0:00
/
0:00
Marcus Smith on Why The ROVAL is Gone…For Now
Marcus Smith on Why The ROVAL is Gone…For Now
0:00
0:00
0:00
0:00
About this episode
Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith breaks down why Charlotte’s ROVAL is going back to the oval for now, citing fan feedback, TV/sponsor alignment, and the desire for more excitement with the current NASCAR car and officiating. He also discusses the return of circle-track racing, North Wilkesboro’s points race, and the All-Star moving to Dover—plus the broader playoff/points debate and how NASCAR is trying to rebuild trust post-conflict. The show also includes Kelly’s “Ask Kelly” segment with Junior Motorsports updates and Wyatt’s racing plans.
Topics:
roval to oval change at charlotte
fan and tv partner influence
north wilkesboro points race
all-star race moving to dover
playoff and points system debate
team owner strategy and operations
driver feedback and preparation
10 tenths motor club and car events
junior motorsports daytona 500 outlook
wyatt arnold sprint car 360 plans
Cars:
Subaru 360
Kelley Earnhardt Miller is filling in for Dale Jr. and is joined by the President of Speedway Motorsports Inc., Marcus Smith, to discuss a number of changes to the NASCAR landscape for 2026:
- The Charlotte ROVAL is gone … for now
- The differences between preparing for a ROVAL race vs. the traditional Charlotte oval
- North Wilkesboro gets its points race in 2026
- The All-Star race moves to Dover
- The Heritage Invitational IROC event
- What to anticipate from NASCAR’s return to the Chase points format
During the “Ask Kelley” portion of the episode, listeners wrote in questions regarding:
- Wyatt’s upcoming race schedule for 2026
- What Kelley’s experience is like watching her son race
- The emotions of JR Motorsports entering the Daytona 500 for the second year
- Preparing for JRM’s 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season
And for more content, check out our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia
Real fans wear Dirty Mo. Hit the link and join the crew.👇
https://shop.dirtymomedia.com/
FanDuel: Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Filter:
|
Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Subaru 360
"...t because Wyatt is going to be racing Sprint car 360s this year which is making mom nervous but we'll g..."
Select text to request an explanation
Arby's is putting the pedal to the metal with value that breaks away from the pack,
introducing the new meat and three box for $7.99 that's filled with Arby's quality favorites.
The meat and three box now has new sandwiches for you to choose from.
You get your choice between a crispy chicken sandwich or a crispy fish sandwich or a ham and
Swiss milk. And every meat and three box comes with melty mozzarella sticks and some crispy
curly fries and a peach cobra roll for dessert. This thing's just giving sweet as a peach a whole
new meaning plus you get a small drink. It's meat and three but you're getting five items.
There's so much food in there all for only $7.99. Arby's is giving you more meal for your money
and is filling you up with your favorite food that you just can't get anywhere else. Arby's is
known for always giving you more than you expect. Available for a limited time at participating
locations while supplies last. Prices may vary. Get your meat and three box at any Arby's near
you today. Get the most out of your vehicle with GM genuine parts and AC Delco original equipment.
The only parts design engineered tested and backed by General Motors. Whether or not you
drive a GM vehicle you can find your perfect fit for most makes and models and choose from
three tiers of parts including GMOE or gold and silver aftermarket parts. Visit gmparts.com for
more information. The following is a production of Dirty Moe Media.
This is the most fun I've had in this chair in the last hour and a half.
I don't know if we've ever argued. Did I piss you off over the weekend or? I'm still soured that I
want the best man at your win. Who was your best man, Dale? TJ. You don't need a cool best for that
race. What are you thinking? Get him, TJ. That's the way it's starting to show. All right then.
All right. Hey everyone. It's Kelli Arnhart Miller here and welcome into the Arby's studio
for another episode of the Dell Junior Download. Where is my big roast beef with horsey sauce?
Come on now. I didn't get your order. I'm sorry. All right. Obviously I'm not Dell Junior. One
look. I did try to borrow the sweatshirt and the hat but I just wasn't digging the hats this morning.
Dale had a last minute change in the schedule so I'm filling in today and excited to be here.
I won't be by myself though in just a couple minutes. Marcus Smith, president of Speedway
Motorsports will be joining and for a big announcement although I'm sure a few of you could
be guessing what that is. So enough about that. Let's bring Marcus in. All right. Good morning,
Marcus. How's it going? Doing great. So yeah, super excited to be here. Dale had to take off
early this morning for an appearance that we have this afternoon so I'm thrown into the ranks here
and I'm excited. There's so much to talk about with Speedway Motorsports this year. So many
changes and I've got a lot of curious questions. All right. We're going to talk about the roval.
