Why Jimmie Johnson Bet on Josh Berry

The following is a production of Dirty Mo' Media. You're Dale Jr. Should I say it? It's Dale Jr. Podcast, I gotta say it. Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download, and we've got a great show for you today. We've got three guests coming in here. We've had a lot of shows this year where we've had multiple people in the room, and we've got another one. Seven-time champion and owner at Legacy Motor Club, Jimmy Johnson, is bringing in a couple of special guests. First off, we're going to have Riley Herbst coming to the room. They're announcing just recently that Riley is going to be driving the third car for Legacy next year. They're scaling up into a three-car team. And later in the show, there's another big announcement, and another guest that'll be joining us, and it is Josh Berry. As they announced yesterday, Josh Berry is the driver who will be replacing John Hunter Nemechek at Legacy Motor Club next year. Josh has been on a tear over the last couple of months with some great results while driving for the Wood Brothers. And, you know, Josh had a lot of success last year in the 21 car as well, and has done enough to catch the attention, the attention of Jimmy Johnson and Legacy to bring him on board. And I think it's a great opportunity for Josh. Not only does he get to keep racing in the Cup Series, because I personally believe he belongs there, and I think he's proved that out over the last couple of months at least, if not before that, but this will be a new opportunity, you know. He's going to change manufacturers. He's raced for this team before, but he's going to go racing for Toyota next year, and, you know, it's a growing company with a growing race team, and Josh can bring a lot of information and knowledge that he's gained over the last couple of years working closely with Penske and so forth. Riley's going to be bringing a lot of knowledge as well from 2311 Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing. Just a great opportunity for Legacy, I think, to bring these two guys on board, and it should elevate the entire company. So they're going to come in here and tell us all about it. Let's get started. Let's get started and bring Jimmy and Riley into the room. And don't forget this episode is presented by Arby's, and Arby's new meat in three box. You get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats. It's time for the Dale Jr. Download. All right, everybody. Here we are with Jimmy Johnson and Riley Herbst in the Dale Jr. Download studio. Awesome to have both of y'all here. Thanks, buddy. Thank you. Yeah, I don't even know where to start, man. This is exciting. Riley, we finally kind of get to understand your path forward with the announcement that you're going to go drive for Legacy. And I think it was probably one of the worst kept secrets. The silly season's kind of always that way. It's hard to keep these things under wraps, but you got to be excited to finally be able to go out there and tell people what's going on. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I feel like my whole career has kind of been the worst kept secret in auto sport from Joe Gibbs Racing to Stuart Haas to 2311 and now finally to Legacy with Jimmy Johnson and everything. But yeah, it's amazing to be with Jimmy and everybody at Legacy and Toyota and Monster for a multiple year deal. So it kind of gives me some groundwork to stand on and just go out there and enjoy what I love to do. And that's driving circles and go have a really good time in a cup car. Jimmy, I was going to say, it's wild how the business of our sport and how much time it takes to get things in order. We've known, and that's why it's the worst kept secret, where it's going to go. But the other pieces of the puzzle to put in place just take time. What are those pieces? From partnership to contracts, there's just a lot of little layers. And then fortunately with the. Adding another team. Adding another team. There's so many business, pieces that need to fall in place. We knew he was coming. We knew he was going in to the third car over at 2311. So it was very easy for the world to figure out what was going on. But it's just tough to keep a secret in the sport. I heard something that you mentioned over the past couple of days about the family connection and the relationship you've had with his family. Talk about that because I think that that was something that not a lot of people know about. Yeah, not only myself, but Cal Wells, our CEO. I think Cal. Actually knew Riley's grandfather really well. And then in the premier division of desert truck racing and actually even the stadium racing, Riley's father and his two uncles were competitors as well. So we've known each other for a long time and have always looked out for each other. His father, Troy, has been a great friend. I think Cal and your father have spent time as Riley was coming up through the ranks, kind of guiding him and just being another voice to sound things against. And then now this opportunity has come together. I've also had a chance to go race an off-road truck with his father, which was in place before any of this really happened. And then when the opportunity came together, knowing the Herbst family, getting to know Riley and understanding his focus and dedication on fulfilling his childhood dream and being back here racing, all the pieces really started to fall in place. Was that the Mickey Thompson Stadium? Yeah, the Mickey Thompson Stadium and then the Score Desert Series. The stadium stuff, I didn't even. I used to watch that all the time. It was so awesome. Oh, yeah, because it was full contact. Yeah. And there were parts and pieces falling off and trucks rolling over and going again. And I watched your family race and didn't even realize. Didn't even know it. I was doing that. It's cool stuff. It was. I don't know why it went away because it was so entertaining. It had a moment. Honestly, what really hurt it more than anything was the Craftsman Truck Series being started. Really? Oh, wow. Because those trucks are so expensive and you have Desert and Stadium and the budget to run, like, a full effort for Chevrolet, Toyota, whatever it might be. They'd take one Desert program or one kind of team program in dirt and it was the entire budget for truck racing in NASCAR. So, you raced for Legacy a few times over the last couple of years using the number 84. Yeah. Yeah, Rick wouldn't give up the 48 until 27 Daytona 500. Right. And so, was there, you know, was there conversation around any different? Was the number 84, was that the number from the get-go? I don't know. It's kind of a hot take by me, but I'm not a huge number guy. I, yeah, 35, 98, 18, 84. I kind of, I don't know. I just like driving race cars. So, Jimmy was like, what do you think about 84? And I was like, sounds good to me, boss. Whatever number you want to slap on the side of the thing. But I like the connection with Jimmy. It's kind of like Jimmy's version of the 48. It's just kind of backwards and it's, you know, it's unique. So, yeah, I mean, really, I don't really know if we had many conversations about it. No, not so much. And I end up being a big numbers guy. And the number four and eight in my dirt and off-road racing, even ASA, those numbers were always a part of my journey. And when I came to Hendrick, they showed me a list of numbers that were available that I picked the 48. And just, you know, stick with it. I wanted the 44, but it's occupied. I think it'd be great to have those three petty numbers in a row. But 84, it's where we are. How important, Riley, is it that you get to continue the relationship with Toyota? You've been with them since 2016 or so, but, you know. Yeah, I took a brief break. Like I say, I went to college with Stuart Haas Racing, but I'm back in Toyota and it was huge. That was a huge stepping stone of where I wanted to land. I think Toyota, what they invest into the top level of motorsport, or I should say all three levels of this sport is insane. And I think Jimmy's, really, really aligned with Legacy and Toyota. And I didn't want to start over