Joe Rogan Experience #1196 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. Transcript

Transcript

0:00 four three two Yeah. But it's also a giant time waster. That's the thing. Yeah, fighter and bullfighting and bull riding, those type of things. Right. Oh, they're everywhere and they're all crazy. I mean, they're throwbacks. You're hurling down the road at extreme speeds right next to other cars doing the same thing. Just the intensity and just everything being on nine at all times.

3:16 drivers, the race, my father, the personalities. And I just wanted to do it real badly, but I knew that the odds of making it are tough. So there's I was working at my dad's dealership changing oil. and uh I pulled out he's you know i got there he's like you're corner and I'm like how's it gonna stick you know how's the car gonna how's the car not gonna fly

6:21 and tight that nothing's going to make it. It just goes around there like it's Well, it's, you know, six, eight inches off the ground, these big old inflated tires and big Driving a car. And I mean, flipping. And when I flipped for the first time and our, you know, So you felt calm while it was flipping oh yeah i always well i've seen cars flip right i've seen

9:08 You know what I'm saying? wall of grass up against the side of the car and then against the roof and then against that side. They can't pull it. and so ever since then I've like you know now I know like anytime I'm in a crash you got to have Yeah. I would imagine. How'd you flip when you were on Christmas? My dad's there. And in the middle of the flipping i remember

12:43 The tires were broken and busted I called my dad, and I was like, Dad, I was like, man, I flipped my truck. I called dad, and I'm like, man, he's going to be mad. And as soon as he pulls up, a state trooper pulls up. Everything's cool. town. You know, he was a rough, strict, tough, tough dude. And so I thought I was going to get oh, I've been here before. Yes. Yeah. And there's nothing in the race car. It's, it's not as bad as

15:51 I do because compared to the way, seven point harness. real easy actually you know just kind of chill does it get all your fast driving out of the way? I don't, I calmed down on the road. And it's all rough as hell on the outside. I love the 70s and the style of the cars in the 70s, I love that thing, man. See, those cars don't get as much love as the 60s muscle cars well we'll get there i think

19:24 I don't know about that Like, whoa, people would stop and stare at it. which was a terrible investment but um it makes sense for me because it you know because it was But the engine blew out on it. I got a 71. They're both amazing years. like a smaller. Yeah. Yeah, like that right My dad raced a Nova. buddy for five grand and I'm, it's in, it's, it's pretty bad shape, but I'm gonna, that's my next

22:32 Forever. No one can explain it to you, especially the kid part. through the experience. When you go through that experience, you're like, damn, they were right. Yeah, I can't wait for that. What kind of voice is she going to have, and what is she going to like, and what is she going to want me to do with her, and those kind of things. I ain't going to go hunting this year.

24:37 But I knew he was probably interested in probably buying some land and us managing it together property specifically for whitetail hunting yeah Yeah. Yeah. So we have about Oh. Yeah. know, on the deer. Where are we going to go tomorrow morning? hunted before who isn't in a hunting sit in a stand yeah i can't get my wife to go i wanted amy to go she's she knows

28:06 something that's peaceful and quiet and out in nature would be very important to kind of balance And, you know, it's just – and sitting in the woods is peaceful. Yeah. wow, I needed a little bit of this. When that passes you, you realize how fast 215 really is. that any dummy like me, I could just go to, if I have the cash, yeah yeah i don't necessarily think i wouldn't be surprised though that one day it may be you

31:24 think there's anything wrong with that. And it's not necessarily, you were going to buy something like that or get in the car like that, you would need some kind of Especially the Vipers. Oh, yeah. Yeah. been in my family since it was brand new. And I've fixed it up. I like a driver. because it had an old vacuum in it, and it just didn't work. There was a, there was a pin. There was a point in time where I was just kind of like, that's cool.

