Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / FOX Sports NASCAR Reporter Bob Pockrass | Kenny Conversation #24
Transcript
- 0:00Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny Conversation, brought
- 0:04to you by Jags, the leader in high performance aftermarket car
- 0:09parts. Remember to go to jags.com for
- 0:13everything and anything you need for your vehicles.
- 0:17Well, today's a big day because we're very lucky at Kenny
- 0:21conversation to always get the stars in all the sports, whether
- 0:25it's Tony Stewart or, you know, Ron Cavs or Haley Deegan.
- 0:30And now today, I believe we have the biggest star in his
- 0:35profession, sports, journalism. Bob Pocrass.
- 0:39Bob, thank you for being on Kenny conversation.
- 0:42Thanks for having me, Kenny. Well, let's let's start like
- 0:46this. It's kind of, it's not a game
- 0:50show because this is very serious.
- 0:52Everybody wants to know who is Bob Pocras?
- 0:56So yeah, right. Let's start right there.
- 0:59So Bob, where are you from? And tell us a little bit about
- 1:03your journey to NASCAR and we'll go back and forth on Kenny
- 1:08conversation. All right, well I was born in
- 1:11New York City but lived the 1st 10 years of my life in New
- 1:14Jersey and then I moved to Indianapolis.
- 1:17My dad got a new job and my family said hey, we got moved to
- 1:20Indianapolis and. And as you know, I know how much
- 1:23of A northerner I was. I met some friends there in
- 1:26Indianapolis, some kids in the neighborhood, and they said,
- 1:28hey, we're going to go to the park and play ball.
- 1:31And so I got my baseball bat and my glove because I thought we
- 1:33were going to go play some stickball or some baseball.
- 1:36And no, not in Indiana. No, that's basketball.
- 1:43Yeah. Yeah.
- 1:44So. So I had a lot to learn when I
- 1:47got to Indiana. And one of those things was one
- 1:49thing you do learn when you live in Indiana is some auto racing.
- 1:52Because that's certainly big. It's in the culture there.
- 1:55You know, you you hear back home again in Indiana before the Indy
- 1:58500 and you like, you know, what's the big deal?
- 2:00Well, like you learn that song in elementary school, in your,
- 2:04in your choir class, you know that you have to take, like
- 2:07that's the song that you sing. So it's just totally ingrained
- 2:11in in the culture there. Senior Skip day when I was in
- 2:13high school. Yeah, you go and watch practice
- 2:15at the Indy 500. So that was kind of my
- 2:18indoctrination to racing. I went to yeah, I went to
- 2:21Indiana University. I didn't know a whole lot about
- 2:23stock cars. But you know, when I by, by
- 2:26around the time I graduated, I think I watched.
- 2:28I went to Days of Thunder and I and I laughed about how hard
- 2:31those cars hit each other because I knew, man, they don't
- 2:33hit each other that hard in Indianapolis because I had.
- 2:37Spent some summers working as a quote runner for United Press
- 2:40International. You go get quotes from drivers
- 2:42and bring them back to the reporters.
- 2:43I spent summer working for the Marion IN paper as a reporter
- 2:48for, you know, for their big Indy 500 special sections.
- 2:52So writing stories about drivers by one of the years is there.
- 2:54Willie. Willie T Ribs was the one, you
- 2:56know, making his historic start. So it was there for a lot of
- 2:59history. And when I graduated college, I
- 3:01sent about over 200 resumes and clip packages in the Daytona
- 3:05Beach News Journal. Call 100.
- 3:07Yeah, no, you want, you want, you want to get a job and and
- 3:11look, you knew you were going to.
- 3:13And Daytona said, hey, we have this, this opening in our DeLand
- 3:19office. It's a small town, but there's
- 3:21some high schools there. There's a college that's a
- 3:22university and there's this short track called Volusia
- 3:25County Speedway. And I looked it up and I think
- 3:27Kenny Wallace, I think Kenny Wallace just went a Bush race
- 3:30there because what year did you win that, 90 or 91?
