroom home for again for$3.7 million, showcasing a renovation hobby he once shared on the do on the DIY network.
• 1:38
  Jeff Dziekan: So he was actually doing remodels to it and uh put it on TV.
• 1:42
  Jeff Dziekan: The next one we have, this is a retired driver, is Kurt Bush's uh Trophy Room Palace.
• 1:48
  Jeff Dziekan: Located in Mooresville, uh which is North Carolina.
• 1:51
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh Kurt Bush's former 9,500 square foot estate was built to house a legacy.
• 1:58
  Jeff Dziekan: The inaugural Chase for the Cup champion designed the office specifically for 34 trophies, uh boasting five and a half bathrooms, uh garage large enough for a custom 1964 Volkswagen Beetle.
• 2:11
  Jeff Dziekan: Home recently hit the market for nearly 4 million bucks.
• 2:15
  Jeff Dziekan: So there you go.
• 2:16
  Jeff Dziekan: If you got an extra 4 million, you can buy it.
• 2:18
  Jeff Dziekan: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., equestrian estate.
• 2:21
  Jeff Dziekan: This home is a massive 9,986 square foot property, previously owned by NASCAR legend Ernie Irvin and Joe Nimachak.
• 2:29
  Jeff Dziekan: I don't think they owned it together separately.
• 2:31
  Jeff Dziekan: Valued at$16 million.
• 2:33
  Jeff Dziekan: The estate features an 18-stall horse barn, three-acre pond, and a putting green.
• 2:37
  Jeff Dziekan: The Daytona 500 residence often uh offers a spa and a cabana for the ultimate post-race relaxation.
• 2:45
  Jeff Dziekan: Jeff Gordon, who knows him?
• 2:47
  Jeff Dziekan: He's the Manhattan condo guy.
• 2:48
  Don Armstrong: And your tiny little Speedo.
• 2:50
  Jeff Dziekan: There you go.
• 2:51
  Jeff Dziekan: Four-time champion uh Jeff Gordon trademarked for uh the track for Central Park views with his$30 million residence.
• 2:58
  Jeff Dziekan: Now bear in mind that's an apartment or condo, I should say, featuring Brazilian cherry floors and an Italian ceramic kitchen.
• 3:05
  Don Armstrong: Brazilian.
• 3:06
  Don Armstrong: I knew we would get that word in there sooner or later.
• 3:08
  Jeff Dziekan: The word of the day.
• 3:09
  Jeff Dziekan: Thirty four hundred and fifty thirty, four hundred and fifty-four square feet uh home, tripled in value since Gordon's 2007 purchase.
• 3:16
  Jeff Dziekan: NASCAR Hall of Famer sold the lecture unit just two months before finishing it.
• 3:22
  Jeff Dziekan: He provided uh speed translates to real estate, is what he's talking about.
• 3:26
  Jeff Dziekan: So he real estate.
• 3:28
  Jeff Dziekan: Real estate.
• 3:29
  Jeff Dziekan: Not real estate.
• 3:31
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh-huh.
• 3:32
  Jeff Dziekan: An estate for the real.
• 3:33
  Jeff Dziekan: Tony Stewart's$30 million Indiana Lounge or Lodge.
• 3:36
  Jeff Dziekan: This is pretty cool.
• 3:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh known as Smoke, that's his moniker.
• 3:40
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh owns this most expensive residence, a$30 million rustic large spanning over 19,000 square feet, 415 acres.
• 3:48
  Jeff Dziekan: The home features an 8,700-gallon freshwater aquarium and an indoor trout stream.
• 3:53
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh boy, get out of bed and drop a line.
• 3:56
  Don Armstrong: Uh drop something.
• 3:58
  Don Armstrong: Drop.
• 3:58
  Don Armstrong: I was gonna say trowel, but I guess that'd be kind of trout.
• 4:01
  Jeff Dziekan: You can go trolling the night before.
• 4:02
  Jeff Dziekan: Built in the Northern Rockies low uh Lodge Pole Pine.
• 4:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Extreme luxury.
• 4:08
  Jeff Dziekan: The last one we have, this guy is known as the kid, Mark Martin.
• 4:14
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh this is the million-dollar Chef Haven, known as the Kid.
• 4:20
  Jeff Dziekan: I will too, but you talk about it.
• 4:21
  Jeff Dziekan: 700 square foot sanctuary on Lake Norman, the 40-time NASCAR champ winner.
• 4:26
  Jeff Dziekan: I enjoy Professional Chef's Kitchen, a private pavement, a pavement dock for Lake Access.
• 4:30
  Jeff Dziekan: $2.55 million.
• 4:32
  Jeff Dziekan: It remains a testament to his storied Roush racing career.
• 4:35
  Jeff Dziekan: And of course, he made a lot of money with uh when Viagra was his sponsor.
• 4:41
  Jeff Dziekan: He got that spot because he was winning.
• 4:42
  Jeff Dziekan: Were you serious?
• 4:43
  Jeff Dziekan: He was winning races by inches.
• 4:44
  Jeff Dziekan: Oh my god.
• 4:45
  Jeff Dziekan: And uh and I got it.
• 4:46
  Don Armstrong: There was a joke in there.
• 4:47
  Don Armstrong: I'm just now getting it.
• 4:49
  Don Armstrong: Sorry.
