Discussing Driver Egos, "Fatback's" Fallout with Ricky Rudd & Bobby Labonte | The Dale Jr. Download
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2022
- Michael "Fatback" McSwain joined The Dale Jr. Download and dove into his fallout with Ricky Rudd. He also talks to Dale Jr. and co-host Mike Davis about when he jumped ship and headed to Joe Gibbs Racing to man the pit box for Bobby Labonte.
All was far from well though, and rising turmoil amongst the team would leave McSwain without a job. The conversation deals a lot with driver/crew chief relationships and dialogue, and McSwain offers up stories of disagreements he had with Rudd and Bobby Labonte over the years. He explains that driver attitudes over the radio during a race can affect a whole team, and when the situation reached a breaking point he felt inclined to intervene.
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An argument over a picnic. An argument over two tires or four, I could see that. A picnic.
Always invite people to a picnic or a party even if you know they can't make it. For some reason, this kind of stuff makes some people really upset.
@@scsmith4604 For real. They'd rather have the option to say no, than to have it made for them xD. Me, I couldn't care either way. But some egos are strange.
@@hellbr3nt110 who would you rather have driving your car Earnhardt or Rudd LoL? If Rudd was bothered by that oh well. I think it worked out well.
People can be Petty sometimes
@@lewisgriffin9684 I like that you capitalized "petty," since it's a NASCAR conversation 🤣👍🏻
Fatback sounds like the kinda guy that, even if you sucked at carrying a tire, you'd still give him 110% every time because you know he's got your back. That's the person you want on the top of the box.
Fatback is a legend ….
I can listen to Fatback for hours. What a gentleman.
Guy is priceless
@@peterkinsel7411 Go do some driver s*!t, lol....
Absolutely! I wished Fatback would start a radio podcast
It still blows my mind to this day to see how Bobby was 6th in points exactly halfway through the season, Fatback leaves and Bobby didn't have another top 10 until 16 races later that year. He was my driver, but that was rough
And after Fatback left, he collasped
@@happyjohn8256 That he was..and the sad part is, so was Labonte. What could have been.
Sounds to me like someone at Gibbs needed to be a real owner/boss.
Labonte never won another race after Fatback left,he basically grenaded his career because his feelings got hurt.
Two sides to every story. Who knows what all Labonte would have to say to all Fatback said.
This is why we really need a Part 2 interview with Ricky some day, to help answer a lot of questions surrounding the Yates years between him and Fatback. I have always been fascinated by the 2000-2002 RYR team since there seemed to be a lot of very interesting dynamics going on between the #88 and #28 teams. Fatback's retelling of some stories from that era, for me only revealed more questions and mystery.
i remember there being a LOT of friction going on between the 28 and the 88. Yates seemed to be putting ALL the funding behind Jarret since he had the more lucrative UPS sponsor. What pissed me off being a hardcore Rudd fan was 01 was Rudds year he was leading at the end of several races but got caught up in wrecks or mechanical failures doomed that season. i would love to see a part 2 and find out what really happened.
Yeah I was always under the impression that Yates wanted to bring Sadler in and was trying to run Ricky out but it sounds like it was Ricky's decision. Would like a part 2 as well to clear up some questions.
@@americanbadass88 Biggest issue Rudd and RYR had in 2001 was NASCAR outlawed bump stops midway through the year and the cars just weren't the same after that. Likely handed the title to Gordon.
@@chrisrobinson4221 I feel like Ricky got the shaft so many times. First off was Wilkesboro when Bill France Jr lectured him for crashing Sr when Sr had leveled him much harder, then there was the davy allison incident at Sonoma in 91 where Ricky's win was taken away because he apun Davy, and then while racing reasonably well for Yates, they ran him out for Sadler who never achieved Ricky's success
@@americanbadass88 Ricky at the end of the day never won titles and I see lots of fans make the argument that he was a good driver but not great. I really feel like he could have won more races and a couple titles if he'd been funded. He drove for Hendrick before he owned his tide car, while there, Hendrick didn't want to put money into Ricky due to a young up and coming Gordon who was winning in a Busch car, Yates also got him inferior equipment so as to have more money for Jarretts engines. Ricky was able to win no less than one race per season for 16 seasons while running inferior equipment and fairly inconsistent from week to week aimy because he knew how to drive a race car and when he got it dialed in at a track he was good on, he was pretty tough to beat. I'm convinced Ricky could easily have won way more races and 1-2 NWC championships if he'd been well funded
Junior, I love your show. It’s great hearing the inside information with your guests. I would love to see Carl Edwards and Biffle on your show!