- 3:349191 I got, I was there just a little too late because I
- 3:37arrived in August of 91, spent 12 years there and then went to
- 3:41a magazine called NASCAR Scene which is a weekly magazine that
- 3:44covered NASCAR magazines. Go you know that it didn't last,
- 3:48but we had website called Scene Daily.
- 3:50That website eventually closed, but the people who own that also
- 3:54on The Sporting News, they rolled me into The Sporting
- 3:56News, then went to ESPN in 2015 and then it joined Fox in 2019.
- 4:03I think what I hear that really interests me is so many kids now
- 4:09a day, you know, they want to have their Rd. planned out you.
- 4:14So you you moved from New Jersey with your father, right?
- 4:17We're going to Andy, whether you liked it or not.
- 4:21That's right. So you you were just going with
- 4:23dad and this journey that you're telling us about, you were just
- 4:29going and doing. Was anything planned?
- 4:33No, I mean, really nothing was planned.
- 4:35I mean, when you were, when you're a sports writer, you you
- 4:39never know where it's going to go.
- 4:40I mean, when I worked at Daytona, I worked there for 12
- 4:43years. And I mean, I would say the last
- 4:4510 years I was sending out resumes fairly regularly trying
- 4:48to find jobs. There was one year, I'm going to
- 4:51say it was like 1995 or 96. There's one day I got a call
- 4:54from three different newspapers on my voicemail about jobs and
- 4:59just. You know, you know, I didn't get
- 5:01them, you know, so but like everywhere, I mean if you want
- 5:05to know, like I I interviewed in Orlando, FL, Melbourne, FL,
- 5:11Bradenton, FL, Green Bay, WI Anderson, SC, had phone
- 5:17interviews with people in mobile Everett, WA.
- 5:23I think we're trying to get a job while I was working in
- 5:25Daytona just you know to go and cover sports in those
- 5:29communities, Fort Wayne IN so you you just you never knew
- 5:33where you you might end up. And then what happened is, is
- 5:38that my seat in the Daytona Media Center was right across
- 5:41from where all the people from NASCAR Scene magazine worked in
- 5:44the Media Center in Daytona. So I got to know all the all the
- 5:48people there. They got to see how I worked you
- 5:51know this they saw me twice a year during the during speed
- 5:53weeks and then in July. And so when they had an opening
- 5:56there they they they told some people are like, hey we can you
- 6:00encourage this guy to contact us?
- 6:02Because you know, when I guess they kind of liked what they
- 6:04saw, you know, they they knew how I went about my job, you
- 6:08know, and so they already kind of knew what I was about before,
- 6:12you know, I ever reply. So like Larry McReynolds, you
- 6:19know, one of our biggest, you know, I worked where you were at
- 6:21for 15 years. I love Fox, love Steve Craddock,
- 6:24all my bosses, Eric Shanks and and I learned a lot from Larry
- 6:28Mack. So you know, I did my due
- 6:31diligence as Larry said, I got my notes and I want to read this
- 6:34to you and I want to talk about this.
- 6:37Who is Bob Parkrass? Came on the NASCAR scene with
- 6:41his own style, massive amount of stats and first person in the
- 6:47Media Center gained Bob national attention.
- 6:53Bob, you're rare. You're different.
- 6:58Did you ever realize that that you were different than all the
- 7:01media members? I mean, listen, I know you get
- 7:04along with all your Did you ever realize that you were different?
- 7:09Yeah, well, I'm anal. Can I say that on your show?
- 7:15I think I just have a natural curiosity and I just.
- 7:24I I remember things like, oh, I need to check on this.
- 7:27I need to continue to check on that.
- 7:28I need to continue to look things up.
- 7:31I need. And so and I just have, I mean
- 7:35you talk about like you asked where I was from.
- 7:37You know, my parents grew up in New York City.
- 7:39They were born in the mid 30s. And so, you know, absolutely.