Sure. Right. Oh yeah. Big news. The circle track coming back into play, chase race, all of those
good things. We're going to talk about North Wiltsburg having a points race. Did you see that
coming, right? You know, a few years ago. And then the off-star race moving to Dover as well. So
tons of stuff happening. So first things first and I'm super curious about this from
a team owner standpoint because when they announced or, you know, announcing the change with the
roval, you know, that's a race that a lot of times we'll run our fifth car and we'll have a
road course ringer as they call them, right? Right. Right. And a sponsorship or something
that comes together that because somebody says, I want to run a road course. Oh, okay. And so with
that news coming at this point in the year, what is that like? Like what, you know, what brought
that on? What's the timeframe? How does that come together like that? That's a great question. So
we, I don't know, I hadn't been thinking about it. I was thinking about lots of other
things in our business going into January and coming out of December. But the Charlotte team
was having a strategic meeting. They were just kind of talking about your planning and Jessica
Fickinshire said, smart lady. She's smart. She's smart. She said, what do you think about
going back to the oval in October? And of course, it's not the first time I've heard that because
Dale has said it many times. And, you know, but, but when Jessica said it and kind of in the context
of the whole group, I said, well, what do y'all think? Is it what do the fans think? And they,
they said, you know, when you think about the, the point system kind of going back to the chase
and in that story of kind of going back to the way we were, the last time the chase was at Charlotte,
it was, you know, the oval for the Coke 600 and the oval for the Bank of America 400. So
we, I said, if you guys think that fans will like this and it'll be the best thing,
certainly the racing is good. Dale will say, I told you so and, you know, we'll, we'll all have fun.
And so that, that was kind of how it happened. And so then we made a few phone calls to
NASCAR and, and, and our TV partners and, of course, Bank of America is a sponsor and everybody
thought it was a good thing if the fans were into it. How much influence does the TV partner
matter? And the process with NASCAR, just, you know, being a decision that you can make within
a month's time from a strategic meeting that you guys have in terms of all of your conversation
and then the other people that you have to talk with. You know, what I think is neat is that
all of those parties care about what the fans think. And I think just the timing was such that,
you know, back when we, when we introduced the roval, it was at a time when road courses were
having this, this amazing surge. Fans were saying, boy, we love road courses that they kind of race
like a short track. And, and, and so we brought out the roval and it provided another road course
in the, in the schedule, a road course in the, in the playoffs. And it made for something new
and different. So it was one of the highest rated races and TV for a couple of years. Great growth
and great excitement and, you know, some great highlights from, from the race. But I think the
new car and the way NASCAR officiates, the racing hasn't been as exciting as, as it had been initially.
So, you know, we want to deliver excitement. We want to deliver, you know, a great event that has
fantastic competition and those, those amazing highlight worthy moments in racing. So all those
people with, whether it's, you know, NBC or NASCAR sponsors, Bank of America and others,
I think we're all in it together to make, you know, great competition happen and see the fans happy.
Well, yeah, you obviously, you know, wouldn't, wouldn't make a change unless you thought that
good could come out of it, right? Dale, I can't talk from the perspective of running the roval
or running, you know, the oval, roval and oval. I know that if he were in the seat,
he definitely would have a lot of comments about, but have you had driver feedback,
you know, as it relates to? The best driver feedback I had was from Dale. He said,
he said, if you start listening to me, you'd make this decision two years ago.
So, yeah, I did laugh about that too. That's funny. Well, most of the time,
sometimes the only feedback that matters is Dale, right? So what's the process like for your team,
you know, to not, not the physical process, because I would imagine that this is going to be a
little lighter, that you don't have to, to configure the road course, right? So, so it's going to be
lighter. But what's the whole process like? Does it change things for you as it relates to,
you know, sponsorship, the amount of people, I imagine there's more camping spots available
since you can use everything and things like that. Like probably the biggest thing is camping.
I think, you know, that's going to be a big thing for fans to be able to camp again on that turn
one and two side of the oval. So it's, that's really the biggest thing. And of course, the work
that goes into converting Charlotte Motor Speedway from oval to roval is, is tremendous. So
our operations team just got, you know, a huge relief. So it'll be kind of neat. And I think,
you know, the racing in May for the 600 has been fantastic. Bringing that to the fall
will be, you know, I think fantastic again, and it'll be neat to see how the teams react to that,
you know, from the spring to the fall. And, you know, certainly should be, should be exciting.
Super cool. It is going to be exciting. You know, I do think with the point system, the way it is,
you know, road courses present a challenge for a lot of the drivers, right? And lots can happen.
There's a lot of beating and banging and moving around. So that strategy for teams and drivers
should look a lot different, you know, you know, I think you mentioned as a team owner, kind of the
factors that you all think about and should go in from season to season. From my perspective,
as a promoter and as a fan of NASCAR, throwing a wrench in the system sometimes actually produces
some excitement. So if this, you know, creates a little bit more excitement, creates a challenge
that needs to be solved for some of the teams, I think that generally works out pretty good for
the fans and it makes some excitement happen for the teams. And it should be pretty interesting to
see. Yeah, very exciting. What can we expect in terms of the stability of the Oval versus
the Roval? Is that something you're going to look at year to year as, you know, what?
You know, I think after reviving North Wilkesboro Speedway, there's nothing that's not doable.