again. The manufacturer switch is really huge in the top series of NASCAR. And I felt like Toyota's situated for the best path forward right now. And that was a huge component for sure. How about the star-studded lineup that Jimmy has put together in terms of the ownership group? That's not something unfamiliar at all for you, having worked with Michael at 2311. But, you know, the opportunity, I guess, to be a part of something that's going to draw a lot of attention and there's a lot of excitement around it. There's also some pressure with that as well. You got a lot of owners to make happy. None more important than Jimmy here. But, you know, talk about, I guess, the excitement around the program itself as you're watching this come together. You're literally, you know, this program and this race team is growing by leaps and bounds over the last 12 months as you've known. You're kind of, you're kind of shifting into that gear. Yeah, it's huge. I think the speed on the racetrack is the first thing that's relevant. And you can see the 42 and the 43 car some weeks have a shot to go win the race. And so that's awesome to see. It excites me to see. But when it comes to all the ownership group and the pressure, I've been kind of thrown in the pressure cooker as you've kind of experienced my whole career in this side of the country in NASCAR. So that's not very new to me. I'm excited for the opportunity to be able to do that. to hopefully perform at a high level for Jimmy and all the owners at Legacy Motor Club. But on the flip side, I'm excited to meet all of them. They sound like super cool guys. And one of them is from Las Vegas as well. So I'm excited about that. Darius, Guy Fieri, super cool guys. And hopefully, I mean, it doesn't really mean anything if we can't perform on the racetrack, but that's our goal. I think Riley is still, forgive me, you're sitting right here, but he's still a prospect, if you will. He's still in a phase of his career relatively in the Cup Series where he's growing, he's improving, he's got a ceiling that you want to continue to tap and extract speed out of. What are some of the things that you, Jimmy, can do to make him a better race car driver? What are some of the things that you're excited about when you finally get him in the building to sort of say, hey, all right, you've got all these tools, these things. You've gathered from your experiences with other race teams and going through the Riley Series. Here's some other things that we can help give you, attach to you to make you a better race car driver and go faster. Yeah, there's a lot there to dig in on. And I'm excited. I've already started blowing him up this weekend as he was heading to Darlington. But, you know, a couple aspects to it. One, the third car in what Riley's, where Riley's coming in for us is within the company. We want a development car. You know, a young, talented driver that's coming along. We want two-season veterans. You know, it's really the plan that we have in place. And Riley fits that role. We're obviously a growing company. So how we support him and as we evolve as a company is really important. I feel like we have more of a responsibility to make sure he has the experience around him to help while our cars are on this journey. It's one thing if you're at JGR and you have this deep history and playbook to work off of, but we have to be realistic about our journey and where we are. And within that, I find that the advantage or what I stumbled into as a competitor and the success that I had, I had the mental game much more under control than I realized, or at least relative to the competitors I was racing against. And, you know, Gordon did such a nice job of bringing me in and helping me realize that it's not just the job behind the wheel. You know, they're the other aspects of the job. And then you have a responsibility to really, you know, take care of yourself so that when you show up at work, you're fully focused and dedicated to it. So there's a lot in that. You know, I think the mental game, keeping the big picture in mind, setting achievable objectives and goals each week, each quarter, each year, you know, when you can plot that stuff out, it really helps you, in my opinion, make better decisions in the car. The, um, from an outsider, uh, looking in the growth of, uh, the race team is really ambitious. Uh, just yesterday I was, uh, driving home, uh, from South Carolina and, and rolled up beside one of your hospitality trailers going down the road. And, uh, I pulled into, I believe it was Kansas this year and, and just right in, right outside the tunnels, this gigantic, you know, fully built out hospitality looking over the third and fourth turn of the racetrack. And I liken it to what you see a Red Bull or somebody else may be doing. Some of the F1 events, uh, it's really robust. You, you've, um, I feel like that's got your fingerprints on it. I feel like that this re you know, there's just been a rebrand of the team itself that's happened over the last several years that you've been a big part of, but the identity that you're trying to, um, create with this team, talk about that a little bit. So that's something I'm super curious about because I didn't know what kind of owner you were going to be. I don't think anybody knew. And you're all over the place physically. You're, you're, you're everywhere. Um, you're busy dude. Um, but you also seem to have enough bandwidth to do this properly and do it correctly. So talk about the identity that you want legacy to have. Talk about when we go to the racetrack and we see a legacy motor club, hospitality, and all of those things, you don't, a lot of teams moved away from some of those things, activating at the track and so forth. Yeah. I think we're at an interesting point in time where, um, NASCAR is going to be that next sport to really explode. You know, we're, we're seeing it as charter values were increasing. And when that happens, you have, you know, various, very serious investors coming in, including private equity. We were fortunate enough to bring in a nighthead capital and their belief in sports and entertainment, um, for a long time, they've been separate and around the globe, they're becoming one. And within that, there's a ton of opportunity and with their support. And then also the strategics that have come in, that's a big part of, of our plan and building the brand and trying to figure out how to monetize through those moments. All of that is only to service core product. So it may look a little spread out, may look like a lot and it, and it is a lot, but we are staffing up accordingly and have made these decisions collectively, uh, to feed core product is at the end of the day. I, I can't go write a check like Mr. Hendrick can to, to work in a certain area to buy a new tool or whatever it might be. And so sponsorship retention, sponsorship recruitment, building the brand, you know, the other ways that we can help monetize and bring value are going to help us in the short term. But now as the sport has turned to proper franchises, post-settlement and the evaluation of the race teams continue to go up there, there are more interested parties trying to invest. And I think our sport is going to be a big part of that. And I think that's going to be a big part of that. I think our sport is really kind of at the doorstep of, of a huge growth cycle that's going to happen. And we were just trying to be positioned, uh, to take advantage of that opportunity and, you know, fans and also CEOs want hospitality experiential. And that's, that's why they're traveling all around the world, going to all these different events, not even being at the event. I've, I've been to some different sporting events where parties and events are taking place 10 miles away, but everybody's in the air and they want, they want access and entertainment. And so there's a thread for us to, to pull on there. Uh, but in a smart fashion and doing it the right way. And, you know, we're in our second year of really bringing it to life. Yeah. I went to the F1 race in Miami and I was, I experienced what you're talking about when I was at a casino. Um, and there, there were hospitality events happening miles away from the racetrack. Miles away. And the entire, probably, I think, you know, 30 square miles. 