NASCAR is a big American race series where drivers compete in stock-car style cars. The goal is to earn points across many races to win a championship.
F1 is the highest level of open-wheel racing, with very specialized race cars. It’s usually raced on road courses and street tracks, and the cars are built specifically for racing.
“Cup” refers to NASCAR’s top national series, historically called the NASCAR Cup Series. When the hosts say “cup champ,” they’re talking about a driver who won the series championship (or is a top champion in that context).
IndyCar is a major type of race series in the U.S. It’s where drivers compete in fast open-wheel cars on tracks like ovals and road courses. Mentioning IndyCar usually means they’re talking about their racing career and how opportunities work there.
Hendrick Motorsports is one of NASCAR’s biggest and most successful racing teams. The hosts mention it to explain how Rick Hendrick runs things day-to-day. It’s basically the headquarters where a lot of the team’s work happens.
Toyota is a car brand that also competes in NASCAR. Teams can be partnered with different manufacturers, and that can influence what support they get. In this conversation, Toyota is brought up as the manufacturer tied to the team he’s taking over.
Chevrolet is a car brand that also competes in NASCAR. NASCAR teams often partner with specific manufacturers, and those relationships can shape sponsorships, resources, and long-term planning. Here, they’re using Chevrolet to describe Rick’s past connections.
Carvana is a company that sells cars, mostly through an online-first model. They can sponsor racing teams, which is why they show up in NASCAR conversations. Here, the hosts are talking about how that sponsorship relationship grew over time.
Hendrick Automotive Group is Rick Hendrick’s automotive retail/dealership business. The hosts mention it to show that big companies like that may not always be thinking about certain sponsorships at first. It’s part of the broader business ecosystem around NASCAR.
Concept
partnership with Mori
In racing, a partnership usually means two groups team up to share support and resources. The host is saying this collaboration was part of the process of building the program.
Trophy trucks are race trucks built for rough desert terrain. They have special suspension and power so they can handle big jumps and whoops, but they’re also tough to drive fast.
Term
Cup engines
“Cup engines” is shorthand for the kind of powerful race engines used in NASCAR’s top series. The speaker is saying the off-road trucks are using engines that are in that same high-performance category.
“Unlimited” means the race class has looser rules about what the vehicles can be. That usually lets teams build more extreme, high-performance trucks.
Concept
1200 horsepower option
They’re talking about a race setup that can be tuned for more power. More power helps you go faster, but it can also make the car harder to control because the tires have to grip harder.
Suspension is what connects the wheels to the car and helps the tires stay planted. Changing it can make the car feel more stable and grippy on different parts of a course.
A navigator is like a co-pilot who tells the driver what’s coming next. Instead of guessing, the driver gets guidance so they can react faster and safer.
Concept
track was 94 miles long
They’re describing a long course. When you drive that far, staying consistent and not getting surprised by hazards becomes really important.
They’re saying the course notes warn you about rocks that could puncture a tire. Avoiding flats is crucial because once you lose a tire, you can’t keep racing normally.
Concept
co-writer
The co-writer helps make the written guide for the course. Those notes help the navigator and driver know what to expect.
A spotter is someone on the team who helps the driver by watching what’s happening ahead and around them. They call out things the driver might miss so the driver can make safer decisions.
Human capital just means the team’s people and their skills. Sponsors want to know the organization is staffed well enough to succeed, not just that the car is fast.
A balanced budget means the team spends about what it brings in. Racing is expensive, so it’s hard to keep the finances steady when results and sponsorships can change.
“Legacy” is the racing team Jimmie Johnson is involved with. They’re talking about how the team’s behind-the-scenes choices and brand work connect to performance.
A “VIP experience” at a race is the fancy, premium way sponsors and partners get to enjoy the event. Instead of just sitting in regular seats, they get special access and perks like better viewing areas and hospitality.
A “hauler” is the big truck that race teams use to move their cars and equipment to the track. Sometimes it also doubles as a place where guests can hang out.
A “burnout” is when the car spins its tires in place, making smoke. “Hanging out the window” means the driver was leaning out while doing it, which is basically a dramatic, showy celebration.
A “Jumbotron” is the big screen at the track that shows what’s going on. If something happens on track, it’s often shown there right away so everyone can see it.
“Burned the tires down” means the tires were spinning so much that they got overheated and wore out quickly. It usually happens when the car loses traction and the driver keeps it moving.
Pit lane is the strip next to the race track where the crew works on the car. If something happens or the race calls for it, the driver goes there so the team can help.
The diffuser is a part under the race car that helps it stick to the track by shaping airflow. If it’s damaged, the car can feel less planted, so the team has to fix it.
The left rear tire is one of the tires that helps the car grip the road. If it’s damaged or not behaving right, the car can get unstable fast, so drivers and crews watch it closely.
Term
cases of beer
They’re joking about sending beer to someone as a favor. It’s more about driver/team relationships than anything technical about the cars.
To “push” means one car helps another go faster by staying right in its slipstream. It’s teamwork, but the car doing the pushing often has to work harder.
That “O’Reilly’s car” is a race car that carries O’Reilly Auto Parts branding. Sponsors like O’Reilly pay money to support the team, and the car shows that branding so fans can recognize it.
Private equity is basically investment money from firms that want to grow a business. When it gets involved with race teams, it can change how the team is managed and funded.
A “charter” in NASCAR is like a guaranteed spot/entry system for teams. If charter values are rising, it generally means those guaranteed spots are worth more money than before.
Modernizing means improving the sport’s setup for today—like making events more fun and easier for fans to enjoy. It’s not only about the race cars, but also the whole experience around them.
They’re talking about making races more entertaining, not just competitive. That can mean better events, better hospitality, and more reasons for people to show up.
Term
cup garage
In NASCAR, the “garage” is where teams work on the cars between sessions. “Cup garage” means the top-level Cup Series team area.
Kyle Larson is a NASCAR driver used here as an example of an unexpected performance dip—specifically being over a year without a win. The hosts discuss how that’s unusual for him and what a “slump” means in practice.
In NASCAR, “victory lane” is where the winner goes right after the race to celebrate. When someone says a driver is in victory lane, it means they won.
In racing, a “slump” means you’re not getting the results you expect for a while. The hosts talk about what it takes to work your way out of that rough patch.
In the context of racing performance, “accountability” means having structured responsibility—feedback loops, check-ins, and measurable goals—to correct habits and improve results. The speaker contrasts it with taking the “easy way out,” implying accountability helps prevent stagnation.
Work life balance just means not letting work take over your whole life. In racing, it matters because being rested and focused can help you perform better.
A pairing is basically matching people who work well together. In racing, having the right coach or support person can help the driver stay focused and perform.
This part is telling the story of how the first meeting went and why it felt like things were going well. It’s more about people and team dynamics than car tech.
A crew chief and driver have to work together every race. The crew chief makes the calls and the driver tells them what the car is doing, so they’re always checking in and adjusting. It’s like a partnership where you’re responsible for each other’s performance.
