SPEAKER_03 0:00

Take off on the restart, and it was Joey Logano and I, and he had a good restart. We go through the gears, and he comes off as the leader off of turn two. And this is like our only shot to get in the playoffs. Like I'm trying to do all I can to get our team into the playoffs. And so coming to the white flag, I got a run that was pretty good, and my entry stability was really good. Nice cement. And I moved Joey into three. Ended up spinning him out. And then we come off of turn four, and I'm still trying to get the line, and Denny Hamlin's coming. When he comes, I wipe him. And um, but in my honest opinion, I was getting to the line. He was coming up, and he got loose before he came to the start-finish line off of four. So he just stayed in the gas trying to beat me to the line. I was in the gas, and what happened was when you come, you start the contact, and I'm not gonna lift for you at that point. I gotta stay in it, try and win the race. That's what I was doing when I moved to 22. I wasn't gonna lift at that point. So then you come back a year later, and in a similar situation, we knew we had a really good race car, but there was just a lot of controversy that arose from that race. Last year we came back and we dominated again, but this time the caution didn't come out.

SPEAKER_07 1:21

Welcome back to another episode of the AJ Buckley Show. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow. Thank you so much for all of you that do. It means a lot. And um, our next guest is Austin Dylan. Austin the ace Dillon. I met Austin during the filming of SEAL team. He guest starred on the show, got to drive some NASCAR. Since then, moving to South Carolina, he lives in North Carolina, we've become good buddies. Um he is just a guy's guy. He's one of the best. He is a man on a mission, um, not just in the racing uh uh world that he's been immersed in his entire life, but um he's a really a guy that walks the walk, that that goes out of his way to help others, to inspire others. Um he's a guy that um unbeknownst to him uh uh helped me get back into my faith. I'd reached out to him a couple of times when I was struggling and had questions, and he sort of helped guide me back. Um he was one of uh many great men along my way that have uh helped me find my way back, which I'm very grateful for. But um, it's a real honor to have him on the show. He's gonna be coming back because we had so much to talk about. We didn't get to talk about all the things, but he will definitely be back. And uh please give a very warm welcome to the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Austin Ace Dillon.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Welcome to the AT, but we show don't you know. Welcome to the AT.

SPEAKER_07 3:07

Dude, I'm in Austin Dillon. It is is good to see your handsome face that is quite the beard you have going right now. I don't think I've ever seen it that strong before.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

That's that's uh you know, I'm trying to save money, less haircuts. Um, usually my barber does my beard, so I'm like I used to be once a week kind of guy. I'm like two and three when I forget, or I'm you know, just busy, so I am getting one today, though.

SPEAKER_07 3:32

Um have you ever grown it out like like I did on the show, like just a big old beard?

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Nothing like yours. I mean, yours was massive. I've I've gone really uh far in the winter time, but you know, I get told by my grandfather slash boss that um when racing season comes around, it needs to be it actually was in my contract at one point. It needed to be a certain, like it had to be like tight to my face, like a guard. Um but uh I get away with a little little more length from time to time. And my grades are starting to show a little bit, so I gotta get it trimmed.

SPEAKER_07 4:08

Oh yeah, mine are mine are definitely coming through. Mine are like it's so crazy. My dad, he had the same like little white patch here. And it's uh and but when I when I grow it out, there it'll be like a like a because I'm a bit of a ginger, so um I'll have this sort of red stripe here, and then I'll have these like white sort of this little marking. But my dad had the exact same one, which was which bizarre. But now the grays are are much more prevalent. When I was when I was doing the show, my beard was so big, and if I'd come home, I'd be exhausted. And my daughter, she was like three at the time, she used to like stick Legos and hide things in my beard. And then when I go to work and we get on the Black Hawk, the camera guy would be like, Hey dude, every time we like go up, your beard's blowing in the wind, but it looks like something's in your beard. I'm like, no, no, it's in the beard. And then I'd like to reach into my beard and there'd be like little Legos, it'd be like a little my little pony because it but it was so big, I didn't know anything was in there. I was like, oh man, like so I have to go looking around, or then like because I wore a toothpick, I had a toothpick all the time a show. I would like before we'd go up in the in the black occupied, I think I would stick it in my beard and like just leave it there, but I would forget and then I'd get home. My wife would be like, what is in your beard?

SPEAKER_03 5:21

I never had the problem of losing things in my beard. Yeah. Uh from time to time I'll have like a little like knot or something that I'm like, oh that what is that? But and I'll you know have a little uh food in there every now and then, but that's about it.

SPEAKER_07 5:40

What's with the internet? Every day it's losing its mind again. Each week there's a new panic, something's coming, something's happening. Everybody's freaking out. Literally freaking out. Nobody's getting any sleep except this guy. Because I got my ghost bed and I got my zero gravity. Every time I hit that button, not a care to the world. I'm gone. Okay. I I don't care if the world ends at 3 a.m. When I wake up at 7, if it's still here, I'll deal with it then. Go to ghostbed.com forward slash buckley. Code word buckley, B-U-C-K-L-E-Y. Well, I I gotta we we spoke, I think it was like two weeks ago. You you sent me on to one of the coolest foundations I've ever been at, and um and to get to play on that golf course as as terrible as a golfer I I was. Uh, it was amazing. The Tim Tebow Foundation, holy smokes, man. I mean, that I I don't think I I've been to a uh a foundation where I I cried as much as I did.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

Yeah, no, it's uh it's special. I I it's it's a crazy story. I was I have some hunting land and I was headed up there, and I have not very good service, and I saw I was I was driving, I was riding actually, I wasn't driving, but um, and I seen on my Instagram I had a direct message when we had service there, and it was it was from Tim Tebow, and I was like, man, it's one of those like automated messages. And it was kind of like um, you know, pretty heartfelt though, and I'm like, surely not. And he was like, Man, love to have you out to um my golf charity golf tournament. Um, pick whichever one you'd like to come to. We'd love to have you out there. I want to show you pretty much what we're doing with the Tim Tebow Foundation. I'm like, oh, this is no way. So I responded, he responds back, and I'm like, hey, these are the dates that I can go to. I'll I'll show up. So I went to the one in Austin and my wife and I got to go, and it was awesome because her and I hadn't had a trip together in a little while with the kids, you know. And um, we get out there and um not really knowing what to expect other than just being a fan of Tebow from afar for a long time, what he represented, and you know, his love for God. And man, it was so cool just to be around a good group of people, and then on top of it, like when he gets to speaking, well you understand for one why he was able to motivate his team in the in the heat of the battle, right? And why you know he's a constant worker, it seems like, but then when he opens up his mouth, his passion comes out. I mean, and it's so easy, I feel like, because he is so open and honest and raw about what has been going on and and the evil that they are truly fighting with the team Tim Tebow Foundation, and it's inspiring because it's hard to talk about. Those things are hard to talk about, and but we're doing a disservice if we don't open up our mouth about what's going on in in our country, in our own backyards, to our children and um across the world. So um him talking about feeling like for the first time in his life that he is truly where he needs to be and fighting for a real battle. Like I think, I don't know, you probably heard it. When he talks about like 30 years from now, he wants to be able to look back and feel like his time, when he got when he gets to those pearly gates and talks to God, he is exhausted from all the effort he has put in and pushing the people around him to do the most for the ones that are truly just living in hell here on earth.

