Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Geoff Bodine Shares Vintage NASCAR Stories

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Geoff Bodine Shares Vintage NASCAR Stories · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
That night, got a phone call from Mr. Henrik.
0:03
He said I'm tired of Earnhardt wrecking my cars.
0:07
If you can't do something about it, I'll get somebody in there
0:10
who will. What are you going to do, Kenny?
0:13
You're going to do something about it, right?
0:15
Where's your check come from, right?
0:17
It's the Kenny Wallace conversation brought to you by
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Jags. Hello everyone and welcome back
0:24
to Kenny Conversation, brought to you by Jags, the Leader in
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high performance aftermarket car parts.
0:32
Remember to go to jags.com for everything and anything you need
0:37
to fix your cars up. Today is really exciting for me
0:43
and here's why. Because in 1984 I was a NASCAR
0:47
Winston Cup crew chief and all along I was watching this man a
0:53
hero, a NASCAR great. I was watching him win races as
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I was a crew chief, the great Jeff Bodine.
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Jeff, how are you doing? Well, I don't use that word.
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Great. I'm just, I'm just a guy, you
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know, not racing anymore. So I'm just a fan, I guess is
1:11
could say, but you know, Jackson's a great company and
1:14
Jake actually drove our bobsleds up in Lake Placid in some of our
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races. So yeah, he's a great friend and
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they sponsored us a little bit too.
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Great company, great products. Go to Jake's.
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You need something for the car. Yeah, the Kaufman family,
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they're wonderful people and and they're definitely winners.
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Well, let's have a little fun first, OK?
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Before we dive into your incredible life, your incredible
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career, you know, the Herminator, which is me.
1:43
I'm a little light hearted at times so.
1:46
Your name? Well.
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You know, we have a good time that that that named Jeff.
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I like that spelling. Geoff, Tell me about that.
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How did Mom and Dad pick that spelling out instead of the
2:00
famous Jeff? I guess they knew I was going to
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be different. So they spell it differently.
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You know, it's Jeffrey Chaucer, the old writer, and that's the
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spelling becoming popular now. But yeah, through the years I've
2:16
been called G off Godfrey, you name and I've been called for
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some other names. I can't say, but yeah, it was.
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It was a little difficult growing up because people didn't
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know how to say it, didn't know what it meant.
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But it's OK now. That's what the you know, I
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changed my name to Jeffrey and racing you.
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Remember that? Oh yeah, Well.
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The reason why, of course it's in the book.
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I think Jeff Gordon came along, Jeff Green, Jeff Burton and I'd
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be walking down Pit Rd. to get my car.
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I hear Jeff and I turn around. They didn't want me.
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They wanted one of those other Jeffs.
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I said I can fix the house for the Jeffrey.
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It was a little PR deal, but it worked.
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If they didn't say Jeffrey, I didn't turn around.
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Yeah, I totally get it. Well, as we get going here, this
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is a really big day for you, a really big week for you.
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You are a Daytona 500 champion and we are going to get to that.
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But This is why it's a big day for you.
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You got a really big book coming out.
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All of it. Jeff Bodine, and I know that I
3:21
just got done talking to the president of the Daytona
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Speedway. He came out to watch me race and
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he told me that they are going to have a really nice area set
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up for you during the Daytona 500 speed weeks to sign this
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book. Tell me a little bit about your
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book and then we'll get into some of the the parts of the
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book. Yeah.
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Actually we're at New Smyrna the other night when they had the
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high 5200 lap race and a lot of people from up north or down,
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it's really great talking all that and they bought a lot of
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books and of course I autographed them for them.
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But we are going to be in Daytona Saturday and Sunday and
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it's out in the in front of the track where they have souvenirs
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and all that the. Midway.
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That's the word I was looking for.
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Everyone, Everyone, come on by a lot of time when you're getting
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into the track and leaving, but we'll be there having fun
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signing some books. So I'm going to read something
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that is my favorite part and I had people all over social
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media. This is the number one question.
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Now look, you've done it all. We get that and I'm going to
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read your stats out in a little bit.
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You've done it all and I'm going to remind people what you've
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done. But let me read this part in the
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book and then I want you to respond.
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You said the that you wanted to race in the Powder Puff Derby.
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So we know that's about ladies only ladies running the Powder
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Puff Derby. A friend of mine, Mike
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Casterling, who happened to be my cousin Pam's boyfriend, had a
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late model car. I asked him if I could drive his
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car in the Powder Puff. He looked at me.
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Are you crazy? And you said I just want to
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race. I told him, but I can't until
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I'm 18 and graduate, so I'm not going to keep on going.
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But I guess you and entered the powder puff race.
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Tell me about this moment in this incredible book that set
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you off on your racing path. Yeah.
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Well, that's all in there, but actually I saw him like, do some
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murder the other night. I said, oh, you're in a book.
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He said wow, that's awesome. But no, my parents wouldn't let
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me race and it was a dirt track until I was 18 and graduated.
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But man, I knew I could race. A friend came to test one day.
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I used to open the track up if somebody wanted to test.
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And he let me drive his car and I went around and around it had
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a small gas tank and they kept waving me to come in.
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But finally, granted, I guess, and I had to come in.
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I mean, I loved it and I knew I could drive ahead an uncle.
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It was a great driver and I just watched him all the time.
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And so yeah, I came up with this idea.
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My dad would promote a powder puff Derby once a month to the
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season and I said, man, I want to, I want to show people, well,
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I want to prove to myself I can drive because I didn't tell my
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parents that I was going to do it, obviously, and I'm out.
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There started last. They were making a laugh and we
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just drove on the track behind everybody.
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I'm sure they wondered who was driving the 588, but it didn't
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matter, just another car got the lead and man, it was fun.
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I just, it was natural that I to do it.
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I wasn't afraid. I wasn't scared or intimidated.
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But now it's coming to the end of the race and my dad always
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gave the winner a hug, a kiss and a trophy.
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I said hell, I can't, I can't win this race.
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What am I going to do? And I said, well, I could either
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win it and get into a lot of trouble with my parents or pull
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off and just and not even tell anybody I did it.
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So that's what I did, Turn the car off, coast it off like the
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engine broke. My parents didn't know I had
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done that until their 50th wedding anniversary.
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My brother Brett got up in front of him and said, hey Ma, I got
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something to tell. You told the story.
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My mother pointed her finger and shook it.
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Jeffrey, you shouldn't have done it.
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I said, well, that was a long time ago.
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You shouldn't have done it. But I now I look back.
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I wish I'd finished the race and won and seemed to look on my
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father's face when he went to kiss me.
