Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Talking NASCAR With The Talented Danielle Trotta!

Transcript

Talking NASCAR With The Talented Danielle Trotta! · Kenny Wallace Media

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Guys would just think this is blonde girl, you know, she
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doesn't, She doesn't know what she's talking about.
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And I would, my colleague would say, no, she kind of does.
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I mean, and they would be like, oh, you're the anchor, OK.
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And they would start to quiz me. Oh, well, what happened in the
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fourth quarter in 1994 in the Orange Bowl?
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And you would never do that to a man.
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It's the Kenny Wallace conversation brought to you by
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Jags. Hello everyone, and welcome back
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to Kenny Conversation brought to you by Jags, the leader in high
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performance aftermarket car parts.
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Remember to go to jags.com to fix your hot rod up or your
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everyday vehicle. And they have truck parts and
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Jeep parts in stock right now. Well, you are looking at this
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lovely lady that I was so fortunate to work with, Danielle
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Trotta. Danielle, how you doing?
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Good. It's so good to be on the Kenny
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conversation, Larry Mack said. It was.
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You were nice to him, you weren't rough on him, so he said
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you're good to go. Thank you.
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You know, I really think Kenny conversation well, I don't think
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I know it's a celebration and we celebrate people and we talk
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about all their accomplishments and you know, I learn a lot.
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So let's start just like that. We'll we'll go everywhere
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because it is Kenny conversation.
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So, OK, let's go back and I studied up on you.
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As Larry McReynolds say, I got my notes.
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I got my notes. So Danielle Trotta from
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Westchester County, New York, a New York girl.
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And that explains to me why you're such a badass.
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You don't. You don't put up with anything.
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I was lucky to work with you. Tell me just a little bit about
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your childhood and then we'll we'll move forward.
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But your mom and dad tell me about New York.
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My mom and dad love you by the way.
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They had a golf cart ride with Kenny at a racetrack once.
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We were both working for Fox. They were never the same after
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that. Yeah, I, I tend to do that.
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I I'm a little much. They're like, wow, Kenny.
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Did I use the four letter word around them or usually if I'm
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comfortable I do? Yeah.
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So tell me about your childhood. Yeah, no, they're wonderful.
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So Westchester is right outside the city, and that's where a lot
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of my family's from, New York, Italians and all the boroughs,
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Brooklyn. My dad was born in the Bronx.
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His family, his grandmother, my great grandmother lived in
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Brooklyn. My mom's from New Rochelle,
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right outside the city. So all of like just outside
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Manhattan, outside of the boroughs is Westchester County.
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So it encompasses a lot of towns.
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New Rochelle's one of them where I was born, where my mom's from.
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And then we moved to Rye and then we grew up in Somers, which
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is still Westchester. So people like you remember Jamo
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John Morris, the, you know, like NFL players, they'll do, you
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know, I'm from, you know, Poughkeepsie, NY.
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I went to EU or whatever. He's like, who says they're from
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a county? Like you're you have to be from
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a town. You're not.
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And I'm like, no, But if you're from Westchester, you ask people
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like, where are you from? Westchester.
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Oh, OK. Like that's like a thing because
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there's so many little towns around the city, like it's just
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Westchester. I find that fascinating because
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when we go out to California and you and I and Larry have done a
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lot of shows out there from the Hollywood Hotel and in, you
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know, in, in Missouri, we go Interstate 55 or Highway 270 out
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there. Everything's the go out here to
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the 10. Take that to the five.
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So everybody's, everybody's got their gig, don't they?
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Yeah. So that's like Westchester.
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So I just say I'm from Westchester, People get it.
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You're from right outside the city.
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And yeah, I mean, it was a great childhood.
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I have a younger sister. She's 2 1/2 years younger.
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We've all since migrated to Charlotte, so we all live within
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15 minutes of each other now. And she has kids and she's
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married. And it's a wonderful thing.
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But it was, it was a lot of fun. It's a great suburban New York
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City to grow up in. This is probably the third time
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I'm reminding everybody, but I was lucky enough to work with
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you for years. And one thing you did for me
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that I thought was awesome, but it made me look at you a little
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differently. To this day, I'm too hyper.
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I don't know how to tie a tie. And you always tied my ties
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because when we would do Big Time Fox, we had to wear a tie.
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And I asked you, I said, how did you learn how to tie a tie?
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So I'm going to let you tell everybody.
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I thought it was just. It was simple but yet
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fascinating. Yeah.
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I mean, I waited tables at fine dining restaurants, and we had
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to wear ties, too. So I wore, like, my white button
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down with my black pants and my black apron and my tie.
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And before I was, like, making any money, I had no money.
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I mean, it's college. So I, like, go into my dad's
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closet and pull out, like some of his ties he didn't want to
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wear anymore. And I'd rotate them.
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So you had to tie a tie before you started your shift at like
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5:00 every day. We do that for a couple years
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and it's kind of like muscle memory, you know, you remember.
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Yeah. I find it interesting, though,
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because people want to know where people come from, you
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know, and you and I are around famous people, and those people
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come just from somewhere, whether it's Michael Jordan or
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you. So I I just find it fascinating
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that Daniel Trotter, who is well known throughout America or the
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world, you're very good at what you do.
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You do a lot, and I mean the point is is you had a beginning
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waiting tables, didn't you? Yeah, and now that both
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presidential candidates want to do no tax on tips, I might go
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back. I mean, that's free money.
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Yes. Like I've been thinking about
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it. Dust.
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Off the old tie like that was good.
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I tried to think about because I was going to school, I was
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interning at ATV station and I started to, I didn't have a lot
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of time and my internship was not paid, but I had bills.
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I mean, I had rent and car and cell phone and electric and
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cable and all the things that we do right.
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So I'm like, how can I make quick money when I don't have a
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lot of time? I have two other I'm in school
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full time and I have a job interning and I wanted to live
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at the TV station. So I was like, well, waiting
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tables from 5:00 to 10:00 is a tight window.
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Like I can make a couple 100 bucks cash every night.
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And then I learned that bartending you make even more.
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So I graduated to behind the bar and I'd work a couple nights a
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week and make like maybe double or triple what I was making
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waiting tables. So it worked out well.
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That's how I supported myself in school.
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I'm going to go somewhere that might be a little unique.
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I have three daughters and I love them.
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They're very good at everything they do.
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They're hard workers like you. But at an early age, I, you're
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telling me that you're very responsible.
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Obviously, you must love your mother and father, but they.
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But they didn't spoil you, huh? I mean, because, you know, I
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spoiled my kids. I paid for everything.
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Cars, college. Sounds to me like you had to go
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to work at an early age. Yeah, I mean, my parents rule
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was always like you had to work even in high school, unless you
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were playing sports. So when I wasn't in season, I
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had to have a job and they paid for my car, my car insurance.
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I mean, back then we had pagers. It's probably like 10 bucks a
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month or so. Like I had to pay for that.
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I mean, like if I wanted to go out with my friends in college,
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I had to work. My parents paid for my
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education. Like I think they paid for like
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the basics, you know what I mean?
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And and I was very grateful for that.
