The Dale Jr. Download

Carla Gebhart and Andrew Kurland are joined by NASCAR's SVP of Competition, Elton Sawyer, to pull back the curtain on practice time at NASCAR’s highest levels. The hot topic started several weeks ago with comments from Brad Keselowski. It caught new momentum this week after Jimmie Johnson wrecked at Texas. Is less practice a good thing or a bad thing for today’s racing product? What do drivers lik...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with Hendrick Motorsports mechanic Marlin Yoder to discuss his departure from the Amish community and his one-in-a-million journey to becoming a NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew member. The conversation begins with Yoder’s perspective of living in a strict Amish community and his first time discovering NASCAR via the radio he smuggled into his bedroom. He re...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns to the Bojangles Studio after a chaotic NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway for another edition of Dirty Air. Not only did NASCAR put on a weekend of excitement in the Longhorn State, but Dale Jr. was behind the wheel himself: Dale Jr. recaps his CARS Tour race at New River Texas is back! Just give it some time… Who was wrong, Chastain or Byron?  We’re talking ‘bout...

When talking about the big business of Cup charters this week on the Download, Dale Jr. said something that struck us. He wondered how realistic it is in today’s NASCAR to be an open, unchartered team and financially be able to break even. Today on Reloaded we will ask the question -  how do independent, non-chartered Cup teams make it (both financially and competitively) in today’s NASCAR? Host C...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with NASCAR royalty as Richard and Kyle Petty join this week’s episode of the Download. As part of the Petty Family’s 75 Years in Racing anniversary celebration, the guys wanted to stop by the studio and share some chapters of their legacy in the sport. The conversation starts with family patriarch Lee, who was entered in the very first NASCAR Cup race held on June 19t...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the Bojangles Studio for another edition of Dirty Air. After another frustrating short track race for the NASCAR NextGen car, there was a lot to get into: Denny Hamlin/Marcus Smith Twitter beef Martinsville Cup winner William Byron calls in The sense of urgency to fix the short track package is FINALLY here Sammy Smith tries out Cherry Lemon SunDrop Dale’s advice for...

A driver's first NASCAR start: how important is it? Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip, Austin Cindric & Kelley Earnhardt Miller weigh in. You always remember your first. Most of the time when you hear that phrase in NASCAR, it's referring to a driver's first win. But what about the first start? On this week's Dale Jr. Download, Dale sat down with Bubba Pollard to rehash Bubba's first NASCAR national se...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with short track racing legend Bubba Pollard to discuss his impressive NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Richmond. A longtime competitor in the super late model ranks, Pollard first worked with Dale and JR Motorsports in 2019 when he drove a late model stock entry in the ValleyStar 300 event at Martinsville. Pollard’s Xfinity debut on Saturday in the No. 88 JRM entry comp...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back from Easter vacation to recap the weekend happenings on another edition of Dirty Air and his wife, Amy, drops in. There was a lot to react to, from rain-tire strategy to jumped starts to Easter festivities: Starting the Richmond Cup race on rain tires was a long time coming Race strategies spoiled by untimely caution Richmond’s second race may be on the chopping block  R...

On DJD Reloaded, we're debating the role of pit crew members during an altercation between drivers. Leave it to the drivers only? Get in there and scrap? Diffuse the situation? Carla Gebhart is joined by Andrew Kurland and Jim Pohlman, crew chief of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevy of Justin Allgaier. Also, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Parker Kligerman calls in to talk about his recent run-in with S...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with longtime NASCAR competitor Bobby Hillin Jr. to chat about his journey to becoming one of the youngest winners in Cup history. After growing up in the oil industry of Texas through his family, Bobby was exposed to auto racing when his father purchased a sprint car and began competing with legendary drivers Jan Opperman and Bubby Jones behind the wheel. Bobby would...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the Bojangles Studio for another edition of Dirty Air. All three of NASCAR’s top series were in Austin, Texas this past weekend to compete at the Circuit of the Americas, and there was a lot to unpack: Roaming scooter gangs Connor Zilisch’s eventful NASCAR debut What caused Marco Andretti’s rear end failure?  Austin Hill vs. SVG What NASCAR milestones are tweet-worthy...