I thought you'd never get that Speedway, you know, to actually operate again. So
we've got a wonderful racetrack in the classic Oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We've got a
fantastic world-class road course with the Roval and we'll bring that back at different times. But
for now, we'll be running the Oval and we'll see what happens. Well, you know, the cool thing is,
I think that the adaptability is great, right? Because you can react to what's going on in the
market, what fans are asking for, you know, what the entire lineup of the series looks like track
to track and you prove that already with the Roval. So yeah, well, it is. Here we go. That's
right. I love driving the Roval, you know, from a sports car perspective, it's super fun to drive
and we've got a lot of customers that like to drive it. So outside of NASCAR week, we'll still
have plenty of opportunities for our different driving experiences and OEM customers to come out
and enjoy the Roval. Very cool. You know, we did the Del Gino Rodalongs for a lot of years at the
Speedway until the Roval came. And then that presented a bit of a challenge, not that people
wouldn't have liked the Roval, but as you know, what Del Junior's temperature was on road courses.
And so we've pivoted. We've done it at North Wiltsboro and so maybe we can get back to Charlotte.
It's a fun weekend to provide for fans that did the Rodalongs with the Hall of Fame being here.
We can just have a, you know, a weekend of all things taken in the races at the Speedway and
whatnot. So all right, everybody, the 2026 NASCAR season is officially here. And you know what that
means? New rides, new paint schemes and another year of unforgettable moments on the track.
And if you want to bring all that action home, you've got to check out Lionel Racing,
the official die cast of NASCAR. They've got the largest selection of officially licensed NASCAR
die cast from race wins to the newest cars hitting the track this season. These things are incredibly
detailed with the same paint, same sponsors, same attitude that you see on race day. There must have
for collectors and fans alike. Right now to kick off the season, Lionel Racing is offering free
domestic shipping when you use promo code download 26. That's free shipping just for the fans of the
Del Junior download. So head over to LionelRacing.com, grab your favorite driver's latest die cast and
start the 2026 season the right way. That's download 26 for free shipping only at LionelRacing.com.
Get the most out of your vehicle with GM genuine parts and AC Delco original equipment.
The only parts design, engineered, tested and backed by General Motors. Whether or not you
drive a GM vehicle, you can find your perfect fit for most makes and models and choose from
three tiers of parts, including GMOE or gold and silver aftermarket parts. Visit GMparts.com for
more information. When you're looking to hire somebody, it's not just about finding someone
to fill the void. It's about finding someone with the right background, experience,
skills to get the job done. Because you don't want to have to go through the hiring process again,
you want to do it once and get it right. Indeed sponsored jobs help you match with candidates
who can move your business forward. Target candidates by skills, certifications or location.
Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits
their needs. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check
all your boxes. Less stress, less time. More results now with Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners
of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help you get your job the premium status it
deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply, hiring, do it the right way
with Indeed. How's it going to change your plans for the October race Saturday?
Yeah, you know, I mean, like I said, I think now that we have four full-time cars, you know,
they've got to look at each race like it's on, right? So, I mean, the Oval obviously they have
experience from other tracks, other mile and a half, you know, and that kind of thing that they
can prep for and prepare for. I think, you know, I would guess that my drivers are fine
without having the road course, because there's a lot of unpredictability with the road course.
And you're either, you know, you can, you really either have the skill set to do that or you don't,
right? And you can work on it and fine tune. And I know that they've done a lot of things
like that to do. But yeah, it should, you know, I think it should probably make the load lighter
in a lot of cases, right? And I can't recall what's kind of back to back around there and
everything. But, you know, there's a whole different ballgame and getting ready for the
road course races and the cars and so on and so forth. So, yeah. So, probably a little easier
lift for the people back at the shop as well. Yeah, I would think so. Yeah, I would think so,
for sure. Well, you brought up North Wiltsboro and, you know, the revive is just incredible there.
I got to attend the cars tour race there. Obviously, I've, you know, came to the first
race when we had the cars tour race, but I got to go to the cars tour race there last fall with
just kind of a standalone event, which was really cool for me because I really felt that old North
Wiltsboro vibe of me running around the infield, which isn't the same anymore. But, you know,
just, man, it feels good when you go there. It does. And you have that history of passing it
so long on the interstate and like, man, that was just such, I'm just looking up there at it now,
turns one and two, thinking, could it just come back and you brought it back? It's amazing.
I know. How do you, I mean, that, that, that has to be like a huge feather in your cap.
Well, I love, it's a huge team effort, you know, and I just love, like you said, when you started
again by Dale. Yeah, that's right. You go ahead to put them on your strategic team. I made him
chairman of the board of the speakway. So, yeah, he's on the strategic team. Yeah,
we have a strategic retreat now for the last few years out in South Dakota to talk about.
Oh, that's right. That's right. But, you know, it's just amazing. It's, to me, it actually
kind of feels like a missions trip, you know, where you hear about people that go and help rebuild
a church or rebuild a place for, for people to live. This is rebuilding a special place in a
community that brings the community together, that creates great economic impact for that
community. And it gives, you know, so many of us NASCAR fans a place to go and watch racing,
watch the cars tour, watch the now points race coming up. And it's, it's really special. And,
and one of those places that I think, you know, you will enjoy a trip to North Wilkesboro Speedway.
You'll enjoy going on, on Main Street and join the town and just the people. It's really fantastic.
You've gotten a lot of very awesome compliments from the community there, for sure. It's really
been a revitalization for that community, you know, because so many, you know, so many,
so many small town royal communities have struggled and fought their way to prosperity,
you know. And so it's awesome to see between, you know, lows moving out of that area and the
track closure, this revitalization has been, you can see it, you can feel it. And it feels good.