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I know not everyone has that luxury, but then like, I changed
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schools a lot and kind of maxed out what they could do.
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So I think the final two years were on me and I had to pay off
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a lot of student loans when I graduated.
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And it's not that my parents didn't have the means.
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They just, yeah, that's not my mom.
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Like we weren't going and getting Manny and Peddie's
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together and doing a lot of like the extra things.
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She was like, if you want those things, then you have to pay for
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them. If you want to get your hair
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done, then you need to pay for that.
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If you want, I'll provide you with a car.
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If you don't like this car, it's not the cool car.
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Like I had my mom's used Toyota Camry, which I loved and it got
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me to point A to point B, but like and it ran great.
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But my friends all had like fancy cars and she was like,
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well, great, then go work. If if you want that, then you
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can have it, but you have to work for it.
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So and I, I don't know, I mean, I don't have kids, but if I did
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have kids, I feel like I'd raise them the same way.
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I don't think handing me everything was necessarily like
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the best road map. I've always learned like if I
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wanted something, and I'm like with that in my marriage, like
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Robbie works really hard and can provide for us, but I feel the
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sense of duty to provide for us too.
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Like I have multiple jobs and working is really important to
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me and paying for my own way. If I want things, I'll go pay
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for them. I don't have to ask him for
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money. That's kind of that was
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instilled in me at a young age. I think it's important for women
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to be able to do that. I like this and and we're we're
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going to get to you working for Mechem and all these jobs I see
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all over. But let's just finish up with
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your early days here. So you're you're doing this in
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New York and at at some point somewhere somebody said we're
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going to North Carolina. And what, what was that like?
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When did this happen? So Dad's job moved us to
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Indianapolis like in high school, junior high, high
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school. And then while I was in college,
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he took a job in North Carolina and then I graduated or I was in
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Emerson in Boston in college. And I wasn't loving Emerson.
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I mean, it was a really good journalism school.
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I think the town of Boston was just very overwhelming for me at
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the time. And it was very expensive.
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And again, I'm waiting tables. I'm trying to go to school.
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It was just a lot. And I was like, where should I
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go? Mom, she's like come down to
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Charlotte. It's the weather is beautiful.
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It's super affordable. So in 2000, four, I moved down
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here, 20 years later, still here and absolutely fell in love with
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it. I loved it.
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And then my sister and her husband and her kids followed.
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So Robbie's from here, his whole family's here, so this is home
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now. What is it to all of us about
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Charlotte, NC? Because same thing happened to
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us. You know, 1984.
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I go down as a crew member. I'm a crew chief on the Levi
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Garrick car for Joe Rutman. That's because I followed Rusty
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down. What?
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What is it about Charlotte in your in your opinion, you leave
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the big city? What is it about Charlotte, NC
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for so many people and so many different businesses?
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I don't know if you feel this way, Kenny, because I know you
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travel a lot and I've traveled a lot.
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When the plane lands in Charlotte or the car pulls into
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the driveway, like I just like, I feel like I'm at home.
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Like there's no place like home. There's no place I've ever been
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where I'm like, oh, I want to live there.
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This is maybe it's because your family's here and my husband's
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family's here and the weather's so beautiful and so you're in a
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good mood because the sun's out all the time and it's really
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warm and the people are friendly and you can have a really nice
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lifestyle. And I think because Robbie and I
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are in the business, maybe like all of our friends live here.
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So there's a deep sense of community, and we live around a
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lot of different racers and their wives and their kids.
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And, you know, before you know it, you just feel like you've
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built out this beautiful life. Like, what do people want?
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They want a nice house. They want to have a family.
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They want to be able to, you know, have good friends.
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And we have all those things like it.
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It checks the boxes of just being comfortable, being at
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peace, being happy here. Like, you know, how crazy our
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lives are and how crazy the business is and TV and the
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pressure and racing and just having like, a quiet respite,
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like a place where you can come home.
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Your family's really close. Like I, this is like where I
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relax, like I can turn everything off, but I also have
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everybody close by that I need. That's important for me because
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then, you know, once you go on the road, it's like it's crazy.
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And then when you come home and you can unplug, that's that's a
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pretty special thing. I, as you know, I lived there
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for 27 years and I always found it a little funny because people
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were like, oh, Charlotte, NC, one hour up the road is the
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mountains, two hours down the road is the beach.
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Do you ever use? I mean, I, I was so busy, I, I
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hardly did it. I mean, I raced in Myrtle Beach.
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I raced in Hickory. Do you ever take the mountains
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or the beach in? Yeah, we were really lucky.
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My parents had a place in Ocean Isle for a long time.
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They recently sold it. My parents, my sister and I are
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like really desperate to get them to buy another one.
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Or we're thinking of like all going in and getting something
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because we miss it terribly. Ocean Isle is like a really
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special place for us. And it only, I mean, in the car
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it's like 3 hours. Charleston, we love Robbie and I
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got married in Charleston. That's 2 1/2 hours.
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So we try to get down there. The mountains we try to go, so I
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figured this out. Everyone goes in the fall.
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It took us a few years. Go in the summer when it's super
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hot and you feel like you're melting in Charlotte, like today
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go 2 hours N to the mountains. It's like 70s, low 80s.
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It's perfect. So we try to do that, but you
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know how it is. I mean the grind is crazy.
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So if we can sneak away like 2-3 four times a year for a quick
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weekend or a quick night or two somewhere, that's a lot you.
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Know I want to talk about other things but as we're on the
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subject you work for SiriusXM radio on track is the name of
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your show but it's right in the middle of the day and although
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you know you're literally not on air 8 hours I found my
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experiences at Siri said I was always on air even though I
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wasn't it be because you can't do anything in the morning if
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you do you better be ready What what is it like what is that are
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you on for three or four hours or.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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So do you feel like you have to be on even though you're not on
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air? How do you do that?
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Yeah, it's tough to unplug. I feel like in the morning is my
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time to go to the gym early. Like, well, early for me, Larry.
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Hey, early for me is 9. Yeah, Early for me is if I can
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get to the 8:00 class, I'm like, I have friends that go to the
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five. I'm like, yeah, that's not going
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to happen, but I'll get to the gym in the morning and then if I
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have to be and producer calls at 10, then we're on air from 11:00
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to 2:00. So yeah, I try to structure it
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so I have a couple maybe like an hour before the show where I can
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really plug in. And then in the afternoons I'm
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constantly screen grabbing. Like I'm opening Twitter every
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half an hour, every hour checking stuff or listening to
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podcasts. Like that'll be when either I'm
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out in the yard, I'm by the pool, I'm walking the dog, I'm
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going food shopping and I'll listen to the podcast.
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So I'll listen to Dale Junior download, I'll listen to Denny,
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I'll listen to Stacking Pennies, try to keep up, go to Bob
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progress on Twitter and the guys from the athletic and like all
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my go to people you know, and you're just constantly checking
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and screen grabbing little news items.
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And then I'll try to put it down for a little bit, cook dinner,
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do whatever I'm doing that day, check in at night one more time,
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make sure I haven't missed anything.
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Our producer sends an e-mail kind of run down the show next
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morning, kind of wake up, refresh.