36:45 I've got a buddy of mine that actually helps me work on these cars. Yeah. But I just don't want to spend the money on a Nomad chassis and body. Like a 55, 56, 57. Pull up like a 55 Nomad. When you look at the muscle cars of, like, the 1960s, and then you go to something like this, like, that's a whole different world. When I was in high school, there was a man in the neighborhood when I was a kid that had a 55 Chevy,

39:58 kind of been my car but i went from the regular you know sedan to the wagon i think that no that It's a man shop. One of the things that was surprising that i had heard was your your experience with You never thought about getting treatment. at a very, very fast rate of speed. So we went over to this place to get some lunch, and we're sitting there,

43:29 And as I was getting up to leave, my wife come walking in. This is worse than I've ever felt anything, but hopefully it's going to go away. But in my mind, I wasn't thinking doctor. this is bad I can't you know I can't even you know I can't keep crashing like this. Just putting these concussions so close together is a bad deal. And that was just not like me.

46:01 I went to this neurosurgeon in Charlotte, Dr. Petty. He's like, I want you to meet this guy in Pittsburgh. His name's Mickey Collins. He works with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Penguins. He sees about 25 people a day. I crashed. The first injury, you bruised this right front I feel sick again. And he was like, well, these are two different injuries of two different parts of your brain. The first injury, you, you bruised this, uh, right front

47:47 And so he took an injury that I hid and took four weeks to heal picture and you held up a camera and i tried to look at the lens and smile my eyes would want to you know, I'll say, this is what I was feeling. This is what I did. And Mickey will come in behind Well, so he gave me physical exercises to do. ton of motion with my head, um, lifting heavy balls up and, uh, passing them over my shoulder

51:50 And there was this eye chart on the wall, and it had all these letters and all these numbers on it. Two, three. And it's just firing up these parts of your brain and exercising them? two steps back and doing, it would be, it'd be difficult for you. Um, you um uh so but for an injured person it's super difficult therapy. Did you change your diet or anything like that? Because they say

54:28 My doctor didn't say start eating this stuff, but it was just, you know. significant injuries to the brain, a lot of fighters take it like right after fights. Just general social situations? No. It was more about, like, am I going to be accepted? pretty good yeah kind of keeps you calm and yeah yeahhmm. Yeah. Yeah. So, but I've never tried the, I've read about, when I was reading about ashwagandha is when

57:14 There's some muscle balms that work really good on sore joints and stuff. They chill you out, but they don't get you high or anything. I'm like, I don't think it does, man. He texted me the other day. I mean, he wants to endorse it, which is hilarious. No, yeah. Yeah, I think I read where they're, started giving his kid CBD oil and it stopped the epilepsy in the tracks. Yeah.

59:12 To help, Yeah. you? Did you do any cryotherapy or anything like that that also would reduce information? So with all these crazy exercises you're doing, when did you feel like it had settled in? I mean, I don't know if it affected me right away. And they align that up against that and say, okay, yeah, you're deficient here. your body but you don't you don't it. Like if you have a broken arm,

1:02:39 And I would crash on Sunday and I'd write in the journal on Sunday night, Monday morning, Monday at lunch, Monday at night, you know, every three times a day, every day until whenever I felt good, which is usually either Wednesday or Thursday of that week. write these notes. Right. And so I kept doing this and I thought I was treating myself and And I was like, you're right.

1:04:24 And I had to stay out the But it just made me real chill, And he gave me a lot more physical therapy, basketball, movements, anything that got my go to 2d and back to 3d and my eyes would literally try it would felt like it's trying trying to do something together. And would walk so if I I've got It would make it to where when I walk, I don't, you know,

1:08:01 instead of trying to document it myself and hide it and manage it myself and I didn't want to go back through that whole process again with Mickey in Pittsburgh, as my wedding was on New Year's, and I want to be able to remember you know I uh absolutely over the last five years it's years, it's been hard for me to turn my back on articles, stories about NFL players and their history.