This refers to a NASCAR season championship being decided by very small margins—here, “by one car on track,” meaning the outcome hinged on a narrow on-track difference rather than a large points gap. It underscores how one incident, tire issue, or missed opportunity can swing a title race.
Homestead is a well-known NASCAR track where the season often gets decided. When they say they were “racing for it,” they mean the championship was on the line and every position mattered.
They’re talking about how the race team is organized. Instead of everyone working from one shared plan, different groups may run their own systems. That can change how smoothly information and engineering changes get shared.
Instead of each group doing things their own way, engineering decisions come from one main place. That can make the team more consistent, but it also changes who does what day-to-day.
A “car chief” is basically the lead person on the team who makes sure the race car is prepared the right way. They help coordinate what gets adjusted and how the car is set up for the race.
Off-road trucks are race trucks built to handle dirt, rocks, and uneven ground. Racing in that world can teach people a lot that transfers to other racing series.
An engine shop is a place where engines are built and worked on by specialists. For racing, they often do the detailed work that helps the engine last and perform well.
“Solvent tanks” are containers used to clean parts with chemical solvents, commonly in engine and machining work. In a race engine shop, fumes from these chemicals can be a serious health and safety concern, which is why the team owners were worried.
ASA racing is a type of stock-car racing series in the U.S. The speaker is talking about working with a race team and learning the job roles that go along with that kind of competition.
The “Bush program” is NASCAR’s second-tier series program (the one that many drivers use to move up). The speaker is saying a key person joined them when they started that next step in racing.
Concept
Walker's Glen
Walker’s Glen is a race track name mentioned in connection with a crash. The speaker is talking about that incident and whether a person was responsible.
“Brakes failed” means the car didn’t slow down the way it should. In racing, that can be caused by problems in the brake system, and the team often investigates why it happened.
The master cylinder is what turns your brake pedal input into hydraulic pressure that makes the brakes work. “Single master cylinder” means the car uses one main unit to run the braking system, which can be a design choice.
CG means the car’s center of gravity—where the car’s weight effectively balances. Lowering it usually makes the car feel more stable and less likely to tip or feel “tippy” during hard driving or crashes.
Concept
Auger this thing in the styrofoam
This describes a crash-test style procedure where a car is driven into a foam barrier (styrofoam) to study impact behavior. It’s used here to explain the engineering intent behind the center-of-gravity change and how the team evaluated crash performance.
That’s just how fast the car gets on the straight parts of the track. Faster straightaway speed usually means the car is efficient and you’re setting up the next corner well.
That’s an emergency decision: instead of trying to save it by steering normally, the driver chooses a specific direction to reduce the risk of a bigger crash. It can feel weird, but it’s about controlling where the car ends up.
That phrase means the brake pedal suddenly feels like it goes all the way down, but the car doesn’t slow like it should. It’s a serious problem because you may not be able to stop in time for the corner.
Pocono is a race track where the cars go fast on long straight parts and then have to brake hard for turns. That combination can really stress the brakes.
Brake pads are the parts that squeeze against the rotors to slow the car down. If they wear out, braking gets weaker and less consistent.
Concept
specs are locked in
That phrase means the car setup is decided and finalized. The team isn’t changing things on the fly, so the driver can just drive the plan.
Term
hook it up
“Hook it up” is basically “make it work” or “get the car behaving right.” It’s the kind of phrase you’d hear when someone is trying to get the car ready for another attempt.
Term
visor up
“Visor up” refers to the driver’s helmet visor position, which affects airflow, visibility, and sometimes how the driver manages heat and glare. In racing, visor settings are often adjusted for conditions and driver comfort during intense stints.
Topic
truck race track
They’re talking about a race weekend for NASCAR’s pickup-truck series. It’s a different kind of NASCAR event than the main Cup races, but it’s still run on real race tracks.
“Historic car world” means classic cars and old racing. People who are into it often restore older cars and go to events that celebrate how cars used to be.
A driver coach is someone who helps a race driver get better. They can teach driving techniques and help the driver understand what to change to go faster.
“Handed the baton” is a motorsports metaphor for passing leadership or dominance from one driver to the next. In racing terms, it often implies a transition in who’s winning championships or setting the standard for the era.
They’re saying the injuries were so bad that continuing racing didn’t seem possible. Sometimes drivers have to stop for a long time to recover and be cleared to race again.
A concussion test is a medical check to make sure it’s safe for someone to keep racing after a head injury. If you don’t pass, you have to sit out until you’re cleared.
A road course is a track with lots of corners, like a mix of lefts and rights. It’s more about braking, turning, and getting back on the gas than just going fast in a circle.
Bristol refers to Bristol Motor Speedway, a high-banked oval known for close racing and heavy tire wear. Even when someone is only doing a short stint, the apron/curb area and banking can strongly affect lap times and car control.
The “apron” is the lower paved area near the edge of the racing surface on an oval. Clipping it can upset the car’s balance because the grip level and banking transition differ from the main racing groove.
LIVE
Hey friends, welcome to Stag & Penny. It's Coral the Joy here alongside Ryan Flores. We have Jimmy Johnson coming in right here to the Nonsense Garage.
We break down all things Jimmy, all things NASCAR, all things F1, all sorts of different stuff right here on Stag & Penny's.
Stacking them deep, selling them cheap.
It tastes like gasoline, grubber and victory.
Where's that here Stag & Penny?
Hey friends, welcome to Stag & Penny's massive episode. We have been trying to get some really big fishes in the boat for you guys.
We had four-time cup champ Jeff Gordon join the show a couple weeks ago. Then Ray Everham followed him up and then I got a text from this man sitting next to me.
He said, I'm going to invite myself on your show. I feel like I have to get about ten times.
I was just trying to get a spicy text back from you.
And I was like, no, I just want you to come on the show. So help me please welcome to Nonsense Garage, seven-time cup champ Jimmy Johnson.
Thank you.
Thanks for coming in buddy.
Man, you look great. 50 years young.
50 years young.
How do you feel? Do you feel 50?
Some days, some days, but honestly, I can't believe I'm 50.
Like I still act like I'm 15.
You know, life, man, it's made to be gold.
And I'm just truly enjoying it.
And I think my time in cup and then trying to step away the few attempts that I had testing the waters and what else is out there in life has been really invigorating and enjoying it.
So interesting that just how your life gets just chaptered out like your book of Jimmy Johnson, everybody's life.
Sure.
And when you're in it being the most successful NASCAR driver, in my opinion, seven championships, among other things, how you think that is your life.
Yeah.
But then when that's done, you have to figure out what's next.
Yeah.
I still think you're always like doing something, checking bucket list items, and now you're owner of a cup team.
Yes.
So where do you like land of like, like where's what's the next chapter of Jimmy Johnson, what's it look like?
Once wild through those chapters, life is happening all the time.
And the sacrifices made to be a professional athlete, a race car driver, NASCAR, you have to be selfish in those moments.
And I think as we started our family, I was really able to see, you know, what was required to operate at that high level.
