How Kyle Busch Is Responsible for the New ‘Candid’ Style of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Popular Show

During his NASCAR career, Dale Earnhardt Jr won the most popular driver award for 15 seasons in a row. But after his retirement in 2017, many assumed his popularity would come down. And you can’t blame them for that assumption.

Athletes usually fade away from stardom after retirement.

But Dale Jr isn’t just any athlete. He’s a legend, a Hall of Famer and on top of that, he has an incredible amount of love and passion for the sport, from which he cannot keep himself away.

You need to look no further than his podcast, something which has grown exponentially over the past few years.

But it wasn’t something the JR Motorsports owner planned on investing his time in when he started in 2012. In fact, he didn’t want to be a part of it, something which sounds pretty weird today considering just how big a part Dale Jr is of the podcast.

“I never even wanted to podcast,” Earnhardt said.

So what changed?

A candid conversation with Kyle Busch shaped Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast format

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who didn’t even begin hosting until 2017, left the podcast to Mike Davis. But slowly, the pull of the podcast started to get to the former Hendrick driver.

From sending in audio clips to race reactions, to eventually hosting from 2017, Earnhardt was warming up to the show.

But it was one conversation, in particular, that had a big impact on the show’s current, much-loved format in which the host and the guest talk candidly, without any filters about everything ranging from professional things, to deeply personal things.

Anyway, the game-changing episode in the subject is Kyle Busch’s appearance in 2020.

“Dale wanted to do a show where we called random people who wrecked him over the years, but we realized there really wasn’t that many people, but there was Kyle at Richmond,” Mike Davis said.

“That episode was like therapy, and Dale realized that he really enjoyed the longform style of interview. It’s not even an interview; it’s a conversation, really.”

Today, the Dale Jr. podcast is an extremely entertaining, insightful, and simply fun address for any NASCAR fan.

But more importantly, it is a venue for its host and guests to share and express their love for NASCAR and life beyond stock cars.

Also Read: “Dale Earnhardgainz” – Fans Have Fun Teasing Dale Earnhardt Jr for His Questionable Weightlifting Tactics