And hello everybody. Welcome back to the 12 questions interviews on the Untitled Jeff Gluck podcast.

I am your host, Jeff Gluck.

This week, the 12 Questions is with AJ Almendinger from J.G. Dorothy Racing.

Now, AJ, when we did this interview, was in the midst of a rough stretch.

He had come off finishes of 26th at Atlanta and 24th at Las Vegas when we met up Friday

of Phoenix weekend.

He was without his crew chief who had been suspended.

He had lost 35 points as part of the penalty

from all that. And AJ was willing to do the interview, which I appreciate. However, I feel

like he was a little bit down at the time. And you almost just felt bad for him. I don't know. It was just like, man, it was kind of hard

to listen to. So if you're wondering why he sounds so depressed during this interview,

that's a little bit of background there. I won't spoil anything else, but you may want to give

AJ a hug after you hear this. So here we go. Okay, I'm here with AJ Almendinger.

AJ, the first question is how much of your success is based on natural ability and how much

has come from working at it? That's a good question. I would say, I mean, 50-50, you've got to have natural ability to be here for sure.

And, you know, when you're at the top level, you're racing against the best in the world.

But with that said, the difference between the top of the bottom is very, very tiny.

So you've got to really work at it to keep trying to

hone your skills and especially as they keep changing packages, figure out what makes these race

cars fast. So you've got to put both in, but you've got to have the natural ability as well.

Okay, makes sense. So Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Carl Edwards have all retired in the last couple years.

What's your pitch for fans of theirs to become fans of yours?

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