30 square miles of the racetrack was, was literally the footprint of the event. Yeah. Uh, whereas, you know, with NASCAR races, it's, it's on property or, or, you know. Yeah. And so. And I think where that is, is a long way away from where we sit now. Yeah. And, you know, there are some markets where we could be on that higher end, but there's no reason in Martinsville, there can't be an awesome tailgate or, you know, some other event that's happening in the, the bars and local restaurants there in the area. So I, I really think that our team owners, sponsors, partners, NASCAR themselves, uh, there's a movement here thinking, how do we scale and, and head in that direction? And, um, happy to be a driving force behind that. When you just would describe legacy for me, then what is your race team? What is, what is this, what is the personality of your race team? We are deep in building our culture. Um, really it's been a year and seven or eight months since I've had control of the team. And, you know, I, I really feel like doing things the right way. Um, building for sustainability core product first, which is, uh, racing, you know, that's our North starts all about performance. We don't make a decision unless it ties back into making cars go faster. Um, might be, might, you know, might be a decision that serves us in a couple of weeks, or it's going to be something that serves us in a couple of years, but we're building something for the long haul, not, not to just be a flash in the pan and gone, um, explains why we're doing it. Why we've been on this long road to independence and didn't have the alliance with Joe Gibbs racing. Uh, so, you know, there's a lot of investment for the future. Um, and then we're, we're getting our feet under us now and really getting things rolling. So the, you, you just mentioned the, the lack of the alliance. It was, um, as far as I understood it, um, there was an opportunity for any team that goes to any manufacturer to sort of adhere to the teacher's favorite student in the class. Right. So in this case, it would have been Joe Gibbs racing and you can, you can kind of cheat off their paper a little bit, you know, use their tools, use their SIM, use all these different programs and pathways to, to success. For the most part, you guys decided to build from the ground up from scratch, a lot of your own tools. Um, is that correct? That is correct. Yeah. And so, um, how long is that process? How, when, when, and I know you'll probably tell me you're already seeing this, but I'm seeing it, but like, when do you think you're complete? When do you think you've like gotten, gotten that process finished? We're seeing some better results as you're starting to get some traction with some of your tools, but you know, when do you feel like you've got comparable tools? Yeah. If you think about when NASCAR said, okay, OEs, we want you more involved and you're going to control all the data collection and distribution of data, not one of them was really prepared and ready to manage. That in the body of work that's behind it. So Toyota goes to JGR, um, Chevy, I think it was Hendrick. track house and Childress at once, and then Ford has Penske. From there, when you're an alliance team paying a substantial fee to have access, each one of those ecosystems have a different way that it's managed and regulated. Through Toyota and JGR, big check, you get full transparency. Amazing. We want to go down our own road and build our own software tool chain and all the things to go with it. Unfortunately, when the data comes off all these tools and toys that collect data and they go to JGR, that data goes through a variety of different processes, all driven by the setup of the race car. It would be unfair for us, and we haven't paid anything, so why should we have that direct line of sight? We've been getting data and raw data, but if you don't have the setup, tire pressures, the bill, all those things to put it under, it's not going to do you any good. On this journey, we have hired up and built a robust aero staff that now has earned a right to sit at the table with the aero group. Our next step, the wheel force transducer side, then driveline. We are proving within our Toyota ecosystem that, hey, we're staffing up and we're not going to be standing here looking for handouts. We want to sit at the table and be a part of the process. We're doing that now. Unfortunately, to start the 26th season, we reverse engineered into our aero tools. Then in 2026, we had to start all over again. The way they measure their aero markers and where they put them, all that was different. It's been a lot of stopping and starting, which is tough for the outsiders to see, but internally, we know what we're fighting for. Again, we're building for the long run. Yeah, that's pretty interesting. A lot of it's way over my head, but I'll walk through the garage and talk to some of the guys that are in the Toyota, in the Toyota family, not necessarily direct link to specific race teams, but they'll tell me about some of the gains that you guys are making on bodies and different things. You'll start to see the results immediately on the racetrack. That must be exciting for you because the way this car is put together, once you understand one component of it, it's like a good chunk of gained speed on the racetrack. You're only as good as your data because we have so little track time. The track time we have, we don't have instruments on the cars. The correlation loop is based on the driver's feel. We have our drivers sitting in the simulator and does that feel like the tire? Does the track feel bumpy enough? Over there in the world of JGR, they have all that data and the setup that goes off of it. The validity that they have for their tools, is it at such a higher rate? Ours is still pretty coarse right now. We're trying to dial that in. Riley, you'll be able to come over from having all of that experience, right? Racing, kind of getting to peek under the hood a little bit at JGR and obviously all the information that you're able to gain working at 2311. Are you excited to kind of get with some of the newer tools and get with this? Are you excited to get with the newer tools? Are you excited to get with the new organization, this organization that's sort of growing and you've got to feel as though that gives you some value. You're an asset. You have information and knowledge that they're going to benefit from, that you're going to bring to the table. That's got to be a great feeling for you. Yeah, for sure. I'm excited to get over there. I'm excited to continue racing. Like I tell Jimmy all the time, this is kind of a far-fetched dream from a kid from Las Vegas, Nevada to move out to the south and race on asphalt. I'm excited to So I'm just excited to continue to do this. But like you said, yeah, coming up from the O'Reilly series, you think you know what it takes to work hard to win some races. And then you get paired up with Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin. And you're like, oh, I don't know what working hard is. And Tyler Reddick lives in that sim. He can't watch enough film. And you have Denny Hamlin, probably the greatest in our sport right now, feeling what you're feeling. So if you're like, hey, I don't understand what's going on with my steering wheel. I don't know what's going on with my steering wheel or my front tires, my front axle. He's going to be like, oh, that's normal. That's not normal. So all that stuff I learned over the last year and a half, two years is invaluable. And hopefully I can take it and put it to good use with Jimmy and my two teammates next year. You had a really, really difficult season a year ago. This year, things started clicking. You know, you had some really, really strong runs and were able to go out there and go, all right, man, I belong here. How did that make you feel personally? Um, cause I think we're, you know, listen, we're all, we