It was fine when the kids were small, but when the kids got a little bigger and they weren't coming to the races as much, there's this void.
And the awareness of, you know, life and the toll that our sport takes on it.
So, you know, I kind of wrestled with the idea of leaving NASCAR, finally did, which was really tough to do.
And I told Rick two or three times, you know, I'm going to retire this year.
And you just ignore me.
Like you can see the red text message.
Well, no, I'd go to his house and sit in his great little basement and hang out and chat, catch up on life.
And it's like, you know, Rick, I think next year is going to be my last year.
We talk, keep going.
He wouldn't acknowledge it.
Kind of said something there.
He's like, yeah, I heard that, but I'm not listening.
And anyways, I think you should go.
And he like walks me to the door, walks me out.
And I'm like, well, I guess I'll try to get next year.
You know, then IndyCar and really just trying to have fun and take advantage of the, you know, remaining years of being able to operate at a high level and try IndyCar, which was my childhood dream.
And, you know, through there, I get to another point where I could have extended with Genasi and Carvano was ready to keep going, but I was just ready for something different.
It was a tough battle in my head to manage that because it's a 48 car, the Genasi and Indy car, but it has helped me see a different side.
And the year we spent in London, the first year was intended to be just a big vacation.
What do you do in London?
You know, that first year was tough.
We had the tragedy and London was the best place for us to be.
And so for our family to find our footing again was so helpful.
And then somewhere through that first year, we started traveling and using London as a launchpad, decided to stay a second year and had the most incredible year of personal growth.
And as it turns out, professional growth as well with how tight London is ended up meeting the guys at Nighthead there that have come on to be our capital partners at Legacy.
So personally, professionally, my headspace, the freedom London provided the access in London and what was nearby was just incredible for us as a family.
Now you're back.
Now we're back.
Kids did two years and then came back in August last year.
They do school there?
Yeah, full ingrained in school.
What made you sit in there and be like, you know what, I want to jump into ownership?
Well, actually, Rick offered me ownership a few times.
Trying to get you not retire.
Trying to give me not retire.
Keep driving.
Yeah.
Talk to Jeff and Rick about it.
And they're like, we'd love for you to be an ownership group, but we don't know how you ever monetize that or enjoy it.
You know, the charter system wasn't in place.
So it didn't come together.
Gnasi offered something when I was there in the IndyCar.
And then when I kind of talked to my management group around it, like, well, IndyCar is great.
We don't know where that charter system is going.
But the NASCAR charter system, we know where that's going.
We can see what's taking place.
And got to know Mori Gallagher.
And we put together a partnership there that really was exciting.
It's been a great opportunity for me.
And Mori was able to exit the sport and I think probably had the highest departure moment in most cash in pocket in the history of the sport so far.
So it felt great to be given such a great opportunity and then still maintain the friendship and relationship I have with him.
Man, what a gift, though, to spend almost two decades learning from the best owner, right?
I wish I would have paid attention more.
And what are some things like that you pulled from Rick that now you're incorporating with legacy?
You're just how he handles people and sets the bar of what his expectations are as a racing?
That's really it, just the way he moves through the building.
He has his automotive office and then Hendrick Motorsports.
But he spends two-thirds of the week at HMS, wandering around, involved, taking meetings there.
The old candy apple red, helicopter pressing down.
Now he's got two of those things.
Car business must be good.
He must be booming.
The way that it really is a family business as large as it is and the way he's always there, he leads by example and that's something I'm really trying to do.
Was it a hard conversation to call him and be like, hey, I'm going to jump in this ownership group because you're a seven-time champ with him, with Chevrolet, had so many relationships and then you take over a team with Toyota?
What was that conversation like with him when you told him you were going to do that?
You know, I've gone to him with every major decision I've made business-wise since I've left.
Even the partnership with Carvana, you know, I care so much for Rick and at the time Carvana wasn't on the radar from a conglomerate like Hendrick Automotive Group.
And Rick really appreciated the fact that I reached out and today Carvana is so big.
I'm not sure how he would have responded then, but you know, he appreciated me reaching out and has just been a great sounding board and somebody to get advice from.
Even the partnership with Mori.
At the time we were a Chevy team, we had a couple of meetings trying to figure out how an alliance might work.
So he's really been there through every step of the way.
You know, you're talking about a lot of chapters of life here.
Now it's more on the business side, right?
It's trying to get partners on board.
I saw the Dollar Tree re-upped and did a multi-year agreement with yourself and legacy.
A guy like you and us three sitting here, we drive because we like the feeling of the little bit of like scaring yourself.
And you probably don't get that looking at an Excel spreadsheet or talking about budget meetings in a conference room, right?
You're still checking the boxes to like scare yourself a little bit.
Didn't you do that in Mint 400?
I did.
It's funny.
One thing Rick always told me, if you get into the business world and live it, you will be surprised how competitive it is.
And then the adrenaline in all the elements that come with it.
Now I'm experiencing that, but there's nothing like holding the steering wheel and being in that truck in the Mint 400, the greatest thing.
So you drove for Raleigh Herps' parents, right?
Troy Herps.
Troy Herps.
Terrible Herps race and those trophy trucks dude are gnarly.
Yeah.
Cup engines more or less.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's an unlimited category.
Two rules.
It has to have four wheels and it can't fly.
I mean they can fly when you launch them far.
They have a 1200 horsepower option.
We ran like the 800 horsepower option because of the track and trying to hook the rear tires up.
Is that the first time you've done them at 400?
I started in all that stuff.
Yeah, yeah.
It'd been like 31 years since I'd been in a desert truck.
How much different is it now?
So different.
The vehicles, the suspension, all these different presets that you can use in different scenarios
on the track and then a navigator that's really calling out everything.
And so the track was 94 miles long.
Every bend in the road, every major rock that would give you a flat is all noted and your
co-writer is talking to you about it.
So I felt like it might put you into a more dangerous situation because you're on the
edge more, but it really is an incredible safety measure because you know where all the bad
stuff is and you can really work through that.
Who would be a driver, past or present, that you'd want as your co-driver?
You can't say, Jeff Gordon.
It just takes such a unique individual over there to not ever look at the road and read
notes.
But I would say like a spotter because that's really what the individual is doing.
Oh, big roll of the A, big man.
There's a rock down here.
Watch that one that we just hit.
His voice might be a little slow.
It's coming at you pretty quick, but all of his funny sayings would be epic.
Hey, watch out for that cactus right there, big man.
All right, out of boy.
I think you have hung the moon, in my opinion, on how to handle yourself behind the wheel,
but also off the wheel, being a friend to many in the garage, being a mentor to most.
But let's just shift gears and talk about Talladega yesterday.
You were down there.
Yep.
The 43 Doritos Camry looked awesome and it was right in the mix, dude.
What's the heart rate watching that?
It was a lot higher than I ever anticipated.
Really?
My foot was banging on the pit box.
I live on the 42 box, have access to both comms and can talk to spotters and everybody.