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So I don't, yeah, I don't know that you ever, like really
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unplugged, you do kind of live with it.
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But I've learned to like, take breaks and then I pick it back
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up. But I'm never too far away from
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it. And I feel like Channel 90's on
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in my car all the time. So if there's brakes and stuff
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or like whatever the hot topic is people are talking about,
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like I'm hearing it in and out of the car throughout the day.
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So I'm always kind of trying to keep it somewhere in my head.
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OK. So we are going to get to that
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moment that you went into journalism.
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But before we do that, I want to thank you because you helped the
16:26
Kenny Wallace show out equally just lately.
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I loved your comment on X and you really helped us.
16:35
Charlie, let's go ahead and drop her X comment where she talked
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about Chevrolet was really mad at Parker Ratzlaf.
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So we're going to drop that in right now.
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And as you're looking at it, that was, that was big news.
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And, and we, Charlie Marlo and myself, we would have not known
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this unless you put it on X because as you said, listen,
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this is the way it is for us. X Instagram, Hector's news on
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Instagram. These are our news sources now.
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I wanted, I just wanted to thank you.
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When you have big news items like that and, and, and Parker's
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talking or you're, you're talking to him, are you
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thinking, Oh my God, he's talking to us and this is big.
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What goes on in your mind when you have a guest tell you
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something larger than life? Yeah, you have this moment where
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you're like, OK, we need to get this out.
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Yes, exactly. And I'm trying to do a better
17:34
job of that because sometimes I'm so like in the show.
17:38
And I think, you know, like you when you're doing TV and you do
17:41
the show, you think everyone's listening.
17:44
But then I realized people are busy, people are doing a million
17:47
different things. So I'm starting to do a better
17:50
job of like when I have an interview.
17:52
What did Kenny say that I found really interesting?
17:54
I'll take one thing you said and I'm going to put it on X1.
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So either you just see it and you're knowledgeable or two,
18:00
you're like, oh, he's on right now.
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I'll TuneIn. So it's a driver to the show,
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but I also think it's a way to inform people that may not be
18:07
there. So I'm trying to get better
18:10
about that. But I, I feel terrible for
18:13
Parker and the way that happened.
18:15
I guess to update the story today, I did talk to someone
18:19
very close to the situation and it does sound like Chevrolet and
18:23
Parker are back on good terms. So if there ever was any kind
18:29
of, you know, bad feelings about the way Parker navigated that
18:34
situation, I think Parker and Chevrolet have found common
18:38
ground or and they're back on a good page.
18:41
But yeah, that was a that was a huge story that sometimes I
18:44
don't know if you feel this way, you don't know it's going to be
18:46
big. What people are going to grab
18:49
Parker Rhett's laugh like this Xfinity kid making only a second
18:52
Cup start. He's this.
18:53
Skinny. I'm like, oh, I want to go out
18:57
and eat cheeseburgers with him. But like the fact that that took
19:01
that became such a big story. We're like, let's get him on the
19:05
show. I I never want to put anyone in
19:07
a bad spot, Chevrolet included. But I thought it was like people
19:11
were so polarized by the fact and you're a racer.
19:16
You tell me what you think. But and like Larry was adamant
19:19
on the show all week. Like Parker did nothing wrong.
19:21
He was trying to win the race, but and team orders like down
19:26
the stretch should not matter. And in the last lap or
19:29
something, isn't it like all bets are off?
19:31
The fact that like Chevrolet, there was transmission, They may
19:34
not have been happy in that moment.
19:36
And Kyle Bush was on the front row people, I don't know what it
19:39
was, Kenny, people felt like they were really upset that
19:44
Chevrolet may have been upset. Like he became a man of the
19:47
people he became like people like rallied around him on
19:50
Twitter. I think that tweet had like over
19:52
half a million impressions or something.
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I mean, I was surprised that that many people gravitated to
19:57
him, but people were supporting him like saying you did
20:00
everything right. And, and you did a good job
20:02
telling the story. And I want to tell you my
20:05
opinion. First of all, this kid that was
20:08
his second Cup race, he, you know, he did everything right
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And, and, and he can win this race and he is a good driver.
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I've watched him race shockingly.
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I met him at Hickory, at Hickory.
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And I looked at him. I'm like you're a race car
20:24
driver and then he showed up like this kids got speed so here
20:28
he's got this one chance in time.
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The last thing I want to hear is somebody tell me to push
20:34
somebody when I know I have an opportunity real opportunity to
20:38
win. So I think Chevrolet was was
20:43
wrong. You know Kyle Busch has had a
20:47
lot of time to win a race. So I I, you know, although, you
20:51
know, Richard Childress facing, they're the big boy and hey, you
20:54
push me, you get in line because I'm better than you, because I'm
20:58
older and I've won championships, still don't play
21:01
right. And I think the reason Danielle
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was such a big deal because it was, you know, it was a a story
21:09
of a of a kid just coming up and has nothing and he and he cannot
21:13
run the big boys. So.
21:14
OK, well, that was awesome. I want to thank you for that
21:17
content and get give everybody a look inside.
21:21
You know what you're up to today, literally by the hour.
21:25
All right, let's back up and go to and it's what everybody wants
21:30
to know. Every lady out there wants to be
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Danielle Trotto. They want to do what you're
21:36
doing. So at what moment in your life
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did you say I'm going to get into journalism?
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How did you get to to what was it WBTV?
21:46
How did you get the local TV in Charlotte?
21:48
Tell me this this story. Yeah, I mean it, it's kind of
21:52
like race car drivers when they're little, they're like, I
21:54
knew since I was three, this is what I wanted to do.
21:56
Like I I pretty much knew at a really early age.
21:59
And Danica Patrick always said she wanted to be a role model
22:02
for girls because how do they know they can be it if they
22:04
never see it? You know, if you don't see
22:07
another girl racer, you don't even know it's possible.
22:10
And I feel like in the late 80s, early 90s, I was blessed that
22:15
there were some really good women doing what I love.
22:18
Like I just was watching TV with my dad, like seeing Hannah Storm
22:22
and Summer Sanders doing NBA inside stuff and NBA on NBC.
22:28
And my dad was a big basketball fan.
22:30
So we'd watch a lot of their shows and I'd see these women
22:33
doing these shows. And I just said, dad, that's
22:36
what I want to do. I don't know.
22:38
It's just this light bulb moment.
22:40
And he was like, OK, you know, go do it.
22:42
And so I always, I've never done anything else.
22:45
I've never wanted to do anything else since I was a little girl I
22:48
knew. So I went to school for
22:50
journalism, got the internship at WBTV down the road in
22:54
Charlotte. They hired me when I graduated
22:56
as a editor, putting all the clips together for local news.
23:00
And then I was a photographer and they told me to go out to
23:05
Charlotte Motor Speedway and just film you guys doing pit
23:09
stops. And like when the back tires
23:11
squeal and the smoke comes off pit Rd., they just said, get me
23:13
a bunch of B rolls of like, you know, smoke and tires and loud
23:19
sounds and the guys, you know, with the air gun and stuff, they
23:21
just needed like cutaway extra video for a special.
