The Down & Dirty Radio Show

This wasn’t so much a chronological interview, as it was just Ronnie Thomas telling stories. Ronnie discusses his father Jabe's influence on his career, and their early disagreements over just how far and how fast Ronnie could go on the money they had available. Despite a distinct lack of funding, Ronnie won the 1978 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Award. In our second segment, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid dig into the August 17, 1978 issue of Grand National Scene, which featured Steve's cover story on Ronnie Thomas and reports that Lennie Pond was about to be replaced by Darrell Waltrip; Junior Johnson was angry with NASCAR over the finish of the Talladega race AND lawsuits between Harry Hyde and J.D. Stacy.

Chris Medland, my colleague at RACER.com who covers Formula 1, joins the podcast to discuss all the latest news and notes from overseas. Medland explains how F1 in Miami came to be; what has happened to Ferrari’s performance over the last year; how much teams try to get away with in F1; where the Haas team stands and their plans moving forward; a discussion on Nikita Mazapin; how the coronavirus pandemic has affected F1, its teams, and media; Mercedes versus Red Bull and Hamilton versus Verstappen; the accuracy of the Netflix series; teams wanting to participate; how the series has translated to a new audience; a little bit on who Chris is and how he got to where he is in racing. Music created by Tony Monge.

Jim Beaver has a loaded show this week with action sports legend Levi LaVallee, Supercross riders Dean Wilson and Chase Sexton, and Baja winner and Dakar racer Kristen Matlock. Be sure and follow @Jimbeaver15 on social media and subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

We’ll share the third and final installment of our interview with Michael McSwain … and if you thought the first two parts were something … you ain’t seen nothing yet. Michael talks about an incident between Ricky Rudd and a Robert Yates Racing employee that left Ricky with a pretty nasty black eye. He talks about his reasons for leaving Robert Yates Racing to go work for Joe Gibbs Racing as crew chief for Bobby Labonte. Finally … Michael rejoined Ricky Rudd at Wood Brothers Racing, where Michael stayed until his decision to get out of the sport in 2007. At the end of the conversation, Michael shared some pretty raw feelings about no longer being in the sport … and the conversation turned very personal. In our second segment, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid tackle the April 27, 2000 issue of Winston Cup Scene, which featured a package of stories on several up-and-coming crew chiefs at the time, with Michael McSwain right there on the cover. There's also a feature on Mark Martin’s dominance in the Busch Series, in what was going to be his last year in the division.

James Davison was confronted with the decision of returning to the Indianapolis 500 or running more NASCAR races, and he says his heart is in NASCAR. Davison explains what has hooked him; comparing the feeling of driving an IndyCar versus a stock car; his reaction to the first time being behind the wheel of a stock car; how much his IndyCar prospects played into his decision; how Davison came to NASCAR in the first place; his racing background and how he came to the United States; why he went the open-wheel route over NASCAR at the start of his career; the influence of his parents on his racing career, and how they feel about him in NASCAR; the funding difference between IndyCar and NASCAR; what Davison is enjoying learning about NASCAR on and off the track; how he knows he’s put in a good day or learned something; tracks he feels most comfortable already and the ones he’s looking forward to; what Davison’s long-term NASCAR plans are. Music created by Tony Monge.

Michelle Martinelli from USA/For The Win drops by to share details on “The Sneak” podcast that digs into the disappearance of Mario Rossi. How did this story come on their radar? Who was Mario Rossi? What went into the original reporting; how much convincing the Rossi family needed to get involved; the many theories surrounding his disappearance; when the Rossi family became suspicious; drug smuggling comes to NASCAR angle; if there is a conclusion to their investigation; recognizable names who contributed to the project; information on how to listen; who Michelle is and how to follow her and her work. Music created by Tony Monge.

Jim Beaver has his good friend and NHRA legend Antron brown on the show this week. Tiffany Stone also calls in to talk some off-road, and Jim breaks down some news from San Felipe, IndyCar and NHRA.

In this week's episode, we share the second installment of our interview with Michael McSwain. He talks about working for Cale Yarborough, joining Ricky Rudd in his last year as a team owner and then going with Ricky to Robert Yates Racing, where the kid from Lattimore, North Carolina won his first Winston Cup race. Just a few months later at Richmond, McSwain was about ready to burn the whole place down for a few minutes. In our second segment, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid thumb through the June 21, 2001 issue of Winston Cup Scene, which featured coverage of Ricky and Michael's Pocono win, Kevin Harvick’s double-duty weekend flying back and forth between Pocono and the Busch Series race in Kentucky and the mild-mannered Hank Parker Jr. running into Randy LaJoie after the Kentucky event. Also ... Junior Johnson makes a run at purchasing North Wilkesboro Speedway.