But I'm living on the 42 box and John Hunter unfortunately had a flat tire.
The second to last restart ran something over and 43 car is in the mix.
So I switched and solely listening to their channels and just shaking my leg and heart rate had to be like 140 sitting.
It was up.
What does a win do for legacy at this point in the stage of your growth and what you're trying to do?
It is a company changing moment.
Like that's that first stake in the ground.
You know, it's been a rough three years for us.
A lot that people can see and then a lot behind the scenes people can't see.
And our evolution and relationship with Toyota and how this has all been growing and a lot of boring challenges that people don't know about.
A lot of decisions that we've made on our own so that we can have our own pathway to independence and build the infrastructure.
But that journey has been tough.
When I first came in, we had 67 people.
Now we're at 140 on our way to 190.
There's a lot of selling going on for human capital for sponsors to believe in you.
It's tough to run a balanced budget and motorsports.
So as you can imagine, a win in all the bonuses that unlocks.
I mean, there's a lot of really important landmark opportunities for us when that win happened.
So I wasn't necessarily thinking about those moments.
But when I slammed the table, you know, our little workstation when the 43 went spinning, all of that ran through my mind and a heartbeat.
I was like, damn it.
I could have been so much.
I'll never be able to financially recover from this.
You're like in the trenches.
I remember going to Southbound when you started a Tex-Mex restaurant.
Carissa, my wife, who worked for you for a while, we walked out of the restaurant and you were in the back of your car with a guy picking out the aprons that people were going to wear.
And I'm like, man, most guys like Jimmy Johnson just invest their money and want to see their return.
But like, he's out here picking what the cooks are going to wear in the back that no one's ever going to see.
So like, how in the trenches are you at Legacy?
It's such a great reminder.
I've always been interested in the brand or brands in general and how they connect with people.
Obviously no training at it, but I've had a chance to see a lot of places around the world and the elements that kind of resonate for me and try to apply some of that stuff at Southbound.
And I find myself doing a lot of that with Legacy.
You know, the name was very intentional.
We've been so busy dealing with business that we haven't had a chance yet to really show what the overarching brand strategy is in the storytelling that we can do and the legacy that Richard and I have as the springboard into the future and letting people build their legacy with us.
And as we roll into San Diego, I think there'll be a noticeable shift for everyone involved in watching and how we do our storytelling.
The individuals involved that have come in in this strategic ownership round that we just closed.
Such as?
Darius Rucker's one that's jumped out.
I heard he does not like to be called Hooty.
Well, hey, the nerve is banned.
Mr. Rucker.
Mr. Rucker.
So there's a lot coming and we're just getting positioned and making sure that we can do that right.
But it ties back into that.
I've always been interested in branding and spent a lot of time in that now.
Well, if you're at the racetrack and any fan goes like you guys have almost shifted the game a little bit with the hospitality, right?
Because when your partners come to the racetrack, they're looking for a VIP experience, whether it's at the hauler or with the King Air you've got.
That's all painted up sweet, gold and black.
I think a lot of the teams are noticing and going to have to start swinging it back that way.
Talk about feeling old.
23 year old Carson Hosebar got the dub yesterday.
What do you think about the burnout hanging out the window?
I was chatting with Eric John Hunter and I saw him go by on the door, you know, sit on the door sill.
And then I'm walking back in to the garage to put my radios up and the crowd like reacted in a way that you hear when a car crash happened.
You know, one of the crashes happened and I thought that idiot fell out.
I was waiting out to.
So I run back and I look at the Jumbotron and I can see his nose into the wall and just matted it and burned the tires down.
So I'm like, all right, at least he's not hurt.
Yeah, that gave me vibes of when you got a ride on Junior's car or vice versa.
Yeah, Talladega.
I picked Junior up.
He crashed at the finish line.
He jumped on the door sill and I'm firing down pit lane.
That was the race.
He got hurt and then was out for the remainder of the year.
And so it dawned on me after I was like, man, we should have got a ride in the Paddy wagon.
I shouldn't have been the move.
How about that wreck yesterday?
Did John Hunter get caught up in that one or?
He did.
Light damage.
43 did too.
43 did.
They had some diffuser damage.
The team did a great job.
That was a great moment yesterday to live it with the 42 and the way we assessed the damage on the car made the right repairs.
Hey, man.
Yeah, come on in here.
I'll give you a ride back.
Can't quite see where I'm going though, but just hang on.
How the left rear tire doesn't tear me?
Yeah, that's how I was just looking at.
But I mean, adrenaline's pumping.
You just got done with 500 miles.
You're not thinking about that.
Dude, that's one of the few times I've been cheered at Talladega.
Right on the side of Junior's car.
I read an article when you sent cases of beer to Junior's house, so he pushed you.
And this is my race fan opinion, not necessarily race car driver had opinion, race fan opinion here.
The tandem was sick.
It was awesome.
Yeah, it was sick.
Now, if you're the guy having to push on the last two laps, you don't love it, but the guy in the front loves it.
But it depends because as we had more time with it, and this is what Junior saw all along and he wanted to be the guy pushing.
One, he wouldn't control his feet correctly and keep driving off my nose when we were practicing it.
But then two, he's like, hey, man, sometimes you're going to win.
But if we do this right and we get away from everybody, I'm going to hang your ass and I'm going to win.
I was like, great.
It's going to come out late one of these times.
The story was he pushed you to win, right?
And you guys pass RCR cars, tandem up and win by a nose.
How many cases of beer you send?
50 cases.
Who do you even call?
Uber delivery?
Uber Eats?
No, this is pre Uber.
I've got a friend here in town as a beer distribution company.
He has all the Budweiser stuff.
OK.
Yep.
So made a call and I was like, I need 50 cases to this address.
No problem.
Well, how did he respond?
Yeah, we felt like there was this other opportunity and I was like, I just want 50, 50 cases back my way when that happens.
Fair enough.
Yeah.
Were you there on Saturday?
Saturday, no.
So Saturday I was there with the O'Reilly's car.
Cletus was lead in the archery, so it was electric.
There was a lot of people and then Jason Kelsey was with the 17 car right next to us and there was a lot.
It just seemed like there was more excitement on a Saturday than there has been in a long time and it looked like it carried over in a Sunday too.
It was packed.
How do you feel about the state of the sport right now?
It seems like it's got a lot of momentum.
I really agree and this kind of comes back to the branding thing we were speaking about earlier.
We have so much interest in our sport right now.
I know at times we want to pick on it, but what's happening behind the scenes and the fact that private equity is involved with these race teams, the charter values rising, MJ winning the lawsuit for the teams.
We're modernizing and there are many layers that we still have to go, but it's happening.
And I think one element that the industry can help with is creating entertainment value, bringing the right people to the races, having nice hospitality.
It's going to take some time before the venues can modernize and catch up.
They're so expensive.
They're single use facilities for the most part.
That's a longer road to go down, but it's starting to happen.
And I think that NASCAR's awareness around the show, they do a lot of branding and activation for branding, but it's really just targeted on race day.