SPEAKER_07 9:22

Yeah, and that's and that's like being a dad, and you know, we're we're both, you know, in it right now with our kids, which is like the the greatest time of our lives. But just I mean, if I know that like my kid's got a cold or is scared or something, I'm uh like and I'm away, and my wife tells me like I'm eaten up inside. Like I just like I just whatever it is. And uh to hear some of those stories of that that one girl wrote the poem about the monsters. Oh god, oh it gets gets me choked after talking about it. And I was just like it's so horrible. And my own um uh fault was uh exactly what you said, and they brought it up at this foundation. I don't I don't want to talk about that. That's so hard to I would say I would say that because I didn't want because yeah, because it reminded me of my kids. And uh then when Tim Two brought it up, being like, No, you but we need to talk about this. We need we keep saying that, but like, can you say that that in front of this girl right now that you don't want to hear her story? And I was like, Oh I'm like, I've been that person. I've actually turned it up because it it it reminds me too much of my kids. And by my own fault, I didn't realize what I was actually doing. I was just turning it out, and and there's a there's cries out there for this help that these kids and they're just kids, they're just these little kids, and you know, and you told me to to text you after he spoke. Did he? I was like, I was I was like, my wife and I were like, Yeah, yeah, or wherever you're going, I'm going, buddy.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Right? Like, what's next? What do I do next? Yeah, it's one of those things, man. It's he's so inspiring and wants you to you want to keep it going, man, because it's truly fighting the good fight. Um, their organization has looks like so many different avenues, too, that they're doing in different ways. It's kind of a full circle where you know they're taking these kids out of these bad places and they're trying to pretty much you know rehabilitate or bringing them back to to get them excited about good people in this world, that there's people out there that that aren't evil. Um but yeah, I mean I actually had a lunch meeting yesterday with a group here in my state, North Carolina, is ranked one of the worst um for exploitation.

SPEAKER_07 11:40

We're a port city too, because South Carolina's well, like it is it is, which then made me even like lose some sleep over some stuff. I was like, what is going? It's and it's so not you know, it's like with Gary Sinis with the Veteran Foundation, and when you see the what happens with their guys that come home and what they have to go through, and then you have guys like Tim Tebow who uh just embody this selflessness, like absolutely like to take on that uh heaviness, and it's real dark, uh, evil stuff that you've got to live in, like that stick that stuff sticks on you. And to see him get up there and and it's and knowing that uh as as much money as they raise and as much help that they've done, they've they've just barely got into what is it.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah, you know, he talks about it not even winning the the battle, he feels like, you know. Yeah, it's and that that that heat map across the world, across the United States, is like okay, where do you even start? So it can be overwhelming, but you know, every good case that gets brought up makes you get get excited about it, but like there's a lot of work to be done.

SPEAKER_07 12:50

Let's talk about born of discipline. Go to born of discipline.com and get yourself some merch. The staple merch of the AJ Buckley show. It's something that I really believe in. It starts with spirit, okay? Then it's the mind, then it's the body. Spirit leads, get your mind right, body will transform. This is the ethos of born of discipline.com. Well, I appreciate you uh you you connecting us with that. And Joel, who was on uh who helps one, he's one of his heads of the foundation, he was on my uh um team, and he was he was the he was there, so and I you know I struggle figuring out if I can swing left or if I can swing right, because I play hockey left and baseball right. So my so I'm messed up. So I was like, I'm gonna try right today. And they were like, What? I'm like, let's see how it goes. So and I was like, I'll keep everybody's cocktails, I'll get everybody's fireballs, like, well, we're gonna be good. I'll I'll I'll tell some jokes, it's gonna be great. So we're having, but we get to that the prestigious hole, was it 17 on sawgrass? Yeah, which got to drop it in, and there's all people there which I'm like, this is like the worst nightmare, right? We just did a dance off with the kids, which was really fun. Um, and uh I tried to do a back spin on on grass, didn't really work that well. But um it's like we go over, and for the for whatever reason happened, and this is again uh I because they're like nobody film me to like like it's this is gonna be terrible. I hit this thing and it made that awesome sound of and Joel was like, Oh man, AJ, this is good. It was went straight up and landed on the thing. I was like, yes, and I tell him, like, I don't need to hit another ball for the rest of the trip, and I'm good.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

Dude, you put it on the green on 17. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 14:32

So it was uh it was uh it was pretty exciting. But the whole the whole weekend was great and just really met a bunch of just great human beings that you know I I think everybody everybody left that with a heavy heart, but knew that they they wanted to participate and be a part of something and and and uh and I left there too. I was like, I just wanted to tell as many people as I can and and because you know we with there's there's so many opportunities that we have in our life, just and again, it's just connecting people together. But you should know this person, this person, this, and it's and it's all these people I even said to I was chatting with uh some people with the Gary Sneezer, I'm like there's there's a partnership in you guys should merge in some sort of way.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Like they should, they're all you know oh man, how great would it be to get like retired Delta Force and SEAL being on these task forces.

SPEAKER_07 15:31

Yeah, they're just giving me use pumps.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

That purpose, you know, that would be that's a that's a great point, you know. I mean, that's what you know what I was meeting those people at lunch. They're saying they have their it started from the Tim Tebow Foundation and they got a grant, but in North Carolina there's this, it's called Invictus, and there's only like they have like two full-time employees right now, but that task force, they have a task force of 14, and they're knocking down doors and and going after these guys and and this bad people. And um, I'm trying to figure out you know what they need. I mean, they need like storage for data um because they're looking through lots of data and stuff, and um, but truthfully, they need more investigators, PIs, because like there was like an a thousand a thousand percent raise in this from like 2020, they said. I guess I don't know if they recorded it differently, but when COVID hit, it created a whole new problem because children are being brought up on phones now in front of iPads, and and the screen time changed during that that time, and that's where these predators could really you know sink in when our parents are not being parents, when they're not controlling and using you know like their time wisely, their kid is off, you know, making a friend online during that time frame, during the COVID time. And and that's what he talked about. Is like you know I was like, where can we help the most? Like, we need people to talk about it, you know, to get the word out there, use your platform to talk about it. So trying to put plans together right now on speaking and putting putting something out there on my social platforms for my community locally to create awareness.

SPEAKER_07 17:22

Well, let me know if I can obviously help in any way with that, because uh that is uh we're we're we're North and South Carolina. I remember I remember when I called you when I was like, I'm I'm moving like to your neighborhood. You know, uh it was uh those people don't know, um Austin and I met on SEAL team. He came in and guest starred on the show, and uh um we hit it off from there, and then uh we kept in contact. And uh um I moved to South Carolina, your your friendly neighbor. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

I love South Carolina.

SPEAKER_07 17:56

Oh, it's great, man. It's uh it's this is probably the best move we've we've like decision we've made in our lives was just to one get out of Hollywood, which was something we always wanted to do. Um, and two, just to be embraced by the this community down here. Like we're just the the people that we've met. The church that I've I've I've I've ended up at, this church called Seacoast, which I absolutely love. My my neighbors um have just been it's it's been like it's a for the first time, it's a place that when I fly in after being away, I'm like, oh yeah, I just love it. I just love it. Yeah, it is. It it really is, man. And I I I you know, speaking of faith and stuff, I remember having a conversation with you randomly when I was sort of on my journey back to finding God again. I'd be I'd text you at random times like, hey man, I'm just thinking about this because I knew you were you were very much into it, and I I just um just from getting to know you and stuff and just seeing how open you were about your faith. Because in Hollywood, it's kind of like oh you don't want to talk about you know talk about your faith. And I just felt like it was and I I I I've never really got a chance to to thank you. I just appreciate there was so much guidance you gave me unknowingly, and you're like, hey, just listen, you just gotta listen and lean in. And I I I really appreciate because you were one of the first guys on my journey back that I would just sort of like, hey, how did you how did you navigate these situations and stuff? So I I appreciate you you just taking these random texts from me. Like, I got a heavy heart right now.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

No, man. Like I'm I'm glad because I mean, if I had somebody, that's what it's about being a Christian, right? Like is being there for people loving and um you know, holding each other accountable. Um I and it's funny because you it seems like uh human nature is to always fall away when things are going good. Now that's the stuff that I struggle with. Like things will get going good. Um, you know, for example, I've been we we fly a lot in NASCAR flying all the time. And I like the older I've gotten, I hate flying. Like I don't love it. Like, but I found that that is my time to to read my Bible. Like, is to get in my Bible and read because I feel the safest at that point. And uh also, but it's but it's the most I've ever written, wrote, um, got to read my Bible. But it's so easy when you get distracted from time to time. Like I've had a couple of my last flights. I haven't been reading the Bible, been talking to people and chatting it up with with uh my grandfather or or just a friend just getting on to business things. But when you're so involved in a profession, it's it's easy to get distracted. Um, you know, the the grounding is you know, stuff like the Tebow Foundation. What are what are our purpose here?