Great show
Carl is too classy to come on here and talk about anyone else.
@@Mechanicsville804 after what nascar done to Carl so jimmy johnson could win the championship at homestead he has nothing to do with anything nascar related.
This kind of interview is priceless. Thanks Jr. this is your destiny.
Wow that's well said and so true 👍!!! ❤️🚗 🏁 Martha in Miami : )
This is spell binding...you hang on his every word of the story! You guys do a great job especially Junebug to know when to just listen, + when to gently encourage an answer, to expand on the story - very entertaining and relates to everyone in life! ❤️Martha In Miami : )
Hearing the stories of the real working people of nascar makes it so much more interesting. If you take the corporate TV bullshit out of it, you can actually see what makes it badass.
Well, all these stories are from the distant past, so not really what “makes” it badass, more like “made”. Nascar isn’t very good anymore, too much manipulation by officials and too many gimmicks.
@@Spyke-lz2hl not to mention the clean cut rich boys that were bred and trained for nascar since in they were in the womb. made most of the old fans disconnect.
The two radio buttons. 🤣🤣🤣
I would love to see Ricky Rudd back on your show. He had such a long career, there is so much to talk about.
What an awesome enlightening interview this was. Dale you are a Master at making people comfortable to tell things they would have carried to their grave if you didn't do this amazing awesome podcast💞🤗💞🙏🏻🙏🏻 YOU'RE A GREAT ASSET TO NASCAR AND ESPECIALLY TO THE FANBASE NO MATTER WHAT DRIVER THEY PULL FOR!!! GETTING THESE PRICELESS STORIES OUT IS WORTH MORE THAN ALL THE MONEY AND GEMSTONES IN THE WORLD 💞🤗💞🙏🏻🙏🏻 AND THANKS TO YOU AND MIKE AND KELLEY AND AMY FOR LETTING US FANS BE BEHIND THE SCENES OF SOME OF THE CRAZINESS THAT GOES ON THAT FANS DON'T SEE OR HEAR ABOUT AND THIS FAN LOVES YOU EVEN MORE FOR DOING THIS PODCAST AND THE JOB YOU DO IN THE BROADCAST BOOTH. BOTH ARE PHENOMENAL AND PRICELESS TREASURED BLESSINGS 💞🤗💞🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS Y'ALL NOW AND ALWAYS 💞🤗💞🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I can say from first hand experience that Fatback is truly a genuine, wise man. As "quirky" as he is, he's also one of the most sensible, level headed people you could ever have the pleasure of associating with.
These are much better to watch here on RUclips instead of listening on a damn podcast! Prove me wrong!
Fatback has a good memory. He and Bobby Labonte were 6th in points in 2004 when he left. Bobby ended up 12th.
Mcswain’s nickname should be fathead because he is really full of himself. He thinks he’s the man because of that stat but once he left labonte had his only 2 dnfs of the year and the rest he still had a crew chief who’s only experience was 2/3rds of an unimpressive year with John Andretti in 2002. Labonte would’ve probably had a shot at a top 5 if him and Stewart did a crew chief swap instead of firing fathead
@@BadOpticon why should they have swapped him and Tony’s CC? Tony and Zippy were one of the best driver/crew chief combos of all time.
@@chasehathorne8027 it was hypothetical, like saying Fatback Mcswain would be at best known for getting a one off top 5 at a superspeedway if he wasn’t paired with the talent of Rudd or Labonte. It didn’t happen but it’s reasonable to say if those circumstances came to happen
@@BadOpticon McSwain is full of himself? Bobby Labonte never won another race after Fatback left,he was so full of himself he sabotaged his own career because he got his feelings hurt.
@@davidh6818 Oh man silly me, imagine what turd Bobby was kicking around before fathead came around… I think based on Bobby’s parabolic fall in stats the more well founded argument is fatback stunted his career.
As a big Bobby Labonte fan, it hurt listening to this.
True
Yes, that's true, but really need to hear B-Lab's side, cause there's "ALWAY'S" two side's too every story! 😉
@@Slinger43 3 sides...Fatback...Bobby ...and the truth
@@bobke114 Well 🤔.... Maybe 🤷🏻♂️
Priceless interview, what a true ambassador to the sport that I loved .
