The Antitrust Lawsuit and Team Ownership

Imagine it's the nineteen twenties Before the stock market crashed, before highways cut through the south, before drinking alcohol was legal, but people were doing it anyway If you wanted booze in Appalachia, it was not arriving quietly It came barreling down back roads in small fast cars, driven by people who were always cutting corners with ingenuity boootleggers were a different kind of Uber eats. They were engineers, making their cars run faster, hold heavier, and always carry an element of surprise Some drivers rigged their vehicles to drop oil, nails or clouds of smoke if the police got too close, sort of like those old cartoons Years after prorohibition ended, those same drivers raced each other for pride, for money, and for bragging rights. That's the part most people forget Those same bootleggers and moonshiners became some of the first competitors of NASCAR. So I'm running. I'm chasing down the twenty two. I get within a couple car linkgs from him. He has a tire issue I'm like, okay So I inherit the lead You know, I'm thinking we got sixty lapsla Freddie, my spotter comes over. And he's like, all right. newew leader. twenty laps to go. and I'm like, Oh shit, we're getting down to it. I thought we had another pit stop And so I'm like, o, I actually gott to wake up and try Today, I'm sitting down with legendary NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, who just celebrated his first crown jewel victory that was in July twenty twenty five at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway What I admire about Bubba is he's also been on the forefront of changing the culture of NASCAR He's helped ban the Confederate flag from all NASCAR's races in twenty twenty, and his team, twenty three eleven racing, which is partially owned by Michael Jordan, just settled an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR And he's here to help me understand how the sport has evolved Here, we go Again. Again Again. Hey, I'm Kal Pen and this is Here We Go Again, a show that takes today's trends and headlines and asks Why does history keep repeating itself Here, we go This is an iHart podcast Guaranteed human. Fatics Ffest NYC returns to the Jabbit Center july sixteenth through the nineteenth for the biggest sports event weekend of the summer. See stars like LeBron James, Tom Brady, Eron Judge, Seawn Cena, Jaylen Brunson, Serena Williams and hundreds more. feeaturing more than five hundred athletes and celebrities, live shows. exclusive merch, rare collectibles, Sanatics games with two million dollars in prizes, a full tailgate zone. in New York City's largest indndoor FIFA World Cup final watchatch party. Fonanatics Fest is the world's number one spports fan festival. Get your tickets now at fanaticsfest dot com. That's faticsfest dot com The World Cup is underway, and it's been incredible. O our podcast, The AA End with Ananieelle Alaron and John Green, we're talking about the games that have delighted us, the teams that have inspired us, what we're loving and what surprised us, all through the lens of being massive fans of the world's most beautiful game Daniel, this tournament has been magical so far. There's so much to love that I can hardly believe the drama that the group stage brought us. and now it's time for us to talk about the teams that are left as the field is whittled down to one World Cup champion on july nineteenth Listen to the AAN with Anneieil Alar Kon and Joh Greene on the IiHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts Let tryes again Hello Yeah. Hey there there I go N. So you know this because we've known each other for a while, but I did not grow up a NASCAR fan. So this is also for for our listeners who might be wondering why I wanted to do a NASCR episode been a fan for almost fifteen years, my fiance Josh grew up a huge NASCAR fan in Mississippi. And so when he and I started dating That's where it really got me into the sport And it was it was the combination of like It was obviously the fast car thing, but it was science and engineering And then all of the drama between drivers and teams. Right, R, right. So for listeners who don't know what's your first memory of jumping into a car and putting your foot in the g Because you were like nine, right Yeah. Yeah, I startw rec when I was nine My first memory, I mean, I remember my first race It was the national event We're going to do this, we're going do it big So we went to the national event down in Jasper, Florida I remember getting into a wreck and the track was raised up. So like if you ran off track, you'd go down a four foot drop like an embankment, you know And I've shipped it off of turn two or turn for one of them. And I just remember like an old Chevy suburban sitting there And I thought I was going to smoke it And I'm like, oh my Godd I'm about to have my dad's going to have to pay for this car And so like I brace for impact. And I come to like this really, really soft like impact, right? Like it just kind like a sponge and I was like My life And I realized there was a fence. I couldn't see the fence in between myself and the car U So yeah, that was nice. And then I remember asking my dad if we could fix it and get back out there And he said later on like he's like, o okay, he's he's hooked. If