SPEAKER_05 20:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

And it always seems like the closer I am to the Bible, the knowledge that I gain from it, and being around my brothers in Christ, that I'm in a better place. I'm in a better place with my wife, my kids, and my focus and my wants are lower and my focus is clearer.

SPEAKER_07 21:04

Yeah, yeah, I feel the same way with uh with church on Sunday. I it's my reset. I go in and I just have like, you know, and I I've yet to to finish the whole Bible. I got the Bible app.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

I'm not done with it either, brother.

SPEAKER_07 21:18

That's so it's like people like and it and for my dyslexia, it pops all over the place. I'm like, where is this? How is this tracking? And then you have to go here or there. But it's been fun in the in this this uh men's group that I'm a part of. I went on a hike with my church, which was completely life-changing for me. Four days up in North Carolina, and we did like 34 miles, and uh, we just, you know, no phones, nothing, just the scripture and the woods. And it literally, I never cried so much in my life. Just I just like I had to just let things go and things I didn't know I was holding on to. And I just found this really solid group of guys that, you know, are all door kickers and and and studs in their own way, but they all we all link up. And and meet and just sort of the support groups. I would call them our 3 AM buddies. Just guys that um uh and I it was on that journey, I was like, because we would we'd have these scriptures that we'd go out off in the woods and have to do it, and then I would this guy Hein, who's a a former team guy, I was like, Hey man, uh where is this happening in the Bible right now? Like, where's this like and he would try to tell me, I'm like, I'm so confused. Oh my god, like slow down. But it's like there's there's so many stories, and it was on that trip too. I was like, this book was written how many thousands of years ago? And there's just gem upon gem upon gem. And it's like for for even those like non-believers out there, like I always can encourage because it was it wasn't for me so much that I was a non-believer, uh I just had lost my weight with my dad dying and a bunch of other reasons. But when I came back and the wisdom that I the things I was searching for was right there.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Oh, yeah. I mean, the knowledge that that book gives you and wisdom, and I pray for it every of when I pray, I put it in my prayers now, but like it's right there. That's what I try and tell my friends that are struggling or something, and going through it. I'm like, look, man, I when I am struggling the most, like, I look to this. Like it's just a it's a northern light, it's it's everything that can get you back on the right path and and make you it's an understanding, right? Because it is so hard. It strains me to be as perfect as I am, as is. So it's it's one of those things that man, like if you're if you're missing something and you can't figure it out and you can't put your brain, you just racking your brain on something, like it just open it up, open it up, and it it usually speaks to you. Um but uh you said your 3 a.m. group. Our group's the crusaders. That's what our group is. Yeah, so we got a little crusaders chat that gets going and it's fun. It's good to have.

SPEAKER_07 23:56

What I realized too on that is that as a man and you know how much I I I hold inside or or you know, and I and that I worry about that I don't wasn't talking to anybody about, and it was just all sort of the the anxieties of and the worries that you have. But all these other guys were going through the same thing, they're just winging it as well, they're just figuring it out. And I was like, Oh, you're you're your guys are struggling, even from the outside, it looks like your life is perfect. You're struggling too. And they're like, Yeah, yeah. And I was like, man, when I found out that like other dudes were really going through tough times, and and no problem is just a little like everybody has their issues, whatever way you look at it, and it's how where I where I felt what was being affected by not talking about it, it was affecting me being a dad, affecting how I communicate to my wife. Was it just affecting things that I actually thought by not talking about it was helping? Because I'm like, they don't need to know, like I I don't want to burden with that. But then it my my stress level was higher. This and I didn't realize that I was by not discussing it or not getting it off my chest or or finding a path or you know, talking to God, that it was making me just bitter and angry and more stressed. It's making it worse.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Yeah, and I talk about all the time is uh I don't know. I mean, marriage is probably one of the hardest things that you can do. I feel like 100%. And I don't know how people do it without God involved, like because it I just I don't like it, it would be super hard. It's one of the hardest things that you can do as a human because you just that book kind of makes you at least have a mediator, right? That you can come back to. And um but yeah, I tell anybody that that's getting married, I'm like, man, start start in the Bible, start with with what God tells you because it's it's tough. It's it's tough to to do that, and um you will make it harder on yourself without that. I feel like that's it's key.

SPEAKER_07 26:05

Is it true? I was just before chat was going through some stuff. So are you did they your team calls you the pastor or the the uh no no there was something of like not written on that? Yeah, there was. I I was like, I didn't I've never heard that before. I was like, I gotta actually call you like the patcher or the like some like you're always you you've always given like a good speech or something before.

SPEAKER_03 26:27

Oh I do some speech. I do I do I I do like to give a little rah-rah read from time to time with our guys, you know.

SPEAKER_07 26:33

Before you never heard the pastor, I heard Ace, obviously, but but you know I was like the pastor, man. I uh pastor the preacher or something like that. So I was like, I was like, I can't.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

I don't I'm still on my walk, man. I can't be preaching too much, but I can tell you that it's helped me and and I know that, but I'm uh I love the debate that we have in our group chat and stuff and talking about God, talking about just learning about God. But um I mean I speak at I've prayed over our entire shop one time. That was a pretty cool experience, you know, leading into the year. Um usually, you know, everybody gets up there and speaks, but my dad, my dad is is the one that is truly the one that's been doing so much in my life on that part. Um he was on me. And it's like, you know, we once again we were religious growing up, but we were probably also as religious focused on NASCAR, you know what I mean, as a family. Like that's what we do, that's what our focus was on. Sports. Anytime, like as a younger kid, I was playing sports, focused on that. And then racing was the other big thing. So it wasn't like it was that.

SPEAKER_07 27:42

Baseball was that was the first big thing for you, right? Baseball?

SPEAKER_03 27:44

Yeah, I played in the league world series, you know. I peaked at 12 in that sport.

SPEAKER_07 27:49

Did you have your did you have your beard then too, or no?

SPEAKER_03 27:52

No, I I should have, but I was only like four. I was probably the smallest kid on the team at 12, truthfully. I was always yeah, still small.

SPEAKER_07 28:01

Did you have a mullet?

SPEAKER_03 28:02

No mullet. No free. See, my boys are just getting into baseball.

SPEAKER_07 28:06

My boys are just getting into baseball, and they're like they're like they're like the hat and the mullet and like the oakley's and like how many different colored bats and and gloves do you have right now? Oh, it's I mean, go what there's so much stuff in our garage from lacrosse jujitsu, uh it's just like what helmets were. I actually went on Amazon yesterday and bought these helmet holders, you know, the ones, the rings that you screw in, just to put all the helmets because there's so many from from their skateboarding for their dirt biking to their it's insane. I mean, uh, and then I'm like, I'm trying to teach them. I'm like, okay, so this is this bag for this stuff, this is this bag for this stuff. It's that it's like it's they're they're twins. They don't fucking there's no. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, it's like organization. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 28:48

Organization of a of a kid's is tough for sure. Like they just on to the next thing, drop it and run and go. I do think my daughter might have a little OCD. She likes she'll clean up like and has fun doing it.