23:24
They were doing OK, you know, so I go out and do it.
23:29
I'm like, Dang, this is pretty cool.
23:31
And that's when like Jimmie Johnson was the man Chad Canalis
23:34
is walking around like, who the hell are these guys winning
23:38
everything? And I just thought it was so
23:41
cool. And then Speed Channel called, I
23:45
didn't pursue, I didn't really think.
23:48
I just thought I'd go to ESPN and do stick and ball or
23:50
something 'cause I liked it a lot and never thought of racing
23:54
as a career ever covering it. And then Speed Channel, you
23:58
know, Steve Craddock, our former boss, and they're like, what do
24:02
you think about doing NASCAR Race up?
24:05
I'm like, I'll try it. 15 years later, still here.
24:11
So something stuck. But it was not.
24:13
There was no plan to necessarily cover NASCAR, but I I knew I
24:17
wanted to cover sports. My time around you was fantastic
24:24
from the viewpoint that you did way more than talking.
24:29
You wrote your stories. We would be there.
24:32
You know, you're tying my tie. You're you're directing me and
24:35
Larry, you, you're better at TV than Larry Mcfrennell's and me.
24:40
You're, you're very controlled with your breathing.
24:44
You know, we're going live in front of 800,000 people, a
24:48
million. Where did you learn that?
24:51
Yeah, I feel like, I don't know, maybe it's kind of like asking
24:56
one of the greats like Kyle Larson or Kenny Wallace, how how
25:00
are you so freaking good? Like I'm sure, you know, people
25:03
ask you and your brother all the time, you know, are you And some
25:06
people I feel like are born with this God-given gift.
25:10
And I do think part of it is just it just came natural to me.
25:16
But I will say I had to work. You also have to work really,
25:19
really hard. And you will agree with that.
25:21
Even if you're born with natural ability, you have to really,
25:24
really, really work thousands of shows and hours to finesse it
25:29
and to really learn. And I spent five years at WBTV
25:33
to local station here in Charlotte and I did everything
25:36
like I think that helped. I edited, I was a camera person,
25:40
I ran teleprompter, I produced, I did graphics, I reported, I
25:44
hosted and I just loved every facet.
25:47
Like I loved the team aspect. I wanted to know what you did so
25:51
I could do something to make your job easier.
25:54
I wanted you to kind of get to know me so then we could make
25:56
magic together. Like the more we were like
25:58
simpatico and it there's something really beautiful when
26:02
the control room's working together with the people on the
26:05
set and the crew and the story comes together and the editors
26:09
like pick this great music. And there's so many little
26:12
things that when you get on the air and you're like, wow, like
26:16
we just made a killer show. Like the features were great.
26:19
The storytelling was good. Kenny was awesome when I asked
26:21
him this, like we booked the right guest.
26:24
There's just something like I love every facet of television.
26:29
And so I think that's why like, I could relate to you or maybe I
26:34
tried to help you and then you could help me, 'cause there,
26:37
there is just like you are a team at the end of the day.
26:40
But you have to understand, like I knew what was on your
26:43
shoulders. I knew there was, you know, so
26:45
it was like I wanted to set you up to succeed.
26:47
You always set me up to succeed. There was just this beautiful
26:51
kind of chemistry that we all created.
26:52
And I think we really supported each other.
26:55
And I came from team sports. There's like a team when I was
26:59
little, like growing up, I loved the team, like the team all
27:02
coming together for a common goal to win.
27:04
There's something about that process that I love.
27:07
And I just love every facet of television.
27:09
Every single role, you know, that everybody plays is really
27:13
crucial. And if I hadn't learned all
27:15
those jobs coming up, I don't think it would have served me as
27:18
well. I think a lot of girls and guys,
27:20
I guess, get it wrong. Now.
27:22
I want to be on camera. That's always a red flag.
27:26
You know, it's that can be your end goal.
27:28
Like I always knew I wanted to be on air, but it's kind of like
27:31
owning a restaurant. I think you should be the
27:33
busboy, the Hostess, the waiter. You know, you have to work your
27:37
way up. Like I think so many kids now,
27:39
they just want to come in and be they think they're going to be a
27:41
star, you know, come in humble, come in with nothing, learn
27:45
everything on your way up. And then once you get there, you
27:49
can really appreciate everyone else's job.
27:51
And it makes, I think it makes the show better overall.
27:55
You talk about Dean being a team player and and you we set each
27:59
other up when when I looked at some of the greats in national
28:03
TV, whether it's Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.
28:07
And then you, you know, years ago you had Pat Summerall and
28:13
whoever hit, I got brain fed. But you have these teams and you
28:18
play off each other. Pat, Pat Summerall and the guy
28:21
with the sports did the did the games.
28:24
But anyway, you and Larry McReynolds seem to be that that
28:29
team. What is it with you and Larry
28:33
that enjoy working together? What does he do?
28:36
How does he compliment you and how do you compliment him?
28:40
Well, we miss you, by the way, because we used to be a trio.
28:43
Yeah, we were. It's not the same without my
28:47
Kenny. Because you are the spice.
28:49
I always knew Larry was going to set me up with the strategy and
28:52
the stats, and then I didn't know what the hell Kenny was
28:54
going to say. But that's that's.
28:57
John Madden. Thank you, Charlie.
29:00
Thank you, Charlie. John.
29:01
Pat Summerall. Pat Summerall and John Madden.
29:05
So, yeah, they were they these were good teams.
29:09
And I just see that you and Larry have a lot of success
29:13
together and and and really do a good job with each other.
29:18
So what? What is?
29:19
What is Larry? Does he just make you feel
29:21
comfortable? Yeah, I mean, I would say the
29:25
other thing that I left out is I watched a lot.
29:27
You probably got so good at what you did because you watched
29:30
thousands of races before you drove.
29:32
I watched thousands of pregame shows, postgame shows, studio
29:37
shows. And I would watch TV differently
29:39
than I think other people on the couch with a bag of chips like
29:43
I'm watching. How is she saying that?
29:46
How did she transition to that? How did she come out of break?
29:49
How did she set this guy up? How do you?
29:51
So I was always kind of like a student.
29:54
And then when you get there, I don't know, maybe it becomes
29:57
muscle memory after a while. But watching others that are
29:59
very good at what they do will help you once you get there is
30:04
my experience. I, I love Larry.
30:07
I have no idea why we work because on paper we are so
30:11
different. You know, there's a large age
30:14
difference. Not that he's older, but there's
30:16
he's. All He's all business, isn't he?
30:19
Yes. And he's like, you know, he's
30:21
he's a guy. I'm a girl.
30:23
He's from the South, I'm from the North.
30:25
Like he was kind of old school. I came in in the modern era, on
30:29
paper, any boss would go. These two are never going to
30:32
work. There will be no chemistry
30:34
there. You can't.
30:36
Chemistry is a funny thing with driver crew chiefs.
30:39
You probably felt this way. You they pair you with someone
30:43
and you're like, I don't know. And then it might be the best
30:45
crew chief you've ever worked with in your life.
30:48
You can't, you can't put a dollar figure on chemistry.
30:51
I think you put people together and it works or it doesn't.