Bring Ricky back so we can hear his side of the story. I love your interviews.
This is spell binding ...you hang on his every word of the story! You guys especially Junebug do a great job just to listen and then gently encourage an answer to enhance the story! Amazing documentation of our racing history with humor and real life lessons too! ❤️ Martha in Miami : )
I could watch this video over and over. As a matter of fact, I have watched it over and over.
Junior.......this content is absolute GOLD. You and everybody at Dirty Mo are doing fantastic work.
I won't watch the races anymore, but i watch everyone of your episodes.
Fatback is everything good about ole skool Nascar. It will never go back to those glory days.
G r e a t interview. What a soldier. That guy needs back in Racing somehow.
THIS ONE RANKS ON TOP 5 FIVE BEST
1. KEN SCHRADER
2. MIKE HELTON
3. JEREMY MAYFILED
4. RED FARMER
5. FAT BACK
Fatback is a great communicator....he don’t sugar coat nothing....he don’t hold back and he tells it like it is. Thanks for interviewing him!
FATBACK is awesome !!!! great interview
Loved that he was carefully choosing his words and trying to be forthright at the same time. Too many guests on the DJD get caught up in their own fabricated versions of a story they've been telling themselves for years and lose the plot, but I didn't get that impression from him at all.
Fatback is great!
I remember when he won a race and it showed him and he was just so happy and teary-eyed it was a great day, even though I was (am) a j. johnson fan.
The way he tries to avoid hurting anyone's feelings is evident as he's telling the stories.
Absolutely loved the *useless $#*+ button story!!!
I always wondered what happened between Rudd and Fatback. That combination brought out Rudd's best.
My favorite Fatback moment was 2003 Homestead, Bobby's last win. Elliott blows a tire on the last lap, and Bobby steals the win. Fatback was jumping up and down, screaming, and excited on the pit wagon. He said, "Right there is living proof, you don't give up till they throw that CHECKERED Flag!"
NOT A FAN!!!
I'm a football fan, I'm a diehard Mississippi State fan. I have only watched a couple of races in my life. Most of my buddies through the years have been Nascar fans, it's not that I disliked the sport and I always watched the highlights and knew that Cup drivers were some of the best athletes ever. I AM SO IMPRESSED BY YOU Mr. Earnhardt. You are such a great ambassador for not only the sport that you love but YOU are also a great ambassador for intelligent well spoken gentlemen from the South. I am hooked!!
Useless information button is great 🤣🤣🤣
Watching races back then I always loved it when they interviewed either Fatback or Bootie Barker. Booties still on the box, Fatback should be too.
A flippin’ picnic. Damn, Ricky Rudd…
You’re feelings got hurt. Damn, Bobby Labonte…
Bobby was 6th in points after 18 races when Fatback was let go. It only took Bobby 9 races to go from 6th to 14th and hovered around there until a couple of strong runs brought him up to 12th
Fatback joins Rudd for the 23rd race of the season and Rudd improves from 27th to 24th. Rudd hovered around 28th-32nd in points all year up until Fatback took over the 21. In 2005, Rudd with Fatback finished 21st in points while Bobby finished 24th with Steve Addington
Great job. Great interview. Loved the lengthy description.
Didn't realize Labonte was a mild mannered diva. Next i'm going to find out that he wasn't even mild mannered. Kinda bummed to learn it went down like that. I believe both their careers would've had more momentum together. The 18 withered away...
I remember listening to Bobby and Terry on the race scanner. Their language during a race would make a sailor blush!! It really shocked me.
Remember that you are only hearing one side of things. I’m sure Bobby’s version would be different and the truth would be somewhere in between.
@@paulles1377 i should have tuned into Bobby's channel, I was always tuned into Smoke's and Juniors
Fatback. One of the best there ever was👍 love your mailbox by the way lol
I’ve probably watched less than 12 NASCAR races in over 40 years but this is so interesting to me! Good job all around!
Absolutely an awesome show. No holds barred!!!
Love your podcast Jr. The best part is the prospective we get to see, and hear stories that we would never know, if not for you and Mike.
8:17 - Absolute gold
It's so surprising to hear the inside about Bobby Labonte. I wouldn't have pictured him as a guy to brow beat the crew. He was never the same after Fatback left...and it's so strange because he was still only 40ish then.
Hire Fatback at Jr MOTORSPORTS! One of a kind!
Damn good interview. The behind the scenes stories are the best. I got one thing to stay, "Bring back Fatback McSwain" and do your thing. That's a team I would love to be on.