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That would I I wore, you know, back then we had small helmets,
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so I borrowed a wig from my cousin Pam.
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So the hair was hanging down and small helmet.
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It would have been cool to when, but back then I was pretty
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scared of doing that face with my parents after that.
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And and that is more of the story.
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You actually had a a wig on and John Bisky, who is from the
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Northeast, he works here at the Worldwide Technology Raceway for
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the NASCAR Cup races. And John said he, he put it on
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social media and man, what a story.
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You know, I tell kids nowadays, I said we do what it takes, you
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know, to fulfill your dream. And that's, hey, you dressed,
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you got in the power puff race and you fulfilled your dream.
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Well, I've I've proved I could drive, you know, and.
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Yeah. My dad had a had a small track
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inside for kids. When I said everyone at five, he
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built me a little micro Midget they call it.
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And so before the main races we'd go out to race and you know
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I won a few of those races and you know that was boring to me.
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A year old when they started racing, I was at the tracks and
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said just a little baby and it's in my blood, you know, the Lord
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gave me the right parents, the right opportunities, and da da
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da, it's all in the book. And so I thank him for
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everything, because I'm just a farm kid from Shoemong, New
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York. So allow me to brag on you for a
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while. This is where my Big Brother,
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Rusty Wallace, his most famous quote in the last 10 years, he
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said. It's sad to say, but you have to
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remind people because people remember what they want to Jeff.
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So I'm going to read you all this, and then I want you to
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respond and we're going to do this nice and slow.
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You know, we're going along for a while, yeah.
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I know that and we can talk about that.
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But you know when we we're Darlington for the 75th greatest
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drivers thing and there were drivers that are still alive
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were there and Rusty I, it was so much fun talking to everybody
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because we're not in competition anymore.
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We're not beating each other up. We're not mad at each other.
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We were talking about kids, about jobs, about what are you
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doing today? And so nice to be able to do
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that, but when we were racing, we weren't real buddies.
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So we'll go ahead right now and we'll call the audible, We're
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we're we're going to call an audible and I'm going to talk,
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let's talk about that right now. So in 1984, I was not even a
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race car driver and I came down and I end up being I took over
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the great Jake Elder's crew chief job when Joe Rutman was
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driving the Levi Garrett car. So I'm a Cup crew chief in 1984
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for Joe Rutman. And when my job was done there,
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your crew chief, your owner Harry Hyde called me up and he
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says I'd like you to come over and work on our team in 1985.
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So I get over there and my interview in 1985 to work on
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your team doesn't go good because you and my Big Brother
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Rusty Wallace got into a pissing match at Darlington and it it
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was a big wreck. So because of you and Rusty
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wrecking each other, Harry Hyde would not hire me because
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Rusty's brother Kenny, I could not work for you.
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Now let's have a little fun and let's stay lighthearted.
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Don't get, don't get mad. What's your What's your point of
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view? Why didn't you?
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Why did you and Rusty get into it?
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Rusty says it was Darlington. You know.
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Let's have fun now. Don't get mad.
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I I think I've hit more walls in my career than you have.
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Thank goodness for you. And I am older than you and I
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can't remember as much as you probably.
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So, OK, what happened to Darlington?
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I really don't. Yeah, Rusty and I the the thing
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I remember about Rusty was at Richmond.
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The new track, OK, OK. Yeah, that's the one I remember.
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After that he he named me Dunce. So the Conehead or no conehead.
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OK. And now we were before Hoosier
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got into it. We ran Hoosier tired because
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they were fast, especially on a short track.
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So in Richmond we qualified on them.
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Well, they are OK for two laps. I put them out for practice,
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went out and about 10 laps they were tore up blisters and the
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rubber flying all over the place.
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So NASCAR said all right you guys can switch the good years
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but you're going to have to start last.
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Then Rusty did the same thing I did.
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He qualified in Hoosiers. So here we are in the back and I
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don't know who else was there. And here we come from the start
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down to the front straight race curve that we you know and I was
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inside of Rusty and he says I came up on him and I say Rusty
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you just turned on me. He ran over my hood and regret
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right at the start So he he called me a conehead of course
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Earnhardt named him rubber headed and Earnhardt was hard
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headed. We like to name each other back
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in those days. There were great names.
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To me, that was when the shoot or whatever started right there
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at that race. I'm I'm not sure about
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Darlington. I'll have to ask Rusty the next
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time I see him. I don't want to get too deep
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into our conversation because with without saying all this,
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let's, let's come back to that. So here we go.
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This is going to really make you happy.
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OK Jeff Bodine, 74 years old. Are you 75 yet?
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April 18th. OK, so you're 70.
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You can send presents April 18th.
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Yeah, I love it. OK.
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The great Jeff Bodine, 74 years old.
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And by the way, I just got done doing a Kenny conversation with
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74 year old John Force and he's still winning.
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So stay, walk and eat your grilled chicken because you look
14:04
good. You look really good right now,
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Jeff. All right, here we go.
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You did it all in asphalt, Modifieds you and Richie Evans,
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you're the Kings. There's nobody better than you,
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you and Richie Evans. There's too many stats, Jeff, to
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name about the modifieds. But I will say this.
14:27
You are in the Guinness Book of World Records right now because
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you won 55 wins in one year. And like I said, I know Richie
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Evans is the man, I get that. But you were incredible and your
14:42
time in the Northeast is what sent you down to NASCAR.
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All right, now let's let's move on to NASCAR.
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I've done told everybody that I think you're the greatest right
14:53
there with Richie Evans, 55 wins and one year Guinness Book of
14:57
World Records. And that's a tough series, All
15:01
right? Once you get the NASCAR, it's
15:05
unbelievable. You become the 1986 Daytona 500
15:10
champion, our our greatest race of all time.
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You win it. You got nine.
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You got 1818 NASCAR Cup wins. You are the 1987 IROC champion.
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That is against the greatest in 1987.
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You beat all the greats in the world. 1987 IROC champion, 1994
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Winston select winner. 1992 Bush clash winner But I could keep
15:45
going. But let's end it like this.
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Named one of NASCAR's 50 greats. Now there's been thousands and
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thousands and thousands of drivers and you're and you're
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named one of the 50 greats. Now, when I tell you all that,
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tell me what goes through your mind.
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That's easy. I'm just fortunate.
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I'm a fortunate man to have all those opportunities to do those
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things and and I was given talent to build cars, design
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cars. I've done it all my life.
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I'm still doing it actually and God gave me some talents to
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drive obviously. But I I I give all the credit
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that I always build a better car than the other guys and I I was
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ahead of them in in that respect.