1:11:09 I don't know whether he was a hockey player or a football player, I don't. racing and racing's dangerous. Uh, you got to make up your mind, whether you want to go out there and Am I going to sit here and worry about that at 44 all the way through my 50s and my 60s and 70s and then one day wake up at 80 and go, damn, I lived a pretty good life. that there'll be something there for me, that there'll be something there to give me a good

1:14:03 All I want to be able to do is just be a good father and be a good husband. of people understand it. And the more we talk about this, the more this gets out there in the public, I'm just saying that whenever you are hurt, wherever, if you ever do find yourself with an I had one and I'm dealing with it all the time. And when you think about the fact that 2012, you had an injury and they treated you one way.

1:16:36 that he did wonders for Mel Gibson's dad. And so Mel Gibson came on and wanted to talk about this. They've figured out a way to do that now. And I'm hopeful that there are a lot of drivers that have experienced what I've experienced and crashed the way I've crashed. talking about me, and that's why they're there. and realizing this is a significant issue.

1:19:09 you know, and there's a lot getting learned right now. Well, there's just so many people that are silently suffering that don't want to open their mouth because they don't want to appear Yeah, sure. And so I ran in a race at Richmond to scratch the itch a little bit and had a blast we You know, you just – it's too elite. Khabib's just a monster. Yeah.

1:21:53 Well, so our sport, I was talking about this with a friend today, Six months? and badass today is going to be okay and not very good six months from now. and your body is the tool. this needs to be back on and off and on and there's you know levers there's brake levers some drivers I mean, you can have as many as you want or as little as you want. Some guys really think that that stuff's a good tool for them to be able to adjust the brakes

1:24:54 Yeah. Vitamins? A lot of Gatorade-oriented stuff. Yeah. all of the guys' cars were 150 degrees inside all the drivers. And it was miserable. but it is coming and we need to, to allow air into the car, but that, that's going to hurt. Slows it down? Well, yeah, it's going to That's crazy. when the college comes out and you have to come in and change tires and you're sitting there and

1:28:48 So there's some innovative stuff out there. Not make you comfortable. Yeah. I didn't think I was going to get to do that. And so when I made it, I didn't really, I wanted to win, but damn, I just wanted to be able to make money to afford to do it for a living. you just truly loved racing and that's why you became so great at it. Yeah. My dad's, uh, the link to my

1:32:17 wish i'd have known a little bit about trying to build my brand and i wouldn't have been such a this person, driving this car, got this sponsorship. Everything was the best of the best. us normal people, where everybody's happy to meet you. like you're a hot chick I mean, hot chicks don't have any idea what the world's like. Yeah. How much did you learn about racing from your dad?

1:35:08 and ever since and uh say look what this guy made of himself having quit the eighth grade this corner this is how you get around this racetrack he never talked about that stuff it because there was this one time I was probably 12 years old and there was He looked at me as, you know, I don't know what he's going to mount to. Through 94, 95, 96, 97, I raced at myrtle beach south carolina

1:38:37 He really did. As soon as he walks in want to it did not make me want to win more um but then one day so right around the end of 1997 to drive this thing who should we get we gotta hire some driver and Tony Sr. said why don't you I walked into, this is a month before the race season starts. they were like it's's true, man. Not from my own dad. Yeah.

1:42:33 So, I mean, the choice to put me in that car worked out better than he probably ever imagined. That's when his arm around me. And so 98, 99, and then 2000, I went to Cup. that must have been amazing And so, but overnight it was, like, completely changed. and got on the radio and started talking to me. And he was like, Hey man, I'm gonna tell you how

1:45:54 I know. This is the best decision today. but we had a great partner in Budweiser that was incredibly supportive. why it was like that. Um, but it took a while for me to, uh, sort of get to where I didn't. meant something completely different you know I just was he was in he was this he was this But I, you know, we just huddled together, me and my team, me and our company.

1:50:29 04 was a great year. I think we kind of finally were coming out of the funk, I couldn't be who he was. at that time, and I think I chose some good ones and certainly probably could have made for a lot of people dale you got a great perspective well thanks you really do in your