all race car drivers have massive egos. We're very confident. You got to go to the racetrack, believe in you're the best one out there and all of those things, but privately, you know, struggling can be very, very difficult. And what was that like to finally go to the racetrack and go, there it is. You know, there there's, that's what I've been looking for. Or I didn't, I didn't even know the next gen car could, could do what this car is doing. Um, we kind of heard the same thing, I guess, I would liken it to, to Briscoe when he left Haas and went to, to Gibbs. He's like, well, I didn't know I could ask the car to do this because I didn't know the car was capable of doing this. Um, you've had these kinds of moments this year where we've been able to see just what you're capable of doing. Yeah. I think we've had some, some good flashes in the pan of speed, um, late spring, early summer, and obviously out last week and a rough weekend at Darlington, but I still don't think I'm to the full potential of the next gen car. Um, still a little bit right now, but I think honestly, it just boils down to hard work. It boils down to have really good people around you. Um, and I don't take this lightly, but the people at 2311 have, have treated me tremendously and, um, really helped me through the awful season last year and, um, surrounding me with even more and better people this year. And I feel like the, the pace has increased and having good teammates and Bubba and Tyler and having people to lean on when, when times get rough really helps. If I, you know, if I were to ask you about what's challenging what's difficult in the next gen car, what would you, how would you describe it to me as a driver? If I'm going to go out there and drive this car and you're going to go, all right, man, this is what you're going to have trouble with. Uh, wow. So much. Um, I was just in the bus Saturday and, uh, yeah, Saturday night watching the O'Reilly race at Darlington. And, um, I just remembered from two years ago when you get a little loose, you can just countersteer it and throttle it out, um, off the turn two. And if you, uh, you can do that in the next gen car, but if you overslip it by an inch, it's tank swapping head on into the fence. So the margin for error is just so small. Um, there's no yaw, there's no yaw angle at all. Um, which is really difficult for, for somebody, uh, a young driver. I think a lot of them, my, a lot of, a lot of my buddies kind of right now in the cup series are struggling a little bit too. First time rookie year. And, um, you just drive these stock cars your whole life since you're eight, nine years old. And then you get in this thing and it's completely opposite of what you've learned your whole life. So, it's, it's a difficult step for sure. I got one, one for you. How many times have you tested a next gen car? Never. My first time. Can you imagine that? Never, never tested a car. You can't test like our time's coming up. You tested like crazy. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I find I was just thinking about that. Like next year, there's going to be a little additional practice. Right. You gotta be pretty. See, I'm not happy. You're not happy? No, because I, I wanted practice last year when my, I was a rookie and I got 15 minutes warmup to get the engine primed. And now when I'm kind of starting to figure out the, the feel of my front axle, they're like, okay, the whole field gets an hour practice. And I'm like, no, I wanted that last year. Not now. Yeah. Well, I think that still, you know, I'll take it for sure. New team. Yeah. Yeah. So who's the team that, that Jimmy's going to build around you? I don't know yet. We are still assembling the team without, without a doubt. You have an idea who you want to put in charge? Yeah, we, we, we have some options right now. We just want to make sure that the fit is right. And one thing that did hurt us in taking so long to announce was being able to publicly go out and, and shop, you know, him as the driver of that car. So we're, we're a little behind schedule there, but, but getting closer. Yeah. That's exciting. Um, to, to kind of build that team around him. Uh, how do you, you know, how do you, how do you kind of get the most out of the remaining races this year? You know, I mean, you're still learning, you're still seeing opportunity every time you go to the racetracks, a chance to get better and learn more. Yeah. I know I would expect that 2311 Denny and all those guys are going to give you the best opportunity every single week. Without a doubt. They are, they're, they're first class. Um, and they have been so, so supportive of you, uh, to this point. And, um, so how do you, uh, you know, take advantage of the remainder of the season to, to put yourself in a good spot for the off season? Yeah. Just continue to, to work hard. There's nine to go. Um, and I look at it at nine opportunity to, to get back to where I want to be. And that's to be back in the top 10 getting stage points. Um, I think the month of May and June, our, our stage points were at a career high and we had quite a bit. So, uh, there's no reason why we can't get back there. Um, and yeah, I mean, I have nine more opportunities in the 35 with a lot of good friends that I have and, um, a lot of, a lot of good teammates and just continue to work hard and, um, build my notebook for, for next year. Yeah. Have you had a chance to talk to, Uh, I'm sure you have, but have you had a chance to talk to your future teammates eric yeah yeah eric came by the announcement last thursday which was pretty awesome and um he's a good dude i was kind of one step behind him um i got into gibbs right as he was kind of walking out of gibbs but uh yeah i think we're gonna try to get some lunch in the next week or two and build that relationship have you and him had a pretty solid relationship on the racetrack up to this point yeah yeah for sure i uh eric's a a really uh respectful driver and um haven't really had any run-ins with him which is a good thing obviously as you go to a new team and um he's your he's your teammate what do you think um you mentioned having jimmy you mentioned having a couple of veterans and then you know you're you're kind of rookie hot shoe um talk about the veteran that eric is and and what he brings at a table yeah he brings so much um his uh his form of leadership is is maybe a little quieter and it's hard hard at times maybe to see from the outside but to see our competition group hanging on every word that he describes the way he engages with engineering the mechanical side um his efforts he's put into getting better at sim just because it's a necessary evil and his honesty around you the, uh, the queuing and in the areas that he feels confident and saying, yeah, that, that, that did help the car. Um, he's, he's been an incredible leader. He's been incredible loyal to, um, to legacy in a sense, when you think about him being at GMS or first petty than petty GMS. And now with us, um, he he's been through a lot and he's seen a lot and a lot of different groups of leadership and through all of that, you know, the way he's carried himself and what he does on race days and getting points and finding where that limit is and, and rarely stepping over it, making a mistake. Um, and we just need to give him better cars. You know, every time we've given him a great car, he has, um, he's almost won a couple this year for us and really excited for next year and how we know we can take a step up in, in performance. You mentioned, uh, the petty name. Uh, we still see Richard integrated into the program. Uh, what's it like being able to stand next to him? Uh, when you're, out there promoting and, and, and doing your thing, I, I think that, um, you know, Richard, he's, he's pretty amazing, dude. Uh, that he's still in such great shape and still a part of everything, wanting to be a part of everything, wanting to be going to the racetrack and doing everything he's doing. Um, how awesome is it to have him kind of part of the, part of the operation? It's incredible. And he's always thinking you'll, you'll love this to