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Yeah I didn't run for championship back in the
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modified Dave Richie and Jerry Cook did.
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So they all won all the championship.
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I had to go where the money was because I had a family had to
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pay for the bills and the diapers and all that stuff.
16:52
So we concentrated on just the big races and not championships
16:58
but just a fortunate guy Kenny. I mean, it's just, it's an
17:02
unbelievable that all this has happened to a kid that grew up
17:06
on a chicken farm, dairy farm up in Schumong, New York.
17:09
It really is. So, so that is in one of my
17:12
questions. We're we're down here in
17:16
Missouri and we have fenders on our cars and the great Larry
17:20
Phillips, Richie Evans, we thought of those guys back in
17:24
the late 70s. It's like, how is Richie Evans,
17:28
How is Larry Phillips racing for a living when you're not
17:32
supposed to? So that this is in one of my
17:35
questions to you, were were you racing for money, a living, or
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was it a hobby back then? Oh no, no, since the I started
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racing on my father's track. Shaman graduated.
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And I was 18, and that's how I made a living.
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I went. To Unbelievable.
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I went to college six years in the National Guard, but I I was
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able to race all through that. And you know, I didn't.
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I tried to work, have another job.
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I worked at Stroman. We all did.
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I worked at Stroman's Bread Factory in Sierra, Pennsylvania.
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That lasted about 3 weeks. You come in, they call me up
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about 2:33 in the morning. Hey, come on in here.
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We got to make. We're making bread.
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How do I eat bread today? The smell of bread at 3:30 in
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the morning just turned me right off, but right.
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So I tried other things, but no. I always raced and was able to
18:31
make a living, paid for college and of course got married and
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kept moving up and racing. And you know, they paid almost
18:38
as much back in those days as they paid today to win a short
18:41
track race. It's sad because it costs a lot
18:44
more to race today, but I was able to survive and make a
18:49
living just racing, yeah. So can I see your ring?
18:53
Can you put your your ring on your finger?
18:55
What is that ring? This ring is the gold medal ring
19:01
from the Olympics and our team Holcomb won the four man race in
19:08
Vancouver in the Olympics. Winning the four man race is
19:11
like winning Daytona. The biggest race going on.
19:14
Of course this is this little ring is the Daytona 5 under ring
19:17
back in 1986 man, I almost won it again in 2002 but today's
19:23
Daytona rings are bigger as big or bigger than this one.
19:27
But, and I'm not bragging about this.
19:30
No, you should brag. Remind us.
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I'm the only guy in the whole world that has one of each, and
19:35
I don't think they'll ever be matched because who is going to
19:39
build bobsleds? That one's a Daytona 500.
19:42
I mean that's I'm not building them now unfortunately, but that
19:46
was a great run we had with those bobsleds.
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OK, let's let's not get out of line.
19:50
We're going to go back to the Bodine bobsled.
19:53
What an unbelievably passionate American story.
19:57
So what I want to talk to you about is your engineering
20:01
background. You know Ryan Newman, you know
20:05
Purdue University. But in 1984, when I was a crew
20:09
chief, what I remember about you was you were so smart and you
20:16
were innovative and that was just the Northeast.
20:22
You know, Cheech came down and was building spindles.
20:25
We had this, we had this influx of Northeastern smarts.
20:29
You're way smarter than us Southern guys.
20:32
We could just we we just use the welder and we could cheat.
20:37
Well, I'm a Midwest boy, but tell me where your incredible
20:41
engineering background, where did that come from?
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I had uncles, three of them. Maynard girl.
20:48
Jimmy Maynard was guy. He build engines and he showed
20:53
me how to build engines. I start out just cleaning parts,
20:55
sweeping the floor. Mainer.
20:58
No, Mainer. Bodine.
20:59
OK, OK and Earl was a great driver and just by watching him
21:05
I knew how to drive. And my Uncle Jimmy was he did it
21:09
all. He tried driving.
21:11
That didn't work. But he was a mechanic and engine
21:13
builder. So I had three people educate me
21:16
through my younger days to how to build race cars and maintain
21:20
them. And that's where it all started.
21:23
I went to college for Mccaff Engineering to learn more about
21:26
how to build things and all that.
21:28
And one day the professor, I asked him a question and he said
21:32
I don't know the answer to that. Jeff, he was a German great
21:37
professor. And so I said he can't answer my
21:40
question. I guess I don't need to be here
21:42
anymore. So I stopped going to college,
21:44
but then I was in the National Guard, went through basic
21:47
training, all that, and I learned about trucks and
21:51
equipment, how to maintain them and change the oil, but the
21:54
electrical system. So that actually helped me a
21:56
little bit in racing. Yeah, but, well, I.
21:59
Give I give all the credit to the Lord above, because he he
22:03
put all that in me and he he does that.
22:06
He has a plan for everybody in life.
22:08
Sometimes you miss the plan. A lot of people do.
22:11
Unfortunately, you you've made the plan.
22:14
Your brother Ern, everyone seemed to go where they were.
22:18
The plan was for their lives. And yeah, I did too.
22:21
I was just very fortunate that I had the education.
22:26
He led me to the right people at the right time, did the right
22:29
things. I take credit for all the
22:31
mistakes I made made in my career, but I give him all the
22:34
credit for the good stuff. Well, that that's why we go to
22:37
confession. None of us are perfect and we
22:40
all have a journey. We can clean our sins and move
22:43
right on. So buddy, you just keep on
22:45
digging. I love you.
22:46
You're a great man. You've done a lot in the past.
22:48
So we all make we all run into a wall every once in a while.
22:51
But that's OK. It's what you do after and and
22:56
you're kicking ass right now so you just keep doing that.
23:01
So I want to have a little fun with you, OK.
23:03
And this is light hearted. So, you know, the Civil War was
23:07
not lighthearted it. It was, it was hardcore.
23:10
But you know, you were a Yankee and a Yankee meant you were from
23:15
New York specifically. Shamong is the name we remember.
23:20
I'm sure there's other little New York towns you were from,
23:22
but Shamong is what you made famous.
23:25
But what is interesting to me is you were a Yankee.
23:31
It was the North versus the South.
23:32
And then listen in 1984 the Civil War was still going on
23:37
quietly and you come down to NASCAR and A and a Southerner
23:43
hires you the great Rick Hendrick that really had to
23:48
confuse all all the Southerners. Tell me about, you know, just
23:54
being a Yankee and and this unbelievable man Rick Hendrick,
23:59
who is now one of the greatest of all time hires you.
24:04
Tell me about this time going to Hendrick and being a Yankee.