- 7:45And so they're like you got to have to work for everything you
- 7:48can get because nothing's going to be handed to you.
- 7:51And you you know it's. So I think that's just something
- 7:57that was instilled for me from when I was a child.
- 8:01And I guess, I mean, I think we're all a little different,
- 8:06but I'm just, yeah, some people might be able to do the job and
- 8:12be the. And not need to be first in the
- 8:15Media Center or or last, but for me, I like to get in there and
- 8:19kind of get myself settled. So then I kind of know I can get
- 8:22focused on the the work at hand. And so you know I think the the
- 8:29other thing that you know you ask what makes you different is
- 8:31that you know, I love journalism.
- 8:34I love, I always say that people's discretionary time and
- 8:38their discretionary income, they don't have a lot of it and if
- 8:41they're going to. Depend on me to help them
- 8:44understand one of their the sport that they watch and help
- 8:47them determine whether they're going to go to a race or not or
- 8:49buy a driver's tshirt or not or how they spend their weekends.
- 8:53That's our responsibility, right?
- 8:56And you want to do it right and you want to be accurate and you
- 8:58want to be fair for those people who are, you know, who are, who
- 9:03are following you and reading, reading what you write.
- 9:06And if you can impact somebody in that way, that's a great, you
- 9:10know, to me that's a great thing that that.
- 9:12That you can do in life. So let's recap You.
- 9:16You come out of New Jersey with your New York born parents born
- 9:20in the Depression. You work hard.
- 9:24You follow your mom and dad to Indy.
- 9:27You don't really realize it, but it's basketball country, not
- 9:30baseball country. You grew up around the
- 9:33Indianapolis 500. You point out that Willie T Ribs
- 9:37was a big story early in your career.
- 9:40Then you you head on down to date Tony, you put out 200
- 9:43resumes. Now the reason I'm recapping
- 9:46this is I want the kids to understand that you didn't have
- 9:50a plan and I know I'm repeating myself, but you made your own
- 9:57lane and you became popular because of a hardcore work
- 10:02ethic. Now this is where I'm going with
- 10:04this and we go back and forth on Kenny conversation.
- 10:10In my opinion, you become so popular with your work ethic
- 10:16that to me, you land one of the biggest jobs in NASCAR,
- 10:21journalism, Fox Sports, FOX TV out of LA, Eric Shanks, Steve
- 10:28Craddock, all the big boys, they come calling.
- 10:32What was that like when you finally got what I mean?
- 10:37Was it the big call? Well, So what happened was, is
- 10:42that ESPN decided they didn't need a NASCAR writer anymore.
- 10:44They didn't need a Motorsports writer.
- 10:45So my contract was ending with ESPN.
- 10:49And actually ESPN was like, you know, we'd love to be able to
- 10:52keep you in some form. We just don't know how or where.
- 10:56And this is when they were going through a lot of leadership
- 10:57changes. So you weren't getting, I wasn't
- 10:59getting a lot of answers and. And I think I, you know, and I
- 11:02put out a tweet there at the, you know, is that I found out
- 11:04the day before the banquet in the 20, I want to say 2018 And
- 11:10and so that after the bank, I said, hey, you know, I'm a free
- 11:13agent. I don't know what I'm going to
- 11:14do. But there's also the possibility
- 11:17of staying at ESPNI just didn't know, and a lot of people called
- 11:21and. But so at the time and still,
- 11:25you know, I was living in Charlotte, my wife was based in
- 11:27New York. So.
- 11:29So my goal, my goal was to I want to stay in journalism.
- 11:34BI wanted to be able to see my wife more in New York and see,
- 11:38you know, then stay in racing. And I talked to a lot of people
- 11:41in racing and talked to a lot of people outside of racing.
- 11:45There was some That was time when gambling news was really
- 11:48big because all everybody knew it was coming.
- 11:51There are a lot of gambling websites that talked to me, had
- 11:53contract from at least one of them and went on the way.