SPEAKER_07 29:02

My daughter's my daughter's the same way. I was just gonna say the b the difference between uh a son and a daughter. How's that for you? Jason, you better answer. We're calling Jason, who's the owner of Pure X. You better answer.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

So Pure X is really unique because uh, you know, we're we're taking the white glove customer, uh, the actors, the elite athletes that have always had access to some of the best medications in the world, best treatment program, supplementation, coaching. Uh, we've made it available to the masses.

SPEAKER_07 29:33

All right, Jason, thank you so much. Thanks for being a sponsor of the show. Um, make sure you go to www.purrx.co. Go do it now. I promise you. By summertime, you're gonna be so shredded, you're gonna be wearing a speto, and that package yours is gonna be looking glorious.

SPEAKER_03 29:49

It's uh it's interesting, man. Like Ace and I have have this awesome bond because when Blaze was born, I would help out by taking Ace to the track, and Whitney would be here at home with Blaze. So like we created this awesome bond during that time frame, and I really haven't had that with Blaze as much because it's our whole family going, and plus she's just very independent, like doesn't need dad at all. And I get kind of like bummed about that at times, but I'm also like super excited because as as a woman, I'm like she is going to be tough, I feel like, and not gonna need anything. I mean, she doesn't seem to right now, things might change, but um, she seems very independent to where Ace is like, Dad, will you help me with this? Or like it's different.

SPEAKER_07 30:40

It's when it was explained to me too, like when I had a daughter, and and you know, I I I've I've talked to you about this. Like, I was very lucky with my my parents. My dad was my best friend, and and you know, grew up I didn't realize how amazing it was and how lucky I was to have the closeness I had with my father. And then losing him, and then talking with people, people were like, dude, you had your you got you got you lucked out, you had this amazing relationship. So that is that that is a blessing in itself. But the the having a relationship with my daughter was somebody told me one day was like your daughter is is getting mo she's molding her impression of the type of man that she's gonna fall in love with. And I was like, that oh that pressure there, I was like, everything that she sees is gonna be defined by the man that she's gonna look for or completely wreck her. And I'm like, oh you know, and it was like, and and prior to meeting my wife and being single, you know, I was I was living the single life. And then I had my daughter, I was like, oh my gosh. I was like, okay, I'm like, I'm sorry, Lord. I'm like, I am gonna be the best at it. But it's say my daughter was very independent, but there's now she's sort of at that, she's 12 now, and just we have this we could have these conversations just about stuff. Like we're super close. When she lays her head on my chest, man, nothing better. Forget about it. It's like I just like, and she's like, she'll look up like the boys were always wrestling, we're always doing tough things, and you know, but my daughter comes in and just gives me a hug, it's just like, oh man, I needed that. I'll even sometimes if I'm having a day, I'll just be like, Can you give me a hug? She'll give me a hug. I'm like, I needed that. It's a crazy, it's a crazy thing. So it's a it it is that thing. Now, when your kids, for you, when did they realize like their dad's they he races? Like, has that clicked for Blaze yet?

SPEAKER_03 32:30

Or is it Yeah, I it's kind of funny. Like, we don't make anything of it really. Like, they just go and they're I think they're more excited to see their cousins. Yeah, because that's when they see their cousins the most. They're like, do we get to go to see the track and see Oakland Captain and and Bear, which is which is cool, but I I think that from time to time it sinks in when we're at the track, like Ace watches the race some, but he's more excited. There's like a program called Motor Racing Outreach that goes to the track every weekend, and pretty much the kids of the competitors and crew chiefs and different stuff in the garage go there during the race so they can play and have fun, and then afterwards we we scoop them and leave, usually. So they're they're excited to see their friends. They they they learn about God in that time frame on Sundays, but they also get to go play and do activities. It's like a full Sunday school, pretty much during the I want to go to that one in a NASCAR Sunday school.

SPEAKER_07 33:29

I mean, that's yeah, that's it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 33:31

You grow up in that environment when you get to go to the track and and be there. And um, but I mean Ace Ace knows what's going on the two times we've been to Victory Lane, or three times, the last two times there's been milkshakes in Victory Lane. So he's ex he wants to go get milkshakes.

SPEAKER_07 33:47

Yeah, I saw a picture. It was the last one you wanted, you were holding him, and I was like, man, that's that's just that. I think I texted you, I was like, just that that in itself, that's a memory he's gonna have. Like, it's his perspective of like when he looks back at those pictures. I'm sure you did, you know, growing up uh uh coming up with with your grandfather and stuff and seeing all these pictures on the wall, like you're he's now gonna one day have his kids and be like, that was me right there with dad.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

Like that's yeah, it's pretty cool for sure. And and I I prayed about that because when you had I took Ace to Victory Lane, and every time you go, it's not like it's a given, it's gonna happen again in the sport. I mean, it is so hard to win. And um he got to go to Victory Lane pretty early on as a baby, and then when I had Blaze, I was like, the pressure's on to make sure I get my daughter to Victory Lane, and that was something I prayed about and talked to my crew chief about like, hey, I'm doing this because I want to get my daughter to Victory Lane and have my whole family in there to show them that and that hard work that you know you keep on trying, that hard work pays off. And so getting her to Victory Lane and him was like a super achievement for me, and that's why my last win is probably my favorite win of all. But um, yeah, I'd like to I want to do it more, I want to do it every weekend. But those are goals and things that you set. That was pretty sweet.

SPEAKER_07 35:05

How does the dynamic work with you and your wife? Like, because she knows you've got to obviously lock in, you're gonna get in a car and drive extreme speed and stuff. Like, how do you guys manage sort of your life and prepping for you on race day and and sort of you being able to flip that switch and and go? How how does that teamwork work?

SPEAKER_03 35:26

Yeah, I think you know, usually so depends on the environment. Like, usually we're there at the track with them on our motorhome. Um, so now with two kids in there, it's the kids have just now started not sleeping in our bed, which is great because I get better sleep.

SPEAKER_06 35:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

But you know, in the bus, it's a little tougher, the bed's a little smaller, so we put them on the pull-out, or if one of them's like, hey, I want mom to sleep with me, we'll we'll figure it out. But usually I have the the big bed in the back for Saturday nights, so I can get a night's rest. But um sometimes I go in early too, so it's usually not a problem. But I mean, my schedule's usually Monday and Tuesday. We're we're go Monday's a debrief day, Tuesday's um simulator um from three to six, and you know, she's taking ace to T-ball or some kind of practice. We we've been keeping him really busy. He's been he's been doing pickleball lessons too, which is cool. That's what I'm most excited about. And um, so those are the two days that I'm pretty much busy. Monday, Tuesday, and then Wednesday, I'll talk a little PBR with my team here for the Carolina Cowboys. And Thursday's kind of like my day to do whatever, you know. So I'll take that day and I'll either end up at my hunting land for the day, or I'll go play some pickleball, and that's how I'll blow off the steam or just enjoy the day. And then Friday the cycle starts all over again. So I do I mean Whitney trade off taking Ace to school or um you know, it whatever. Whoever's whoever got the best sleep usually gets up and takes the the kid to school.

SPEAKER_07 37:10

Yeah, that's uh that's how it works with with us too. Like, or if I'm filming or whatnot, there we'll just sort of but it's just it's so important to have that partner that just understands when you've got to lock in, and vice versa, with her job and stuff, like you can do the trade-off.

SPEAKER_03 37:24

Yeah, you can see it, right? Like when your partner's struggling and like, hey, she needs a little rest here. Like, babe, just stay in the bed. I've I've got the energy today, let me go help out.

SPEAKER_07 37:34

I I see I I've been such an early riser. Like, I usually get up around four-ish anyways. Like, I'm just that's when I wake up.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

Yep.