I didn't get, you know, spooked by that crash and asked to get back out there, then We'll probably be in this for the long haul. And here we are twenty three years later So jumping from that to when your career took off, do you have a moment or a year that you consider like, hey, I'm like doing this, doing this. It's starting to pay off H I would say the store I always go to is twenty eleven, we were running in the K andan series, the Arca Menard's East series now Dover Last race of this season Qalified on the poll. We' sitting there on the grid And I was just like, you know, you have that minute or two before the pace car rolls and just, you know, making sure everything's in check. and It like man, this is a pretty cool gig Im having fun, you know, this would be cool to keep doing. Not that I had conversations of Do anything different we went on to win the race. So it was like, all right, that kind of solidified my My my thoughts there And so yeah, that was what Oh, no, fifteen years ago., fifteen years ago. That was that moment. So how old were you you were like fifteen or sixteen, right was born in ninety three. So ninety three to twenty thousand eleven, I'll let you the math I don't do it that way. How how old are you now? I'm thirty two. Okay, yeah, so you were like sixteen ish There you go. sureure. Yeah. fifteen to seventeen is what I'll say. I'm an actor for a reason. I do not do basic that. Yeah I mean, by the way, first of all, if you're if you're that young If you're like smoking older guys Are people mad or are they kind of in all that like there's here's this younger guuy with this talent You had both sides of the fence, right? You had Well that h that you're winning. you know, like there's no way that This is legal. I mean, we were protested a lot of times because we were winning. And then you had other people that, you know, just kind of accepted it. like man, this kids good and I remember doing a late model test This was two thousand eight And we were on the coast of North Carolina But he came up to us after the after the test was done and he was like If you race how you just tested, you guys are going to be fast and we went back there and I think we finished thirird or fourth, was it was a good night. and for the first time being there, it was a good night for us. and And so yeah, you have people on both sides So this is like not that dissimilar to like When I was nominated for an Emmy, it was like a kids, it was like in the kids category because I did a Santalaus TV show And I think there was like one child who was also nominated. I'm like that fucking kid better not win this Emmy. This child has her whole career. Yeah. Yeah Don't do that. I mean, I didn't get it anybody. I think some other adult won it. I didn't feel proud about that feeling You'll have that. You know, jealousy is within all of our minds, right? And it's just a matter of when that comes out Yeah, fair. When you were I would say a kid, but really if you're like you're winning races, you're a younger athlete. How much did you know about the history of NASCAR Like at the for our intro for this, we just did a little quick quick thing on like the connection to like bootleggers, which I'm fascinated. Yeah. No, I didn't know much. I remember so in twenty ten And we did like a reality ition show. on BET called Changing Lanes. That's kind of where my name kind of skyrocketed was from that. We were competitive And yeah, it was all like documented and stuff. and so I remember them giving us like a NASCR one hundred one, like, you know, when NASCAR started? And I was like, two thousand one, I don't know. You know? And now it's it's, you know, we're I think this is what seventy six wasas this last year seventy five, I think So we're like seventy five, seventy, six, seventy sevenenty years old, now the sports is, right? And it's crazy to think about you know, I still go to winning at Iie, right last year.. That's just a massive win for us. That's a massive win for me because I was almost three years of winless I not in a negative way at all. I'm not downplaying the history or the previous winners, but Does't matter to me. I don't care, like It's just something I've never really paid attention to, like the history of things. It' just like, all right, I appreciate it But I don't go out of my way to study these things and become in all of them. That's just not who I am. That makes sense doing that show Were there things you learned that you were kind of like into the idea of. Like for example, whenever you shoot something in a studio in LA Disney, Warner Brothers. they all have these little plaques outside of like, let's say you're in like stage seventeen. and it has everyvery show or movie that was shot on that stage since twies. And so you're not thinking that when you come in, you're just like, I'm making my dumb dick jokes today. Here's my script. But then you see you see that. you're like, oh, wow, Mary Poppins was here That's crazy or you know, something like that. R I have those moments too like when we do, you know, shoots out there or Even like, you know, the, you know, today's show or goodood morning America, when you see the people that have signed the wall and stuff it's like, oh, that's cool, you know? They were just here before me or whatnot and I appreciate that