- 11:56And you know, Fox didn't really have, they didn't have an
- 12:02opening per se, but they knew what I they knew that all that
- 12:07many of their people followed me on social.
- 12:09They knew that. They knew that that I I brought
- 12:14a lot of things to their attention that they would want
- 12:16to talk about during the telecast they had recently
- 12:19stopped having. Written word on their website.
- 12:22So they didn't really have like a a writer or reporter who they
- 12:25could go to and say hey, is this going to happen, is that going
- 12:28to happen and stuff. And so, so they saw that I could
- 12:33be a a really good fit for for them, a really good addition.
- 12:37And you know, I would say the January 1, 2019, it'd be about
- 12:4330% chance I was going to be at the Daytona 500, because I
- 12:46didn't really. I figured I was going to move to
- 12:48New York, probably cover gambling.
- 12:50But Fox had. I talked a little bit to Fox and
- 12:52they came back soon after January 1 and had something that
- 12:57I liked. And they actually let me live in
- 12:59New York because I'm not in studio all that much though I'm
- 13:04here here for some stuff today. But it was just it was it was a
- 13:08great fit and it's it's another one of those examples, Kenny,
- 13:12you talk about like you don't know your path.
- 13:15I got the ESPN job. And mainly because again, those
- 13:19the editor there had seen my work and had seen what he was at
- 13:23the track. He knew what I could do and you
- 13:26know and want me on his staff back in 2015.
- 13:29So it's just a matter of you never know who's watching and
- 13:32you never know who's paying attention.
- 13:33Yeah, and I want to say something.
- 13:35This is my, my, my compliment, my comment.
- 13:42I don't think. Now listen, we love everybody.
- 13:45We don't be mean. But ESPNI mean, you were there,
- 13:49but I don't, I don't think you showed up.
- 13:53What I mean is ESPN didn't do you good when you got in and I'm
- 13:57hardcore when you got the Fox TV, they use you in all the
- 14:02right ways. They put you on TV, They made
- 14:06these short videos with you. Bob Paw, Crash is way more
- 14:12popular, way more famous now that he's with Fox because they
- 14:16use you in the right way. Now, what do you think of what I
- 14:21just said? Is that correct?
- 14:22Is that wrong? You know, ESPN obviously didn't
- 14:27have a daily NASCAR show, right? So they they they didn't have
- 14:30the outlets. You know, it was me and Ricky
- 14:33Craven and a couple others there was.
- 14:38Right, right. And but I mean, but they treated
- 14:41me well and in fact a couple days after I signed with Fox, I
- 14:45got phoned. They're like, you know from some
- 14:47somebody in their international divisions like we might be able
- 14:49to get you to some F1 races. Could you know, are you staying?
- 14:52I was like, no, I just. I just signed with with with Fox
- 14:56so so there was still still have a lot of respect for the people
- 14:59there. I felt like that they you know
- 15:02even though it wasn't a high priority maybe on the on the TV
- 15:05side from the from the.com side they they they treated me really
- 15:09well and they always seemed to have an interest in in what was
- 15:13going on. I just think Fox had a lot of
- 15:14avenues, but they didn't have at the time when they hired me was
- 15:17we didn't have a website and I was actually able to write for
- 15:21USA TODAY for a year. And then foxsports.com kind of
- 15:26relaunched in in 2020 with the app and and new website and
- 15:31that's when they they added those duties for me.
- 15:34But yeah, they they've made me certainly more famous, more
- 15:38noticeable that you know, whenever you're on TV, you know,
- 15:42my goal is always to be able to impact as you know as many
- 15:45people as possible. And I think at ESPN you
- 15:47certainly could do that because of the reach of of the website,
- 15:51but obviously. For NASCAR fans and the people
- 15:55who follow the sport, you know, NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR Race
- 15:59Day and now you know I think on our website too@foxsports.com
- 16:03that that we we provide a lot of lot of information for them.