We, in my opinion, need to move into the shoulder programming that happens on a race weekend.
And when you look at venues like Talladega and what they have going on in the Boulevard and a concert, that's why everybody is there on Saturday.
And so this, these other layers and we're trying to lead within the cup garage and do things differently.
I know there are others out there, but as we all continue to invest and trust this, we're going to build the value for the industry side.
And of course it's going to help raise the tide for NASCAR and the tracks and everyone else.
But I'm hopeful there's more of a collective effort from team owners using our marketing, our branding folks, collaborating with others to create the show.
It needs to be more than just what is seen on TV on Saturday or Sunday.
It needs to be a festival.
It needs to be an event.
A little bit of a different conversation here from that would be one note here that sticks out to me.
It's Kyle Larson over a year without a win.
That's a stat that we're not used to seeing out of that.
Do you think that's possible?
No, you figure you can't go a month without Kyle Larson being a victory lane in something.
He's been leading plenty too.
Right.
It's not like he's been slow.
That leads me to ask you, when you get in a quote unquote slump, what's it look like of trying to get out of that and get back where you want to be?
I just found I had to dig in deeper and I didn't like it necessarily.
I had to dig in deeper and I needed layers of accountability left to do my own thing.
I'll take the easy way out and I was just one of those drivers that the easy way wasn't going to work.
And so thankful that for many reasons, but this being the number one, I'm not sure everybody's aware of it.
But Chad Kanouse's pressure and accountability just layered on me every day.
It was tough.
We fought like cats and dogs at times, but we found a way to manage that for 17 years.
And when I reflect back and what I'm trying to now create with our drivers, yes, you need to have this work life balance.
But the accountability, most drivers need a lot of accountability to have the have the results.
There's a few like junior, the junior Steve LaTarte pairing was perfect.
Steve was just a big coach, chatting him up, kept in the right headspace.
Junior did his best work.
And so we're all different, but that that was my journey.
Do you remember your first meeting with Chad?
Like what was your first impression?
We went to a place just down the street from Hendrick.
I should remember the name of it.
Went to lunch.
We had a couple of meetings.
One with Jim Long.
Those other meetings lasted lunch.
We all left.
Chad and I started talking about all kinds of things.
And like three hours go by and Ken House was with us.
And Ken's like, well, Chad, you're probably going to wonder where you are at work and we got to get back.
So that was the first sign that things were going well.
That weekend we decided to go play golf, get to know each other some more.
So we went to Rocky River Golf Course right there by the speedway.
I only play golf and drink at the same time.
So how's this going to go?
And I look over and Chad's like comes out with a cooler smash full of Corona.
My man.
And I'm like, all right, I'm following his lead, got a cooler myself.
And we had the best hang and it just clicked from that moment on.
And it was an ideal.
I've always said though that the crew chief drive relationship is like a marriage without the benefits.
I mean, it is freaking work, man.
You said it's the accountability where you're constantly poking him like, hey, I need this drive a little better.
Hey, I need you to get in the corner a little better.
Hey, like, and it's always like this.
But for that, for you guys to keep that amount of success and accountability and also not want to kill each other.
What was the milk and cookies?
Wasn't that the story?
So 04 we lose the championship by one car on track.
05 have a real shot to win the championship.
We're at homestead racing Tony for it.
I have a tire coming apart in and crash and we miss that opportunity.
We knew that the system in place in the way that Hendrick allowed the crew chiefs to build their own little kind of silos and departments that you know,
Rick had a vision of that changing a more centralized engineering group and all these other things with that was just so much work put on the crew chiefs.
And Rick believed that Chad was doing too much and that was part of his anxiety and stress and burnout burnout was coming.
And so Rick intended to have this meeting with us, but Chad and I were just fighting like kids.
And so we decided, well, if you guys are going to act like kids, I'm going to treat you like kids.
And we walk into his office, half gallon of milk, two Mickey Mouse plates, pile of cookies, and he made us eat cookies and drink milk.
And hash it out.
Full blown Mickey Mouse plates.
Full blown Mickey Mouse plates.
And at first we thought it was funny and then Rick insists and we can tell Rick's pissed.
And it's like, all right, we better eat these cookies.
Yeah.
They make us do the second cooking.
He's just like grinding us.
Yes.
Okay.
What's the punchline here?
And you're going to act like kids.
I'm going to treat you like kids.
And so then we transitioned into the structure changes and Rick challenged Chad with quite a few things, myself with quite a few things.
And that winner, we went to work on it and forever changed.
I often wonder this because Ron Malick was a big part of your guys team too.
He was there for seven champions, your car chief, he was a picker guy, kind of did a lot of stuff.
But how much did he, was he like the glue that kept everything together?
Without question.
And for me on my journey, I guess kind of my glue for ages.
And before the 48 car ever came about, I met Ron up in Wisconsin when I was racing off road trucks.
He worked for the engine shop up there and was living above the engine shop that was building my engines.
And the guys that ran, that owned the shop were so worried about him because of all the fumes from the solvent tanks and everything.
I thought they were going to kill him someday.
It will.
So when I moved to Milwaukee to go ASA racing, they're like, hey, you met Ron and had a captain in Coke with him a couple of times.
Like, we got to get him out of this loft.
Like you guys should get an apartment.
Like, oh, great.
So we get an apartment.
Not long after that, he comes to work for the ASA team and was my car chief on the ASA car.
So we did our two years in ASA together.
Was that Herzog too?
Herzog.
And when Herzog started the Bush program, Ron came and then Ron went with me to Hendrick.
Was it his fault the brakes failed at Walker's Glen?
No, it was not his fault.
Joking.
Single master cylinder in that car.
What?
Yeah.
Trying to save weight or what was it?
Yeah, there was a engineering conceptual issue.
Yeah, we're going to lower the CG down.
That way when we auger this thing in the styrofoam.
Is that the biggest wreck you've ever had in your life?
It's the only time I thought I was dead.
Yeah.
I mean, I've hit harder, you know, been unconscious those moments, but there's been a lot of crashes where you're like, this is going to hurt.
Dude, how fast were you going when we hit the fence?
We looked at the data from the test because we tested there before that and straightaway speeds 152.
And so I scrubbed off some speed on the way.
151.
But when I was airborne and saw the white, I've only hit concrete.
What was white was concrete.
That's why I thought it was low.
That's it.
And that was in the one.
Yeah.
And then I told myself, if I ever lose the brakes again, I'll turn to the outside wall.
But that's so counterintuitive.
It happened again at Pocono.
I wore out the brake pads on the car, brakes go to the floor and I turn in.
Yeah.
Because you think you could save it.
And I'm like yelling at myself for a hit.
Like, damn it.
You've been here before.
Yeah.
Like yesterday, you know, they, they had the big wreck and Joey's every tire's pointing in a different direction.
And he's like, got the, got the visor up, you know, his specs are locked in.
And he's like, hook it up.
You know, he's like, I'm going to try it back.
No, bro.
It's killed.
Get out.