Really is a stand alone show. Shows the difference between these individuals. And that they ain't that much different from us.
“You gotta do some of that driver sh..” lol how is Dale keeping a straight face?? That was so freaking funny!
juniorrrrr love it fat back giving reasons on stories. wow i promised jd i wouldnt tell this but he is gone. that brought up in my mind why bobby didnt win the 600 in the fed x car n kicked the door. if he woulda leaned on the other car like fat back said he woulda won. n rickey rudd one of the toughness drivers out there. let the wife mess up the deal at yates wow thanks for helping n wilkesboro reason you are always my guy. driver car owner n awesome dude. God bless ya n the family
You learn so much from these ole Nascar discussions. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if next week we learn that Terry Labonte had a "Gimp" living in his basement.
Very insightful!
Bobby was never the same after he left, should've been more aggressive, look back at Darlington vs Jimmie Johnson & Rusty Wallace at Martinsville, could've moved them a bit but chose not to
He never caught Rusty at Martinsville lol.
I love Bobby for racing clean but don’t take it out on the crew.
Him and jimmie at Charlotte too, idk about darlington
Just wasn't Bobby's style, too much Mark Martin in him 🤷🏻♂️
@@roymcdre9180 I remember the Charlotte race that's the one I remember. They gave him the equipment and he couldn't get it done. That was a demoralizing loss. He could have won.
Great interview
Fatback reminds me a little bit of Junior Johnson in both looks and had somewhat quiet demeanor but you know he was a volcano underneath!
Yeah he has that southern thing that ..you dont mess with that man or else he gets mean...look.
Great interview 👍
I was a huge Bobby fan. I always felt, and still do, that Bobby was never the same after Dale's fatal accident. Fat backs comments about how Bobby had so many top 5's but couldn't push hard enough to capture the checker flag seems to support that. I guess Bobby was in denial of this.
I think it had more to do with a breakdown in communication between Bobby and Jimmy Makar than it did with Sr. dying.
I look foward to these .i havent watched a race in years.
Great story. Really like the behind the scenes commentary.
Fatback is the real deal.Great man.I just hate to see him get the short end of the stick in racing,but as a human,he is what you want on your side
Thank you for the video.
Great episode.
Thank You Junior This stuff is Great
great interview
Love to hear these stories of the sport
Great story , geeze some of the drivers really got hurt feelings over nothing .
I never would’ve imagined a relatively soft-spoken guy like Bobby Labonte would’ve been such a menace on the radio.
Another excellent episode.
He seems like a genuine good guy. Great insight.
Somebody needs to get Kyle Busch to listen to what Junior says about badmouthing the crew and car on the radio during the race. I’d let him come in for tires and not change them.
When he says he is close, I hope someone reaches out and brings him back! Such a cool dude!!
The reality is you spend most of your waking life with the people you work with - skills some people have a hard time with - Fatback does not!!!
I don’t know half the guys and the drama but the stories are always great.
Nice interview with Fatback. He is a great listen.
I would hire him in a minute if I had a team !!!
Yeah, I definitely found it weird that "Fatback" was working as Bobby Labonte's crew chief at the time. Talk about the clash of personalities. Fatback's competitive nature was to get up on the wheel while Bobby's was as clean as a whistle, would be satisfied with finishing second or third. The Labonte's raced clean, sometimes too clean. Fatback was not having Bobby's conservative nature. I was a Terry/Bobby Labonte fan and many times they let a lot of races slip away. Especially later in their careers. Fatback was right, it's not only on the team but on the driver as well. Fatback really wanted to win.
Yup. Thier is a reason they never won the 500. They raced too conservative
I like the north Wilkesboro T-shirt
I didnt knew this guy! Hes a great personality and spitin facts! Im a fan
I wish this podcast was around back at the heights of racing 2006- 2016. I think People would have retained more interest in the sport. I don’t watch much anymore but I never miss this podcast. Great job fellas !
Don't think people would be as open talking on the podcast and telling their truth then as they would be now.
The heights of racing was from the 80s-2006ish. It’s been downhill ever since
I’ve always thought the world of fatback, love to hear these stories
I never understood why Fatback left the 18 when they were squarely into the Chase. I remember watching Bobby drop like a rock out of the Top 10 starting with Fatback’s departure. Bobby was my guy. It’s so disappointing to learn that it was his decision to move McSwain off the box. We could have won that year. Damn.