- 16:08Yeah and you know, years ago the great Bill Elliott said to me,
- 16:12Kenny, life is about timing and circumstances.
- 16:17So once again, this is my opinion.
- 16:21ESPN loses you, Fox gets lucky and gets you and you've got good
- 16:29managerial there and boy, they. I think it's just like you went
- 16:34from one team that was playing 500 and that now you're in the
- 16:38World Series or the Super Bowl every week.
- 16:40So you know, that's just my opinion.
- 16:42Bob, congratulations on that. You got one hell of a job.
- 16:46So I've noticed that it, it seems to me like you've always
- 16:52been a pretty serious man, but they've taken you out of your
- 16:57element. I feel like I I see you at
- 17:00Bristol, partying it up, having a good time, and I know that's
- 17:05part of the content. Bob, are you fun or are you fun
- 17:11on the, you know, at home? So, but I mean, here's the
- 17:14thing, Kenny, is that when you were at the racetrack and I'm a
- 17:17reporter. Yeah, I'm trying to do a job and
- 17:20you have 600 things to do and I have 600 things to do.
- 17:23And so you know I'm going to ask you the questions and you know
- 17:27there may be a little bit of small talk, but there's not a
- 17:29lot of time for that. So you're going to see me,
- 17:31you're going to ask questions and I'm going to go on and we're
- 17:33going to go our our ways. And I think, you know I
- 17:39certainly have kind of a a business side to me and I think
- 17:43that's what people see and that's what and that was what
- 17:45people. I thought I was like all the
- 17:48time and but you know I I feel like I have a silly side I have
- 17:52a humorous side. I I, you know, I can joke
- 17:55around, but that probably doesn't come off when people are
- 17:59watching a press conference or reading a story.
- 18:02You have to kind of see it more in a more interactive,
- 18:05interactive way. And certainly Fox has has
- 18:09allowed me, has showed that, has showed that that that side of me
- 18:14and it was a big hit, Bob. Yeah, dancing through the foam
- 18:18it. Was a big little hit.
- 18:21Yeah. It's fun and it's, I mean, I
- 18:25like I'm I guess I just, it's just it's part of my part of my
- 18:35personality now. It's not something.
- 18:39You know, I mean, it's not going to foam parties every week, so
- 18:41I'm finding finding one out, but but you're more businesslike.
- 18:46But it was, I mean in fact, so I mean how that gets started.
- 18:52I was taking over Fox's Instagram for a day at Bristol
- 18:56and it was near the end of the day night, you know, after the
- 19:00race, but like the truck race or same race.
- 19:03And I asked the people at at Fox Social, I said, hey, am I done?
- 19:06And they're like, we really need one last bit, you know, to kind
- 19:10of close out the story. And I was like, I was tired.
- 19:13And I was kind of actually probably a little ticked off
- 19:15that they, you know, that I really need to do another one.
- 19:18I mean, seriously, it's been 12 hours and somebody from the
- 19:22track is like just made now. So, hey, we're going to the
- 19:25phone party. Does anybody want to come?
- 19:27And I was like, well, if they want something to close out this
- 19:30story, might as well go to the phone party.
- 19:33And and they did that video like, hey, I'm at the phone
- 19:37party probably a little, you know, just kind of a little bit.
- 19:43I don't. I only after a 15 hour day.
- 19:45A little delirious. Yes.
- 19:48Yeah. So I was like, I'm going to give
- 19:49him something, see if they like it.
- 19:51And now it's. Yeah, now it's now I got to do
- 19:56it every year because it's just kind of become a little bit of a
- 19:58tradition that's fun and and that's the thing that, you know,
- 20:01you've, I mean people, people enjoy it.
- 20:05And if people enjoy it, then, you know, then then let's do it.
- 20:08I think you made it okay for people that may be on the series
- 20:12side to jump around and and have a good time.
- 20:15Well, you know what a journey you've had.