SPEAKER_07 37:40

So I'm up and and I start my day early and you know, get my stuff done. Um my wife loves it. She's like, if you want to do morning routine, and then because then it'll come to like 8:30, and I'm I'll go up to raise the get, I'm out. Like, I'm like, I'm done. So she'll handle the usual. So she's like, I think there's this, she's like, this is gonna work out great because you're a very early morning person. And my twin uh between the twins, Ranger's just like me. Like he is up and it's like it's sunshine and party time. Like, like wake up, we're happy, he's called he's dancing, he's ready to go. So I'm always like, hey, Ranger, quiet, because he didn't understand, even like um uh being quiet, like a whisper, it's such a loud whisper. Hey Dad. I'm like, and I'm like, he's like, no, I'm whispering.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

I'm like, that's not a whisper. Yeah, because you know that the sleeping bear is gonna wake up and then everybody's in trouble.

SPEAKER_07 38:28

Yeah, yeah. It's like we just like just come downstairs, come down. Even even uh we we took him out on their first uh hunt, we and it was um we it was there was nothing we were never gonna get anything. It was like he just they didn't understand to sit there and be quiet. And uh, but it was still just fun being out there. We we lasted for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then they're like, Dad, well, can we get uh but uh but no it to to to have your your family by your side, you know, for for you growing up uh in this industry, is there similarities in that sort of their what they're getting to see as to what how you grew up and what you were exposed to and stuff? And and and for you, when was that uh you know click for you like a racing's the family business? Like when did that on you? If you get a truck or you do off-roading, do any sort of add-ons to some sort of pavement princess that you might have? I highly recommend going to Total Off-Road. I go to the one here in Charleston and I go see Dan and TJ and the rest of the crew there. They are the best people in the world to do anything, any modifications, any build on your four-wheeler that you have. We all work really hard for our money, and what we want at the end of the day is quality service. It's a huge honor to have them, one of the sponsors of the show. I'm forever grateful for all the work that they do. Go check out Total Off-Road. They are all across the country. Anything to do with off-roading, those are your guys.

SPEAKER_03 39:55

Um, I think it was always there. I think I was just like almost spoiled to it, where you don't realize what you're doing. You know, that's just that's my routine as a kid. It was just, hey, we go to the racetrack, and every weekend it's like that, and we're gonna watch the race and we're gonna be excited or happy dependent on the results, and and uh so that routine just kind of gets built into you. And it's interesting because when you bring someone that doesn't have that routine and you bring them into it, you're like, this is normal. And they're like, no, this is not normal. And that's how my wife has had to explain things to me because that's all I've known since I was a baby, you know, growing up, going every weekend, it didn't matter. Like, schedule to me is like, tell me where I gotta be today. I wake up, I'm I might be prepared or I might not, but I'm gonna make it there. Like I never stress about schedule or like what's next. Now, my grandfather's very scheduled, he wants to talk about his schedule stuff, but I guess growing up in that, I was just on the go so much that it just became my environment, and it doesn't that doesn't stress me out or anything, and I don't get too worked up over it because I just think, all right, what's my next thing? You know, it doesn't get me fired up. But but my wife, coming from not being in that environment for a while, it was like, well, this is this isn't normal. What you think is normal isn't normal. And so I think for my kids growing up in there, it'll be a good thing from that aspect of always on the go, always doing something. Um, but also you have to realize that the world doesn't revolve around racing, it's very small in the grand scheme of things. And um, so that's one thing that she's giving me more insight on. And um, because when you're just living in a in a profession and you think that the world revolves around it, really don't. There's a whole lot of very cool things going on outside of it, even though what you do is cool and fun and and exciting, but there's other things out there.

SPEAKER_07 41:49

And your grandfather, I mean, the legend himself, I mean, it just I remember you you you tell me uh about him, and then I I'd read up on him. I mean, that guy and what the his journey and what he has done, and then getting to spend some time with him when I went up to to visit you. I mean, that guy is like when you talk about a stud, that guy is like he is I mean, just a presence that you you that you feel when he walks in the room, you're like, oh wow. Like what was that like growing up having having um that is your grandfather? I mean, that's that's that's that's a space that's a pace and and and a uh uh visionary to to to to get to see growing up.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

It is, you know. I mean, it's I'm very thankful for it and thankful for the for everything that he's instilled in me. And um he he can get to me emotionally almost more than anybody. It's crazy. Wow, you you I want to do him proud, you know what I mean? I want to I want to make him proud at every turn, but he's also like he's hard, you know. He's he's hard to impress, hard to um, he's challenging, but it's it's a good challenge, you know. And um, but I think our our whole family is that because he started with nothing, right? And he created this empire that he has. And um just the last week, you know, we went to Washington, D.C. I mean, the guy's still going every weekend. I mean, he is literally flying and doing something every week, and it could be from all sorts. It might not have anything to do with racing. Somebody has him wanting to come speak about you know, engines or just we're into all kinds of stuff when it comes to my grandfather. He is just, you never know what's going to turn. I mean, the PBR team came from an opportunity from him, and um the he has a winery, uh, just different things that pop up with him, but he's just constant, he's one of those people that will work until the lights shut off, man. Like he he wants to be doing something, and I don't think he'll ever really relax. Like, I don't vacations aren't his thing. Like, if he goes to vacations, he's got to be hunting or fishing or um Playing golf. He's not gonna sit still. I've watched a couple movies with him, and usually, you know, my love for Westerns came from watching movies with him. Uh, when I was like Christmas time, when we had a place in Montana, we'd watch John Wayne movies. So that was like my hero, and he's like a John Wayne-esque type person. I mean, he's out there, and I've just now got him to like he's worn cowboy boots his entire life walking around the racetrack in a hundred degree weather. And you know, I love cowboy boots, uh, but they're also not as comfortable as tennis shoes. I've just now got him wearing a tennis shoe. He's like, you know, these things are are pretty good. Your back might thank you today if you wear these. And um, but no, he's just inspiring. Uh last week I were in Washington, D.C. with him, and he got this very prestigious award. It's called the Horatio Alger Award. And it pretty much you have to come from humble beginnings, starting with nothing and making something out of your life. Like under the cars, you told me like at yeah, I mean, he his father passed away at five. So he he doesn't have he didn't graduate high school, like didn't go to college, and started selling peanuts and popcorn at the local short track here in Bowman Grey, and um, you know, created this empire in racing and and just never quit, never stopped working. Attitude. And uh, but it was it was cool because that there was a group of people up there, and every one of them had these crazy stories and backgrounds. There was an astronaut. Um one was uh Titus from the WWE. Um, I think he was at T Bow's Foundation.

SPEAKER_07 45:43

I hung out with him.

SPEAKER_03 45:44

What a great guy! He's a daddy.

SPEAKER_07 45:46

Yeah, that he's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 45:48

Larger than life character. Great guy guy. He got honored with it also. You know, his story's crazy. His his mother had him when he was 12. Like so he was in there, an astronaut, female astronaut who also flew F-18s, like just this like league of extraordinary gentlemen, like one of the biggest venture capitalists, uh, Bo Roth, not Bo, his dad, uh Byron Roth. Byron Roth. Like he was in there, like just this awesome elite group. And my grandfather's like, man, I just I don't know, like, I don't have the education these guys got. I'm like, that's why you're up there. Like you did it without it, man. Like, you're one of the coolest stories here. And he and you could tell he was kind of nervous about that. But like I I I love the fact that you know he proves that you know hard work, dedication, and the American dream is is alive. Yeah, but that the cool part about that whole award was they give scholarships to kids that are going through it. You know what I mean? Guys and gals, that you know, one of the stories was um both parents were affected by cancer, younger siblings, and this girl was pretty much having to feed her family and go through school, and she like got accepted to Duke with a full scholarship and like being a linguist, and it was just these kids, they're just showing how much how hard you can push the body through hard times and that can concerted effort toward a goal can still put you out the other side, and and um the scholarships were going to that. But it was just cool to be there and be a part of that and see that the American dream was still alive, and yeah, and that was a it was honor. It was pretty much an honor toward that, you know.

