Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Missing NASCAR? Is Spire Motorsports The Next Super Team?

Transcript

Missing NASCAR? Is Spire Motorsports The Next Super Team? · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny and Charlie, top two
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  aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to jags.com for
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  And of course, David and everybody at Jags is telling me
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  Charlie, how you doing? I am doing great Herm.
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  How are you, Sir? I'm excited.
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  Well, let's get right to it. All right.
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  Will the two weeks that NASCAR is taking off for the Olympics,
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  will that make people like NASCAR more?
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  There is just a thought, Charlie, that if you give the
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  people what they want all the time, then they have a chance to
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  complain. You give them two weeks off,
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  they might miss it. Will they like NASCAR more?
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  Yes, and I think people already miss it.
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  This is weird this this Olympics break is weird.
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  And I'm trying to think of like a football schedule.
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  If if you follow a team and you have a bye week, OK, you have a
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  bye week. But to have two straight weeks,
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  and really if you think about it, because if you race every
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  week, it's kind of like 3 off weeks, right?
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  It's three straight weeks, OK, You talk a little bit about
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  Indy, but then it's like it's almost three full weeks till you
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  have a race. And I think, I think the NASCAR
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  schedule to me is an easy watch because if you're just watching
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  the Cup guys, it's kind of how you plan your Sundays, right?
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  You plan your Sundays around that.
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  Maybe you go to lunch, brunch, church, whatever it is, but then
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  you miss it, right? I mean, baseball is, is one of
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  those things you have to kind of watch it every night.
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  It's always on your TV from 7:00 to 10:00.
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  So I don't know for me, you miss NASCAR on Sundays, but then also
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  you miss talking about the race for the next half of the week
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  and then previewing the race the next week.
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  So yes, 100% I think NASCAR fans miss it.
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  They want it back. And two weeks in a row is too
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  long for me. Yeah, I got to agree.
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  And I go to the psychology part. The fans love NASCAR, but then
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  you also got the group that is 25%.
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  So we have 100%. We've already done all the
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  polls. About 77% of people love NASCAR
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  and the other small portion, they love it, but they want to
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  complain about it. That is their sport, Charlie.
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  I think they're going to miss complaining about it and and
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  that's going to make them love it more.
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  So I really feel like this is a a brilliant move by NASCAR.
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  I don't really remember the last time that they said, OK, we're
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  taking off because of the Olympics.
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  I also feel like this is something that TV pretty much
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  made them call their hand. In other words, the Olympics are
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  on NBC, then they're on the USA Network.
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  And I don't know about you, but if you scrolled your TV, you can
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  find the Olympics on every hidden channel.
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  So if they had NASCAR right now, it it might be on streaming.
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  So I really feel like this is a psychology lesson to everybody.
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  I feel like this is going to be a big lesson.
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  I think this is a big turning point in NASCAR.
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  Two weeks off is going to make people.
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  It's going to remind them why they love NASCAR.
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  Yes, and I agree it's one of those things that we've talked
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  about in the past. You've talked about this Dale
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  Junior's talked about this. Maybe NASCAR needs to race less,
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  right That that's a fair it's a fair conversation and debate.
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  But then also be careful what you wish for because sometimes
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  if if you got twenty straight races and you're like, OK, it's
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  feeling redundant. But then when you have that two
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  weeks off, you really do realize how much you miss it.
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  So sometimes the grass is not always greener.
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  Yeah, and, and I, I don't like winter.
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  I don't like winter because I'm getting older and I don't have
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  fun in the snow unless I'm going to go to Canada or, you know,
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  out the West, you know, somewhere.
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  But I don't like winter. I get into about January and I'm
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  like, my God, please bring NASCAR back.
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  You know, Charlie, if you make somebody sit in their house all
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  day long, it drives me crazy. So imagine people taking almost
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  20 days off because you bring up a good point and we'll end it
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  like this, Charlie. We're not going to beat it like
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  a dead horse. You get one week off, then
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  another week off. That's two weeks.
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  But you're right, you add on, you add on the other four days,
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  you're almost off 3 weeks because you know, Monday through
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  Sunday, then Monday through Sunday, then Monday through
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  Thursday, then they start racing.
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  So you know, that's all. You're right, that's a long time
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  off. It's more than two weeks because
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  you got to wait the other week to get to the third week, right?
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  For sure. Yeah, OK.
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  Respond right here everybody, like subscribe, comment.
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  Is this going to make you love NASCAR more?
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  Two weeks off. Remember, you want to complain
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  about NASCAR. They're not giving you nothing
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  to complain about. This is you. 18% of the people,
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  our stats say that 15 to 18% of you don't like NASCAR but you
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  like to watch it. You like to complain.