The thing was dead.
See you next week.
Yeah.
Try again.
I can tell by just a couple of times you brought up San Diego, that race and that weekend's
going to mean a lot to you.
So tell me everything you got planned.
Obviously you're running the truck race track, which I want to talk about Dario to how that,
that introduction.
It looked hot in there.
Oh, he was cooked.
He looked hot.
Cooked.
Was his cool shirt.
Did he wear a cool shirt?
We're walking to the truck for the race.
I'm like, Hey man, where's your cool shirt?
I heard it was mugging hot down there.
It's not going to be that hot.
I'm like, I know you were in Ascar for six months, but got a cup of coffee.
Dude, it is.
It's different now.
It's going to be hot.
He's like, I'm fine.
I'm fine.
It's a short race.
I'm like, okay.
So I started making ice bags immediately.
Yes.
He's kind of cooked.
I'll tell you, there's nothing more relieving than stuffing the ice pack down in there until
it starts boiling your butt.
What's he doing these days?
He's dabbing around.
Is he having any involvement with your legacy arrow connection there for the 8,500?
Not directly to that one, but he's involved with legacy and the strategic group that's
just recently come on board.
He's deep in the historic car world in a lot of racing there.
Gordon Murray is this incredible sports car and he's developed their kind of track version
of it and has been working there.
And then he's still at Chip Gnasi racing as driver coach for those guys.
I honestly didn't realize he was like a little bit before when I was like old enough to really
understand how, you know, what great ones were.
Dario was in four time 8,500 champion.
Champion four time in the three time or the flip of that.
But yeah.
So then so I didn't even realize that Dario more or less handed the baton to Scott Dixon
of sorts.
Right.
So they were duking it out.
Dario in 2013 last lap gets tangled up with Kimusato in Houston.
Car goes airborne into the fence, disintegrates the car.
I mean broke pelvis, legs, ankles, massive concussion, has to pull a plug on his career,
couldn't pass the concussion test, all those different things.
And then he shares with me last, I guess, last summer that he's cleared the race again.
Got the itch.
And I was like, what?
I can find you a seat.
He's like, man, give it a shot.
We'll see what happens next morning.
I call him.
I call Tri-Con.
I'm like, hey guys, you want to run Dario at St. Pete?
And we got him.
He ran great.
He did great.
Is he going to do more now?
I think so.
It's hard to tell.
He's really busy with the CGR side and all the other things going on.
I'd love to put him in truck.
Have you run a truck at a road course at all?
No, I've been in one truck.
I made about 20 laps at Bristol and I clipped the apron.
Randy Moss Motorsports.
There you go.
Oh, I remember that.
The 81 truck.
Hey, Jimmy, I'm trying to get this truck going in my home track in Bristol.
No, he's like, yo, dog, you scratched my back.
I'm so thankful.
You let me know.
I'll scratch your back.
All right, cool.
I got just the thing.
I want to run a truck at Bristol.
You have a busy weekend plan, right?
You run in the cup race?
Yeah, cup race as well.
Carvana on the truck and the cup car hometown grandparents are on the hillside and it's
where they're resting, overlooking me, 20th anniversary for the Jimmy Johnson Foundation.
We're going back to the original golf course for that and opening it up to the public.
Everybody can come in and bang the ball around.
That's on Thursday, the 18th.
JimmyJohnsonFoundation.org is where you can find the information for that, but Riverwalk
golf course that's there, where the old football stadium used to be is right there by that.
When you go into a cup race these days, obviously the goals are much different than they were
15 years ago.
What do you consider a success?
I think on a plate track, obviously I have good cars and can win and that's an enticing
opportunity for me.
The amount of prep that it takes and how deep you need to be in the correlation loop to
really be in the top five on a Sunday on a traditional track.
And then the challenges we have on our pathway to independence, our simulation, our simulator,
our software tool chain, we're building all of that right now.
We chose a different path than to not pay the premium to be an alliance to Joe Gibbs
Racing.
So we have the data, but what do you put the data into?
How do you know if it's correlated correctly?
And so the many layers that we're trying to put together and build, I just don't have
that kind of time to get ready as John Hunter and Eric do.
I mean, it's just, it's weeks.
Oh, you got every day.
The restart or build cycle five weeks out.
So five weeks before the car hits the track, our guys get a shot in the sim to understand
what the thoughts are.
Then they come back in a two week, then they come back in again a week out.
And it's just so different now that it was.
Try to give me the layman's cliff notes of what the challenges are.
Twenty three eleven is paying the premium that you speak of.
It came out as eight million dollars a year based off all the lawsuit stuff.
You can see what that cost.
What is the eight million dollars yet?
They have full transparency, you know, essentially a car build as well.
So if you think of the days of furniture, row racing, a very similar situation to that,
we looked at that number and felt that we can do our own.
We can build it.
It'll take a few years.
And then as time has gone on and the good faith that we have shown,
we've been able to now be in partnership with Joe Gibbs racing on the arrow side.
So that's new for us this year.
So Toyota, Joe Gibbs racing, legacy, all partners on the arrow program.
We thought that they'd be like flipping a switch and we in great shape.
As we go to dig in, there are many layers of the build and process of the car,
including how you measure the car and all these arrow numbers.
Well, we've built a parallel path and now all of our numbers have to be
recorrelated. And so that's the journey we're on right now.
We performed a little better last year on the mile on halves.
But now all of that information we built and our notebook,
we've literally had to throw it away and start over because the way you measured
the car and catalog the car doesn't match with how you're supposedly doing it now.
It's never one thing. It's always a bunch of little things.
Stack and pennies, if you will.
That affects the simulator.
It just keeps going.
That's a balance. Yeah.
And then you do all this work.
And we talk about all the time how hard it is to be in the trenches of the mid pack.
Yeah.
It's almost easier to win, right?
Like it was almost easier winning seven championships for you
than fixing a team that's in the mid pack.
And then you're going to take on a third team next year with another charter.
Yes. What are those challenges like?
Those challenges are real, but they help us bring in more people.
And we hope a deeper talent pool and now we have more engineers.
We now get 30 percent more on track validation.
Another third, meaning the driver in the loop with correlation and prep and all of that.
So from a competition standpoint, you want to max it out if you can,
if you can keep the lights on from a commercial standpoint,
it really is a pathway to profitability.
When you look at a two car team and we're at 140 people,
we don't need 70 more to run the third car.
You know, it's 25 to 30 more people.
So skills of economy really start making sense.
Jeff was in here and Ray was in here and he talks about kind of Rick's eye for talent.
What do you look for when you are trying to get guys for a cup team?
When you're trying to get engineers, pick crew guys, crew chiefs.
I know you got Brian Campy, who have always been a fan of.
So like, what are the some of the things that you look for for a guy
that can come in and make a spark on your team?
This is one of those areas I wish I would have paid more attention when I was at Hendrick.
I've always been a relational guy, and I think this part is really important.
And now that we're more structurally sound, our onboarding process,
our recruiting process, trying to find the right people that fit into our puzzle
is something I've not had transparency to in the past.