30:54
For some reason. He and I clicked and I'd
30:58
probably talk to him more Kenny, every day than I talked to my
31:00
husband. Think about it.
31:01
We're together 4 hours a day. Yeah.
31:04
Every single day now for gosh, I mean well over, I would say 1215
31:12
years we've been working together and Larry can work with
31:16
any. You've seen Larry work with a
31:17
punch. He's a pro.
31:19
Like he's going to come prepared.
31:20
He makes it so easy. He has fun, you know, he's going
31:24
to work well with everybody. But when it comes to a daily
31:28
radio show, you better get each other's sense of humor.
31:33
You better want the same style show.
31:36
You better have the same ideas about what you want the show to
31:40
be. You better have the same kind of
31:41
work ethic. You should want to have the same
31:43
kind of guests. So I don't know.
31:47
But they came to me and said we want to start this show.
31:50
Who do you want to work with? And I just, I thought Larry can
31:54
educate people. He can inform people, he can
31:57
make people laugh. We can handle the serious stuff.
32:00
Larry checks a lot of boxes. His work ethic is tremendous.
32:04
Every guest that's going to come on respects him.
32:07
So we're I do. He knows everything.
32:09
Yeah, he so we were. We're going to get big names and
32:14
the fans love him. The fans, I know they do fans
32:17
surveys and stuff and I hear he's one of the highest rated
32:21
every year. I mean, people love Larry
32:23
McReynolds, so and the fact that he and I got along so well, it
32:27
was kind of a no brainer. So we're seven years in and we
32:30
haven't killed each other yet. Yeah, And and, you know, I don't
32:33
know what it is. You talked about our trio.
32:36
Larry McReynolds sends me a a nice text every year on my
32:40
birthday. And maybe he does that for other
32:42
people, and that's fine. But still, there's something
32:45
about him. Yeah, by doing that for people,
32:49
just when I didn't like him, he made me like him because he was
32:52
so nice to me, sending me nice texts.
32:55
Hey, pal, You congratulations on your daughter getting married or
32:59
happy birthday, Kenny. I just wanted to share that with
33:02
people inside. Look on Larry.
33:05
Good. Stuff.
33:05
That's a good point too. I mean, at the end of the day,
33:08
he's just a really good person. Yeah.
33:11
Yeah, he's, he's a family man. He's a good guy.
33:14
He cares about people. And you know this too, because
33:17
you work with some of them and we don't, we won't say their
33:19
names. Egos, huge egos.
33:25
And it's he's a big name and he would have every right to come
33:29
in and say I want this and we're going to do it this way.
33:31
And I'm the man and you don't know what you're talking about.
33:34
He's never done that to me. He's never treated me that way.
33:37
He's never made me feel that way.
33:38
He does not to be as big as he is and knowledgeable and famous
33:43
or whatever successful. He's never, I don't see any ego
33:48
in them. I don't know anybody that would
33:49
say they do. Right, so I want to go to
33:52
something just to touch on comfortable, but I know you'll
33:55
answer it like a pro. I feel like, you know, I'm
34:00
married to Kim and I have 3 girls.
34:02
I'm a girl dad, Brooke, Brandy, Brittany.
34:05
So I had to tell Haley Deegan this and she Haley sends me a
34:10
nice thank you. And I said Haley.
34:12
I said my mom raced powder puffs.
34:14
My mom was a race car driver. My niece Chrissy, she was a good
34:19
race car driver. That's why I go overboard to,
34:23
you know, help the ladies because I'm a girl dad.
34:27
So with, with everybody and you hearing what I just said, you
34:33
being a good looking lady, have you gone through any hardship?
34:37
I, I don't want to put anything in your mouth, but I feel like
34:41
we've made leaps and bounds. Ladies are everywhere now in
34:45
sports. Tell me your experiences about
34:48
that taboo subject. You're a lady in a man's world.
34:53
It was hard when I was first starting out.
34:55
I remember when we were in local news and there was like this
34:58
little bar hole in the wall. Here we go.
35:02
We'd go to like, everyone would go.
35:04
Tuesday night was media night, so all the local TV stations
35:07
would, you know, after the 11:00 news, we'd all get out.
35:10
About 11:45, we'd all roll in there.
35:12
We'd shut the place down, stayed till 2230 and it was just like
35:16
our night. Well, and locals are, you know,
35:18
are in there, but they don't. We all were friends.
35:21
Everyone's nice to everyone. So it became our local like
35:24
Cheers bar, you know, our watering hole.
35:27
And I remember one night like, so then we just start going on
35:29
other nights after Friday night, you know, football or something.
35:32
Hey, let's go get a beer. So we'd be at the bar and a
35:37
show. Would you know, there's Sports
35:39
Center on or whatever. And we're talking and these guys
35:42
would say, how do you know? And you're like, I don't want to
35:48
get into all this like what I do.
35:50
And I could probably wipe you under the table with trivia
35:54
about it. But like, that's not, you know.
35:56
A lot. Because it's your life.
35:58
Like, I was covering a lot of ACC football and I'm going to
36:01
the ACC conference championships and media days, you know, the
36:04
players like, but OK, you know, guys would just think this is
36:09
blonde girl. You know, she doesn't, she
36:11
doesn't know what she's talking about.
36:12
And I would, my colleagues would say no, she kind of does.
36:15
I mean, and they would be like, oh, you're the anchor.
36:19
OK. And they would start to quiz me.
36:22
Well, what happened in the fourth quarter in 1994 in the
36:25
Orange Bowl? And you would never do that to a
36:29
man, but you'd just be like, oh, that's cool.
36:31
Can I get a picture? Like, you're on the mute?
36:33
They would never even question if you had, you know, the chops
36:39
to have the job because you're a man.
36:41
They just assume that you know the sport.
36:44
But as a woman, they would question whether you knew the
36:46
sport. So that was, you know, that that
36:50
would happen a lot. How is it?
36:52
How is it today for ladies in in the sport?
36:56
It's come so far. And I think that's because
37:00
there's so many women. I mean, women are doing like,
37:03
did you see Doris Burke? She's doing NBA Finals on NBC
37:07
like it's first ever woman to do play by play for an NBA
37:11
championship, an NBA baseball. I mean Jamie Little now is
37:16
calling races in the Craftsman Truck Series on FS1.
37:20
Women on sidelines and on pit Rd. are commonplace now.
37:24
So I feel like it's not as rare. It's more accepted because
37:28
they're just seeing it more often in NASCAR.
37:32
I've never had a bad experience. I've never had a fan say
37:36
anything crazy or I've never had a driver say anything that I
37:41
thought was, you know, disrespectful or anything.
37:44
I think they understand, like I'm not a race car driver, so
37:48
I'm not going to be able to talk about it.
37:49
Like Kenny can talk about it, but that's also not my job,
37:53
right? Like you and Larry were were the
37:56
analysts that could relate to the crew chief and the driver.
37:59
I played a different part. So I think they understand,
38:03
like, you know, what your role is as a female, but I think I've
38:07
always been treated as an equal. Yeah, that's good to hear.