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  Are you part of that group? 77 something percent love
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  NASCAR. OK, this one's this was really
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  interesting, Charlie. We hear about this Spire racing
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  and it's kind of been in and out of the news.
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  Spire racing. This is made-up of Jeff
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  Dickerson and TJ pusher. The president is Doug Dukar.
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  These Cup cars are the number seven of Lajoie, 71 of Zane
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  Smith, 71 of Hostsvar. Oh my God, they got three cup
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  teams. Spire Racing.
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  That's not all. They have 3 truck teams, Raja
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  Carruth, the 71 and other other drivers that I really don't know
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  of. I just know that Raja stands out
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  that no they own 3 hockey teams. OK this this.
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  I'm laughing with you. There's a little bit more of
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  this Spire than than meets the eye.
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  They are in the entertainment industry and I hear this Spire
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  is really hooked up with Rick Hendrick track house Will Spire.
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  Here is the question, everybody. Will Spire be the next big thing
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  and here's why. How in the world did they just
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  hire one of the top crew chiefs in our industry of Rodney
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  Shielders? So Charlie, I'm going to ask you
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  the question. Little sleeping giant over here.
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  Spire, they just hired for next year.
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  Rodney Shielders is leaving the now defunct Stewart Haas and
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  going to Spire next year. Is Spire the next big team?
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  What do you think? It seems like it it'd be
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  interesting too, if they kind of jumped Track House to be the
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  next big thing because I think most people thought Track House
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  would would get there. And Ross Chastain is kind of
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  taking a bit of a step back. When when you told me we were
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  going to discuss this, the first thing I thought of was I find it
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  kind of interesting that Spire moved on from Corey Lajoie.
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  And as you said, you got childers, but you need a big
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  name driver. I know there's been some reports
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  about about Kyle Busch, but he's under contract.
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  So who knows what could happen Not next year, but even the year
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  after that. But what I find interesting, do
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  you remember last year when Chase Elliott wasn't Chase
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  Elliott? He he missed a race, he was
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  suspended, whatever it was, and Corey Lajoie filled in for him
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  at St. And I remember, yes, so I
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  remember Corey Lajoie's press conference and he was talking
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  about how how big time Hendrick was, right?
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  Like all the information, all the data that he got at Hendrick
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  that he didn't get at Spire. And I don't think when he said
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  that, by the way, he was trying to throw Spire under the bus.
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  But I find it interesting now that here's Spire a year later
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  trying to become a Hendrick and then they move on from Corey
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  Lajoie. So there's probably a lot of
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  truth to that, though. But here's Spire, this little
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  team at the time, but they're trying to become a big dog and
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  then they move on from Corey Lajoie.
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  I think. I think they could be is my
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  answer. But you got to have at least one
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  big name driver, or you got to have one of those young drivers
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  really take a step and become a playoff driver.
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  Yeah, I'm a little jaded. That means I know a little bit
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  too much about this. If you, if there's anybody
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  listening that knows a lot about racing, if you start peeling the
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  layers back, which fire started it had it kind of at the bottom
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  there, the Agajanian group. So the Agajanian group is a very
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  strong group that's been in racing for years.
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  You know, Kerry Agajanian, Indianapolis 500 STP is the
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  racers. As you, you go out there, you
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  see Agajanian their their history started at Indianapolis
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  500. There are group that are
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  business people and they get sponsorship.
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  The reason I wanted to bring this subject up is because
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  Spider also is a diverse program.
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  So in other words, diversity. But I see, I see a lot going on
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  that makes me go. All I'm saying, Charlie, is
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  we're calling it OK. The they've been around.
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  But now I know that Hendrick is in there.
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  I know that they were big with Chip Ganassi.
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  I know that NASCAR likes him because of the diversity
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  program. They are able to acquire
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  sponsorship after sponsorship. They are the team that gets the
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  most sponsors. They are the ones that have been
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  in the news spending $40 million on a charter.
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  So I don't want to be redundant, but I just don't believe you
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  hire Rodney Childers to pick up a driver that's just starting
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  out. I here's what I think.
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  I think they called Rodney up and they said, Rodney, we're
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  going to take that next step. It's time.
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  Carson, host of our run 8th at the Brickyard.
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  Zane Smith running pretty good now in the news.
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  Charlie, they just let Corey Legjoy go for next year.
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  So that means Rodney Children gets to choose a driver.
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  I mean, does the team choose the driver or does Rodney Children
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  choose the driver? Charlie, clip this for me and
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  you. I think that they brought Rodney
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  Children into like bring the team up to the next level.
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  I think they're going to hire a big time driver because they're
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  going to need one. They got Zane Smith, they got
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  Carson Osavar, and I wouldn't be surprised.
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  You know, I always tell people when they want to sign a
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  contract with me, I said, oh, you mean an agreement because
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  all contracts are made to get out of you could be right.