But once I've been on a team, I've always felt like
and I'll use college football as an example.
When you watch that college team run out of the tunnel,
that connectivity, that vibe, that locker room,
I've always aspired to kind of create that where I've worked
and what I've been a part of.
And so, you know, I'm not as involved on recruiting
and how people fit into these pieces for our puzzle.
But building the locker room, building culture, leading by example,
that's the area that I feel I can move the needle the most and I'm focused on.
I got a question as a picker guy.
I've always wanted to know this.
When you came down Pit Road and the 24 car had gotten swap mid race onto your car,
did you know anything about that or just see them jump out in front of you?
What year? I don't remember what year it was, but I remember in 2010,
this was a race in Denny.
I guess Shaky was probably doing driver service.
I've always been handed an ice bag or a cliff bar or something
and a sticky note comes in, go down Pit Lane,
pull the sticky note out.
Do you want the 24 team?
There's something along the lines of the 24 team.
And I was like, again, I'm like, do you have no idea what's going on?
Like, whatever you need to do, come down Pit Lane, the next pit stop.
It's like, all right, you five out, look for the 24 suits.
And I was like, son of a bitch, you did it.
I pulled in and it's all the 24 guys jumping off the wall.
Was that awkward for you afterwards?
Or there certainly were layers.
The concept was widely talked about, you know, at the executive level
and coaching staff and crew chiefs.
And that's where Chad had the confidence to make the call.
And sure, there were unintended consequences and feelings hurt and stuff.
But, you know, we ended up with the championship that year.
And that was what Rick and management was trying to build, you know,
where we had depth and where we could lean on teammates and truly be one team.
Six at least six days a week and sometimes seven days a week.
I also lights the fire a little bit of accountability, too.
Like, hey, boys, you know, we got our thoroughbred over here trying
with the championship, we're putting our best guys on that car.
I pitted the 12 of the last decade and I had a conversation with a young kid
last week and he was kind of explaining pit stops me and said, no, you don't
understand. And we used to talk about this a lot with the 48.
I said, when you're on whatever car you're on, that's run in mid-pack.
People only see the good you do because if you make a mistake, it gets buried.
When you're on the 12 or like the 48, every time you pitted, you were on top five.
You're in one of the little boxes on TV and people only see the bad that stuff.
And then when it gets that way, it just gets snowballed in the media.
And the last name on the back of their suits so that they can get hazed.
That's right. Social media happens.
Oh, I still get it. I'm like, I'm not there anymore.
Stop stop tweeting me.
It's tough. I've always felt so bad for you guys.
You know, the race goes on, however many stops week after week, on and on and on.
Stuff happens, right?
And then there's there's whatever happens and spotlight is just so hard on that individual.
We all signed up for it.
Fair.
Everybody.
Nobody's pushing your arm to walk in the garage every week.
I guess we had a lot of fun talking with Jeff about when he drove.
Was it one Pablo's car?
Oh, four in one car. Yeah.
Chunking right off into the grass.
The first lap.
Yeah, he was in full send mode.
I was proud of him. Yeah.
Well, he said he wasn't.
And that's what he said he didn't turn or went right off.
Like you baby in the corner didn't have enough downforce and he drove right off in the grass.
You did a ride swap.
Where was the track?
You know, Bahrain Bahrain.
OK, so you did with a Fernando Alonzo.
Yes. Tell me about that.
Incredible opportunity.
I met Fernando at the NASCAR preseason media day.
He was on his way to Daytona for the 24 hours and he's like, man, we got to switch cars.
Great.
And so knowing Zach from his time here and the conversation started,
Jeff Gordon actually helped.
He was down at the Rolex that year and kind of put the bug in in Zach's here.
And man, we got the thing put together.
And what what an incredible opportunity.
So that was a full blown cup car sent Alan Gustafson down there with you.
Let's give let's give out flowers.
I love that. He's fantastic.
I mean, that's the mold of a crew chief if you could build one.
Yep. But he was in the gym the other day, pushing 90s on inclined dumbbell press.
Just getting after it.
We go, you know, a cold water trail out that by Talladega.
Yeah. Right.
I'll get on and I've ridden my own bikes with you and Matt Kenseth one time, too.
I'm never going to do that again, either.
But so I go with Alan.
Hey, man, let's jump. Let's bring the bike down to Talladega.
Let's go ride. I said, great.
He's like, how much you want to go ride?
It's like Saturday, right?
I'm like, I don't know.
I usually go 12 to 15 in the woods.
It's like not a small number.
Not you're not killing yourself.
He's like, all right, let's go cold water.
We can do some loops.
Never been before.
So I get like me, him, somebody else that worked at
Hendrick, we jump in the Sprinter van, we go over there and we're cruising.
And I'm like probably 85 percent and he's cruising.
Like I might, you know, on my Garmin, we're 18.5 miles in
and we are on the opposite side of the mountain.
Now, luckily, cold water, you've probably done it.
I think I've done cold water once.
And it's got like a five or six mile downhill sequence.
Like it is you get up to the top and then you have at least have a little bit
of a reprieve going down for a while, but the last is a climb.
And my legs were killed.
We were like 24, 25 miles.
And I've got my elbow on the seat, hand on the handlebars, pushing this thing.
And Alan was sitting there.
He had his bib off.
He had a cold beer drink.
He had to be out there for 45 minutes.
He was like, how's it going?
I'm like, bro, I'm dead.
I'm great.
I am dead.
Next time you want to go cold water, don't ask me.
I appreciate you.
That guy is an excellent cyclist or notorious for like, it's just a short ride.
Yeah, maybe a hill or two, which is miles in the woods code for I have no clue
how long it is, but it's going to suck.
And there's a massive climb ahead.
I didn't understand that language.
I was getting into it, but back to Bahrain and the F1 car you drove.
So tell me that's a two year or two cycle old car you're allowed to test.
I think I had to be five year.
So that was 2018.
I was in a 2013.
Here it is.
Lando spin it out.
It was one of the exhaust blown diffusers on that car.
And you had, I think V10 and or V8 or something.
So a big loud engine made a ton of noise.
It was great.
Learn had to learn how to keep my foot matted through a couple of fast turns
to keep the fuser, the fuser charged up and keep the thing playing.
Which was a great argument with my right foot.
Yo, pinky gets a little light.
It starts quivered, but it was incredible, man.
My neck by the end of the day.
I had no idea how bad my neck was going to hurt.
You're smoked, really smoked.
What about braking?
They everybody says the braking capability of F1 car is unbelievable.
Front straight away, it's as long as Watkins Glen, you know,
into into the bus stop, if not longer.
I go out to warm up the cup car.
The braking mark started at 300.
Yeah.
So I come in, I was like, hey, Fernando, like you'll see the 300.
If you can imagine where 600 is double it.
That's that's got to be the starting breakpoint.
He's like, no, no, no chance.
I'm like, dude, I'm telling you, like seriously, you don't stop.