The voice of the World of Outlaws, Johnny Gibson, is always on the road going from town to town, and he explains why it’s easier just to have a motorhome. Gibson also shares what he does to stay busy between races; his propensity to take notes; how being prepared and in the right place led to his break with WoO; why his native Pennsylvania is a hotbed of dirt racing; what got him on sprint car racing; when Gibson embraced racing as a career and what he initially wanted to do in life; how much thought he put into his announcer’s voice; memories of his first night on the job; thinking about 25 years on the job and over 2,000 races attended; taking care of his voice through the season; putting dirt back on Bristol; keeping track of drivers through numbers or paint schemes; inside the broadcast booth of what he’s following and his tools, and the art of delivering quick play-by-play; the birth of his famous saying during the parade lap and thoughts on others paying homage with their versions; other series that have tried to hire him and his lack of interest in other forms of racing; trends early in the WoO season and discussions on David Gravel and Kasey Kahne; drivers who are fun to watch in WoO and the access difference from NASCAR; upcoming events Gibson is looking forward to. Music created by Tony Monge.

This week, Michael "Fatback" McSwain talks about the origin of his nickname, padding his resume a little bit when he first got into Winston Cup, the influence of Robert Gee and Harry Hyde on his career, trying to make ends meet with team owner Richard Jackson, an INCREDIBLE third-place finish with Morgan Shepherd at Atlanta and how standing up for himself and his beliefs was one of his greatest strengths … and maybe, one of his greatest weaknesses. Then, in our second segment, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid tackle the March 13, 1997 issue of Winston Cup Scene. That paper carried coverage of Dale Jarrett's dominant win at Atlanta, a third-place finish by Morgan Shepherd and McSwain and a horrifying crash involving Steve Grissom.

Mike Joy of NASCAR on Fox goes from the broadcast booth to interviewee this week. Joy joins the show to touch on a variety of topics like keeping track of things in the booth; knowing the moments when his words and calls have to be right; how he sets up calling the finishes of races; lessons from Barney Hall, Ken Squier, and Ned Jarrett; how the relationship between the garage and the booth has changed over the years; Joy’s approach to getting close to people in the garage; where his love of Formula 1 and sports cars came from; a big car guy, what is sitting in his driveway/garage; if Joy approached calling iRacing differently and more lighthearted; thoughts on writing a book; if there are sports Joy hasn’t called; moments or drivers that he’s grateful to have covered or watched. Music created by Tony Monge.

Jim Beaver recaps his recent travels, Sean Brennen from Supercross calls in, Fistful of Bourbon ambassador Anthony Bohlinger calls is about their Spokesfist promotion, and Chris Leone is on with the latest motorsports news.

We share the third and final installment of our interview with Humpy Wheeler, and this week, he talks about a 1983 confrontation that he had with Tim Richmond. And speaking of confrontations, Humpy absolutely LOVED it when drivers were mad at each other, because it was one more tool in his tool box that he used to help sell tickets. Humpy also talks about a spur-of-the-moment pitch to run The Winston under the lights at Charlotte, NASCAR’s expansion across the country and the impact it had on tracks like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham and … finally … the movie Cars! In our second segment, we go back to the May 25, 1982 issue of Grand National Scene, which featured a MASSIVE feature on Humpy by the legendary Tom Higgins, as well as stories on a very young Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin, former driver Earl Brooks and a “bleep” year for Buddy Baker.

Sunday was a little less dramatic than racing fans had hoped with the postponement of NASCAR's dirt racing experiment at Bristol, but a late-breaking Motorsports Drop has your Truck Series winner before the Cup race goes green, as well as results from the Bahrain Grand Prix that opened the 2021 F1 season.

Samantha Busch can add published author to her resume as her book “Fighting Infertility” is a day away from being released (March 30). In our conversation, Busch explains why writing a book was the next step of continuing to share the struggles of her and Kyle Busch to conceive a second child; what details are shared about how it has affected their marriage; the reaction to Kyle Busch mentioning Samantha and their issues in his 2019 championship speech; the emotional process of writing a book and one of this nature; the journey of building herself back up through the heartbreak; the importance of sharing practical advice in the book for other women; how Brexton feels about a sibling; how the latest transfer went; the need to be busy with projects; the latest on the Bundle of Joy Fund and getting joy from that; the dynamic of working on projects with Kyle; what Samantha gets out of an active website for different topics; going to racetracks with Brexton and how his racing is progressing; what Kyle has learned through the IVF process and being there for Samantha; who and why people should read the book. Music created by Tony Monge. Wear the moment with BreakingT and connect to the players and teams you love by commemorating the best moments with real-time apparel. To check out their racing collection, visit www.breakingt.com/Kelly.