So the points race there, what, you know, the decision to, to move the All-Star race from
North Wilkesboro and have a points race, moving that to Dover, how, how did that all come about
and work out and what was the strategy there? You know, it was one of those things that we thought,
what can we do to make a significant impact in the NASCAR season that would make people happy?
So number one thing I thought is, is certainly a points race at North Wilkesboro. And then
with the All-Star race at Dover, this is the first time that, that Dover will see the All-Star race.
People that are in the Northeast can come down and enjoy the All-Star race. It's a great date for
Dover to May is a fantastic time in that area. So, you know, we've had rain for the last few
years at Dover. This should be, you know, a much better weather window for us and for all the fans.
So I think it's a bonus for the Dover fans and North Wilkesboro, you know, to see a longer race
at Wilkesboro should be pretty cool for the competition. We haven't had a points race there in
is it 30 years maybe? I don't know, but a long time. And that should be fun. I'm excited to see that,
see both of them. Yeah, that response I think has been positive. You know, I think that
change obviously comes with its critics on social media, my goodness. And, you know,
Dover doesn't feel like the likely, like a likely spot for an All-Star race. But to your point about
the Northeast fans, which are, you know, number one when it comes, if you look at the states,
as far as your fan base and what you got going on, you know, the Northeastern fans are there.
And so that's a great point for them to see. And Dover is exciting. I mean, Dover's a great
racetrack, the feel of that roar, the high banks, you know, a lot of action there. So what can we
expect that weekend, you know, as far as fun? Because, you know, you're thinking of the All-Star
race from Charlotte and then North Wilkesboro, you know, what would we expect? Well, you know,
we're working on the format of finalizing that it's, I think you can always expect some fireworks
out of the All-Star race. We've done some amazing things with the format out of the All-Star. If
you think about side-by-side restarts, that didn't exist before the All-Star race. We used to,
you know, restart nose to tail with the choose cone started out of first legends racing on the
quarter mile at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then we implemented it for the All-Star race,
whether it's, you know, lights and all these great kind of ideas segments are part of
what came out of the All-Star race. I think, you know, those are things that we've worked with
NASCAR on to help create new and special and different things that have found their way into
every weekend. So it's getting harder to think about, you know, what can we do next? But, you know,
we've tried tires in the past with, you know, stickier tires, alternating tires, option tires,
that sort of thing. So we always want to push the envelope. Always want to, you know, try to do
something that might work, but it also might not work. And that's the, that's the double edged
sword. That's a risk, right? Absolutely. That's a risk. And if you're not taking risk, if you're not
taking risk, then you're not trying enough to move your business forward for sure. So we're
risk takers. That's part of what we do. You definitely are. If you're being a promoter,
you have to have a little bit of that in your blood for sure. I think so. Yeah, I think so too.
Well, that's going to be super exciting. You know, that you just, it really amazes me the
innovation that you guys think about and changes to bring forth to the series and use of the
different tracks and so on and so forth. So it's going to be exciting. It's going to be exciting
year between seeing all these new things and how they work out for sure. So you talked about
road course racing for your sports car enthusiast. You've got another fun thing coming. So you did
10 tenths. That's right. The new venue and sports road course. What are we calling that? What do
we call that? So the 10 tenths motor club. Motor club. That's right. That's right. We got to get
beautiful. I just haven't done the, I haven't done the car experiences yet, but I need to get you
and Mr. H have me over there and have some fun. It is fun. It is fun. Well, this is a great
opportunity. We're going to host an Iraq race in April around this really special event we call
the heritage imitational. Mr. Hendrick and I, we've got a partnership on the 10 tenths club
and we've got a beautiful track two miles. It's an amazing car show and part of the car show
working with Ray Evernham, who's our executive director of the event. Ray and Rob have put
together the Iraq series to kind of bring it back, but it's the classic Iraq cars. So we're going to
be racing the classic Iraq cars and drivers are going to come back and enjoy some racing at the
It's a lot of fun. I want to race. I think Dale should race. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Now, is this an event? Is it TV? Is it fans? Can fans come? It's all about fans. It's all about
car nuts like me. It's about celebrating history in Iraq and this historic racing. It's also a
big car show. It's a fun event to go to. Even if you don't like cars, it's a really pretty place
and early April, it'll be a nice beautiful weather and we've got a great clubhouse there where you
can enjoy some great food and beverage and just kind of hang out time. Yeah, the patio area is
immense and expansive and you can see over the track and just a beautiful place to be.
So have you announced drivers for the Iraq portion? I think we have. Got to check out the
heritage imitational Instagram and can we see a variety of drivers from different series?
Yes, different different different times and different types of Iraq cars. We've got some
of the older ones, some of the latest generation. It's going to be fun. That'll be super fun.
So we mentioned the impact that the Roval Oval could have on the Chase playoff format. Were you,
as a track owner and promoter, are you involved in those discussions when it comes to what a Chase
series looks like in a playoff and the point series and how do you feel about the new
Yeah, yeah. So I went to the initial meeting that I think it was called a playoff committee
meeting last February, week of Daytona. Dale was on Zoom. We had a room full of people, drivers,
a couple of media members, some team owners, presidents and media. I mean a little bit of
everything was there and it was an interesting discussion. I think the context was should we
do something different? There's always a lot of discussion at the end of every year. What do we
think about the point system? What do we think about the rules of the game? I'm frankly one of
those people who thinks like just give me the rules and let's go play and then see what happens.