24:08
You know what really surprised me and my whole family about
24:12
moving? Well in the Northeast, They
24:16
didn't like me. They booed me.
24:18
When I win, I get down the microphone.
24:19
I said I love you guys booing. That's Boo power, Boo louder and
24:24
they Boo louder. I said well I'm going faster
24:26
next week with the race fans and but when I came South now I'm
24:33
expecting the same thing. You know, I went into the Late
24:36
Model Series, which is Xfinity now and you know what, Just the
24:41
opposite. They love me because I came down
24:44
here and beat some of their villain drivers like Tommy
24:48
Ellis. A lot of people love Sam are,
24:51
but he want too much. Jack Ingram, Sonny Hutchin.
24:54
So we couldn't believe the the friendship when we came here.
25:00
And they liked me. I said it was great.
25:02
Nobody's bullying me much. Well, after I started winning,
25:05
they started bullying a little bit.
25:09
But then when Rick called me up, actually he didn't call me up.
25:12
It was Harry Hart called me up. You know, I I'd raced for Dick
25:16
Bear a couple races in Cup. I raced for Bob.
25:24
Yeah, Biggie team racial Farmstein 47 car that last.
25:29
Yeah. So I met Harry Hyde, the the
25:33
Wood Bullet brothers. I mean Leonard Wood all those
25:36
people. And so I knew a little bit about
25:39
racing and and exposed to it. But Harry Hyde called me up and
25:45
he said hey, and he he they'd already talked to Richard Petty
25:47
about driving and Tim Richmond and this is a great story.
25:51
It's in a book. But here I come to he said I got
25:54
AI got we're going to form a race team in this car together
25:57
down here in Charlotte, NC is putting it together and he's a
26:01
great guy and he'll produce more than he ever promises.
26:04
So come on down we want to talk. So once the City Chevrolet went
26:09
he off as we talked and actually Rick used to hang out with Ray
26:13
Henrick and Jack Tant. Wow.
26:17
Oh yeah, the number one. He went around and he saw me
26:20
race when we raced against Jack and and Ray Hendricks, so he
26:24
knew me more than I knew him. So anyway, we chatted and he
26:29
said, you know, I can only really promise you about 15
26:33
races, you know, we'll have to say I'll go.
26:35
That's kind of the money we got laid out the the to sponsor this
26:41
team. Yeah.
26:42
And so, OK, I like that now. I had full ride with Cliff
26:48
Stewart. The full season.
26:50
The Gatorade car, right? Yeah, we end up the Gatorade,
26:53
but I want when Harry, I was in that room, he's a guy I wanted
26:59
to be with. It wasn't Rick.
27:00
Now he knows this story. It wasn't Rick.
27:02
I didn't know him. Harry was the guy I wanted to
27:05
speak with because he was a winning crew chief and I said he
27:09
can show me how to win. So I, they said OK, we'll Rick
27:15
said, I hear me and I talk about, we'll give you a call.
27:19
Well, of course back in those days they didn't have these
27:21
things right, the landline, right.
27:24
How many calls that you were supposed to get on your landline
27:27
never happened? I said.
27:30
So I said, Rick, you mind if I just wait out in the waiting
27:34
room? It's a dealership.
27:35
Yeah, he said, yeah, of course. But that impressed him so much
27:40
that they called Tim up. Said Tim, we got us a driver.
27:43
You're too late. And five minutes later came out
27:46
and got me, shook my hand and said you're the driver.
27:49
But if I hadn't waited in the lobby, that might not have
27:52
happened. So I call that a God thing and
27:57
still can say something like my brain that don't drive home
28:01
without an answer. You might not ever get the right
28:03
answer, so that's a cool thing. But but Rick had done watching
28:08
me all these years and modified because he was a modified fan.
28:12
Pretty amazing. So you are a major part of the
28:17
Hendrick story. You know, like right now we hear
28:19
Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and they're great, they are
28:22
incredibly good. But to this day, Rick Hendrick
28:26
gives you all the credit for creating Hendrick Motorsport
28:30
because he says, Rick Hendrick says that if you did not win
28:34
that race at Martinsville, the big Cup race, the 500 lap Cup
28:39
race, he felt like they were done because they couldn't have
28:43
it, couldn't keep going. And Rick Hendrick says because
28:46
you won the 500 lap NASCAR Cup race with Harry Hyde, that you,
28:53
Jeff Putine, the Yankee, you're the one that created and helped
28:57
Hendrick Motorsport. What it is today, How does that
29:01
make you feel when Rick Hendrick brags on you that much?
29:04
Well. The first separation, we had
29:07
some good runs, but we had some NASA good runs.
29:10
And yeah, Rick came to us and he was just, I think he had two car
29:13
dealerships then just a small car dealer.
29:15
And he came to here and I said, you guys, yeah, I'm, I'm sorry,
29:19
man. I spent way more money than I
29:22
thought I was going to have to spend to get this team going.
29:24
And I'm going to have to shut it down.
29:28
My heart. Oh my gosh, yeah.
29:31
And so here we got with him and said, Rick, the car was ready.
29:36
The engine's in it. Randy Dorton engine, It's in
29:39
there. You might have to buy a few
29:41
tires. And he said, you know, here he
29:44
had from Kentucky, you know that he won a few races at
29:48
Martinville, which I had modified in Late Models and I've
29:52
run there with Cliff Stewart. So he knew my potential, I
29:57
guess. And Rick said, well, all right,
30:00
I'll give you one more chance. Now Rick and his wife Linda were
30:03
in Greensboro at a church conference.
30:05
So they weren't even at the track.
30:07
And of course, like I said, we didn't have these things.
30:09
So after we won the race, Rick had to call his mother up, who
30:14
was home. She's Ricky.
30:16
Ricky. They won the race.
30:17
They won the race. Well, I live right, just a
30:20
little South of Greensboro. So Rick and Linda made a stop at
30:24
a convenience store, bought a bunch of toilet paper.
30:26
They went to my house and toilet papered the house.
30:29
His first went in NASCAR. My first went in NASCAR.
30:32
And I get my house toilet paper. You know, today when you if you
30:35
do that, you're around. You go to California to go to
30:38
New York City, get on all these TV shows.
30:40
But that was the celebration. I took my some of my crew and my
30:44
family to Clarence's steakhouse just up the road from.
30:48
Yes, we all go there. Yeah, well, I see that's still
30:51
there. But that was our victory
30:53
celebration and so a whole lot different in that.
30:56
But it was amazing. Yeah, it was a dream come true
31:02
and it kept the doors open at Henrik Motorsports.