- 20:19Couple more things. Bob, your advice with the ever
- 20:24changing Times Now you know we went from antenna for your TV,
- 20:29we went from no phones. Now this is everybody's world,
- 20:33and people at Fox know that. You know, they're live streaming
- 20:37now. What advice in particular now
- 20:42stay in our lane. What advice do you give the kids
- 20:45now with this new era that we're in and they want to be like you,
- 20:50Bob? My first advice is, especially
- 20:54if they want to get into Motorsports, is don't feel like
- 20:58you have to find a job that's 100% Motorsports right away.
- 21:02There's lots of. As you know can there's lots of
- 21:04agencies and and other groups that work in the sport but they
- 21:08also work in other sports and even you know other
- 21:11entertainment and parts of the entertainment industry.
- 21:14And if you can find something that might be 10% NASCAR or 20%
- 21:18NASCAR and you get to do all these other things, that's not
- 21:23that. That's not a bad thing at all,
- 21:24because many people in this industry want people who have
- 21:28other experiences outside NASCAR to bring perspective.
- 21:32And if you as long as you're doing some stuff in NASCAR,
- 21:35people are going to notice, you're going to meet people and
- 21:39you'll be able to get that that job that's 100% NASCAR or 100%
- 21:44Motorsports later on and you're going to be so much, probably so
- 21:48much better at it. So that's my and.
- 21:53And the other thing I'd say is do things that make you
- 21:56uncomfortable, put yourself in positions.
- 22:00You know if you're like, man I don't know if I can do that.
- 22:02Well the only way no is if is to try and if.
- 22:06If you can do that with. That's right.
- 22:09Well, I mean look as as I know I did some pit reporting for an
- 22:12arc erase earlier this year and I'd never done that before.
- 22:16And you know I had always tell people, hey put yourself in a
- 22:19comfortable position and when I saw we had an opening, I was
- 22:23like well, I'm going to put myself in an uncomfortable
- 22:24position and and you know and just to grow and just to see.
- 22:29What what I could do, and I think that's that's The thing is
- 22:33you've got it because whatever you do, you're always whatever
- 22:40job you're going to have. You're going to get put in
- 22:42uncomfortable positions and you're going to maybe something
- 22:44that you didn't expect or something.
- 22:46You're going to be given an assignment that you really don't
- 22:50know much about how to manage it.
- 22:52But if you've at least been in that position before, you're
- 22:55used to having to either learn on the fly or go with the flow
- 22:58or. Reach out and and find things
- 23:00out and and. That type of experience is
- 23:03invaluable. So when I made it to the NASCAR
- 23:08Cup Series, that was it for me there.
- 23:11There was nothing bigger. I was where I wanted to be.
- 23:16Can you go any higher in your profession or are you where you
- 23:21want to be right? Now, well, you know.
- 23:24I mean where I was before I mean and like that I mean.
- 23:29I mean when you're a sports journalist that has been the
- 23:32place, right. I mean that's nothing against
- 23:34where I'm at now. Right.
- 23:36The the worldwide leader. Right.
- 23:37And so when when they tell you they don't want you anymore or
- 23:42might not want you anymore you know that's that's that's right.
- 23:47That's not the the the greatest feeling.
- 23:51You know, I. You know I certainly content and
- 23:56and and you know who knows what what's what's down the road who
- 24:00knows what's what the next thing's going to be.
- 24:04But you know so I never say well like I've I've reached the the
- 24:09pinnacle. I mean you there there's more
- 24:11people to reach and more people to touch and more people to you
- 24:16know as far as with content and. So you know, who knows, who
- 24:20knows what, what's out there. So, but I mean you talk about me
- 24:28being popular and I think what what what's a great thing about
- 24:33that is that I got into this to be able to help people
- 24:38understand the sport and whether they enjoy it.
- 24:40And quite frankly, and my bosses here will hate me say this, like
- 24:43if they read what I write and say they want to go watch a
- 24:46basketball game, well. I mean that's the the basketball
- 24:50writer I hope is writing something and they'll be like
- 24:52maybe I'll go watch a race right.