start the year. He's saying, I need 10 minutes with you. All right, cool. So we sit in the bus, I said, I don't know what this is, but evidently there's all these young people where they cut the cord to watch racing, whatever that is. Let me know how I can help. And those cord cutters, I want to be a part of that. I'm like, okay, so you're talking about digital. I don't know what it is, but I want to do more. So at his age, coming to the track, always thinking about how, how we can be better. Um, he he's incredible. The first question or two from him never changes though. And it's why were we slow and how are we going to get faster? And so that racer is, is really in there still today. I know it. I've been around him a little bit over the last couple of years. And it's so funny because he is there. He's matter of fact, he's, he's like, nah, we're not doing that. He's going to say what he wants to. Yeah, for sure. All right, NASCAR fans, listen up. Xfinity is waving the red flag on internet price hikes, and they're raising the green flag for savings. Now you get the speed and reliable wifi that you can use. We've been 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. I've been using Xfinity internet for years, and it gives me the speed and reliability that I need for anything we've got going on at the house. Xfinity, imagine that. Let's bring them in the room and get started. There he is. Hey, nice shirt, dude. Back at the table in the studio, we've got another guest that showed up. Josh Berry is, is now in the RB studio here with us. And I guess we're a day, we're a day after a big announcement for Legacy Motor Club. I'm feeling out there. We're a roster, roster of three cars next year with the addition of Josh. You know, it's been, it's been an interesting, I would say, couple of months for you, Josh, to, to understand that, you know, number one, you're, you're not going to be back with the Wood Brothers. Where are you going to go? Where are you going to be? None of us knew. I don't think anybody in the industry was aware of what might be available. And, and, you know, the last seven weeks you went on this really impressive run of top 10 finishes that the Wood Brothers hadn't seen since 1976. And so a lot of people are wondering how that happened, right? I think most people in industry understand how it happened, but, you know, coincidentally, all the Penske cars started running better as well. Um, but, but how, you know, just describe this. I mean, this is pretty unprecedented. I don't think that we've really ever seen anything like this, where a guy was kind of maybe on the sideline wondering what the next opportunity might be to being presented something as incredible as this from Legacy and Jimmy. Yeah. I mean, it's been a whirlwind the last couple of months without a, without a doubt. Um, yeah, obviously, first and foremost, just really thankful for our performance over the last two months, really. I mean, that's what, I mean, truthfully, what saved me, kept me, kept me relevant, gave me, um, you know, got, got a lot of our, got a lot of our confidence back and kind of got our group going well. And yeah, the cars have been really good. And I mean, that's been a, it's been a big, uh, step in the process, but just, yeah, I mean, the emotions of it all, man, it's been a lot to take in. Um, you know, it's funny. I've wanted to tell the story. So the day that I found out, actually two people text me, he was one of them, which is funny now. Well, I, I, sorry, Josh, but I had that, I had the same, uh, call probably. Two months earlier than Josh. So, um, it's probably the worst call and all of motor sports. And so I just wanted to reach out and let them know that, uh, it'd get better. Yeah. Yeah. And the second one was Joey and Joey sent me this big, long text and he's like, man, I'm summarizing it now, but he's like, man, you know, I know how tough a day this is, but he's like, you know, I believe in who you are. And he's like, I believe, you know, this thing will turn around and, and there's going to be something out there. That's going to be a great fit for you and better. And let's just say over. The last two months, I questioned Joey's text a lot. We, it seemed like everything that we were trying to work on would, you know, just never come together. It didn't, you know, just didn't line up, didn't work out. And, you know, it took all those things not working out for this to come together. Right. And it's just amazing how it's all worked out. And then thankfully that time, you know, we went on this run of, you know, running, running so well the last two months. And, um, yeah, it's just been a lot of fun really. And just, uh, you know, obviously thankful to. To be with legacy motor club and Jimmy really excited to work with Riley and Eric and that whole group. And yeah, I mean, it's going to be a, it's going to be a challenge. We're going to have to get to work and, you know, keep, keep building this program, but they're definitely on a positive upswing and, you know, hopefully I can add to it. Riley spoke a little bit about this and, and, and continue if you can rally. But, um, for both of y'all, you know, I'm a, I'm a huge fan of yours, Josh. So when you go out there and, and, and you're. You're I know you need to get the results. Right. And I'm sitting there watching, I know what you're capable of. Right. And I'm watching these races and I'm thinking, damn, he's, you know, he's got a chance at a top five here. Let's hope it, you know, and you're doing that inside the car. You're like, I've got to get this result. I've got, I know what car I've got today. I've got to get this finish next week. Same thing next week. Same thing. You know, you just come piling this up, trying to, you know, wave. This flag of, Hey, y'all over here, look at me, what I'm doing. You've you're, you're doing the same thing after last year coming into this year. You know, you'll have, you'll have that flash where it's like, all right, there it is. This is what I can do given the car. This is what I'm capable of. Did anyone notice, you know, who saw that, um, you know, talk about that stress. That's insanely difficult. Uh, I think that people don't, you know, we fans, myself, the industry, we watch. These races, we're entertained where we're either, we're either excited about the result or disappointed that it didn't go the way we wanted it to for our driver, but we don't necessarily take our, take a moment to really live, uh, how difficult it can be at times. Emotionally, uh, you're racing both of you. I think you're racing to prove this out, right. To have this career, right. To, to earn this opportunity to be here until you're decided. You decide. You decide that it's over. Um, and, and both of you really literally have been doing that over the last, last several months, uh, you know, you finally did it enough to get somebody to know notice and somebody to take a take a chance and and put something together around you uh talk about how difficult that is yeah it's a it's extremely difficult at least for me um like when you when you do have a good car obviously as you both know all three know you kind of understand it in the first five laps of practice you just get that feel and your ass in your hands you're kind of doing everything that it wants it to do um and then when the laps are winding down and you do have an opportunity for a top 10 and top five um and you run so well all day and then you come to pit road and um you knock your nose off in a stack up like i did at richmond or uh you have a speeding penalty and you finish 26 and it's like wow i i just worked three out three and a half hours for six points that was uh kind of brutal um so yeah the pressure does mount i feel like at least for me um as the race winds down and and that's just when you have to kind of take a step back and understand how you were running and just try to make the the most out of the day yeah i mean i for me for me i feel like the you always have some there's always pressure in the sport right to perform and even like over even just the last six weeks obviously like i went from um you know