See, I'm the same way. I say that every year when it comes to, I love the committees. I love being
able, I like to be able to give feedback from the people that are in the line of fire and you
probably find that too in your business. You need to go talk to the people that are actually doing
the job, doing the work, making the decisions because there's minute details that are very
important that can get upset very quickly. But at the same time, too many opinions to try to do
something can get very hairy. So I'm just like tell me the rules and tell me how to get there.
That's right. So I think, I don't know how the consternation and kind of a controversy
sort of was created, but there was a meeting in February in Daytona last year
and that's when the discussion started. And then of course that all played out
through the ecosystem in the sport over the year. And there was a few other discussions
and that sort of thing. I mean, I have opinions. The first thing I kind of thought of was,
well, what if this year is a great year? What if it comes down to a fantastic championship
and what are we going to say then? And we've taken it away.
Yeah. So I think it, things kind of unraveled, not unraveled, they kind of
came together as the season does. And like you said, every team shows up on race day to win
and you also keep in mind the points and everybody wanted to be
in victory lane and have the championship at the end of the season. So
there's some heartbreakers. I love the old wild world of sports guys that said,
it's the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. You can't really have one without the other.
You've got to have thrill of victory and agony of defeat. Second place shouldn't be all that
great, I think. But it is important in NASCAR, different than say a basketball game. A basketball
game, you have a winner and a loser. In NASCAR, if you run top 10, that's pretty good. If you run
top five and whatnot. But there are some teams who think we can win every race and when we don't
win, we're not achieving our optimal best. And I think that's the part of excellence that every
race team, every driver is chasing. So the new point system, I think if we all just say we're
in 100%, I would really love it if we didn't debate the rules of the sport throughout the season.
I think once we have the rules, let's go race and let's run a championship and see what happens.
So it'll be neat to see what happens. I do think that there was some benefit in the cutoff races.
We don't have those now and that's okay. Yeah, it builds excitement. And that's one of the things
that my husband and I have talked about is just like what and of course I lived through the years
of the regular playoff series with my dad and when it was he and Mark Martin or he and Rusty
Wallace and all those kinds of things. And I remember that being exciting. The excitement of
like you said, the thrill of victory and agony of defeat. If someone has a not so great race
and it pulls them down or takes them out of contention for the top spot or whatever and then
what do they do to get back in it? I will not miss going to the last race of the season with
three cars in the playoffs from junior motorsports perspective and not coming home with the championship.
I will not miss that. The one race thing for me was tough because I felt like it just sort of
no matter how you looked at it, it spoiled everything you did for the year because you were
on the top of your game for the year and you made it there and then you lost to another team that
yes, made it there too, but maybe they were eighth in points. And so I will not miss that part.
As I was hearing about the playoff system, everything I was kind of thinking, I like the
cut off races, I was thinking of how you could take that same group of 12 or 16 drivers depending
on which series you're in and accumulating the points throughout there and then having it come
down to maybe the last three races that there was a point situation and it wasn't just your win and
you're the champion kind of thing or whatever because that has created I think of a lot of
excitement. There's not one great answer, right? People loved what we had, people like what they
anticipate this year is going to look like and we'll see how it works, but it will change the
focus week to week instead of the win in your end and everything you do. And all the things like
back in the day with the point system before 2011, you could take your cars back in the garage
and work on them. I think that they've been talking about that. I don't know if they've made any
changes to that or not. I'm not sure either, but that's an important concept of getting into
a wreck and not being able to fix your car and not being able to bring things back out to help
yourself in that format. So I don't really know, we won't know how it's all going to go
till it's went and we'll see. We'll see what drama, consistency, all those different things
have played out. One interesting thing I thought is the first year of the point system with stage
points, the first year, not every team was really focused on stage points,
but they turned out to be really important. So after that, next season, they were like,
wait, we need to win some stages. Yeah, so they'll figure out some things this year that are going
to matter. I was reading, Dell and I were talking about this on a trip last week and the point
system and everything. We were talking about drivers who either have experienced the system
or haven't and I read a thing from Kyle Larson, he's never raced in anything but the cutoffs
and everything. And so as a driver from his perspective, he has no clue. And I bet there's,
honestly, I bet when you look at the field of drivers since 2011, I think is when it changed,
that there's probably, I'd guess if it wasn't 80% of them out there that haven't raced under the
old point system, if you think about it. It's the only one they've done. Yeah, it's all they've
known. So it's going to be a super interesting year, super great year. Lots of cool things
happening. I mean, you guys have a lot of great things happening. Anything else for any of the
other tracks that we can expect? Well, you know, following up on the driver thing,
80% of the drivers haven't raced in anything besides... I bet they haven't. I haven't looked
at the stat, but... So I bet it might be similar with our fans. We have new fans coming in all
the time and they haven't seen the old style of points racing before. So this is a kind of a
back to the future moment for the sport. So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. I know
every crew chief and engineer and all the smart people on every team are focusing on how do we
win that championship? How do we win those races? And that's the thing that I'm excited about
for all the fans out there as we watch this season unfold. There's something
a little bit different. There's a challenge. A lot of those crew chiefs haven't raced under
the system either. So for them, it's a new thing. I know there's a lot of math involved,
but it's safe to say that if you win a lot of races, your chances are good at winning the
championship. I want to see the spreadsheet that NASCAR ran to come up with, you know, how the
points ended up. I read that they just modeled out anything and everything. I told one of the
guys in PR upstairs, he's kind of that historian, mathematician person that always brings up the
stats that we can pay attention to. I said, you know, who, if we ran the last, since 2011, ran
the scenarios, who would have ended up the champions? And I think they said Conor would
have ended up the champion last year in Xfinity, which we, you know, to be expected,
this organization won 17 times, he won 10 times. You would think that you would come out with the
championship in a case like that. But I think my dad, if I'm not mistaken, there was a year where
he ran, he won a lot of races and came up short. So yeah. So it's going to be fun.