SPEAKER_07 47:44

I mean, for for me, I mean I I'm living the American dream. I'm an emigrant here from you know from Dublin, Ireland, you know, via Canada, and you know, I came here with no money. I lived out of my car. You know, like you know, for for a year and a half I lived in my car, and then I booked CSI New York, and that changed my life. I mean, there's no other country. And and you know that the American flag to me, and I it was only two years ago I finally got my citizenship because I was on green cards and visas. Yeah, and after I married my wife, I select my green cards. I was like, just wait and then get your citizenship. Man, the American flag what it means to me and what I always try and tell them like this there's no other country in the world that you can come here with no money and you can succeed at any level that you want to. If you have the fortitude and you have the mindset and you are a good person and you surround yourself, you have the the ability to surround yourself by other people that are of the same mindset, this this this country will push you forward and give you that opportunity. And there's no other country like that in the world. And the and and and the fact is because everybody's still trying to come here, as bad as people are like, oh, America, it's like, why is everybody still trying to get here?

SPEAKER_03 48:58

And they don't they don't leave very often, and if they leave, they come back as fast as they can.

SPEAKER_07 49:02

100%. And most people that are complaining about this country, I asked them to see their passport, and they've never been anywhere. And I'm like, I'm like, this is but with all its flaws, and there's flaws, we're all flawed. Yeah, but this is the greatest country in the world that will allow you to succeed at the every dream that you've dreamt of, you have the ability to do it. And it's the only person that's stopping yourself is yourself.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

You know, 100%. 100%. And my my favorite thing, my grandfather always opens up when he speaks, he says, only in America, only in America with a kid with a$20 taxi cab could be where I'm at today. And it was um pretty cool. When I say taxicab, he bought a used taxi cab and turned it into a race car for$20. That was his story. Yeah. He bought it for$20, turned it around, took it racing, and that's where it started. But you were talking about an immigrant. One of the guys that um got the award was from Bangladesh.

SPEAKER_06 50:00

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 50:01

Like a very poor part of Bangladesh. His name was Emram, and you can look him up. He did the IPO for Snapchat, Amazon, I think, and some other things. Like, is crazy, but like he was talking about like he said this quote was kind of funny in his speech. He said, uh, yeah, you know, I found it. He moved to New York, came from through, I think it was New York is where he was working at the time. And um working on Wall Street, and he was like, I didn't have a girlfriend or anything at the time, which kind of made it easy, he said, because I worked on my weekends. And he was given, like he could tell math was his thing because he was given the percentages of how much he was outworking the rest of the country by working on the weekends, and he learned a lot through that time, but he ended up getting laid off because he was there in Wall Street during the time when it all crashed. And then he learned he was one of the early investors in Amazon and some of these tech places. But then I like started looking him up and he did the IPO for Snapchat, and I'm like, oh gosh.

SPEAKER_07 51:08

Wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

Crazy.

SPEAKER_07 51:10

Yeah, and and and again, there's there's because of the way that this this this country is was built, was founded, and the and you it's it's built on the backs of people that have come here with a dream, with the hopes of something better, and it's they're sort of instilled in that. And it really bums me out when people lose sight of that and and and and and focus, like it's so easy to focus on uh the things that are wrong. I said, but when you when you look at the things that are right, they far outweigh, they far outweigh the things that are wrong. And it doesn't justify the things that that are wrong, but through example and through hard work and through leadership, I think it there's there's the ability to keep that that ship going straight. Uh I really and a guy like me that that statistically should not, I didn't go to college, I barely graduated. You know, I still struggle with my dyslexia. I've never read physically a book. I have to hear everything. So you know what?

SPEAKER_03 52:03

The other guy was a guy named Don Witcher, and he's from High Point, right up here, dyslexic. Okay. Went to his he went through school not being able to read in third, fourth grade, all the way through, and graduated high school.

unknown 52:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 52:18

His mother, like he said, his mother had to take a job just to get him to graduate through high school at the school. Got through school, went to High Point University, and he had a professor there that said, I want you to scribe books and so to learn how to read. So he scribed 50 buck books to learn how to read, right? And he said he was helping other kids with learning disabilities. And one kid came in there and he's like, Yeah, I can't read, I have dyslexia. He's like, I think I have that. He went and got tested, and it was like, Yeah, you have dyslexia. And he didn't know it the whole time, but that's how he learned how to read was scribing books. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_07 52:58

I didn't know for years and years and years, probably even till after they back then they didn't really understand it. And I was also just super hyperactive. But when I learned something, I had to get up and walk and move around. So they thought I was being a disturbance in the class, so I always sent out, but I was like, I got I got into it. I was like, oh, I'm into this. I couldn't help but be like, okay, yeah, I want to. So but it wasn't until I I like started if I with acting, I I would hear somebody say the lines, like if I they read it out loud to me, once or twice, I'm locked in. If somebody reads a monologue to me, I got it. It just it has it's just a different approach that but once I hear all the other characters sort of saying it live in front of me, I'm like, okay, now I understand what I have to do. But it's it was a a struggle in a sense, and I and you know the kids that I talk to that have dyslexia, and I try and help out as much as I can with kids with dyslexia because it can be very scary, and you know, when when you have to get up in front of the class and read. That was like people say they have dreams about uh you know being in a classroom naked in front of people. Mine's always just having to open a book and read. Because I I couldn't do it. The words would jump around. But you know, I I always say is like uh it's a superpower in its own way, right? You have to find the strength in it. And uh if uh looking at it as a as a disability or something that's holding you back is the wrong mindset. I think approaching it as it's uh a way to work harder and be better than anybody else as something that you couldn't do. And putting that work and that repetition in and finding the way that works for you, for me, just hearing it and moving. Like when I'm reading something, I have to be, I gotta be, it's in my ears and I'm I'm gone for a walk. And then it sinks in. If I'm locked in and sit down, I'll fall asleep. Like I can't. It's like if you want to put me to sleep, try and I'll I'll like read five lines from C Jack Run. C Jack run. The dog jumped over the log, and I'm like, I'm out. It's it's if I want to read my kids their their their stories at night, I'm like my wife will come in and be like, babe, babe, yeah, yours, yours. I'm like, oh, and the kids are still up, and I'm like, oh, sorry, I was reading. And I'll be like the the the kink in the neck and everything like that. Um for you though, like we in the with your family and your grandfather and just the legacy of that. I mean, uh going into NASCAR with these shoes to sort of fill, what was that mindset that you had that going in? Because you knew right out of the gates, people are gonna go this is just Austin Dillon, he's just being handed this. So um what was your the drive in that and mindset in that and that space to sort of you know prove to yourself and prove to other people that you this is not just like a hobby of yours?

SPEAKER_03 55:38

Yeah, I mean I think the proof is in the work and the ability to understand that um well, first of all, I had a great support system, right? My grandfather, my dad, my mom, my friends, my family, now my wife. But at the time, when you're coming up at 16, 15, I also, you know, you're learning from good mentors and and the right people. So I I dirt raced for a long time.

SPEAKER_07 56:04

So I was that with the trucks.