31:06
And you know, so the more or less story is, is everything you
31:11
do in life and everything you say eventually can affect your
31:15
life and millions of other people, thousands of other
31:18
people that won that race. Where would all those people
31:22
that work for Henrik Motorsports be today?
31:25
We don't know. We don't know.
31:26
Where would Jeff Gordon, what was his crew be like?
31:29
What would Jimmy Johnson, all all those guys, drivers, what
31:32
would their crews been like? So everything you do would say
31:36
effects. So be careful.
31:37
I always try to think before I open my mouth.
31:40
Nowadays we do. So you never do.
31:44
Well, I'm a lover, but I'm also verbally aggressive.
31:50
I want, I want to tell you something.
31:52
I'm a lover. Listen, I want to tell you a
31:55
story about that. When at Martinsville, I was
31:58
there and you just said to me that, you know, tires were a big
32:03
thing, tire money and Harry Hyde.
32:07
That day I was watching your pit stops.
32:10
Now remember, I'm 60 years old right now.
32:15
Do you know? I mean, you were sitting in the
32:17
car, Jeff, and and they jacked the left sides up.
32:21
Harry would take your your left rear tire off OK and immediately
32:27
put it in cool water and the next pit stop he'd take that
32:31
lever and put it on your left front.
32:34
I watched it and he might have saved Rick some money that day,
32:39
but I found that an engineering move because in those days when
32:45
your car that red and white #5, when that car came up off the
32:49
corner and all of us you you, there was a foot underneath the
32:53
left front. You were carrying that left
32:54
front, you you were getting real good grip, so in the day you'd
33:00
come up off the corner left front, just every once in a
33:02
while come up off the ground. So the left front wasn't getting
33:06
any tire wear. But I wanted to tell you my view
33:10
of your great win that day. I remember Harry swapping those
33:15
left sides out for the left front, and he probably saved
33:18
Rick $600 in that race. You Do you think you and Harry,
33:26
even though you all were, You and Harry Hyde were a little
33:29
different. Dude, Were you guys ever on the
33:31
same page? Engineering minded?
33:35
Yeah, so you know the neat thing about that race here?
33:39
He picked the first pit coming in on the front side of the pit
33:41
row. You pick down in the middle,
33:43
what happens? You got all bogged down.
33:45
You get in traffic, you can't go.
33:47
So he picked the first pit as you exit turn 4.
33:50
That was genius. That really was.
33:52
And I asked him, why are you picking that pit?
33:55
Because we qualified. What?
33:56
I don't know, you know 3rd or 4th, we would be way down there.
34:00
He said boat on, I know what I'm doing.
34:02
He sure did because it we didn't get slowed down.
34:05
When we made a pit stop. Did we get along?
34:09
Yeah, we got along until I mentioned something to him.
34:12
You know, his setups were on a three by 55 index card.
34:17
He had this fine point pen and this goes back right here racing
34:21
the K&K Dodge and all those gears.
34:24
Bobby Isaac. They had torsion bars in the
34:27
front of those cars. He had a conversion from that
34:30
torsion bar to a coil spring, He said this is what we ran here
34:33
before and this is what it is in coil spring.
34:35
This is what we need. Well, like I said, I joined the
34:39
team because I wanted to race with him and I thought he would
34:42
show me how to win, which he did.
34:44
But some of those setups didn't work so good on a bigger tracks.
34:49
And the reason why was Perry like to put a lot of lead in the
34:52
trunk of the car to make it to wave properly.
34:55
He put it in the trunk behind the axle and subtracts, that
34:59
just didn't work. So I said, I said, Harry, you
35:02
know subtracts, this isn't working.
35:05
You know what that is? You put that lead behind the
35:07
axle. That's like a pendulum.
35:09
You know, a pendulum has weight on environments.
35:11
It'll swing the back end out. When you go in the corner he
35:14
goes Bodine. I don't know anything about no
35:16
pendulum effect, but that's where the leads going to go.
35:22
Boy. Yeah, that's when we started
35:25
having having a little head button thing and that's why when
35:29
Tim Richmond came into the The Tenant Motorsports, Harry went
35:32
with Tim and I had up with Gary Nelson for a while.
35:36
We went Daytona with Gary. So we switched around because
35:41
Harry couldn't understand that pedaling effect.
35:43
Yeah, I get it. So let's move on a little bit.
35:48
Let's move on to something that I think made you more famous in
35:54
in a in a way that the historians will remember.
35:56
So this movie comes out with Tom Cruise, Days of Thunder.
36:01
And this, this movie to this day is still very successful, like
36:06
on Netflix or Hulu or anyone. Days of Thunder really put
36:12
NASCAR on the map. And there's a part in the movie
36:17
where NASCAR is really tired of Jeff Bodine and Dale Earnhardt
36:22
senior fighting. You two were going at it.
36:25
You, you. You had as much car control as
36:29
the great Dale senior did. He would try to wreck you.
36:33
He couldn't wreck you. Sometimes He did wreck you.
36:36
NASCAR had enough of it. They brought you down to
36:39
Daytona. And of course the movie Days of
36:42
Thunder exaggerates it. But in real tell me about you
36:50
and Dale, Earnhardt, senior, the Man in Black #3.
36:53
Tell me about you 2 having to go to Daytona.
36:58
What really happened? It's.
37:00
In the book, let's tell you everything.
37:04
It's in the. Book.
37:05
Well, give me. Give me some highlights.
37:06
Just some highlights. When?
37:08
I got in the cup. Dale and I were.
37:11
Buddies we go to on the Dover, we go out to dinner with Teresa
37:15
and my wife and have some seafood and just talk.
37:18
But as soon as you start, I started winning.
37:20
You know, the friendship went away and because he liked to
37:24
win. But the penalty box, you
37:29
remember that? Oh yeah, the penalty box.
37:32
Well, what it was Della hit me. I'd hit him back, They put me,
37:36
call me in and they started the penalty box after me.
37:41
I said what? He ran into me.
37:43
It could have been a mistake. But we know you that hit him on
37:46
purpose. You're mad.
37:47
You come in here, calm down. So it didn't take me long to
37:51
figure out that wasn't a good thing to hit him back after he
37:54
hit me and Rick Henrick the same way.
37:57
And it was at Charlotte. For late moderates.
38:01
We're leading Robert G's car. Robert G was the grandfather of
38:07
Kelly Dale. And yeah, yeah, I'm leaving the
38:13
race and we didn't pit. Most everyone else did.
38:17
And so coming, going, and I knew they were going to pass me
38:20
because they had new tire. So Bernhard gets behind me,
38:22
coming off and turn 2, spins me out.