stuff in the moment Last July, I would I just want to I want to ask you about the Brickyard four hundred and for the listeners, for anyone who doesn't know, the Brickyard four hundred is one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. It's up there with the Daytona five hundred. It's a four hundred mile race It's one hundred and sixty lapsoma Drivers can be driving for two and a half three hours, and it's a track that's known for being extremely tricky. So w it you can't just have raw speed, you have to drive with a certain level of precision and strategy, but also like in context of your team. R? July, twenty twenty five Really tough competition in that race, Kyle Larson, a whole bunch of others, you take the win and Like what goes into what do the men and women do? on your team for somebody who doesn't know What goes into winning a race like that?an Can you walk us through That specific race Yeah. so Indy for whatever reason on this schedule is a full weekend And what I mean by that now. So ever since COVID came about, right? We took a lot of pride in being the first sport back I remember we were headading to Atlanta to race the second race of the season. And that's when everything went downhill and we COVID happened two months later, we get the call it' like, all right Wednesday, whatever the date was racing in Darlington, no fans, no practice, no qualifying going straight into the race And we did that the rest of the season, no practice, no qualifying, just show up and race And so once COVID protocols got lifted. We need some practice, you gott to have qualifying. We got to bring that back. But it condensed the schedule P COVID was you fly out Thursday prractice on Friday, you qualify Saturday morning, you practice again Saturday afternoon. You get three rounds of practice, total And then you go race on Sunday. Well now From that point to going through COVID learearning how to condvense the schedule Now All but four five races out of out of thirty six, thirty eight We have twenty minutes of practice followed by qualifying immediately and then go into the race So Back to the brickyard, for whatever reason, it has a full weekend. We go back to a fifty minute practice on Friday And then Saturday is just qualifying only And then we go race. fififty minutes from twenty minutes is like A lot of time. It's like, oh my God. And it's and it's completely open. You can do whatever you want to the car So anyways, Indy full weekend We feel good about our car Practice went really well. quQalifying, We qualified second, super close The race was just kind of another race we were five to ten all day And I remember Hit stop, the last one And we came out behind the twenty two car And uh I was told throughout the pit cycle like, hey, You're going to shake out to be second here And I'm like, oh sweet, we were thin we were running Maybe fifth, fifth to seventh of that time. Okay. So we jump some guys. And so I'm running. I'm chasing down the twenty two. I get within a couple carl links from him And u He has a tire issue I'm like, okay So I inherit the lead S like Cool We got a long way to go You know, I'm thinking we got fifty, sixty lapsla Freddie, my spotter comes over. He's like, right New leader. twenty laps to, and I'm like Oh shit We're getting down to it. I thought we had another pit stop. You know? And so I'm like, o, I actually got to wake up and try. Okay So at that point, I think we had Five second lead, something Anyways, we're going and Larson's coming And they're talking about rain and I'm like,, you know, for people they don't know my first win Talag in twenty twenty one was rain shortened And Fans still love to count that as not official, but that's okay Heychck, itit like it was official U My nameam's in the history books like it's official Anyways, so rain came with sixix to go and it was just like G Go figure At this point, we're already past the official distance. So if it continued to rain, they could call it, we would win again. And so part of me was like, oh my God, if this happens again with the rain The race gets shorten P we are gonna lose their minds then the other side I was like I want it to stop raining and it only rained for like five minutes I want to go back and earn this thing the right way. And we were able to do that. We had two Greenwite checkers back to back and we were suuper close on fuel That was our biggest worry. I remember I remember Charlles once we gotot back going after for the red flag for Rin. My crew chief He was like, all right, we got enough fuel for one. We can do one. If another caution comes out, we need to come and pit So we fire off first one and we get halfway down the back stretch, yellow comes out And it's like All right. there was our first one. so he was like Stay out We'reaying out. We're gambling here throughout this whole time, right? I'm like Man, it's too good not to happen. you know All the stars are aligned. I was not freaking out over fuel I am a If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't. Oh well So I was not wasting my time wondering if we had enough fuel. I was just going to do the exact same thing I did the previous restart and get it again. hadad enough fuel come to find out We had enough fuel for maybe another lap and a half. So So yeah, it was it was a damn good