38:11
And I'd like to add something come up about 810 years ago that
38:17
that I totally agree with race car drivers and the football
38:22
players and the baseball players and the hockey players.
38:26
If we don't, if we don't have the play by pay play analysts,
38:29
if we don't have the coach, if we, we, if we don't have
38:33
everybody, it, none of it works. So I believe everybody has their
38:38
spot. You know, and I and I, I watch
38:43
Fox all the time. I like the five, the judge, the
38:47
lady, she she said something that I really like.
38:51
It kind of reminded me of just New York, because the five comes
38:55
on in New York and they got into a conversation about this.
38:59
So that and she looked in the camera.
39:00
She says everybody is going to eat dirt every once in a while.
39:05
And and and that was such a badass statement because nobody
39:11
has this, you know, wonderful life.
39:13
I remember, and Larry won't mind me saying this, the you know,
39:16
the great Larry McReynolds and I I choose that word great.
39:20
Some people make fun of me for it.
39:22
But but let's face it, you know, I was around Larry when we were
39:25
all worried, are we going to, are we going to get a contract
39:28
next year? And, and, and Larry shared his
39:31
worries with me. And I'm like, here's Larry
39:32
McReynolds, you know, and and that's the way TV is.
39:36
You know, we all eat dirt every once in a while.
39:38
And I like that the judge said that.
39:40
And so, yeah. Well, good stuff.
39:43
I'm glad that you haven't had any tragedies.
39:48
You you hear so many things, you know, but I feel like the ladies
39:53
are in a good spot right now. Yeah.
39:56
And and I like hearing you say that.
39:59
So. All right.
40:02
Your man Robbie Benton, he is a chameleon.
40:08
I mean it. It's like I see him at an
40:10
IndyCar race. Then I'm like, I'm at I'm at the
40:13
NHRA Drag race. And what is your husband?
40:18
And I need to ask him, but here you are.
40:21
You 2 are in the sport, so it's a valid question.
40:23
You're you're married. What is he up to right now?
40:27
So yeah, I mean, he does a lot. We were having dinner with, you
40:31
know, Daniel Suarez the other day and I love Daniel, you know,
40:34
with his accent and he's like asking Robbie all the series
40:38
that Rick Ware Racing runs. And as president he kind of, you
40:42
know, you oversee everything, right?
40:44
If you're the president, you're the right hand man to the owner
40:47
and everything comes across your desk.
40:49
I'm giving you the opportunity to say Robbie Benton is the
40:52
president of Rick Ware Racing. Yes.
40:56
That's what I wanted to hear, yeah.
40:58
Yeah, so he Daniel's asking what series?
41:00
What, So it's like American Flat Track, Global Supercross,
41:05
IndyCar, NHRA, Top Fuel, NASCAR Cup Series.
41:11
I think that's everything. It's a lot.
41:13
That's a lot. And Daniel, I love Daniel.
41:16
He's so cute. He won't mind me sharing.
41:17
I don't think he goes. Oh amigo, I hope they pay you a
41:20
lot. In it, you're hoping your egos
41:24
they do. Yeah, because it's it's like
41:28
most I, I mean, I think there's a few teams that are a somewhat
41:32
diverse. I don't think any as much as
41:35
Rick we're racing, but you know how tough like just the Cup
41:39
series is, you know, then to have to do all of these other
41:44
series on top of it. I don't know how like I know I'm
41:48
biased, but I do marvel it how he manages it with only 24 hours
41:52
in a day. There's always a hauler breaking
41:55
down or a driver needs something or a team guy needs help or you
41:59
lose a guy, you've got to go get another guy or you fail
42:02
inspection or there's so like, you know how it is in a race
42:05
team. There's just a million fires in
42:08
one series to put out. I I don't know how he overseas 5
42:11
or 6 with Rick. It's pretty impressive.
42:14
My experience at Rab, which was the last good team that I drove
42:20
for your husband owned it was my best runs.
42:25
What I learned about your husband is he is meticulous.
42:28
His handwriting is very small and very matter of fact.
42:33
He's is. Is he meticulous like I think he
42:36
is? Yes, he's very OCD and he will
42:39
he will probably admit that, but if you have like the labels, you
42:43
know in the pantry like they've got AI knew it.
42:45
I. Knew it.
42:50
Yeah, and guys at the shop asked the same thing you did.
42:53
They're like this way at home. Yeah, yeah, He very clean, very
42:57
good. And I had my best runs late in
43:01
my life with him. Well, Danielle, you, you've been
43:05
wonderful, but I got to ask you the same thing.
43:08
I asked the race car drivers because you are.
43:11
You are NASCAR. We listen to you every day.
43:14
You're very knowledgeable, better than the guys.
43:18
You're better than the guys because I think you work extra
43:21
hard. So we always end any
43:25
conversation with my NASCAR people like this.
43:29
What do you think about NASCAR today and now since it is in the
43:33
news, what do you think of NASCAR today and what do you
43:37
think of this 2025 new NASCAR schedule going to Mexico?
43:42
There are some surprises in there.
43:44
My home track is in the playoffs here in Saint Louis.
43:47
Now going back to Chicago totality, what are your
43:51
thoughts? I do feel like there's this
43:54
buzz, we're seeing it in the ratings.
43:56
I feel like there's this popularity in the swell around
43:58
the sport that we haven't had the last few years.
44:01
And I feel like we're on the verge of the next big boom.
44:06
I really do. If we can get people to really
44:09
gravitate to these guys and to buy into what they're doing, how
44:14
talented they are, you know, it's like somebody put out a
44:19
weatherman, put out a tweet today.
44:21
There was a heat index of 180 in Iran yesterday.
44:24
It was the global heat record ever recorded on Earth or
44:27
something. Like, dude, these guys are
44:30
driving in 180. They're driving in like 140
44:34
temperatures, 145 inside the race car.
44:37
Like 180 I realize is different than 145, but I just related it
44:42
back to racing and I'm like, if people knew these guys were
44:45
bacon and it's 140 in the summer inside these race cars for four
44:49
hours and what these guys are able to do, there's got to be
44:52
some way that and I think in car cams and we're doing so much
44:56
right now with the technology of the sport.
44:58
I think Amazon's going to help us drive the technology of the
45:02
sport and somehow make it more relatable.
45:05
I think they consider themselves kind of a technology company,
45:09
which is interesting. In my conversations with them,
45:11
they have some really interesting ideas when they
45:13
start the TV contract next year. But like, I think that's a big
45:17
push right now. How do we make people understand
45:20
when Kenny's inside the car, You know, how do we make it look as
45:25
bad ass and on the edge and freaking tough as it is?
45:29
We have to because on the field you can smack someone, you can
45:33
dunk a ball. Like we can see the muscle mass,
45:35
we can see your sheer strength. It's very hard to translate how
45:39
talented y'all are when we can't really see you, you know, when
45:42
you're inside this car, you know, going so fast.
45:46
But I do feel like we're getting better at bringing people into
45:49
what y'all do and how freaking talented you guys are.