38:26
I spun around out in the backstretch, blew the tires out.
38:28
We changed them, didn't hurt the car.
38:30
And I went out there and we ran side by side.
38:32
Everyone knew I was going to wreck him, but I didn't.
38:34
I ran him, never touched him. And that night had a phone call
38:41
from Mr. Henrik. He said I'm tired of Earnhardt
38:45
wrecking my cars. If you can't do something about
38:49
it, I'll get somebody in there. Will.
38:52
What are you going to do, Kenny? You're going to do something
38:54
about it, right? Where's your check come from,
38:57
right? We had a fast car for the 600
39:00
and I'm starting right behind her.
39:02
Perfect, perfect. I'm right behind him.
39:03
He might have had 5th or 6th. We're right, the front and he's
39:09
loose. He kept waving me to pass him.
39:12
I kept waving back. He waved me to pass it.
39:17
He was loose. Getting off the corner he kept.
39:19
I kept waving at him and I didn't want to get anyone else
39:21
involved in this, but you know, I figured out how the penalty
39:26
box works, so I had to hit him first.
39:28
So coming off too. I hit him, got him sideways and
39:31
I pulled up next to him a little heading down the back stretch
39:34
and I figured he'd just hit me a little bit, pay me back.
39:39
No, no, he put me in a ball. Well, they penalized him, what,
39:44
five or six laps that day and that night got a call from Mr.
39:50
Henrik again. Meet us at the airport and we
39:53
all flew down there and we went in the office at NASCAR office
39:58
and all the officials are lined up in this long table and
40:03
Earnhardt and I sat, sat across from each other.
40:05
Rick and of course, Richard Chillers are there.
40:08
And Mr. Tran sat at the head of the table.
40:11
And back in those days, we didn't have cell phones, all the
40:14
technology. So there's a pile of VCRS and
40:18
all this stuff here. He came in and laid this VCR
40:21
tape down. And what I know, we're not going
40:23
to have to watch this. We're going to work this out as
40:25
men. So he proceeded to go, yeah,
40:29
What happened that Saturday race, Billy.
40:33
I mean, that's that's how we talked to Billy.
40:35
Billy, you know, the boy didn't pit.
40:39
We pitted tired. We had new tires heated in.
40:42
So I caught him and coming off the two, I was going to go under
40:45
him, My left front hit the apron.
40:47
It just shot me up into him. You know, I made a mistake.
40:50
It was like, well, I made a mistake.
40:53
I'm sitting there, It's going to be my turn here in a minute.
40:56
And he said, well, Dale, what happened?
40:58
Sunday's ready, Billy. I know you can't go into Turn 3
41:04
underneath somebody. You're going to get loose.
41:07
I knew. I knew it.
41:08
But I made a mistake. I went in there thinking I was
41:10
going to be all right. The car got loose and I run into
41:13
it, he said. So I'm looking over there.
41:18
I said, Dale, for somebody's so supposed to be so damn good, you
41:22
make a lot of mistakes. Mr. France.
41:25
Mr. France, I think we need to look at the video he showed the
41:28
Saturday race. Dale, just run in there.
41:30
Boom. He kept replaying.
41:32
Boom, Boom. Dale looks like he just ran into
41:35
the boy. Then he put Sunday in there and
41:38
he said he kept showing her over and over again, He said Dale
41:42
looks like he didn't turn the steering wheel going into turn
41:44
three, he said. I'm going to tell you boys how
41:48
you're going to do it and that's the rest of the story.
41:50
I'm not going to tell the. Rest.
41:51
Yeah, yeah, Stop right there. But that that's the the
41:56
beginning of the friendship between Dale and France.
42:01
France Junior, he he knew we had to be his friend because he's
42:06
the boss. He told us he's the boss.
42:09
He said you're effing with the way I make my living and I'm
42:12
going to tell you how you're going to race.
42:14
Yeah, So Dale became his friend and got away with a lot of
42:17
stuff. And I'm just those dumb Yankee.
42:20
I just figured, well, I'll go out there and win or what I get.
42:23
I didn't get comfortable. So anyway, the rest of the
42:26
story, all the details are in the book.
42:27
It's really funny and no one knows it but a few people.
42:32
Well, listen, it was a hell of a show.
42:37
I mean it. It it was a hell of a show.
42:39
And it's all in there. So, Jeff, Can you believe when
42:43
we have fun doing Kenny conversation, the time flies.
42:47
Now we're not done, but we're at 45 minutes.
42:49
So we're going to go ahead and wrap it up with basically my one
42:55
of my favorite stories about you.
42:57
Now listen, I admire you for what you've done.
43:00
You're an incredible race car driver.
43:02
But let's let's get to something that that you you made America
43:08
great again 1992. You're watching the Olympics and
43:15
you cannot believe how bad our bobsled team is.
43:21
Now, I'm not. I don't want to steal your
43:22
Thunder because I know the whole story.
43:26
But I but I started the story for you in 1992.
43:30
You're like, why are we so bad? Why don't we win at bobsleds?
43:34
So the Olympics representing America.
43:38
So what do you do? Well, the announcer, John
43:42
Morgan, who's was part of our project and his great friend of
43:46
ours still, he made the same. Well, maybe why the Americans
43:50
aren't doing well is they have to buy and use European
43:53
equipment. So wait a minute.
43:55
Americans representing the United States of America in the
43:59
Worldwide Olympics, they're not using American made equipment.
44:03
And so I investigated that. Sure enough, they weren't.
44:07
And a friend of mine flew us up to Lake Placid right after that,
44:12
the track was still open and it was right after Rockingham.
44:16
And they gave me a ride. Scared the life out of me.
44:19
The old track, Dangerous fast. Then the kids said, hey, you
44:25
want to drive? I said I'll kill us.
44:27
No, Only went probably way up the first time down.
44:34
Man, I did good. You know what happens when a
44:36
race driver does good? Your head gets this big you.
44:38
Want to do more? I want to do this again and the
44:42
second time down I didn't do do quite so good.
44:45
I came out off the last corner too early.
44:48
The front hit the wall and the inside wall and the back slammed
44:50
the wall and the owner of the sled, Bruce Roselli, was riding
44:54
Brickman with me and knocked the wind out of it's on.
44:57
ESPNESPN was there with her cameras and recording.
45:00
Had to push play and record and they taped this.
45:04
Cameras on her head knocked the wind out again.
45:07
But anyway, I bet the frame on his slit.
45:11
Now at that time of the day, I knew I couldn't be a coach.
45:14
I couldn't be an athlete. No way.