Didn't Jimmy Johnson win under three different point systems, I think?
It's possible.
He changed a few times.
Yeah, I have to. I'm sure he did, yeah, because he was in the 2000s and then that changed in 2011
and so on and so forth. So I'm sure he did. We've talked a lot about working alongside NASCAR,
the TV partners, your sponsors like Bank of America that are important to your organization.
We started this trend of working together many years ago in terms of the teams, the sanctioning
body, the tracks and having the mentality that we can all lift our sport together.
Have you seen that working? What do you expect in the future?
Now more than ever, since we had the lawsuit and all the ugliness that came out during that,
now more than ever, it feels that NASCAR is reacting to fans, to different things that
maybe they could have reacted to before. How do you see that moving for you guys as a track owner
and moving forward?
I think it's really great that we get to start this season without a lawsuit,
without the tension of conflict between teams and tracks and NASCAR. Last year,
last few years, there's been a lot of conflict and we would talk about working together,
but there wasn't enough of that. I am totally confident that if NASCAR and teams and promoters
and our media partners and OEM support, you've got this huge ecosystem that by working together,
we can do really great things. We can create these amazing competitions. We're really blessed
to be able to do something that we like, that's really fun and we get to work with people that
we like. None of this is essential in life, but we get to do something that's really fun
and millions and millions of people like to watch it and like to engage in it.
Going into this season, I hope that all of us in the NASCAR and racing ecosystem
really consider ourselves as underdogs, to have the underdog mentality because that's
really when we're at our best and to be able to work hard, to go the extra mile for our fans,
for each other and not have that conflicting mindset that has really existed for the last
few years. That's just a huge opportunity for us and it'll be more fun too.
That's a super cool perspective of the underdog. I think that just made me think that probably
being in the Xfinity series for us and having the success that we've had over 20 years
and wins and so on, we kind of do that every year because we have new drivers. We have got
Rajah this year and you want to see him succeed and perform. Like you said, you throw everything you
have at it, you dig deeper, you think harder and all of those things. That's a super cool
perspective. Marcus, it's going to be a great year. We're getting started here in the next
week or so with Daytona and we'll go from there, hit Atlanta and hit a few more of your great
tracks and looking forward to the year. Thank you. It's great talking with you too. Thank you.
Get the most out of your vehicle with GM genuine parts and AC Delco original equipment. The only
parts design, engineered, tested and backed by General Motors. Whether or not you drive a GM
vehicle, you can find your perfect fit for most makes and models and shoes from three tiers of
parts, including GMO or gold and silver aftermarket parts. Visit GMparts.com for more information.
Working outside in the springtime means you're dealing with chilly mornings, hot afternoons and
everything in between, not to mention the mud, rain and whatever else the weather decides to throw at
you. You need workwear that can keep up with changing conditions and true work has you covered.
The T2 work pant keeps you comfortable over a wide range of conditions. These pants have four
way stretch for bending, kneeling and climbing. A water resistant finish to shed rain and nine
intelligent pockets to keep tools just where you need them. When I'm outside working, the T2 work
pant has been perfect. Water resistant material, the stretching, it's just super comfortable and
does not feel heavy. It just feels good and comfortable. I mean, it's probably the best
pants that I've ever had. The work doesn't stop just because the weather changes. Upgrade to the
T2 work pant and stay comfortable no matter what the day brings. Get 15% off your first order at
truework.com with code Dale Jr. That's T-R-U-E-W-E-R-K.com code Dale Jr. True work built like it matters
because it does. Alright, thanks again to Marcus for taking time out of his busy day to come in
and talk about a lot of the changes that Speedway Motorsports has made for the year and why they're
making those. Now it's time for Ask Kelly. Never thought I would be in this position.
Hey everybody, it's Kelly on Hart Miller and we're live on YouTube. If you were expecting Dale,
sorry he had a last minute change in his plans and couldn't make it, but we still wanted to go
live with you today. So it's Ask Kelly presented by Xfinity. Xfinity is waving the red flag on
your internet price hikes and raising the green flag for savings. Now you can get Speed and reliable
Wi-Fi you need locked in at one price for five years. No surprises, no late yellows, just a
straight shot to victory lane. And just like that folks, we've got a winner. Xfinity, imagine that.