What makes a short track great? Former DJD producer, Matthew Dillner, and DBC's Freddie Kraft square off in a spirited debate on all things short track. Our anonymous driver poll gives insights on what drivers want in a short track race and we listen to the best Dale Calls of the week. Ryan Preece calls in to share his thoughts and dishes on the most overrated short track in America. Check out and...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is joined by Chase Elliott to unveil Elliott’s upcoming No. 9 throwback paint scheme and chat about the NextGen car and his return from injury last year. After surprising Dale with a tribute to his 2014 Daytona 500 winning car, the guys discussed Sunday’s chaotic Cup race at Bristol and Chase's impressions on the NextGen car in general. Chase reveals that after getting off to a...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Sunday’s wild NASCAR Cup race at Bristol on this edition of Dirty Air. The racing world is abuzz after the stunning 500-lap event, which saw teams and drivers scrambling to get ahead of the tire wear situation: A step in the right direction for short tracks? Race winner Denny Hamlin calls in How will Goodyear react to the race? A little more practice could help avoid a...

Carla & Andrew are joined by guest Regan Smith to break down the best revenge moments in NASCAR. We dig up new dirt on Dale's old run-in with Jason Keller, who joins the show to speak on the incident for the first time. Plus, we hear this week's best Dale Calls and try to guess which driver Dale says wrecked him during the playoffs. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dir...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reconnects with a figure from his past when he sits down with Team Penske NASCAR team manager Jefferson Hodges. After growing up admiring his Uncle Dale Lemonds’ racing career, Jefferson found his way into the racing world through Rick Townsend’s late model stock outfit in the Richmond, Virginia area. From there, he’d make his way onto the NASCAR Cup scene thanks to Tommy Baldwi...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back from vacation and ready to get back into things on a new edition of Dirty Air. This episode features Kyle Larson, C. Bell, Connor Zilisch and Dale’s reactions to the NASCAR weekend in Phoenix, plus: Changing a flat tire on vacation Watching the Xfinity race with Isla Phoenix is Phoenix Larson’s make-up call Christopher Bell chats about his win Connor Zilisch talks about...

Carla and Andrew are back in the Bojangles studio, and are joined this week by Karsyn Elledge of CARS Tour. With Dale on spring break, everyone gives their best Dale Jr. impressions, and JR Motorsports' own, Steven Steffen, stops by to join in on the fun. Plus, we open up the Dale Calls to hear the best impressions from fans. And we look back at the best moments from Tuesday's Dirty Air show, host...

Kelley Earnhardt Miller welcomes World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter for the first edition of the Business of Motorsports for the 2024 season. After growing up a racing fan in Texas, Carter ventured into the business finance world working for Deloitte and specializing in public to private transactions. In the early 2000s, while working with a software company, he was approached by the owners of Bo...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on spring break, so his longtime friend and co-author of “Racing to the Finish” Ryan McGee is filling in. You might recognize Ryan from his longtime coverage of motorsports for ESPN and his popular show with recent Download guest Marty Smith, “Marty & McGee.” There was a lot to discuss after a full weekend of NASCAR action in Las Vegas: Writing “Racing to the Finish” with Dal...

Andrew and Carla recap all the cheating news across NASCAR this week, welcome Kip Childress, Executive Director of CARS Tour, to the Bojangles studio, and driver Bubba Pollard joins to announce his Xfinity Series opportunity at JR Motorsports. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informati...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. invites NASCAR Hall of Fame engine builder and crew chief Waddell Wilson to the Bojangles Studio for a conversation about his storied career. Waddell details his journey from his home of Bakersville, North Carolina to the Nashville Auto Diesel College, which he learned about from a recruiter at his high school. Upon graduation, his journey took him to Florida, where he actually...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been singing the praises of the Atlanta Motor Speedway reconfiguration since last season, and the track delivered one of the best finishes in NASCAR history this past Sunday. There was much to cover from weekend two of the NASCAR schedule on this edition of Dirty Air: The critics have been quieted Reconfiguring tracks through iRacing technology Joey Logano’s gloves and new c...

Alex Bowman joins to talk about his runner-up finish in the 500, Dale Jr. stops by to break some news. Plus, Andrew goes Man On The Street down in Daytona and asks drivers/fans what they'd be willing to sacrifice for a championship. And hear some of Ray Evernham's untold stories. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compa...