• 4:49
  Jeff Dziekan: Anyways, but there you go.
• 4:50
  Jeff Dziekan: So if you got a lot of money and you're a race car driver, and I know there's a lot of folks out there that are trying to be uh uh uh that level, keep trying.
• 4:57
  Jeff Dziekan: I mean, you gotta start somewhere, and and there's a lot of folks out there that know what they're doing.
• 5:01
  Don Armstrong: Time now for this hour's car review.
• 5:07
  Jeff Dziekan: And there's a lot of folks out there that know what they're doing.
• 5:09
  Don Armstrong: Time now for this hour's car review.
• 5:11
  Don Armstrong: Had a chance to drive the 2026 Chevrolet Blazer EV.
• 5:17
  Don Armstrong: Comes in these trim levels: the LT, the RS, and the SS.
• 5:22
  Don Armstrong: I had the SS.
• 5:23
  Don Armstrong: Now, this is considered by the government as a small SUV.
• 5:26
  Don Armstrong: We would like to call it really a medium size.
• 5:29
  Don Armstrong: Uh, ours was Habanero Orange.
• 5:33
  Don Armstrong: Seats 5 folks, including the driver, all new for 2024.
• 5:37
  Don Armstrong: Sharp and unique EV styling ranks high on our looking glass meter.
• 5:43
  Don Armstrong: Unique gills behind the front wheel well.
• 5:46
  Don Armstrong: Uh, driver's side in particular opens for a charge port over there.
• 5:51
  Don Armstrong: Good-looking 22-inch wheels, not ugly EV wheels, great looking rear hatch area, Chevy unique.
• 5:59
  Don Armstrong: And what I liked, the overall design kills it.
• 6:04
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 6:05
  Don Armstrong: The power sunroof is a$1,500 option.
• 6:08
  Don Armstrong: It's not for Houston sunshine in the summertime.
• 6:13
  Don Armstrong: That my opinion.
• 6:15
  Don Armstrong: Uh, interior highlights.
• 6:17
  Don Armstrong: There's no start button, there's no stop button.
• 6:20
  Don Armstrong: You get in, sit down, uh, put your foot on the brake, and it's it turns on.
• 6:28
  Don Armstrong: Wow.
• 6:28
  Don Armstrong: Uh-huh.
• 6:29
  Don Armstrong: You want to get out?
• 6:30
  Don Armstrong: All you gotta do is just put the car in park and get out, and it shuts off.
• 6:36
  unknown: Wow.
• 6:36
  Don Armstrong: There's no button.
• 6:38
  Don Armstrong: Very different.
• 6:39
  Don Armstrong: It's kind of unsettling at first.
• 6:41
  Don Armstrong: Anyway, uh seating materials are cool.
• 6:44
  Don Armstrong: Three round vents on the dash for AC.
• 6:48
  Don Armstrong: Uh, layered dual screens are awesome.
• 6:51
  Don Armstrong: 17-inch center screen.
• 6:54
  Don Armstrong: Uh cargo room, adequate for a vehicle its size.
• 6:58
  Don Armstrong: What I liked, the overall interior design is awesome.
• 7:02
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 7:03
  Don Armstrong: There is no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto available on this vehicle.
• 7:10
  Don Armstrong: It's a thing that General Motors is doing across the board, that they're going to do away with all of that and bring it in-house with the OnStar built in.
• 7:19
  Don Armstrong: And so they want your money that you would normally pay for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
• 7:25
  Don Armstrong: They want to be in charge of everything on the no button.
• 7:29
  Don Armstrong: Engine, 120, uh, I'm sorry, 102 kilowatt per hour battery.
• 7:35
  Don Armstrong: Uh, it's got dual motors on it, it's all wheel drive.
• 7:38
  Don Armstrong: Uh, relative speaking, it's uh 615 horsepower, 600 650 pound feet of torque.
• 7:46
  Don Armstrong: No transmission, it's a direct drive electric motor.
• 7:49
  Don Armstrong: Uh range, it says 302 miles.
• 7:53
  Don Armstrong: Well, um, I got uh 2.6 miles per kilowatt hour, which uh related to about a 443.5 miles.
• 8:01
  Don Armstrong: Anyway, what I liked about it, um it's for a plug-in, I mean, it's it's okay.
• 8:09
  Don Armstrong: I plugged it in at home and I plugged it in at work.
• 8:12
  Don Armstrong: And so if you want to call it free electricity, as you know, there's no nothing free anymore.
• 8:17
  Don Armstrong: Riding handling, uh, it's smooth despite its heavy battery pack.
• 8:21
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 8:22
  Don Armstrong: Nothing, I suppose.
• 8:23
  Don Armstrong: Here's the price.
• 8:24
  Don Armstrong: Uh base trim,$60,600.
• 8:27
  Don Armstrong: Price assessed$63,985.
• 8:30
  Don Armstrong: The base model price, not the SS now, uh, is$44,700.
• 8:36
  Don Armstrong: Competitors, Hyundai Ionic 5 starts at$35,000.
• 8:40
  Don Armstrong: Cadillac Lyric,$59,200, which I think would be its twin sister on the Cadillac brand.
• 8:47
  Don Armstrong: And then the Mustang Machie starts at$37,795.
• 8:52
  Don Armstrong: Next week I get to review the Kia K4.
• 8:56
  Jeff Dziekan: I want to be back.