Travis is still here with us today. Thank you Travis for being here. I'm enjoying today with
you Kelly. I think it's a nice little change of pace. Hey everybody needs a little change of pace
these days, right? Yeah. Not that this snow weather hasn't been enough for us, right?
What was your snow weekend like? Do you have a fun weekend or relaxing? You know what,
I was home by myself. My boys were off doing a seat fitting and so I played in the snow a little
bit with my dog Zeus, but he wasn't having much of it and so I just watched and had a glass of wine
and watched. I watched like three series on Netflix and got all kinds of TV in which is
something I never, ever do, ever. I was gonna say especially with the season right around the corner
you to get some relaxation. Yeah, it was fun. Yeah, I didn't go out in the snow once and I'm
perfectly fine with that. I went and stayed inside all Saturday and Sunday. I didn't have to cook,
I could just eat what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted. I'm like a snacker so if the boys
are gone I just like snack on stuff. What's the go-to snack? Tillamon, snack cheese and green
grapes. Oh, so Del and I have that in common, green grapes. That's where he gets it from.
He's like a grape snacker. Well we got it from somewhere. I'm more of a kettle chip.
I did have some ranch dip because last weekend when I went to the store for the ice storm
I was craving, I wanted to have like ranch, I have to have ranch sour cream with the dip
that she makes up, right? That's like the only kind of dipping veggie dip kind of stuff so I
had that last weekend but I ate it all. Yes, I ate an entire, was that, I think it was 16 ounces
of sour cream and ranch dip. Yes, I did and one week, I know that's bad. So I wanted it again
but can you believe when I went to the store on Friday that there was zero sour cream? Everybody
talks about milk and bread, it was sour cream. There was no sour cream whatsoever. People buy
the weirdest things like when like the storms come and like. So I had to get a different
style of ranch in a container dip which it was okay but it wasn't as good and creamy as I like it so.
So you mentioned seat fitting so a lot, this is a question that we get
a lot is about why it's racing so what's he up to lately like how's things going with him?
So they just went to Texas to seat fit because Wyatt is going to be racing
Sprint car 360s this year which is making mom nervous but we'll get through it just
like we have everything else. So we've got a full slate probably over 50, 60 events. We're
championship last year, that's a really fun series to run in the trucks, off-road trucks.
We're going to venture out in the junior late model this year so we've ran limited late models,
he's had some good success in that and so we're going to be bumping up the late model
asphalt racing. So we've got a lot on the plate, we'll still do some micros here and there,
we'll still do the outlaw carts here and there but it's going to be a fun year,
a new year of learning for Wyatt. What is that like being putting the mom hat on and watching
and like doing that? The Sprint car stuff is interesting and somewhat scary.
You know the trucks are built like army tanks and they do lose a lot of their sheet metal and
he's been upside down and because you can bike and get over but they're built so strong that I
don't have any issue there. Don't really have any issue in the late models, it's what I grew up on
but I'll tell you though the wind and the Sprint cars and the non-wing stuff is
stressful and a lot of the tracks that they talk about going to are some bigger tracks and they're
going really fast and so it makes me nervous but at the same time this is what we know,
we're a racing family, this is what we do, you can't talk them out of it. He's got it from both
sides from his dad and I and so we roll with it. That's one thing you don't see in other sports is
he could be racing up against a 55 year old. At times you're racing against grown men,
grown women, it's all encompassing. Yeah, we were just watching Volusia last night speaking
of that and the 360 Sprint cars were there and in the top 20 starters there were probably be about
10 or 12 high limit or world of outlaw racers. You had your Brian Browns, you had your Brady
Bacon's, you had a lot of top names and Wyatt will be racing against some of those folks in
just a few short weeks at Central Arizona and when you think about it like that it is mind
boggling. You've got just feature winner after feature winner going up against my 14 year old
son will be racing up against so it is pretty crazy. Brian wants to know does Wyatt ask about
your racing career? Do you guys have you guys ever talked about that? Well yes we do and Wyatt
just needed to be there to experience my career because Wyatt judges my career based off of
stats and because I didn't have a win anytime it's brought up he says well mom you never won,
you never won. So he doesn't have much to say about my racing career and it aggravates me at
times but you know we just move on. Then you realize he's a teenage boy? Yeah and then I'm like you
just don't know, you just don't know. Do you ever watch him race and do you ever like see yourself
in him with things that he does or Dale or your father? Yeah you know I know it feels and sounds
kind of cliche but I do see just the tenacity that he has when he gets in the race car and
the determination he has reminds me a lot about of my dad. He you know he just has it and I don't
know if it's from which side of the family it is or whatever and you can sit here and say oh well
that reminds me of you know dad or that reminds me of this or that but you know he's definitely
got something that's innate and yeah just very cool. At the same time he's just a kid when it
comes to it in fact this weekend the car owner sent me a picture and he was in a box and he jumps
out of the box and he's like hey is this one-way performance and meanwhile they're over fitting
his seat so he's in a kid with the box give him a box they can do have all kinds of fun and having
fun and you know driving a heavy old sprint car at the same time pretty crazy. Yeah so
upcoming this weekend Daytona 500 what's your emotions with junior motorsports trying to
qualify in the 500 again this year? Hold on just a second this is live I know I'm in the middle
of being a mom at the moment so one second my kid's got them school issues. Oh Dale's always on
his phone anyway so that I think the fans are used to a little sidetrack every once in a while
you know mom doesn't turn off. Well I'm seeing like I got 13 texts and it's Wyatt and his teacher
trying to get into the the teams I set up for him so yeah so anyway all right so go ahead.