- 24:54You know so but you've done your job you've you've you've helped
- 24:57influence what they're going to do.
- 24:59And so when people want you know when so many people come up to
- 25:03you at the racetrack and you know say that they you know they
- 25:06follow you and and everything and and want to say hello like
- 25:09that's. I mean, that's just that that's
- 25:12awesome because that's that's why I'm that's why I'm doing it.
- 25:15You know, I I I mean, I love you, Kenny, but I'm not doing it
- 25:19so that I can talk to Kenny Wallace.
- 25:21I'm doing it because I want the Kenny Wallace fans to know what
- 25:25Kenny Wallace is all about. Same here.
- 25:28That's why I have you on Kenny conversation.
- 25:30So, Bob, listen, thank you so much for telling us your story
- 25:35and let's end it like this. I've asked Kevin Harvick, Tony
- 25:40Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, we, we've had them all
- 25:43on here and I'm going to end the same way with you because I
- 25:48think it takes us all, you know, he takes the race car driver,
- 25:51takes the journalism. So I'm going to ask you the same
- 25:55thing. I asked them four questions for
- 26:02your opinion on the state of NASCAR right now.
- 26:10I think. It's I feel like it's on the
- 26:13upswing. I feel like it's it's creating
- 26:18some new fan bases. The challenges, if you ask me to
- 26:21predict where the car industry is going to be in five or ten
- 26:23years, that's hard to predict. So how am I supposed to know
- 26:26where the auto racing industry is going to go right like that.
- 26:32It's it's you answered the sport right there.
- 26:34Don't know where we're going yet.
- 26:35Yeah, but I will say this, I still think that the, the, the
- 26:38biggest challenge is. Especially now the biggest
- 26:46challenge is getting people to have to have passion for the
- 26:50drivers, because in the past you used to go Talladega.
- 26:54And ten years ago, you go to Talladega and you see Calvin and
- 26:57Hobbs stickers peeing on a Chevrolet logo or a Ford logo on
- 27:02the back of a car. You don't have that anymore.
- 27:04You don't have that natural connection to your driver of
- 27:08your favorite car manufacturer. And you don't have the Bush
- 27:11series going to like South Boston and that that driver
- 27:14champ getting a ride and then building their way up.
- 27:17And so that you know you don't have these track champions.
- 27:21Who are now racing on Sundays, who people can feel connection
- 27:24to through their local communities.
- 27:25So I think that to me, that's the biggest challenge for NASCAR
- 27:28going forward. So I'm going to skip #2 and #3.
- 27:33OK, No, right there. See there.
- 27:36It says the sport is too corporate.
- 27:40OK, so you. But you just brought it up.
- 27:42So I'm going to skip two and three.
- 27:43We're going to go back to the next Gen. and penalties.
- 27:46The sport is too corporate. We all know that, and it's
- 27:49because the sponsors don't want their drivers saying anything
- 27:53wrong to dilute their sales. Don't say nothing wrong because
- 27:57then we only get 50% of the people to buy our product.
- 28:01So you're a journalist. Did you like it better when
- 28:06Rusty threw the water bottle at, you know, Dale Senior?
- 28:11Did you like it better when Dale Junior got fined for saying
- 28:17SHIT? What is your opinion?
- 28:20Are we too cleaned up? Is that why we don't have the
- 28:23decals of you know and and the drama?
- 28:26I mean, it was fun, more fun back then.
- 28:28What's your opinion? Well, I mean my, my opinion is
- 28:32that the sponsors still have way too much influence, but they pay
- 28:37for that influence, right? And so the the, the, the, the.
- 28:41The way to fix that is to make is to make it so that the teams
- 28:44are less dependent on sponsorship.