having you know we had such a run of terrible results that it's completely changed the perception of who i am as a race car driver right like it completely went from you know this guy that's you know been you know that they come from the short track ranks built up through the through the ranks had success won races and now basically i'm getting treated like i'm a bum right like just like that it's just changed right and so there was the so that was the biggest frustration i think for me is i'm just like i don't like i felt the pressure of obviously wanting to find an opportunity wanting to keep keep racing and i want to do that but i wanted to i just what i wanted more than anything was not to be thought of like that you know however it ends up it ends up but i wanted i felt like that we had the potential to turn things around and we just needed to i mean we just needed to have have things go our way we had to be obviously we had to be faster which is the biggest thing right like when you get you take that next step and you're running in the top 10 you're racing with a totally different group right like and that and that helps you stay out of trouble and helps things go easier you know you get better pit stalls and better pit stops and all those things but i mean even as i went through it's like once we had a couple good results then everybody's like yeah well he that's just because it's a short track he can't he only runs good at a short track or whatever and then you know we go to which most of you know what we started at indie and then we went you know through a couple short tracks and then you then you're carrying the pressure of just trying to keep it going and then there's the whole top 10 streak that like keeps getting blown way out of proportion right it is not blown out of proportion well we're going back to the 60s and there's all this we got all this debate about who was driving the car and how consecutive were and then you're like trying to keep that up and then even like i told my wife before this weekend i was like man this is the most nervous i've been for a race in a while yeah and she's like why and i'm like well now you got the pressure of you know well first we didn't practice like got the little bit of the uneasiness like how's the car gonna feel how's it gonna drive when you start this race you have what happened to me last year in that race which was when we missed the heights to start the race and i wrecked in the first corner and still never lived that one down even though it bottomed out all the way through the corner right but um so you had that and then plus yeah like this deal coming together at jimmy i'm like man this is you know everybody's kind of knows what's happening now like i don't want to go out here and you know i want to make a good impression because now you know that you know everybody that that's at legacy motor club is watching my performance and how i do and how i handle it now okay now he's gonna be in that car like how is he gonna do now that he knows that so i mean there's it's always there's always pressure in this sport and it's just how managing it you know that there's that is the most important no matter what you're not going to get away from it whether you're you know winning every week or you're trying to prove yourself there's always the pressure of trying to to handle that and just so i feel like that that's something for me that i'm used to because we've just always had it it's had to race for my job and race for my career and i think just learning to navigate through that helps you when you know times are really that are tough like this season are that you're not i'm not changing anything right i'm confident enough in myself that i haven't changed anything about my approach or what i'm doing and not overthinking it just trying to stick it out and and uh just turn things around that's what we're trying to do so wearing my team owner hat for a minute that's something i haven't shared with them um i was in their shoes trying to make it to cup and yes ended up in the perfect storm but we were great friends back then and you know all the struggles that i was dealing with and trying to keep a job and trying to find you know that opportunity to go to go cup racing and so where i feel i can help them is i've been there in addition the team is in a very similar space as well and so people that are fighting for their job always under pressure um and also starting i don't know i don't know i don't know with a new company and having that opportunity to build a team that was something that was so special and i think such a big part of the 48 success we were all putting our fingerprints on that car number and yes there was an established system but you know within legacy and what we're trying to build everybody's there together and you know eric a veteran and a builder another builder the young guy to bring along so the the pieces of the puzzle are there and we're all so aligned you know from a team owner standpoint i feel like i have the same pressure they do trying to perform and and be out there they certainly feel that inside the car and you know through the end of this year and into next year and in you know as we go racing that that's an area where we're all going to bond and be aligned and make sure that we meet our objectives and go out on the track and drive you know with the the right objectives in play and not looking for the walk-off home runs i mean if we get lucky and really connect with one we got it cool but that's that's not our objective we're building and we're going to build together what was the reaction within the organization uh to the idea of bringing josh in very very strong reaction um the way we operate and how close we all are as a team um you know not an easy decision with john hunter but you know we are where we are now and where josh can bring in a lot of experience and building maturity know how you know these things that a 35 year old can bring it's just different um in in having two um two veterans in a sense and and then riley is you know the younger developer development driver coming along is is the environment we wanted to create josh what do you think your um biggest uh gain is in the you know in just a little short time you've had racing in the cup series where where do you feel like you've made the most improvement i think just understanding how to manage the races i think that's something that takes a while to develop and and just just understanding how to how to race when you have a 20th place car versus how to race when you have a top 10 car top five car i think just learning to manage all that is something that takes a while to develop and just the race craft and you just kind of got to earn the respect of the guys around you and just race with them and kind of build off that and um because because to me that's that's such a key part of it it's just you know you you know on the bad day you know it's easy to to lose some lose a lot of those guys respect on the bad days when you're struggling right and then i feel like if you do a good job of managing those days then when you have the nights like we had sunday where we're really fast like that's when you get the brakes and stuff here or there right from the guy you guys that you've shown respect for so just managing all that and because i mean really from the start i felt fairly comfortable in the in the next gen car um so i don't know that you know fundamentally like learning how to drive the car i haven't really felt that um like i've had to make the shift of how i approach racing i think it's just just learning how to manage the races and then just learning how to manage your weeks and try to you know you have to walk the fine line of trying to lead your team but at the same time trust the people that you you got working for it for you and let them do their jobs but you also have you're also the you know you're the quarterback right i mean you gotta you gotta lead them and just still learning how to do that uh effectively is is you know a big part of it what about um what about finishing this year on a strong