day. That's amazing Fanicspest NYC returns to the Javbit Center july sixteenth through the nineteenth for the biggest sports event weekend of the summer. S stars like LeBron James, Tom Brady, Aaron Judge, John Cena, Jayalen Brunson, Serena Williams, and hundreds more. feeaturing more than five hundred athletes and celebrities, live shows. exclusive merch, rare collectibles, Sonatics games with two million dollars in prizes A full tailgate zone. and New York City's largest Indoorf FIFA World Cup fininal watchatch party. Fanatics Fest is the world's number one spports fan festival. Get your tickets now at fanaticsfest dot com That's fanaticsfest dot com The World Cup is underway and it's been incredible. On our podcast, The Away End with Danieele Alarkon and John Green, we're talking about the games that have delighted us, the teams that have inspired us, what we're loving and what' surprised us, all through the lens of being massive fans of the world's most beautiful game. Daniel, this tournament has been magical so far. The expanded field of teeams has created some incredible matchups that have already made this World Cup one to remember. and now things get even more exciting with the intensity of the knockout rounds as the field is whittled down to one World Cup champion on july nineteenth When you say like that, I get a pain in my heart that the tournament is over. But there's a lot of soccer yet to go. And if the first few games of the round thirty two are any indication, anything is possible in the lead up to the final We've got it covered from an ultra's perspective here on the away end So listen to the Aaynd with Daniel Ekon and John Greene on the IHart Radiopp, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts you kind of organically touched on something I was going to ask you about in two different ways. So inince some Since you've been in the sports, there have been changes to the rules And for people who don't know, NASCR isn't your I guess I'd say traditional sports league in the sense that it's not like the NFL or Major League baseball where teams collectively vote on major decisions NASCAR was created by this guy, Bill France back in nineteen forty seven, and to this day, The France family still owns it, which means that the sport can change And it does change its rules much more quickly and maybe more often. Recently, NASCAR changed who qualified to compete in the championship races because they wanted to attract more fans But one of the criticisms of that was that for some people, it backfired, right? Instead, it created the system that was confusing to some people. It upset some of the fans and then also they felt like Well, when they were going to watch a championship race, they weren't like watching the best drivers compete like they were previously. So All of it just to say, can you talk about what the biggest mostly like what is the biggest rule difference today But then also what are the biggest cultural differences today? So maybe both of those together, you know, compared to like, mayaybe five or ten years ago. Yeah. I would say, I mean, the rules are always constantly changing, right? You know, we'll be thrown. a rules package change. We could be throwing that today to figured out for this coming race in Phoenix, right? They try to give us a heads up, but like for more safety reasons They will implement a change if they see need fit, right you know immediately But you know, things evolve. So like the roulles and stuff, you know, I think the biggest one coming out of last year to this year is probably like the way that the championship format is now So for the last ten years, We've had a playoff system very similar to other sports We'd had the last ten races of the season Championship contending field was set. right? You had your top sixteen guys and those top sixteen would go for race for ten races. Every three races, four drivers would get eliminated And then once you got to the last race, your final four was there. There was a lot of controversy with that because you had your playoff points and then you had regular season points. So I was you know, let's call it eighth in the playoff standings Th regular season points, I was twelfth And so it got it got confusing for a lot of people. So fast forward to this year and where we're at now. they've kind of revamped it and gone back to somewhat of an older format, the Chase where again, it's the last ten races. Top sixteen in points is your field sounds very similar You had guys that were twenty fifth twentieth to twenty fifth in points in prior years they would win and get into the playoffs Okay Now Does't matter how many wins you have you have to be Top sixteen and points. There is no more win in you're locked in. So It's a little bit easier to understand. And so that's probably the biggest rule change and that's that's very base level, you know, that that I touched on it there. And so a lot of people are on the fence about it. you know, and I get asked It's been the hot topic since we are, you know, just starting our season off. They're like, You know, what do you think about it? I've always been on the quiet side. because I look at it as I am hired to go out and race thirty eight times out of the year Whatever format it may be. I have a job to do, right? And I knew that