- 28:46Right. And and is and if there can be
- 28:48if they can figure out the model and figure out this charter
- 28:50system to a point where the teams are less reliant on
- 28:55sponsorship. They A potentially can get make
- 28:59more decisions based on talent rather than sponsors that a
- 29:03driver is bringing. And B potentially let them be a
- 29:07little bit more themselves. Yeah well there there's no
- 29:09doubt. We definitely on purpose dumbed
- 29:12the drivers down. That's why I like Denny Hamlin.
- 29:15I like actions detrimental. I think although it makes the
- 29:18NASCAR wiggle a little bit uncomfortable.
- 29:22It's like you said you you got to go outside your comfort zone
- 29:25and Dale Junior hired Denny Hamlin and I think it's really
- 29:29good for the sport. So let's go back.
- 29:31We're coming down to the last two.
- 29:33What is your opinion on the next Gen. car, the new car?
- 29:39I I'm mixed I I like the fact that a track house and and a
- 29:48colleague can come in and and win some races begins probably
- 29:53because of the parody that the new car brings.
- 29:57I'm not a the the the challenge has been last year on the safety
- 30:02side and currently still on the short track side, the
- 30:06advancement. On the car, because NASCAR runs,
- 30:10it all is it takes too long. They're not very nimble in that,
- 30:15being able to make changes because a you only have a single
- 30:19supplier parts, but B the teams are not working on stuff you
- 30:22know burnt up again. Yeah, so and and.
- 30:28And So what happens now in NASCAR, NASCAR and the and that
- 30:32team kind of talk and and maybe try to figure out a fix.
- 30:35But in the past what would happen is that every team would
- 30:38be calling Sten Houses, would be calling Mike Kelly over at JTG
- 30:44and they'd all be trying to think of answers and trying to
- 30:47work on answers because they can figure out they can make their
- 30:50own parts and pieces to improve it.
- 30:53And obviously in this news era they they they can't.
- 30:56They can't. They're not going to make a new
- 30:58piece that they can't that you know, because NASCAR's in charge
- 31:02of all the manufacturing and and and all the designs of it.
- 31:07So I think that's to me that's the biggest, that's the biggest
- 31:11challenge I understand and and I agree with you 100%.
- 31:15So the last one, what 3-4 months ago Hendrick received, you know,
- 31:22with all the teams combined, I believe it was the largest
- 31:26penalty in NASCAR history combined like $400,000.
- 31:32What What is your opinion on the incredible fines, the tech
- 31:39inspection, the way they're governing of the car?
- 31:47Well, I mean I think the fines have to be big in this because
- 31:49of the the nature of this car and I think.
- 31:55Well, I think it's been best is that after that they've they've.
- 32:02Now started showing us the parts and pieces like, right.
- 32:04Like last weekend they showed us the photo of Kevin Harvick's
- 32:09windshield and then they showed us the part and the piece and
- 32:12how you know and how like difficult it would be for it to
- 32:17come loose, you know, during during a race and so.
- 32:22And certainly that's their side of it.
- 32:24But at least we're, you know they showed us the Austin Dillon
- 32:27piece that that got them in trouble.
- 32:30They showed us the SHR spoiler that that got them in trouble.
- 32:34So at least they're now I I like the fact that they're at least
- 32:39showing us what's wrong and explaining to us what's wrong so
- 32:43that they're so that those types of fines you you can helps fans.
- 32:50Make it at least a little bit more educated determination on
- 32:53whether those fines are just or not right.
- 32:56I agree. Well, Bob, listen, you were
- 32:58incredible. You haven't.
- 33:01You've had an incredible journey.
- 33:03I'm sure your journey's not over.
- 33:04But listen up everybody. We are in podcast form now and
- 33:10but we sure are showing up. We're on Spotify, iTunes.
- 33:14You can listen to Bob Potcras on the way to work and on the way
- 33:18home you can split it up. Bob, thank you so much, buddy.
- 33:23And what do we got? Four more races to go.
- 33:25Four more. It'll be exciting.
- 33:28Thank you so much for being on Kenny conversation.
- 33:31Thanks. For having me, Kenny.
- 33:32Appreciate it.