45:17
But then I learned turn off. These sleds were European and it
45:20
would jump. Unbelievable.
45:22
It was terrible. So I knew what I wanted to do by
45:25
then, but I bet this kid spring 6 inches to the left.
45:29
And I said, well, Bruce, I have guess I'll have to build you box
45:33
now. They thought I was going to go
45:34
fly back down to North Carolina with a nice and warm race and
45:37
just forget all about it. But you know, like you can when
45:40
you say something, you're obligated to do it.
45:42
Yeah, be careful what you say. So you got to be careful.
45:45
But I said it and I said, now what do I do?
45:49
You know, I'm racing, my crew is racing, but I hired my friends
45:52
in Connecticut to do the project for me.
45:54
Now I funded it and in the beginning and they end up
46:00
building sleds that were the best in the world, the fastest
46:03
of the world. We actually changed the way
46:05
sleds are built around the world because we applied NASCAR racing
46:08
technology, how to build it. The bodies come off so you can
46:11
work on it. Their sleds, the body didn't
46:13
come off. They had to cut little holes in
46:15
it to work on it. So we we made him safer and the
46:19
whole thing and so it was a great, a great run and proud of
46:23
all the French. Cheech was part of it.
46:25
Cheech Guard. He's.
46:26
A. Fabricator down South, but yeah
46:29
he he used to work up there with chassis dynamics and a lot of
46:32
friends and people were behind it.
46:34
I I supplied the money. Any idea because the name is
46:40
Bodine Chassis. Well, the Bo is me, the hyphen.
46:43
DYN is their company, Chassis Dynamics.
46:47
We used to build race cars together.
46:48
We call them Bodine Chassis Modified and they're still
46:52
running out there winning races. So I'm very proud of that.
46:56
But you know Kenny, we didn't mention this you you brought it
46:59
up a little bit. I'll be quick that, you know,
47:01
things I'm most proud about in racing isn't the wins, not at
47:05
all. It's the safety things that are
47:07
brought to this port, the full face helmet that.
47:11
Was you? Oh my God.
47:12
That's another story. Watkins, Glen, NY.
47:15
Power steering. They weren't using power.
47:17
Power steering isn't isn't just to make the car steer easier.
47:20
You can set your front end better to handle better.
47:23
Now. Earnhardt didn't know that at
47:24
the time. He said I'll never have power
47:26
steering. I said yes you will.
47:27
I will. Now just do some.
47:31
Well, you know everyone has power steering.
47:33
The modern day C you know guys are like Randy Lajoie.
47:38
They're building them now and they're they're really great.
47:40
I used to all use all these seats, but I I came down and
47:43
built that seat that came around your shoulders first because I
47:48
just got tired of breaking my ribs and suspension things.
47:53
Rear anti roll bar, you know they try to get that outlawed.
47:57
They didn't get that outlawed, DW said about the steering to
48:00
Bill Frank. Billy.
48:01
He called France Billy, too. You can tell they're a real good
48:04
friend, Billy. If that power stream goes out,
48:06
that boy is going to wreck everybody.
48:08
You can't let people run it. But eventually he had it.
48:12
And so all those things, all those things to me are more
48:14
important than the race wins I've had.
48:16
Yeah, and and for the races that are watching, you know, you're
48:21
110% right. Obviously I'm way younger than
48:25
you. We would go to Winchester IN and
48:27
ASA. You know you'd have to run 5
48:30
positive in the right front and then you'd have to run 1 1/2
48:34
negative in the left front. You let go of the wheel car just
48:37
turned to the left by itself it well like you said once you
48:41
started bringing positive back in the left front, you know
48:44
going back it it the car the left front would get in the
48:48
ground and work harder and. I won.
48:52
I won races without parsing. I won Darlington and Frank
48:55
Fessinger's lame up and that's the race that got me the Cup
49:01
ride with Cliff Stewart. But I beat and that I started
49:07
right behind David Pearson. I filed and I said I'm going to
49:09
this guy's going to show me how to win this race.
49:11
We're on the track. He he was the best there at
49:13
Darlington. Yeah, but Earnhardt's were in
49:16
it, Allison's were in it, Harry Gant was in it, and David
49:20
Pearson. I beat them all and a day later
49:23
Cliff Stewart called me up. Hey, if you can.
49:25
He had a big cigar on, you know. Hey, if you wanted Darlington,
49:28
you can win anywhere. Come on now.
49:31
That's how I got my Cup ride. That is so bad ass.
49:35
Steering without parsing. Let's go back to this.
49:39
We glossed over the Bodine bobsled too much.
49:42
Let me let me just say this. Let me give some stats.
49:47
The Winter Olympics. Salt Lake City, UT 3 medals in
49:52
2002. The girls won a gold medal.
49:56
The girls won a gold medal. Thank you.
49:59
OK 2010. The granddaddy of them all baby
50:04
Vancouver, BC gold medal. Thank thank you Jeff Bodine for
50:11
you know from one American to you.
50:13
Thank you because you personally are responsible.
50:16
But what I want to know, did the US government, you know, did the
50:21
president, did anybody, the vice president, did anybody call you
50:25
And thank you for putting America on top. 0.
50:30
That's horrible. Yeah, zero.
50:32
You know we didn't sell them to anybody.
50:33
We we build and maintain them all free.
50:36
And actually when I got involved the the board, the, you know,
50:42
Van Bridge or not just the Board of Directors for the project for
50:45
the box set. They try to get rid of me
50:48
because they used to go to Europe just to talk about
50:51
bobsledding. They used to go here on trips
50:54
and here here's this guy is coming in he doesn't want
50:57
anything. He's just going to build sledge.
50:59
He paying for it. They tried to Get Me Out but the
51:03
heart, I'm a heart and the Yankee.
51:04
So the more resistance we got from them, the more determined
51:07
where we're to get make this project work.
51:10
But no, you know, I didn't do it for anything else than just to
51:17
supply American made fast, Bob says to her kids, I didn't, You
51:23
know, in the Bible, God wants you to be humble.
51:26
I'm humble. I didn't do it for me.
51:28
I didn't even go to the races. They made me go to Salt Lake
51:32
City, my my board and to Vancouver.
51:35
I wasn't going to go because I didn't do it for that.
51:38
But so, you know, I'm proud of it.
51:41
And that made me a little disappointed.
51:44
That president called me up and say at least say thanks, but
51:49
didn't do it for any of. That and to this day, and I'm
51:53
going to be a little tough right now, this is me saying this to
51:57
this day we buy so many items you know from other countries
52:04
and here to hear from you and and it's you know, it's all the
52:08
record books. We were buying our bobsleds from
52:10
other countries. Well, they're not going to let
52:13
us win. So once again from from me to
52:18
you Jeff, thank you for for doing what you did and then look
52:24
at you now you're you living down in Florida.