Excellent podcast, loved hearing Michael's story.
Why would JD tell Fatback never to tell the story? I remember Bobby talking about (in a roundabout way, when he was lifting Greg Zipadeli) how much he didn't like working with Brandon Thomas. Do you think it was a regret thing? Sad he forced Fatback out of a job and effectively ending his competitive cup career?
9:40... "he wasnt a big fan of that..." understatement of the interview... LMAO
Why don’t you have the full episode on?
Rudd didn't plan to leave Yates for the Wood Brothers. He was going to go to Ganassi with Havoline. They negotiated all summer, but it didn't work out. The Woods were willing to pay him what he wanted.
Favorite guest ever
Huge Bobby fan. Would love to hear his side about all of it. I do remember several races in 04 sitting in the stands with fatback in as chief ( pocono and martinsville )and it just seemed Bobby wasn’t having fun listening to him on the radio.
Wow Fatback is a great interview.
These interviews are the beat
Fantastic
Straight legend
This is so damn awesome
So let me get this straight, he GETS FIRED from Joe Gibbs, but because he still had 1.5 yrs to go on the contract, they were still paying him? Because if they weren't paying him after they fired him, how the hell could they legally stop him from finding work elsewhere? I'm assuming they had to keep paying him until the contract was up. I really liked how he told Labonte "Look, I can't drive the damned car FOR you" and "I can't give you a car every week that is a half a second faster than the rest of the field, and YOU need to do some driving". That's damned right. This kind of crazy stuff makes me appreciate & admire the drivers who actually worked on, or even had to build their own cars earlier in their careers, and then when they advance to cup racing, they still work closely with their team & crew chief who are TRYING to give them the best cup car possible. I also liked "what's both of these talk buttons for?" ........that was a good one.
There is no doubt that a no-compete clause was in his contract.
Yeah he mentioned he was fired but getting paid
The second button story is hilarious
I can understand fatback’s point. I’m sure any of those guys working for a nascar crew can have big egos. But from a fan’s perspective, I think they forget how privileged,lucky,or even blessed they are to be doing what they are doing while the rest of us are out in the world working the daily grind. And we just want to be fans
I want to hear what Labonte has to say. Very few remember "Here comes Bobby!!!"
Boy that really paints Bobby in a different light... like to hear his side of that story
...my mom and dad almost got divorced over a watermelon...it really happens...
Ayyyoooo fatback mac. Dudes OG
2002 was pretty much the peak of my NASCAR fandom s I got into it in the 90s just before Dale Sr died and my interest slowly started to dwindle around 2007 and ultimately I stopped following all together once Dale Jr retired. Ricky Rudd was a driver I followed closely around this time and I always wondered what happened to that RYR team. They were a championship contender in 2001. In the first half of 2002 he was consistently in contention for the win but had some bad luck at places like Rockingham, Dover, and Pocono. He finally got into victory lane at Sears Point and it seemed like he was set to make a run at the championship. I think he was like in 4th place at that time and just a little over 100 points out with still half the season left. But from Daytona on forward sonething was just off. Every week he seemed to have trouble just staying on the lead lap. Then rumors of retirement and then Fatback left out of nowhere. Then the announcement that Sadler was coming in and Rudd was going to the Wood Brothers, Rudd getting punched at Richmond and just a whole lot of drama and I wonderee how could a championship contending team could fall apart after a win. Now hearing Fatback talk about it and how it all began with Ricky getting his feeling hurt about not being invited to a victory party after the win makes sense. Not saying it’s right but unfortunately it happens in life. People get their feelings hurt over a misunderstanding and things are just never the same after that.
LOVE YOUR SHOW JR WISH YOU HAD MORE VIDEO CONTENT WITH YOUR GUESTS
I agree. They have a fantastic studio & camera setup. I don't understand why they don't always fully video guests and upload.
@@dannotwalruslarkin9324 it’s on peacock unfortunately
It’s on peacock unfortunately
@@dannotwalruslarkin9324 supposedly takes a bit of time to edit it all??? i say dont edit it, keep it raw like je rogan does on his and let someone work the camera angles.
Yep, I don’t want to listen to a podcast. I want the visuals. A lot of these guys are so animated when they talk and you just can’t get that with audio only.
This was such a great episode. Second only to Jeremy Mayfield. Fatback is awesome
absolutely loved Fatback on the show. Would love to hear more stories from him.