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  You could be right. You know, Kyle Busch, everybody
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  keeps saying, oh, he's staying at Childers.
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  Well, OK, you know, RCR, I mean, you know, but I just really
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  think that's the next big team. And boy, when when you Google
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  them, it's like it's like, whoa, I didn't know about that.
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  What's the deal with the three hockey teams?
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  Do you know anything about that? I did not even, I didn't know
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  that who, who do they own? Which teams?
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  Let's let's look at it here. Let's see what we got here.
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  Let me let me get on my Googler, OK, Spire Racing right here.
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  Here they are based in Concord, NC.
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  The Spire Motorsports teams feels the 771 da da da about us
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  Spire Motor storage. Go on, go on.
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  You know all that stuff. They're big with Chevrolet.
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  So that under that makes us understand why Hendrick is
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  involved there. They're all about Chevrolet.
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  William Byron drove this Fire Motorsports #7 truck and it's
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  inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win on April 7th,
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  2022 at Martinsville, followed by another win in 2023 with Kyle
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  Larson piloting the Spire Motorsports #7 at Wilkesboro.
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  Jeff Dickerson used to be an open wheel dude.
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  USAT Midget racer. TJ Pusher is a car owner.
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  He's from around New York, introduced him to future NASCAR
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  Hall of Famers. Richie Evans, Stefanik.
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  So you got a middle, you kind of got AUSAC Midget guy teamed up
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  with the Northeast guy Pusher. You got Doug Dukart, 27 years of
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  applied experience. He was with with, you know, Rick
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  Hendrick for 12 years. You just don't hire these guys
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  like that. But the hockey team?
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  Where the heck's that at? Yeah, I'm trying to find that, I
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  think. I don't know if they're NHL.
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  It looks like I have an article here that says Jeff Dickerson of
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  Spire Sports. He is the new owner of the Troy
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  Riviera's Lions, the ECHL affiliate of the Montreal
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  Canadiens. So we're talking minor league
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  for at least that team. You know, yeah, they have.
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  Spire Hockey. You know what's crazy, all these
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  business people that I talked to, they see some type of
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  transaction in these minor league hockey teams.
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  What what is the deal there? Have you heard Charlie?
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  You're the big sportster. Everybody that wants to do
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  business, they buy these hockey teams up.
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  Must be some type of deal. OK, I got it here.
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  So this article, it's from The Hockey News.
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  And by the way, so I'm I'm from Toledo, OH, where the ECHL when
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  I was growing up, that was the Toledo Storm.
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  That was our minor league team. I see that.
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  Was an. Affiliate.
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  Yeah. So basically they have three
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  teams, it says. The Lions became the third ECHL
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  franchise owned by Spire Hockey, along with the Rapid City Rush,
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  which is a Calgary Flames affiliate.
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  Rapid. City, South Dakota.
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  Basically Sturgis. I'll be landing there next week.
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  And here's a good name. This would be a good T-shirt or
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  hat. The.
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  Greenville, The Greenville Swamp.
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  Rabbits swamp. Swamp Rabbits.
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  That's an LA Kings affiliate, so they have 3 minor league teams.
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  And they they are part owner of my dear friend Bob Sargent, who
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  we just interviewed, it says right here.
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  And short track promotions company Track Enterprise, which
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  is my buddy. So they buy everything.
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  You got to have money. Now, the reason we went a little
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  long on this subject is you and I are, you know, it's kind of
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  like, you know, and that's the rest.
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  Yeah. And that's the rest of the
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  story. This fire is way bigger than we
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  think. They're I'm not going to, I'm
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  not going to buy. We don't have any money.
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  You buy a $40 million charter, you own 3 hockey teams, three
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  cup teams, 3 truck teams. Henrik is their buddy track
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  house and them are partner up on you know the next thing you're
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  going to be doing is is concerts, right.
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  That's the next thing Everybody wants to do a concert until
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  something goes bad at the concert and they don't got
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  enough insurance, but that's the next thing.
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  Well, all right, who is that driver going to be?
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  We still haven't answered ourselves.
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  Everybody respond right here. Who is going to drive for Spire
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  and let's put it a little more simple.
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  Who is going to be Rodney Childers driver?
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  Because Rodney Children, one of the number one crew chiefs and
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  all of all of NASCAR respond right here to Charlie and
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  myself. Who is going to be that big time
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  driver that takes fire to #1 Little Birdie tells me Spires
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  going to become big time. I have people in the industry
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  telling me Spire called me. Spire called me.
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  I know a little more. I just can't talk about it.
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  That's interesting. Kyle Busch.
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  I will say, maybe Kyle Busch doesn't move on until after the
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  2025 season, but Kyle Busch does not seem like he's having fun
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  this year. He just seems every press
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  conference I watch, I know he's had terrible luck.