52:28
Yeah, Laurie and I live in Malabar, Florida.
52:31
The little piece of heaven it's it's between the real crowded
52:37
southern part of Florida and the real crowded Daytona Beach area
52:40
and just a piece of heaven. So what?
52:43
What are you up to now? Yeah, can't get away from
52:48
racing. I help a friend, he owns Ace
52:51
Hardware in Malabar, Melbourne race at New Smyrna.
52:55
I build a car and maintain it and set it up.
52:59
We've been doing that with George for five or six years
53:02
now. But then I met a gentleman here
53:04
in Melbourne that he liked to race the road courses.
53:09
He had a car and I just started helping him with it every day.
53:14
And Lori, my wife said, you know, James should be paying
53:18
you. You're there every day working
53:19
on a car. I mentioned that to James and
53:23
said, yeah, my wife just told me I should be paying you too.
53:26
So he did a little bit. But we're in that there's a spec
53:33
Corvette class in Rd. racing right now and we build Corvettes
53:37
for that. And, you know, most people don't
53:39
want to have a race car, a lot of maintenance, a lot of work
53:42
and all that stuff. So they rent them from us to
53:44
drive and the summer buying us, we we built really fast cars.
53:49
So now people are wanting to buy a car from us.
53:51
So we're busy. There's days, hour, 10 hours a
53:54
day. Yeah, awesome. 5 year old me 10
53:58
hours a day. But I love the business doing
53:59
it. Yeah, that's what I've done all
54:01
my life is build cars. Well, you know, I know, you know
54:06
because you're smarter and wiser than me, but I've just gone
54:09
through this at 60. I was going to quit racing and
54:12
then Clint Eastwood said don't let the old man in because if we
54:19
don't stay busy, we bind up and and Jeff put on you have a you
54:22
have a lot of talent to give to people.
54:25
Well, you know, yeah, If you sit down, you're going to die.
54:28
You know, I've got to have a bad back.
54:30
They've been in my heart four times.
54:32
And they put a little watchman in there because they had a
54:34
fill. Gotcha.
54:36
Just doors up in my carotid artery.
54:38
They thought it might be plugged.
54:40
And so thank God that wasn't the case.
54:42
So I'm all right here. My legs don't work quite right
54:47
because of my back. I get injections in my back for
54:50
the pain which. Cortisones.
54:52
Yeah, a lot of arthritis back in there.
54:55
They take X-rays and pictures of back.
54:57
It looks like a a Birch that falling down.
55:00
It's pretty. Looks like you used to run in
55:01
NASCAR back in the day. You know, I've hit my head a
55:05
lot, had a lot of concussion. So I don't.
55:08
I don't drive anymore because the next one might see the last
55:13
one. I love my wife, I love my
55:14
family. I got grandkids, a great
55:16
granddaughter, so a lot more to do in life.
55:19
So I stay out of the seats, but I just love working on them.
55:23
Well, Jeff, let's let's end it like this.
55:27
You're an Olympic gold medal bobsled designer owner.
55:33
You've won the Daytona 500. You've still got Guinness Book
55:39
of World record 55 wins in the Northeast.
55:42
You helped bring the full face helmet to NASCAR.
55:47
You are a safety innovator. I want to thank you for coming
55:54
on the Kenny conversation with the Daytona 500 coming up, you
55:59
know this weekend our our Great American racing and buddy you
56:02
did it, you want it. Do you get sentimental?
56:05
Do you ever think when the 500 you're like, man, I kicked their
56:09
butt back in the day? No, no, I I because I know I'm
56:14
just blessed. I'm a blessed guy.
56:18
You know the Lords is giving me all this of these opportunities.
56:24
Like I said I just used to shovel chicken, menorah, milk
56:27
cows, work at a race track pick the rocks, drive the tractors
56:31
and butter trucks and and dreamed about going to Daytona
56:35
to win. That was a big enough dream.
56:38
That was a big enough dream. And then I, you know, as you
56:40
mentioned, unfortunately enough to do quite a few really neat
56:45
things in NASCAR and race it. But you know the strangest thing
56:49
that I never dreamed would happen to me?
56:52
Not in a million years to write a book.
56:56
People. People want I never, never came
57:00
to my I'm a farm kid from Shamong, New York.
57:02
It's wild enough that I wanted Daytona 500, But to write a book
57:07
is crazy. Yeah, you know, my wife's
57:09
holding up a sign and you can get this book and the only way
57:13
you get it autographed is through an autograph session
57:16
with me, you know, But you can get it on Amazon or or Barnes
57:20
and Noble. But to get this book, just go
57:23
on. Team Bodine.
57:25
Yeah, Team Bodine. That's where that, that site,
57:28
you know, put your right to the link, click on it and you can,
57:32
you'll see this book. You'll also see the the bobsled
57:34
book. We wrote that a few years ago.
57:36
I didn't. Another fella did, but we still
57:38
have a few of them left. Tells the whole box of story and
57:42
you can get one or both. You can buy ten of these or one,
57:45
it doesn't matter. It's all pretty neat deal.
57:47
But team bow rang dot square dot site and you get an autograph.
57:54
Well, listen up everybody. Kenny conversation, The Kenny
57:58
Wallace Show, coffee with Kenny. We are in podcast form.
58:02
You can find us on iTunes, Spotify, listen to the great
58:07
Jeff Bodine on your way to work. And it's an hour long, so when
58:11
you come back home, you can listen to the rest of it.
58:16
Until next time, Jeff Bodine, thank you so much.
58:20
You going to be in Daytona? Nope.
58:23
I'm not going to be there. I've been.
58:24
I've been gone for 16 days. I just got done winning my Gator
58:28
down there last week at Volusia. I miss my wife.
58:32
I miss my grandbabies. I'm back in Saint Louis, but I
58:36
will watch the Daytona 500 on TV.
58:39
Of course. Well, you know, you, you praised
58:41
on me all day, But you know, folks, Kenny is incredible.
58:46
He's still racing, still winning at 60 years old, loves the
58:49
sport, loves the race fans, There's no question about that.
58:52
So we want to thank you for having me on the show, on this
58:55
opportunity to tell a few stories.
58:57
They're great. They're good.
59:01
And we'll see you around somewhere.
59:03
All right, everybody. Until next time, Kenny.
59:06
Conversation just keeps on rolling.
59:08
Goodbye everyone.