going into it. So who am I to have an opinion on well, I don't think it's fair when A B or C driver wins and I don't like know, they they won they beat me and I got to be better. That was always my take on it. Yeah, thats I feel like rule change grumbling is more popular with fans because because of like Like you let's say you're, you know, let's say you're you're a legacy fan family and you've been coming races with your grandpa, you probably don't want things to change because It reminds you a little less of what it was like being ten years old, right one hundred percent. Yeah Like as a NASCAR fan, I always feel like I'm explaining to other like blue state lefties who live in New York or LA. and they're like, whyy do you like NASCAR? Isn't it at all? you know, and then they fill in their stereotypes and I spend a lot of time going, no, I mean, okay, some of the stereotypes are not untrue But a lot of what you said is also not true Um, and I fight that battle a little bit or at least I did until kind of, you know twenty twenty And your role in being about this stuff. and I had a lot more friends reach out to me and say, o, okay I see what you were talking about in terms of inclusion in the sport and why you've always felt that it was inclusive. you've been to races Despite what it might look like So I just think it's amazing that we're seeing this now, right Eespecially because NASCAR has a cultural lineage that I think it's fair to say, it comes from the deep segregated South Some of its first races happened in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia And fans would bring the Confederate flag because many of the white fans back in the day saw it as an expression of their regional identity, and some still do today. And even though NASCAR never officially adopted it, it did become you know, a culturally acceptable thing for the flag to be there. I've certainly seen it myself. There's been this back and forth controversy about the presence of the Confederate flag for decades. But the point is nobody really did anything about it until you. You know, there was no enforcement to ban the flag You stood up in twenty twenty after the murder of George Floyd. Yeah. You wore a Black Lives Matter shirt, had it painted on the side of your car. Y. It was very inspiring to people like me to see this Part of the campaign to end the waving of Confederate flags at races was with you. C you Walk me through that particular moment in time And at what point you really decided to take on that level of institutional change? Yeah, so that was, you know What a man. it's crazy that twenty twenty was already six years agoge know. It's right and We all of us are at such a vulnerable place, you know going through COVID, like That was my first pandemic like this is legit do not go outside like this is horror movie stuff, right? You know twentyw eight days later, type stuff, you know? Yeah yeah. And and it's like, Okay. And so then you see all this stuff going on U social injustice and all this and it's just like, man, like What's happening to the world we live in, the countryve we live in and I felt a role because You know, ever since I've been in this sport, I'm always asked You know, the black driver this, the black driver that I just recently deleted in the last couple years. because it it since twenty twenty The whole perception of Bubble Wallace changed we'll call it glass half full, glass half empty fifty fifty fifty percent people don't like me now percent support me hundred percent, right and It took me so long to you know, accept that because prior to that it was maybe seventy five percent people like me or eighty percent people like me And when I stood up for what I thought was right and I still believe that it was right, no one's going to change my opinion on that It just kind of colors of people kind of came about, you know, even close, you know, friends of mine, family, you know, they were just like, what what's happening here? And it's just like I'm hum That's what's happening, right And so yeah, I felt a responsibility and going back ever since, you know, thrown into the spotlight. it's the black driver, this, black driver, that. And what I talkking about deleting was a tweet that I had I remember doing an interview. This was twenty sixteen twenty seventeen And the headlines said driver Hven' any y And not not in derogatory way, but it just labeled me as a black driver All my eighty percent fans that like me were all that all just like Why is it always the black driver? Like he's just buuba. And I'm like, I agree. Yeah. So my my my tweet was, hey guys I'm the only one top level That's basically what the media needs to write about to get their views. like you're not going to stop hearing the black driver. likeike I'm okay with it You should be okay with it too. Yes Im tired of hearing it. I hear you, I'm with you, but it's okay and people loved it twenty twenty, all that stuff happened See, lookook, Bubba is a racist himself. All he cares about is his skin color and he labels himself as a black driver and it's like Holy shit, that's what I was saying at all This tweet was from at this time three or four years ago saying like, he Bear with us It's going to be a long time before you stop hearing about it You know And it's okay And so but and it was okay