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  He just seems miserable this year.
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  He really does. And he's over there in Italy
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  right now. So I'll put LES Les Miserables,
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  you know the play. Les Miserables.
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  Yeah, whatever you call it, I call it miserable.
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  OK, Charlie, we've had good time here.
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  Everybody respond to that. We that was specifically, you
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  know, have given you great two topics.
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  Will you miss NASCAR because of two weeks off?
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  Will the miserable people that love NASCAR, are you going to
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  miss complaining #2 Who is going to be the next big team Spire?
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  Who's going to drive for Rodney Childers, the new crew chief
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  over there in 2025? All right, Charlotte, let's
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  let's end it with a lot of fun. 2 marriages in this big almost
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  three weeks off Tyler Reddick gets married in Lake Geneva, WI
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  to Alexa. Daniel Suarez marries in Brazil
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  to Julia. Now, it's not a normal Julia.
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  Julia Piquet, her father, was the great Formula One champion,
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  Nelson Piquet. Now, if you go on Julia's
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  Instagram, they show them at dinner at their house and
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  there's a Formula One car bolted to the wall inside the living
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  room. Don't tell me oh Nelson Piquet
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  ain't a bad ass. So they're poor.
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  They're poor. I love you.
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  I love you. I'm rubbing off on you.
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  Yes, Yes. Very good food.
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  Do you like my my Formula One car bolted?
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  That's the car I won the championship with.
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  All right. So, Charlie, I got married to my
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  beautiful wife Kim. June 23rd, 1984.
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  My brother Rusty and myself. We left the Michigan Speedway
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  came down got married here in Arnold and Father John married
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  us. So these are these are these are
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  who who wins the marriage. I'm going to give you first go
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  so Tyler and Alexa go to Lake Geneva.
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  It was a beautiful setting. Lake Geneva, Lake Geneva or
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  Daniel and Julia. Brazil, Brazil, Brazil.
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  Well, it's, it's hard to beat Brazil, but I have to say I'm
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  I'm a Midwest guy. I'm from Ohio.
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  I live in Missouri. I went to College in Illinois.
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  I lived in Michigan three times. I've actually been to a wedding
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  at Lake Geneva. My very good friend Tim Perryman
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  got married there about 10 years ago.
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  And how about this? My cousin Joey is getting
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  married at Lake Geneva because he lives in Chicago now.
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  So he's getting married at Lake Geneva next summer.
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  So. So because I'm a Midwest person,
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  I'm going to choose Lake Geneva and Wisconsin just because it's
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  more, it's more my roots, you know what I'm saying?
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  Let me ask this question because I don't know this and everybody
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  else respond right here. Is Lake Geneva a wealthy people
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  area? I don't know.
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  It sounds to me like it is. Why, why?
• 20:52
  Why are we going to Lake Geneva? What is that?
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  Is there wealth? Oh, for sure.
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  It's I want to say, and people can correct me if I'm wrong, I
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  want to say it's about an hour and a half from Chicago.
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  So you have a lot of Chicago money and they have a lake house
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  up there and there's lots of weddings and boating and all
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  that. For sure.
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  And, and we know the North Side of Chicago is where all the
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  money's at. We know that for sure.
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  All right, everybody, Kenny and Charlie top two with a little
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  wedding news in the end there. So, all right, let's break it
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  down real quick. Remember, will you love NASCAR
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  more with the two weeks off and Spire, is that the next big
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  team? You just don't convince Rodney
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  children to come on over here and then let Corey Lajoie go.
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  What big driver are they going to hire?
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  And. And hold on, hold on.
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  If you can read between the lines, it sounds like Herm knows
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  they're going to be the next big team, but he can't exactly tell
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  us exactly what he knows. I just know this.
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  They're asking big time people. I mean big time people.
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  They're they're asking I, I don't know.
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  I know who they're talking to. They're asking the biggest
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  people in the sport to be part of their team.
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  That's my innuendo. So who is the next big time
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  driver that's going to go up? I'll leave this team and they're
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  going to put them in Victory Lane.
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  All right, everybody, I believe they're going to put put them in
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  Victory Lane again. I think they've won a race maybe
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  with Justin Haley, maybe, maybe a rain delay race mate, were
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  they part owner of that team? Respond right here.
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  Aren't everybody remember we are in podcast form.
• 22:39
  And buddy, I like it because Charlie's got the podcast
• 22:42
  growing. If he can't watch us, you can
• 22:44
  listen to us on the way to work and when you leave work on the
• 22:48
  way back home. iTunes, Spotify, we got it covered.
• 22:54
  Until the next Kenny and Charlie top two.
• 22:57
  We'll see you next time.