45:53
And that's kind of my job is to showcase how amazing you guys
45:57
are, what you do. Because I couldn't, Kenny, I had
46:00
to get a minivan to push me off Pit Rd. in a Richard Petty car
46:03
at Charlotte. I couldn't even get it in first
46:04
gear. Well, you know, what's great
46:07
about this is I'm hearing this from your viewpoint, you know,
46:11
and sometimes we don't know what's important.
46:14
As you're talking, my mind's wandering and thinking about
46:18
you. This is not negative, but it is
46:23
an issue. Our most popular driver and and
46:27
I'm thinking he's starting to not be as popular as Chase
46:31
Elliot. When I do these trackside lives
46:34
at the track, I would, I would always use Chase Elliot to get
46:37
the fans cheering. And now and now they're they Boo
46:41
and I'm like, whoa, wait, what's going on here?
46:43
And, and this happened to me like at Bristol.
46:46
And I said, what's going on here?
46:47
So it is, it is a my opinion. And I'm asking you this because
46:51
I, I, I, I, I follow you. Why can't we get some of our
46:56
most popular drivers to do more to push the sport?
47:01
Are are they afraid? What?
47:04
What is their deal? I feel like you're trying to get
47:06
me in trouble, Kenny, because Chase Elliott Nation is going to
47:09
jump down my throat when they watch this.
47:11
OK, so let's not talk about Chase.
47:12
No, no, no, it's OK. I've just I've gotten myself in
47:15
trouble with him and his team last year and I just kind of
47:19
went down this road on the show the other day and I heard about
47:22
it from fans like Chase Elliott fans are loyal or die hard, but
47:26
I, I know I'm tough on Chase, but I have high expectations of
47:31
Chase because I know that Chase, I know where Chase Elliott can
47:34
take us and I feel like there's a responsibility on all of us to
47:39
do our part. Now he may feel like maybe where
47:42
the disconnect is, he feels like he is doing his part.
47:45
He feels like he attends all the sponsor things and he does all
47:48
the out track things and then he wants to go home and, you know,
47:53
kind of live inside his private world and that's kind of sacred
47:57
to him. You know, I mean, I remember
47:59
your reality show. You're like in the shower,
48:02
you're in the bed. We all saw it like you're Kenny,
48:05
like you're comfortable. I'm not asking anyone to do
48:07
anything that they're not comfortable doing.
48:10
But the Netflix special, I think, is another example of
48:12
something that can really help take us to this next
48:15
stratosphere of where we're wanting to go.
48:17
And he wasn't a part of it last year 'cause he didn't make the
48:20
play offs. He's a part of it this year.
48:22
I don't know if the Hendrick guys, I don't know if he wants
48:25
to do it. And my whole thing is like, you
48:28
are taking a whole lot, right? You have the championships and
48:32
the wins and the money and the jet and the lifestyle and the
48:35
airplane, the whole thing. You know, I'm taking from this
48:39
sport. I'm trying to give back.
48:40
I'm not saying he's not. But I feel like if you're a
48:43
star, if you're a face, you've got to give a lot.
48:48
So we can all all grow. We can all continue to grow.
48:51
So Chase can have a long career, his kids can have a long career.
48:54
If we all want this to be around, then I think we all need
48:58
to do our part to get to the next level.
49:00
And I don't know if other guys have passed him by because
49:02
they've been winning more races. And that's why you're hearing a
49:04
different reaction than you did at the track.
49:07
Like, but he's also kind of quiet.
49:10
He's shy, he's ancillary, he keeps to himself.
49:13
He doesn't feel the need to do a podcast or to showboat.
49:17
I don't think Hendrick really wants their guys to be out there
49:19
controversial and doing podcasts and stuff.
49:22
So it's like, you know how they say if you're out of sight,
49:26
you're out of mind? You really hear from him a lot
49:28
and he's not winning races a lot.
49:31
Well, he's just like other guys have taken some of his
49:34
spotlight, you know, the Kyle Larson's and the Denny Hamlin's,
49:37
the guys that want to be vocal. I think Ryan Blaney's done a
49:40
great job as champion. Joey Logano puts himself out
49:43
there on SiriusXM all the time. Corey La Joy.
49:47
I would argue like, yeah, maybe he's not running as
49:50
competitively, but like he takes a large part of that spotlight
49:54
because he's opinionated and he has stuff to say and he puts
49:57
himself out there. And if you ask him why he does
49:59
it, he's like, because I love this sport and I want to help
50:02
grow it. And I feel like Chase just
50:04
doesn't go after those opportunities the way a lot of
50:07
other guys do. And I actually think Chase is
50:10
smart. I think he's very intelligent.
50:12
I like to. Fly an airplane.
50:14
You have to be smart. He's so smart and when you ask
50:17
him something, he actually gives you an amazing answer.
50:20
My, my thing is like, then I want to hear more and I just
50:25
don't know that he really has that much more he wants to give.
50:28
So I think that's where he and I and it's never personal.
50:31
He wants to live his life differently than I do.
50:34
That's, that's human nature, right?
50:36
I'm not being personal, but that's kind of where I fall.
50:40
I wish we heard and saw more. Than we do yeah.
50:45
And and I want to add first of all, that was brilliant.
50:47
Thank you. I want to add from my
50:49
perspective that I like what you said, loving the sport so much.
50:54
His dad had a really tough time, you know, with the media.
50:58
Didn't want nobody to know what he was.
51:01
You know, Bill, you know all shucks and it would be awesome.
51:08
You know, when you look at Travis Kelsey, how he can win
51:11
back-to-back Super Bowl championships date, Taylor
51:14
Swift, pick some ass. Tom Brady wins 6-7 Super Bowls,
51:19
kick some ass. I just, I just don't buy into
51:22
that deal where if you're going to be a race car driver, you
51:26
can't talk to anybody. You got to be serious.
51:28
I think it's all Jeff Gordon. Jeff is a good friend of mine
51:32
and I've called him out and said, Jeff, you got to let these
51:34
guys breathe that, you know, just because you were that way,
51:38
you know, Jeff did more for the sport than he's letting any of
51:41
his drivers do. There, I said it.
51:44
I I I think. When you say that, what does
51:47
Jeff say? He he just like Kenny.
51:51
It's not time like I said, hey Jeff, come on my show and it
51:54
ain't about my show here. Let me give you an example.
51:59
William Byron wins the Daytona 500 right?
52:04
And and I and William comes on my show and it's awesome.
52:08
I love William Byron. I interview and we talked
52:12
Daytona 500 champion and Taylor Cool, who runs dirt up here in
52:17
Iowa has kicked his ass in ratings on any conversation of
52:25
anybody has done better than William Byron on in numbers and
52:30
that ain't right. I'm I'm defending William Byron.
52:33
I mean, I got guys that run 20th every week that are way more
52:38
well known than William Byron. That is an issue.
52:42
And my point is we got to make the sport bigger and we need the
52:46
driver's help. We need personalities, and maybe
52:49
you tell me if I'm wrong because this was your world, not mine.
52:52
But come on. Bill could get away with it a
52:55
little bit in his day if you said he didn't really want.
52:57
That was at the height of the sport.
52:59
He could kind of be off to the side and no one really cared too
53:04
much because you had so many other big personalities.