and I continuue to see that it just caused more more chaos and turmoil than it was just like trying to let people be at peace with it. So I removed it because I was tired of defending myself. And yeah, I I wore the Black Lives Matter because I am biracial A lot of people think that You know, I only care about my black side. And I don't care about my white side. I couldn't be anyy further from the truth. I've gone through a lot of shit in my life, you know, parents getting divorced That was probably the hardest thing I've gone through. And I've always tried to remain middle of the road on on All of that And I've always tried to just be a good human That's how I am with my race, right? Like yes, I am fifty and fifty. Yeah. And so you're not going to see me lean into one other side more so than other and and disrespect one side more, you know, than another. like no I love who I am. I love my parents and Don't realize that You know, I do have a little bit more skin tone than Let's say Ryan Blaney, you know I didn't mean to pick probably the whitest dude in the garage, but it just so his mustache makes up for it. Yeah, yeah, yeah You know, we are labeled first as a black driver You know media is not saying the biracial kid saying that they're they're Yeah, you know, and it's like That would help, maybe, but that's just That's just how the world is. I mean, I don't even know if that I feel like that context would if somebody's obsessed is like obsessed with your identity, they're always going be obsessed with your identity. The things that I found more impressive about the departure from that is like we live in a world where people don't really talk to each other anymore if they disagree about something Like I always say like I love, you know, I love getting like four beers with my very conservative friends and just talking because nobody does that.. I should not have seven beers with them because that's when he's so fuckking But you like I was I think I and a lot of people are very impressed that like, you know, in a world where people don't talk to each other You called for NACR to ban the Confederate flag. NASCAR agreed. Like what were what were those private conversations? Yeah, I mean it was, you know, that that wasn't even a private conversation. That was or business that I did Rather. Yeah yeah, know, and I'm saying like that wasn't I just, if you don't know me And a lot of people that probably listen to your podcast don't know me. I don't really hold back, you know, if if it's the right day and it's the right temperature outside and you ask me the right question, you're going to get an answer And that just, you know, I seen a lot of tweets afterfter the George Floyd stuff where I stood up for what I believed in and on the African American side, the Afric American community was like, yeah, I don't know if I'll ever be a part of NASCAR because You know, we ride by the rac trracks and there's Confederate flags. You see it in all the videos, you know, they they represent it and That's something that that hurts us. That that brings a lot of hurt and pain to our ancestors. Yeah And I'm like You know, I've never pid attention to that. Go back to what we talked about earlier the history Never, never Hundreds of of Cfederate flags in the gach. I did not pay attention to it You know, that's not me being politically correct I Didn't give a damn No that I mean, that's fascinating for for fans who maybe did know the history because NASCAR was founded by Bill France who supported Governor Wallace who was pro Jim Crow. So if you don't if you know the history of the sport, you've never been to a race and you're seeing Confederate flags when you drive by, I can definitely understand why they might be like, mrter Wallace, what what's the deal? Yeah. Right And so I was asked, you know, an interview and I was like, you know, I think a good move to continue to move the needle for our sport We talk about how do we change the demographic? I've been asked that question for so many years and that seemed like low hanging fruit. It's like, hey, We have a whole demographic here that eager to come out to a race a symbol A flag is keeping them back u a symbol of hatred and We're going to go, you know, to the end of time arguing that it's heritage over hate You have to put yourself in everybody else's shoes I have no problem doing that. But some people don't. and they hang on to the heritage. And it's tough because you know, You can't please everybody But I thought that was a massive moment for us in our sport to officially get rid of it. And what's crazy is Dale Jr. called for years prior Yeah. That was not a big deal when he asked for it Fanatics Fest NYC return to the Javbit Center july sixteenth through the nineteenth for the biggest sports event weekend of the summer. S stars like LeBron James, Tom Brady, Araron Judge, John Cena,haylen Brunson, Serena Williams, and hundreds more. featuring more than five hundred athletes and celebrities, live shows. Eclusive merch, rare collectibles, Satics games with two million dollars in prizes, A full tailgate zone, and New York City's largest indoor FIA World Cup fininal watchatch party. Fanaticsfest is the world's number one spports fan festival. Get your tickets now at fanaticsfest dot com That's fanaticsfest dot com d The World