The Dale Jr Download podcast is frequented by a lot of NASCAR legends and insiders. This is what makes Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast such a big hit among fans because he brings to people what anyone else rarely does.

In the season finale, Dale Jr and his co-host Mike Davis sat down with former CEO of NASCAR, Brian France. Davis asked France, “In 2007 through 2009, the sport sort of started hitting some situations that I think were mostly contributed to the fact that we had a recession! An economic recession, right?

“So now you have teams that are struggling… Basically our foundation that we took for granted all that time is starting to have a little bit of crackage. So you know when that happens, people start looking for who to blame.”

France replied, “Sure, sure. That’s part of it. And I was one that you know…. Look you gotta take criticism. If it wasn’t going that for me, you know, he doesn’t do that well or he’s not engaged in this part of the business. To me, you’re always gonna get that when things go poorly. Even when things going well. “Well he didn’t look after me, or he didn’t get that right.”

He further explained, “So you just gotta know, you know Jim’s getting it now. Almost all of it’s unfair. You’d expect a guy like me to say it’s unfair. I don’t care about any of that. All I wanna do when it’s me running it, is to get us to a place, to a better place. So I don’t focus on any of that. Other people do.”

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A highly experienced Brian France shows how tough it is to run an organization like NASCAR given the large number of people involved, and each person has their own personality and expectations.

Brian delves into the insides of NASCAR

Brian followed his father and grandfather into the CEO position at NASCAR. He served for 15 years before retiring. Knowing the intricate and hidden details of what happens in NASCAR.

He spoke about Mike Helton, the man he replaced at the helm of things. “And by the way, Mike Helton who does go to every event, or most of them, and he loves that… he’s really good at it. You don’t need four Mike Heltons walking around. Mike Helton is Mike Helton.”

‘I say to people you don’t have to have a lot in common with somebody you’re working with. I said take Mike. He lives on a farm, I would never live on a farm. Mike wears cowboy boots, I don’t wear cowboy boots. He goes hunting, I don’t go hunting. Mike and I are really close. I have a huge amount of respect for Mike Helton. We have very little in common in those kind of things.’

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While Brian served as CEO for 15 years, Mike only got 3 years at the top. His description and respect for Mike speak a lot about the person; something fans might not know too much about.