53:07
Like you had the Dales and, and the Jeffs and the Rusty's and
53:11
the Kenny's and the DWS and there were so many larger than
53:15
life personalities that if you had one kind of quiet all shots
53:18
guy and some people really loved him for that.
53:21
The difference now we don't have, you know, and the Tony
53:25
Stewart's and you know, we don't have those guys.
53:27
And like if you had Tony on in his heyday after the 500, it
53:31
would have exploded because people love to hear what Tony
53:34
had to say because you never knew what he was going to say.
53:36
The Hendrick guys are not like that.
53:38
And I agree with you. I think it's by design.
53:40
I don't think they really want them ruffling feathers.
53:43
They, and I think Jeff has said this publicly.
53:45
They want they want their drivers to do.
53:48
They're talking on the racetrack.
53:49
Yeah. Period.
53:51
Well, Lewis Hamilton is the greatest Formula One driver.
53:54
Guy wears jewelry, flies around gold planes and does a lot of
53:57
talking. So I don't I don't agree with
53:59
Jeff, even though he's way better than me.
54:02
I would say this too. We we had a Kenny conversation
54:05
with Ben Kennedy, who owns a NASCAR.
54:08
And I said, Ben, what was the fall of NASCAR?
54:11
He said, oh, wait, you know the economy.
54:14
But the biggest problem, the reason we've fallen so much is
54:18
we've lost all our superstars. Yeah.
54:20
And, and I've asked Charlie to put that out, that clip out
54:23
today. We need, and I think Chase is,
54:26
is one of our stars, right? Yes.
54:29
Yes. So we're we're bragging on him.
54:31
Yeah. Please Chase.
54:33
No, come on. And I think a lot of people, I
54:36
don't know if you felt this way like, but and people say, well,
54:39
Jimmy Johnson was vanilla, you know, he didn't maximize his
54:43
star power. But I mean, Tom Brady in his
54:46
heyday, he wasn't, you know, he was very by the book.
54:50
Now you had to see him a lot. He spoke all the time and he was
54:53
dating a supermodel and there were pictures and he lived this
54:56
great lifestyle and he's in New York and he's doing all these
54:59
things like he personified, you know, that that image.
55:03
And people loved him or loved to hate him.
55:06
But yeah, we need those guys. Like we need those big names.
55:09
We need these. And I think we have them.
55:12
I think we need more of them. I think we need more of them.
55:16
And I'm not asking, I'm not asking anybody to be what
55:19
they're not. But Denny Hamlin is doing as
55:24
much for our sport. I know that he's outspoken and
55:26
sometimes he ruffles feathers. And NASCAR probably is like, you
55:29
know. They should pay.
55:31
They should pay Denny Hamlin extra money 'cause he's saving
55:34
the sport. But he's doing a lot.
55:36
He's drawing a lot of eyeballs, you know, and especially, like,
55:39
I would love for Kyle Busch to do that.
55:41
But right now, unfortunately, Kyle Busch isn't winning races,
55:44
so you don't have them on TV as much and you're not.
55:47
And he's also, like, calming down a little bit.
55:49
I don't know if you catch that too, but yeah.
55:51
Like. A lot RC like calmed him.
55:55
I don't know what it is. I have a a theory, but yeah,
56:00
like we're missing some of that rowdy fire.
56:02
Like we need more, not less. Yeah.
56:05
Well, listen, I know for a fact Charlie is going to clip this
56:09
last segment, so be ready. Yes, before, before you're full,
56:15
our show comes out. I'll shut my Twitter down for 48
56:19
hours. No, no, because I'm I'm right
56:21
here with you sister and we I'm going to say this and then you
56:26
comment you and I want the sport in a better place because the
56:32
grandstands are empty, the ratings aren't as good and yet
56:37
we got a great product and and I feel like we need a little
56:42
boost. We need better characters.
56:44
You know why, you know, is Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas
56:49
City Chiefs, who I mean, look at that dynamic.
56:52
Would you, I mean Taylor Swift, come on, just, you know, other
56:57
sports have got these these dynamics and we're missing a
57:01
little bit of that right now. But the the one thing I will say
57:03
though, Kenny and Robbie and I've commented on this driving
57:06
into the tracks even last year and this year for the first time
57:09
in a long time, we're in traffic and we don't complain if there's
57:13
traffic on race day morning in that means like there's a lot of
57:17
people coming. So we have to leave the hotel
57:20
early. It's been like last year and
57:22
this year we've noticed we're getting there.
57:25
We're getting there. I'm not saying the stands are
57:27
empty. I'm not going to say that
57:28
because they're not. There's, there's a lot of people
57:32
and I'm not blowing smoke. I would tell you we all lived
57:34
through the era that that Ben's talking about, yeah.
57:39
It's. Brutal.
57:40
We thank God we are not there anymore.
57:42
I think we're we're really on the way up.
57:44
Yeah, no doubt. OK.
57:46
We're, we're going to end it right there, everybody.
57:47
And I agree with Danielle Trott and NASCAR's on the way up and,
57:52
and why? Because we know because we go to
57:54
the race tracks. I do trackside live at about 11
57:57
NASCAR tracks. I see the crowds, Danielle, you
58:00
live down there and you're going to see them all at Bristol,
58:03
Charlotte, Wilkesboro. So listen, you are somebody and
58:09
I'm very grateful myself and Charlotte to have you on any
58:13
conversation. Thank you for coming on.
58:15
Well, thanks, Kenny. I saw a couple months ago, I
58:17
think you tweeted or did one of your coffees with Kenny, you
58:20
said. I have, I've had everybody on my
58:22
show. I said.
58:22
He hadn't had me on his show. He hadn't had everybody on yet.
58:26
That was probably my smart ass response.
58:28
I always tell everybody say, listen, any conversation is the
58:33
race car driver. So I think I've taken, you know,
58:39
this for a fact. It took a while for any
58:43
conversation to resonate. And now the drivers are like,
58:46
OK, I'll come on. Yeah, because this is the race
58:49
car driver. And I think they trust you and
58:52
they respect you and they love you and I don't.
58:54
There are very, very few people that I care about as much as
58:57
you. I think there's very few people
59:00
in the world that are as beloved as you are, that are universally
59:03
loved. You put an instant smile on
59:05
people's face. You make people happy and people
59:09
love you and they love to watch you.
59:11
And I told Larry I was coming on and I said, I'm so happy that
59:14
Kenny's found success and he can do it his way.
59:17
No one's listening you. No one's telling you.
59:19
Like TV, there's a lot of time cues and things and in your ear
59:24
and you don't have to worry about that.
59:26
Like you can just be you and this is a hit and I am your
59:29
biggest fan. I'm so proud of you.
59:31
Thank you and I love you. All right, everybody listen.
59:35
That meant a lot to me. Thank you.
59:37
Remember, we are in podcast form, so you're going to listen
59:40
to Danielle Trotto from home all the way to work and then you're
59:43
going to turn it back on and listen to her all the way back
59:46
home because this is an hour long and it has been wonderful.
59:50
All right, everybody, podcast form iTunes and Spotify.
59:55
Until next Kenny conversation. We'll see you later.