It's like, oh, shit, no way.
So where where where is it going to be for the Formula One car then?
And he goes, the 75, maybe the 50.
I'm like, 150 was a no, no, no, no inside the one.
You're kidding me.
So when I finally had my chance to get in the in the Formula One car at the three,
I'm like, I was going to get I'm just going to be smart here.
Dude, I had to accelerate in first gear to drive up the apex.
It stopped so fast.
Did you work up to it?
Yeah, I got there.
I got there.
I was able to match this times at the end and it was awesome.
And then that that went well enough that Zach and this is right when Liberty
were taking things over.
And so Zach's like, man, let's get you in a proper car, go talk to the FIA,
take it to Silverstone and and you know, let's see how it goes.
And then that's when I learned about a super license and that a NASCAR driver
and NASCAR are not being affiliated to the FIA.
No super points for you.
Done the water.
So you couldn't even test a four in one car.
I know I know that he's getting some some exposure and time,
but I think he still was a couple of points short to it's even get the F1 license.
Like they want you to come through their system.
Yeah, we had some people in here about garage 56.
Yeah.
But I didn't know a ton about it.
But my picker guys now that I work with a Hendrick, some of them were the picker
guys at Lamar studs.
Oh, yeah, they are studs.
I'm I don't know how I'm hanging on.
How was that whole experience?
Like they tell me it was just amazing.
I'm glad they see it that way, because I always felt like the test days,
especially when we're doing the 24 hour test days, they kind of got the short end
of the day. They said it was a lot of work and they were sitting around a lot,
but they said it was really cool.
Like we we ran, we tried to run for 24 hours at Sebring and big chunk of
rubber while I was in the car caught on fire.
So we were down a bit and then they wanted to load up and I'm like,
well, let's go like we're here.
Cars still running.
So we finished it up and it ended up being like a 36 something hour day for
those guys and they every hour, the car had stopped for tires and fuel.
And we practiced every element of it.
So they were on that entire time.
But incredible experience, the reception for the car.
And then specifically the crew guys, when we entered the pit stop competition
and won the damn thing or placed, I can't recall where it turned out.
Our guys every morning were like warming up, push up sprints.
And here's all these, you know, Euro dudes, like, who are these monsters?
Are they doing in a crumpet?
You know, they spent time looking at the car and really could appreciate the
workmanship and effort.
And then the pit stops and how on point they were.
And then we place and Jack man like takes his jack down pit lane and goes up on
the there's a archway down at the end where the winners of the race, you know,
get the trophy and everything, he carries the damn Jack all the way down
there, got a massive applaud from not only the fans, but everybody, all the teams
inside of the garage area, because that was probably the only car that was
using a manual jack.
Correct.
The only manual jack everybody else was there.
Jack Donovan Williams was a Jack man there.
He's my tire carrier.
And I can tell you that I'm a lot like those French mechanics when I go into
the gym every day and I'm like, what in the world are these guys doing?
And how many plates can fit on that?
What are you lifting?
And like great guys, man.
We have the best time with them.
Yeah.
Hendrick does a great job recruiting.
I speak for many here that admire your competitiveness and your success with a
helmet on, but I want to get your, your parenting advice.
Right.
You got two, two girls.
They're still alive.
Yep.
Great.
So I've got now four boys, dude, under six.
He's got a seven year old daughter and a five year old six, six, they're eight
and six, eight and six.
Sorry, my best friend.
You're welcome.
So I'm always curious on people who are a chapter ahead of me in life on what
they feel like they've done well and what they wish they'd have done different.
I'm trying to have that awareness for friends that are ahead of us because
we're, we're older parents within our, our friend group.
You know, it's time.
And, and when I look back at the end of my NASCAR career in, in what was really
pulling at me was missing time with my family, then Indy Carr turned into that
as well, and then now not putting the helmet on in my headspace in general.
I'm not sure my physical time has changed, but between my years and how much more
available I am, because I don't have that competitive pressure just weighing on
me every single day.
I'm so much more present in, in trying to lean further into that.
You know, we're at 12 and 15.
And so, you know, the conversation shift, you're leading by example, you're sharing
some stories of where you've made mistakes and you want them to stay away
from those mistakes and there's so much more of a relationship that's building
in that, that time and being present is every bit of that.
So that's the part I'm trying to focus on.
My parents didn't push.
There's pats on the back, have fun.
You know, it was, I remember, you know, Jared, very well, I'll never forget.
We're at our local motorcycle track.
Jared, your brother.
Yes.
My brother, I'm the oldest of three.
This is before Jesse was even around.
And we're at our local dirt bike track and we're standing at the starting line.
Gate drops.
No, Jared, dad's sitting there with the bike running like, well, this is not
riding this one.
And I, I, I didn't know how my dad was going to respond.
So we're pushing the bike back to the pits and there was this creek, a little
bridge or little, little thing to go over it.
And we look in the creek and there's Jared with his helmet and gloves on,
playing in the creek and like he found an amp pile and was messing around with
these red ants and I don't know how he didn't get bit, but he just splashed
around the creek having fun.
And my dad laughed and was like, Hey, I'm going to put your bike up.
Man, it's cool.
It's so great.
So that, that was the world I grew up in as a professional.
That is not the world that Chad Knauss had me in.
And so, you know, there are these moments in time and ways that people are motivated.
I think there's also a language between family members and how they talk.
We see it all the time, you know, some are more direct, some are less, some
are supportive, some are not.
You're a busy man.
Yeah.
And I'm going to let you go because this has been an incredible conversation.
I appreciate you.
I didn't appreciate you so much.
Good luck to you and legacy motor club.
Same.
Thank you.
Core of the joy here alongside Ryan Flores have a fantastic week.
God bless.
About this episode
Jimmie Johnson reflects on life after the No. 48, explaining how retirement, family time, and a London reset led him toward ownership with Legacy Motor Club. He talks candidly about learning from Rick Hendrick, building culture, chasing sponsors, and the grind of modern NASCAR competition. The conversation also dives into his off-road and IndyCar adventures, Garage 56 at Le Mans, F1 and Bahrain testing, and the emotional weight of Talladega, where Legacy’s progress and future feel especially personal.
7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson joins Corey LaJoie and Ryan Flores in the Nonsense Garage for a wide-ranging conversation on life after the No. 48, becoming co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, and what's next.
Jimmie tells the full story of the 2011 Talladega tandem-draft win with Dale Earnhardt Jr (and the 50 cases of beer that followed), the F1 super license rules that killed his Formula 1 test, the year his family spent in London, the Garage 56 program at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, his Indy 500 runs with Chip Ganassi Racing, the Mint 400 with Herbst Motorsports, and the phone call to Ron Devine at BK Racing that launched Corey LaJoie's Cup career.
Plus: a full Talladega Cup race breakdown, pit road penalties, the Toyota tandem squirrel problem explained through spring rates, sitting inside a Top Fuel car at NHRA Four-Wides, NASCAR's SUV and hydrogen future, and Pit Boss of the Week.