note you know how important was that to you because i know that you you you built relationships with these guys you're racing with on the 21 car um i know we've you've kind of checked the box of hey man we've proven that we can do this with the last several weeks but uh how important is it to continue and end in on a good term yeah no i mean it goes back to what i was talking about earlier with the pressure i mean obviously now that we've done it and we've been on on the success run i mean now you you hold the pressure of trying to keep that up and and keep finishing the year strong and obviously there's still a lot to race for i mean obviously there's a lot of financial implications the more we can move the car up in points and we've gained a ton of ground in a short period of time there so just continuing to work on that and just see how far we can get i mean i think i mean remember a couple weeks ago we kind of said hey you know what's we need to try to get to 25th and points and we got to 25th point sunday so now we're like well i guess we got to move the goalposts again right keep so just trying to finish it out and and like i said i am very appreciative of those guys because i mean they you know the biggest thing that i wanted out of this to for myself was that i didn't want this situation and how it ended i i didn't want those around me to think less of me after we got done right now regardless of what the results were i wanted them to think more of me how you know how i handled it how was the person to work with how how we raced and in the last thing i wanted was it to go just off the rails to the point where they're like man i'm so glad to get rid of that guy you know what i mean and i feel like you know i feel like i've done a good job managing that and i wanted it to you know i wanted to end it end you know in a way that everyone around me thought man he regardless of that situation he handled that well and and you know we stayed we you know we've stayed um together as a group and believe in each other and just have just been consistent and just putting into work and trying to get better and i felt like finally we're seeing the results of that and now we got you know nine more races to keep it up riley's had a lot of time to you know kind of get to know the future workplace um this has been just this deal for you come together in just a couple of weeks i would assume so um you know what's your what are you excited about uh aside from just driving fast race cars what what's what's exciting about this opportunity well i think it first off it seems like you know there's a lot of great people there which is a huge part of what you know the sports take sport takes to be successful is just the people side of it and it seems like there's everyone i've met so far has been has been really good to me and obviously i think can bring a lot to the table so just getting to know those people and kind of work through what what we need to do to um you know get me comfortable as soon as you know from the start try to you know get all that aligned where we can you know hit the ground running is kind of what we're looking at but i mean i think the biggest thing is just the you know obviously with jimmy's leadership and just the trajectory they're on of of improving um it seems like they got a lot of great people in place and i think that they're willing to rely on me in some areas to try to you know bring some of the knowledge that i've had over the last couple years to hopefully you know keep pushing that forward and i'm excited about that i think you know i had um you know i had lunch with eric last week and we had i thought that went really well and it just seems like that me and him are going to get be a really good fit together about you know just trying to it's like i said it's so much about we're the quarterbacks in this deal right like we got to make the we got to help push the push the football down the field right we got to help these teams and you got to you know try to help them get better and and um so yeah i'm excited so excited for that part of it and uh you know ready to get going i was gonna say one thing that got us really excited about both these guys with analytics there's so much that you can dig in on and you know there's a lot of areas that we look but two areas we spend a lot of time is performance and a lot of layers that go with it and then execution both of them year over year from a performance standpoint where they qualify versus spots gained all the matrix to go with that both have have done an exceptional job the execution side is has been more of the problem um one thing we've done a really good job with is is executing at legacy that's pit stops or strategy you know a variety of different things play into that so for them both um you know performance you know that's a harder one to fix but the execution side we feel really really good about um and so i i know that people think uh maybe legacy chose to move in a direction with josh because of what's happened here in the last five or six weeks it's really the data and the body of work over the last three years as we we dive in and we're able to do a lot of things and really look at that figure out how it fits into our program both of these guys um are a perfect fit for us yeah i felt like that this decision with josh wasn't on a whim of like man we're gonna make a change what do we do who do we grab right um talk about diving into that i mean you know you how how how wide of a net did you cast what what did what did you see that made you drill down to josh we're always looking and trying to understand where uh driver contracts you know lapse and then you also have a manufacturer contract so there's there's two that you got to play with there and it's way different from when we were driving um you you really need to grow your own talent now and you know that's that's a big part of of where we see things going forward in the future for us um yes we we had an auto renewal with john hunter and that happened i guess in the summer but through the you know that moment to when we finally made the decision you know a lot of internal pressure a lot of pressure in general to uh potentially make a change and through all the work that we've done with analytics um his numbers state josh's numbers stand out in so many categories uh in the top three and many top five and most uh all performance driven the execution side you know his his been that weaker spot and kind of explains what's happened during the uh during that stretch you know this summer for uh as a result of that um and again we feel like that's an area when we put ourselves on the same grading our execution is higher than our performance we still have work to do there but with great uh collaboration amongst the drivers eric and josh although they haven't spent a lot of time together those that know both very well are like these two dudes are going to be so good together and pushing each other um so holistically it just it needed to happen as uncomfortable as it is and of course we're going to treat john hunter uh as we should going into next year and handle our contractual duties to him but you know made that uh decision and made the change when do you feel like that you guys can finally start to get to work i think now honestly i mean there are some layers with his ford relationship that will prevent that uh with riley we're we're open and can go um it's just really not messing up you know the years that they need to finish up and the work they need to do with their two companies but i know josh has already talked about the day after homestead being in the legacy office working already so guys ready to go how are you going to build the team around josh you've been tight-lipped on the uh on rally's deal yeah i mean eric's team you know largely if not completely intact with the 42 and 84 um now that we've announced both drivers we want to make sure that the alignment of people are right there could be some shifting and moving around but uh getting uh both in the building getting time with our people finding out where those relationships