SPEAKER_03 56:06

No, though this was just on dirt. It's called a late mile. It looks like the Batmobile with wings, it's crazy looking. Um, but those dirt racing years were really big because I was just out living and understanding how other people raced, you know, and understood that the time and effort that went in, it wasn't just given. Like these people were putting every dollar into the ability to go race on a weekend. So learning that at an early age just gave me a massive respect for everyone that raced or made it racing, or even didn't make it racing, but they just took their hard unearned dollar and put it into this sport or hobby for them because they loved it. Um so I understood that my heart was in the right place. And if other people didn't take the time to know where my heart was, then they're just labeling me as a rich kid or silverspoon or whatever you want to call it. Um so as time went on, though, like it that never really bothered me. I was fortunate enough to win a lot in the truck series, in the Xfinity series with the number three. Um going to the cup level, you know, I felt pretty confident at what I had accomplished, so I was ready. Um, but it took years of getting beat down, and and still, I mean, it's the hardest thing I've ever done is racing in the cups cup series because there's one winner every week and there's 39 other losers most times. So it's it's very hard to win at the cup level. Um and it and it goes like this all the time, and you're trying to level it out. But uh, you know, when you have detractors, man, you just learn how to handle them and then dive into people that are your supporters. You know, you dive into the supporters, the ones that prop you up, the ones that make you feel good, and then um just never you know, never let that slow down your vision or your goal and go to go to use that as motivation into what you're trying to accomplish. And I think that's motivation is the biggest thing for me to continue to be a worker. Um, that's it.

SPEAKER_07 58:10

Yeah, my my dad always says like if losing doesn't eat you up inside, you're doing the wrong thing. He's like, it should, it should, it should he say you it should burn inside you for the for the mere sake of you need to get better because somebody just worked harder in you, somebody put more time in, somebody put more effort into those things. If you didn't show up and play the best, that's you've got to figure it out, but that should irritate you, like it should make your blood boil in any sense of whether it was a sport and life. If that inside you that you because you know in your he was like, you know, in your head, son, that uh you didn't put in the work, you didn't slept in one day, whatever, and those should haunt you. And you need to correct that. Win or learn. Those are that was like something that he was like so like that got him through uh you know raising us. And and but it was it was such a strong mindset. He was, you know, I've said this before, it's what I I I started Born of Discipline. I was like, you could have the pain from regret or pain from discipline, and those are that's your choice. And um, it's something that I you know even more so now with my kids, is something that I will I I really like you know, uh allowing them go through the loss and trying to understand it without being like too hard on, but but also then being like, okay, now you've you know you know what that feeling is. What how are we gonna approach the next one? Do you wanna you wanna you put the practice in? You're gonna, you know, come home after school and do the things that you should be doing. And then once they I want them to decide it on their on their own.

SPEAKER_06 59:31

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_07 59:32

You know, I'm not gonna force you to do it, but you know, if you continue to lose, then it should bug you. Or why are we go why are we why are we playing? Why are we playing? Yeah. So it it's it's it's been it's been it's it's been a journey and stuff too, because you know, you never want to be too hard, but I also I don't want to ever, you know, raise my kids in the world where you know, I've said this a hundred times where everybody gets a trophy. I hate that. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 59:58

No, I mean that's my favorite part about the this T ball season that we've started is you get out. And first year it was like everybody got to hit, go out. This year it's T-ball and coach pitch, so it's one year up. But when the kid, if I'm coaching first base and the kid gets out and he gets the first base and he's smiling, I'm like, good job, but you're out. And they're like, What? I'm like, you're out, like they got you out, you're gonna have to go back in the dugout. Yeah, and they're like, they get bummed, and I'm like, that's good. That's what you should feel. Like you you wanna you, but I mean, at in the other same sentence, like, you know, what you said, you want to let them figure it out. You don't want to, I don't want to push ace at five. Like, I didn't even play sports till I was eight, so we're way ahead right now, and I want to keep it fun so it doesn't drive them away because you can get burnt out so quickly if you're not careful about it. But um last night after the game, like it it's crazy. If you get three outs and T-ball, like you feel like you won the game, man. Like to get an eating because they don't they once you score five runs, you you uh come in and bat, right? Or another team comes out, you switch. So if you hold a team to not score five runs, like you have done something major. And so yesterday, that was the first, that was our first regular season game. We had a tournament game and we played the same team that we played this time. And we improved drastically. It was awesome. We actually got three outs, so they didn't get the the max run rule of five. But we came up just a little short on score, and Ace was like, Did we win? I'm like, no, man, we didn't win, but we did better, we got better. And he was like, Oh, I'm like, hey, we can improve, and now if you want to keep working on it, we can beat that team. We just got to keep working. And uh so it was cool uh to be a part of that. And my mom was there, and she was yelling at me at one point because I'm coaching in the field, and Ace is over there on third base. She was like, tell him to put his hat on backwards. I said, Walk over there and tell them I got five kids over here that I'm worried about that are that are playing in the dirt and picking clovers.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:07

Yeah, so revolution of butterflies. It's it's getting like when when they my boys played soccer for the first time, it was like this all in one, they hurt like this like chase the ball, you know, and then was that to see over thing. I I coached my boys' uh uh um uh flag football team. We're and we and this is pretty impressive. We are five time champions. Five time.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:27

Let's go.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:27

Yeah, we we've only lost twice, man. And and I was the mascot at my school, so just you know, we're there. But I literally will go in with uh coach Sam and I'll find all these plays online stuff, and be like, let's try this, a couple different things like that. So I've got I've gotten into it. This is actually the first year that only one coach can be on the field and the other one has to be on the sideline. So we're calling plays and I'm running the sideline. It's it's it's been really fun, but it's this year's been the most competitive. We're still undefeated, but the most competitive. And Bodie and Ranger, I'll send you this video, it was really cool. So Bodie's the quarterback, and uh, he's got a little cannon on him. And Ranger and him just know where they each other are on the field. And um, I had to leave early at to catch a flight. And him and I'd be we'd been practicing this as this play at home. And uh um I told Coach Coach Sam what it was, and he was like, all right, cool. And I by like just before I took off uh at the airport, I get a video from Sam. Coach Sam's he's got the meta glasses. He's like, dude, your boys just did the play. He's like, I didn't even tell him, and he like did it, it was like this like five-yard out, and then Ranger turned stop, and then he he goes deep, and it was a missile. And and uh Coach Sam was like, That was a missile, right there, and and Ranger got up and and caught it, and I called him right away. I'm like, Dad, we did it.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:47

I was like, Yes, yeah, you're on the airplane yelling, and everybody's like, yeah, I was like, I don't understand. We just we just executed the play perfectly.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:56

Yeah, it was just and he dropped back and he was like calm in the pocket, and like, you know, and I'm I don't know, didn't know a ton about flag football, or even you know, other than being a mascot. So I was just watching YouTube videos. I'm like, hey, if I'm gonna do this, I want to like at least know what I'm doing. But then we got into it. But it's just so great to see that them, you know, that was a great moment for us because we we've been practicing this one play, and it was even cooler that I had to leave and then they they did it, did it on their own. And it was so cool, man. I got you know, I I I cry all the time over my kids while I was on the plane. I was just like, I'm so proud.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:31

That's the way it's supposed to be, man.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:32

Hey, did did did you with with your NASCAR stuff, was there a point that like you've you've had this amazing career, NASCAR, but what was it like the your your biggest low, like your your toughest, like that you really had to sort of mentally fight out of? Like with that school.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:47

Um I mean, probably about two years ago, or maybe around the time Blaze was born. I mean, like, I think effort-wise, I was putting in maximum effort of what I thought was maximum effort, you know, like going to the simulator every week, getting in there, studying, working out, like all in effort and getting no results. And that was like crushing. And then that year I had a lot of wrecks that year, too. And it wasn't like they weren't all my fault, but it would just be where I was running is where the wrecks were happening, and you got in a couple, and then some of them weren't your fault, and then all of a sudden, like you're trying to be careful because you don't want to wreck again, and then you get another one, and it was just piling up, and it was like, all right. I need to do something else because it is it is to the point of I'm doing everything I can do, I'm getting no results, I'm crashing, and it's not fun. It's not fun anymore. Like I lost the love of it too because that because the I wasn't getting results from what the effort I was putting in. And um, I feel like I let a lot of things go during that time. Like I just I I went back to you know understand what was important in life, and that was my family, um, God, and it gave me perspective, right? It gave me perspective of like, hey man, sometimes no matter how hard you work, you weren't meant to win that day, right? Or even get a result, but you start to set goals that are a little more obtainable, you start you know chipping away back at it, but just learn God's timing too, right? Like my last two wins at Richmond, those were like God's timing, and I know that that was the time that I was supposed to win, and when it happened, then it makes it so much, it means so much more when you fight out of that like valley.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:18

Was the Richmond one the one where there was a controversy the year before? Yeah, you had to come back that year, and yeah, and the fact that you actually came back from that. Can you explain just what had happened and then that journey to to the thing? Because just the the the journey that and the odds of you going back to back on that winning both times with having just to sort of that proof to you. Can we just walk through that? What happened there?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:42

Yeah, so I mean, we go to Richmond and it's a place which at one point in time was the most difficult track for me. You know, my old crew chief would have told you I sucked there. And so I had to put in a lot of work there to get better at it. But um, it turned into one of my best places um consistently, and we go into the race, and I'm leading the race, gonna win, hadn't been a great year, and got a two-second lead, and the guy spins another guy with like two laps to go. This was the first time, and so then we have to go through a restart. Um, my pick crew did a good job, got me in the right position. We take off on the restart, and it was Joey Logano and I, and he had a good restart. We go through the gears, and he comes off as the leader off of turn two, and this is like our only shot to get in the playoffs. Like, I'm trying to do all I can to get our team into the playoffs. And so coming to the white flag, I got a run that was pretty good, and my entry spill was really good. Nice in it, and I moved Joey into three, ended up spinning him out, and then we come off of turn four, and I'm still trying to get the line, and Denny Hamlin's coming. When he comes, I wipe him. And um, but in my honest opinion, I was getting to the line. He was coming up, and he got loose before he came to the start-finish line off of four. So he just stayed in the gas trying to beat me to the line. I was in the gas, and what happened was when you come, you start the contact, and and I'm not gonna lift for you at that point. I got to stay in it trying to win the race. That's what I was doing when I moved to 22. I wasn't gonna lift at that point. So um end up wrecking him, and the race ends. Well, we win the race, we go to Victory Lane, and all is good. Well, then NASCAR comes down with a penalty, like the first of its kind that knocked us back out of the playoffs. But we got we got the trophy. We had to take the trophy home, but it disqualified us from the playoff burst, which was just a big bummer. But I mean, to me, at that point, I was so happy that I did whatever it took to win the race for RCR and showing that you know I was all in, and it that's what mattered to me, right? Well, then you come back a year later and in a similar situation, we knew we had a really good race car, but there was just a lot of controversy that arose from that race, right? There was people that were pissed off, and but they forgot that I was at a two-second lead with like three laps to go, that we were gonna win the race anyways. The caution just kind of killed it. Well, then last year we came back and we dominated again, but this time the caution didn't come out. So it was like it was a full circle moment that the crowd was kind of hushed on that you know back-to-back wins at that place, but this time there was no controversy. I mean, it was just finish it.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:50

So yeah, man. That that is very fulfilling. From afar and and following what I do, and sort of since I've met you, sort of started to understand how how NASCAR is and and and I mean there's a lot there's a lot of drama in NASCAR. I didn't realize there's like drama in NASCAR.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:07

There should be a uh full-time series on it. We did our little reality show. That was fun for a little while, but we need that we need a full-on SEAL team version of NASCAR. You need to get that going, AJ.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:19

I I think there's actually there's they're doing a series of something coming, right? Yeah, there is with Jeff Bridges, I think, is is the is the lead guy. They just it just started it just started going, like literally just started going.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:31

I feel like it's probably off of a similar story of my grandfather and family. I think I read something on it that's gonna be like a family that is in racing, and it's I want to see it. I'm gonna see how it goes.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:44

Um well listen, man, I coup c a couple things and wrap this up, but I just really appreciate your time jumping on here, man. And and um uh I I always ask s sort of different questions at the end of each one, but you know, when when all is said and done uh with uh racing and and your you come from a legacy, what what is uh what do you want people to to say about Austin Dylan when when when you hang up the helmet? That not just about the racer, but as you as a man, you know, and for your kids. What what is that something the the legacy that you want to leave?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:20

Um I think the legacy I want to leave, first of all, is he loved Jesus. Um second would be um good loved his family, his wife and his kids, and then from a competitor aspect, never gave up, always in the fight, never counting out. Like those are the things. Like always just want to be known as someone that just you know that thing in Monty Python when the knight got all of his arms cut off.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:53

It was a scratch.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:56

This is just a flesh wound, you know? So like never out of fight. It's just man, you couldn't kill the guy. Like you couldn't he he was always gonna be there no matter what. You count him out too long, and and I feel like that's the same way with like RCR and that company, our company. Like, don't count us out because we're gonna keep fighting. We're you're never gonna stop.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:27

Yeah, yeah, and I I think I think you do that effortless, bro, from from getting to know you over the couple years, and and you just got a a real presence about you. I think that comes from you know being raised by the family you raised, and you lead by example. Um, I mean you you're you are who you are, man. Everything that I've seen who you are and and what you represent and and with your family and with your faith. And we need more guys like you, man. I think there's a lot of kids that that are in search for for strong, you know, uh male mentors. And I know I know you are blazing a path for young men and and young girls to to look up at somebody that can be like, that's a guy I want to be like. That and it's based in values, it's based in family, it's based on faith, and I just got a lot of love and a lot of respect for you, bud.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:11

Well, I appreciate you, uh, AJ, and I'm saying right back at you, man. I love what you're doing. I want to support uh you and your venture and anything that you do, and um got to get down to your place sometime. You gotta get back up here.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:24

Oh, I'm gonna I'm coming up to you.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:25

You need to go hunting.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:26

I'm I'm I'm coming up to your thing on the 28th.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:30

The helping heroes deal?

SPEAKER_07 1:14:31

Yeah, I'm gonna be there.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:32

Okay. Perfect. Well, I'll see you then, Buck.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:34

Yeah, I'll I'll see you there. I'm gonna bring up and send me a bunch of stuff because I want to bring all the gear up for the the cowboys and stuff, all that uh stuff. Um we didn't even get to talk about the city.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:44

Yeah, wait, we didn't even get talking, we'll do that. We'll get on the cowboys and pickleball the next time. Yeah, yeah. This is episode one.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:49

Yeah, exactly. You you you have an open open door policy here, and uh um, yeah, we uh I just appreciate you, man. I'm looking forward to seeing you on the on the 28th. And um uh thank you for for taking time out of your busy schedule. And um uh that's it, brother. That's just that's all. Thank you so much for watching another episode of the AJ Buckley Show. I had a blast with this one. It's it's always nice when you uh get to talk to an old buddy, and uh time just flies by. We didn't get to talk about everything. There was so much Carolina Cowboys pick a ball. Um, so Austin, we'll be back. Uh, don't forget to like, subscribe, share. Turns out that over 80% of our audience that watches, and there's hundreds of thousands of you, um, we've had the biggest month we've ever had of viewership. But there's a big chunk of you that come back weekly and you don't subscribe. So just get your finger, hit that subscribe, and hear the ding ding. And um, it really does, it does mean a lot. I'd always hear podcasters say, oh, like, subscribe, and I'm like, why are they always asking that? But now that I'm a podcaster, um, it does mean a lot. So please like, subscribe, share, tell a friend, tell your mom. Aid you about the show. Appreciate you. Thanks again. I'll see you next time.