Cup is underway and it's been incredible. On our podcast, The Aay End with Anieil Alacon and John Green, we're talking the games that have delighted us, the teams that have inspired us, what we're loving and what surprised us, all through the lens of being massive fans of the world's most beautiful game Daniel, this tournament has been magical so far. The expanded field of teams has created some incredible matchups that have already made this World Cup one to remember. And now things get even more exciting with the intensity of the knockout rounds as the field is whittled down to one World Cup champion on july nineteenth When you say like that, I get a pain in my heart that the tournament is over. But there's a lot of soccer yet to go. And if the first few games of the round thirty two are any indication, anything is possible in the lead up to the final We've got it covered from an ultrra' perspective here on the away end So listen to the Aaynd with Daniel Ekon and John Green on the IHart Radiopp, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts I think you're right I think the majority of people listening would not have had exposure to NASCAR before. And so even just hearing this would floor A lot of people what do you mean even the heritage overhate you know conversation that they might not even be exposed to. Like I can say as a fan of the sport Even when the flag was there, it was very surreal because if you grew up outside of New York City To me, the most racist place I've ever lived was Los Angeles Part of that's probably because I was just one of the few people of color in the film industry twenty years ago. R. There hasn't been a more welcome place. let me rephrase that. The top ten most welcome places I would put a NASCAR track in that list. Yeah in terms of what it feels like. But then you the visual dichotomy of that is not at all Right? If I took a picture of this place that I feel welcome Yeah, ye, it'd be like. there's no way Yeah that you Yeah. So I feel like you you're you're you're right about and I you know, Dale obviously was right about if these symbols are are restricting people from from this is it's a It's got to go One thing I want to ask you about is this lawsuit that you and your team just came out of with NASCAR. So Back in twenty twenty four, your team twenty three eleven Racing, which is owned by Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and Curtis Poke. and another team from Rotors sports filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, which is, of course, owned by the original France family And the lawsit accused NASCR of a couple of things, maintaining a monopoly over premiere stock car racing and abusing that power Using a non transparent revenue sharing model that kept teams dependent and unprofitable retaliating against twenty three eleven and front row motorsports for refusing to sign an agreement between the teams and NASCAR called the new charter deal Now this lawsuit was a huge deal because it was the first serious challenge to the France family's control over NASCAR and it put them at risk of losing Hundreds of millions of dollars I texted you after the verdict or after the settlement because I knew like I know I can't text you in the middle being like, I hope you guys win Like you because then you can't even like heart that text You're like not a lot, right. But so for people who don't know, what can you tell us about that Yeahes. so It's funny now, like Every time we were asked this throughout the season last year, ourPR people were just like Don't say a wor'd Rightfully so because whatever we could say could, you know uh, you know, damage our reputation and whatnot and hurt our chances in court U And so man, it was so easy for me to not give a damn about it againgain, goes back to If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. if it's going to happen, it's going to happen Do doesnn't Okay, I'll go find a new job. Okay. And so I don't know all of the details because again, I did not give a d Yes, it affected my livelihood. How can someone not Give a damn if it aects I don't. That's that's how I am. I am programmed. It's weird.'m I'm a one of one. I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm actually very jealous of this trait that you have Um, but they They being MJ and Curtis Polk And and Denny Hammon They seen things that the sport continue to do that I would say that didn't allow growth and They want to change. They want to change when they came into the sport And it was time for new charter agreements. and They seen an opportunity to create said change And they were going to do whatever it takes to get that change And if it meant suing the sanctioning body, then so be it. But they're going to stand up everythingverything on the line. for their people. partners and the other teams, right? I mean, it's crazy to think that You know two of us twenty three eleven and front row motorsports. We're the only two teams to stand up to NASCAR And the other teams were just like Hey, we don't want to be a part of this We love where everything's at And then when when the settlement happened, They're like, Ohh man, this is great. It's like, you know, y ought' and do That's always it is Yeah. Right. Yeahah, you know, thanks for the handout And so going back to team started