matter um is at the end of the day the the thicker the rule book gets and the closer the cars are in performance the difference maker are people and you know i found myself in a situation with canals we had a deep friendship and his level of accountability on me uh was something i didn't really like but then i realized i was getting the performance out of it so it's not always like yeah you know me in this individual get along so great uh we need to get to know each other all better and figure out how we can get the most out of one another and how those teams really get assembled and put together yeah do you think you let josh have some influence without a doubt yeah absolutely the other example i always use is you and latart oh yeah i mean he was the perfect fit for you yeah yeah and then layered up with the engineering behind steve in different areas and and so there there are many ways to to get the job done and i just want to be intentional about it how we do that with both of them awesome man i'm excited about this i you know um we've known that riley was was probably going over there for a long time and and you know you're you're a great friend jimmy and and it's been fun watching you you know become the owner you're becoming i don't think any like i said earlier i don't think any of us really knew exactly what to expect or myself yeah i found my lane here but it's uh it's been a journey and respect to you for what you've built um through your riley team i should say now um i have a much better understanding of of all the work and effort and thank you for your friendship through all this well it's been cool man and uh i'm i'm hoping that this is uh you know a great uh new chapter for for your for your team i'm excited for riley excited for josh these guys are in great hands um and that team is going to continue to to just continue to gain traction as those tools get better and yes sir and and all the right people were put in all the right places you guys made a ton of new hires over the last 12 months um to scale up and yeah we're on our way to 200 people yeah yeah we need a new building we've outgrown the one we're in you guys are gonna get in a new building we are yeah when is that happening uh we'll move in winter of next season uh we don't want to displace or disrupt what we have going on and then when does construction ever end on time but uh we'll have a do you know where it is yes in the mooresville area in the mooresville area in the mooresville area in the mooresville business park east so not not far from here actually right in the mooresville area um incredible building uh we're starting the build out phase now we've laid out the floor plan and then have the room to expand uh if needed but a lot of great things that we can bring in house control our own destiny continue to get stronger uh continue to grow awesome well thank y'all for being here man appreciate it exciting times it's gonna be awesome i know we we wish the season could start tomorrow but uh we got a good chunk of racing left and we're gonna be back in the left for the end of the year uh comes and good luck to y'all and i'll hopefully see you back on the show maybe before the end of the season thanks appreciate it all right guys hey this is dylan hart jr and for all the latest dale jr download gear including the i'm old drink some beer t-shirt we've been talking about here around the office head over to shop.dirtymomedia.com for all the latest merch all right everybody so that was pretty awesome to have jimmy johnson in the studio seven-time champion um would love to get him back so we can uh dive a little bit more into just his life and and his growth as an owner and some of the things he he's got going on but um with respect to you know one of respect riley and obviously josh as well at the table uh and stick to business but pretty impressive um pretty impressive what legacy's turning into and what they continue to do and what they're doing and what they're doing and And I don't think that they're even close to where they were want to be and where they want to go and the growth that they want to have um as jimmy and uh as we talked about they've scaled up uh hiring multiple individuals for different positions um they're tooling up uh their their physical programs and race teams at a pretty rapid rate so um and the you know the speed is there at times so they really see what they're capable of and and see them improving in little chunks and and i know that they want to try to get to where they can they can start to have those those results every single week um on the series but uh i like the i like the driver lineup a lot i think that josh berry and eric jones are quite similar very blue collar hard working know their race cars can fix and work on their race cars understand when they look at the car what they're looking at what the part is how it works um and so i think it's extremely helpful as a team owner crew chief engineer to have a driver with some some sense of of what's going on under the hood um and they both you know you know they both have a great bit of history and have been with different teams to where they can you know bring a lot to the table riley riley has a you know a lot more to extract a lot more growth to to uh to obtain so there's you know there's a lot of potential there with him and he's shown this year what he's capable of doing when given a really good race car so um he's got confidence rolling into this deal the team's got confidence that they can put things around him to where they can find that speed and he's he's wanting to have every single week so it's going to be really really interesting watching how they perform next year i would expect that um you know you're going to see those high moments you're going to see those those bright spots but that team is still you know in in a phase of of putting it together and and and and getting all the cylinders where they're firing at the right time so uh yeah yeah i i think it's great i'm happy for josh just as his friend to see him get an opportunity like this um you know i think that to i i would liken it to when i was at hms and i got the opportunity to to move into the shop with jimmy um it was it wasn't enough to be on the same piece of property as as the 48 team man if you got an opportunity to move into the shop with jimmy it was an opportunity to get in the building beside them to have your car set up exactly right beside jimmy's car to be able to look in at the interior the suspension anything you wanted to and compare and and you know contrast and um try to make things similar if you needed to or wanted to it was just really really nice and so you know riley and josh both kind of get to you know get up close with jimmy and pick his brain and take take the advice that he's going to be giving and and direction that he's going to be giving and setting expectations jimmy's i wouldn't say jimmy's conservative or aggressive he's he's a realist and he understands you know what he what he thinks his team's capable of what it should go out and try to achieve on a weekly basis and he'll be clear and in the directive and what he expects those guys to do so that would be a lot of fun i think as a driver to be able to uh to be led by by a guy with that much success jimmy is super motivated to he said it he's he's he feels kind of the same pressure the drivers feel he feels that pressure as an owner to go out there and prove that he can do this well so i'm excited about it i'm looking forward to uh to to all that next year uh but we got a lot of racing left before this season's over with and um be interested to see how it turns out um for both josh and riley and how they might be able to end the season on on a high note um don't forget uh about arby's new meat in three bucks right here in the arby's studio we've got one ourselves you get more meal for your money at arby's we have the meats we've had a great show today thanks for uh tuning in and checking us out and and we'll see you tomorrow check out dirty mo media on Instagram, Facebook, X, and 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