Daytona 500 second year junior motorsports gonna try to make it what's the are you able to
be calmer you like anxious person? No I'm not an anxious person whatsoever I am super calm
you know I feel like especially when you're going to do something for the second time I feel
more prepared more ready I know what to expect you know I know how hard it was last year against
the other competitors to make that race and all and so you know now I have a little bit of
understanding about what we're gonna go through and what could happen or might not happen I still
have high expectations obviously to do well and to make the race but yeah I'm pretty I'm kind of
it is what it is kind of person I don't get too hyped up on I have a little saying on my social
that says don't worry about what you can't control. It's a good way to live I don't know how like
you and other owners sit on the pit box because I would I'd be a nervous wreck and I'd probably
making you know the crew chief and stuff even more nervous I'd have they probably like please get
off the pit box. No I'm good like that you know and I don't think Dale's super anxious or nervous
like that but he has a lot more commentary that he wants to tell them just because he's raised and
you know he thinks you know he can think about that aspect of it a lot more than I can and so he's
in their ear so maybe they want him to get off the pit box for that reason but yeah yeah I don't
think any of us are too like crazy nervous or anything like that. It probably also helps that
you know you also have you know junior motorsports is raised on Saturday so like there's so much
going on there's not really a whole lot of time to actually like think about it. There's not a lot
of downtime right yeah true to to sit around and go okay what's gonna happen so. Are you excited to
get the new cup uh new uh of Riley season started for you guys? That's gonna take some getting used
to but I am you know it's been fun seeing the graphics and all the different things for the
cars coming along and you know we did a driver's photo shoot and everything last week and having
them all in here having Rajah part of our team's been super fun and cool to get to know him better
and yeah I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be you know obviously different with the championship
and everything the way it's gonna play out and we're gonna have to look at each race a little
differently and look at the year a little differently and um so um but I'm excited we've
got uh you know a lot of a lot of changes that we've made in terms of crew chief pairings and
drivers and all of that but the core and the foundation of the business is is still the same
and I feel like um 17 wins obviously is a lot to to try to um to shoot for but you know I think
you'll see us in the victory circle quite often. And that's a good you know you want to have that
bar like you always want to be challenging you don't want to you know settle. Yeah you gotta
have the bar set high. So you mentioned the change and that's you know the playoff format now the
chase obviously we saw how the season ended last year three cars and not getting the win.
Are you excited to for the chase to come back? I am you know I'm excited that the one race
opportunity is out um you know the um yeah the the championship points series should be good.
Um I think we'll miss aspects of the playoffs you know in terms of the cutoff races and things
like that but you know overall I think we'll be crowning champions that have put in you know
consistent hard work winning etc all year long and I think that's what should be rewarded at the
end of the day. Yeah that's one thing that I kind of wanted was the the cutoff races because you
get that like game seven moment. Yeah yeah. You know I think rewarding the drivers for winning
I think will be a good thing and so I'm excited to. Yeah I think I think you know if we um
if it could have looked a little different I would have liked to kept some of that kind of
cutoff race aspect but that last um series of races be you know three races or something that
kind of lined up the best four and then kind of worked it out from there you know but again
everybody's gonna talk well such and such isn't good on this type of track and you're not good
this is the kind of tracks that were in that series and da da da da there's just always gonna
be something. Always gonna be somebody that's critical something right. That's right that's
right. All right well I think uh that's it for today we're gonna keep it a little short here.
All right everybody was expecting Dale they they left us they didn't uh come on for my segment.
No I think a lot of people here we had one one fan said me more Kelly and Dale love the sibling
back and forth I think people were happy to see you jump on. I'm just kidding it's it's fun.
All right well we're gonna close it up and ask our fans listen up Xfinity is waving the red flag
on internet price hikes and raising the green flag for savings now you can get the speed and
reliable Wi-Fi that you need locked into one price for five years no surprises no late yellows just
a straight shot to victory lane and just like that folks we've got a winner Xfinity imagine that.
All right everybody thanks again for tuning in this has been really fun filling in for Dale
in the RB studio uh don't worry he's gonna be back tomorrow for this guest segment and also
Dale and Amy will be together for Bless Your Heart which comes out on Thursday this week.
Meanwhile have a great week. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Instagram Facebook X and TikTok.
Why have we asked our contractor we found on angie.com to be our kids legal guardian because he
took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids.
We only met a month ago. Angie go when you trust to find them when she trust find
pros for all your home projects at angie.com. Breathe in feel the sense of calm that comes
from having up to three hundred dollars in overdraft protection with go-to bank now did you
say three hundred dollars yes now back to our breathing so if I overspend my balance go-to
bank has my back up to three hundred dollars yes can we breathe out now bless worries more
than with over three hundred dollars in overdraft protection tap to open an account today eligible
direct deposits and opt-in required for overdraft protection fees terms and conditions apply
Request an explanation for:
1 cars
1 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars