Dale Jr. Download: Smugglers Blues with Gary Balough

so we want to talk about the the drug smuggling era of your life now at this point in your life obviously you know you you cover this really well in the book and which I was really interested about it for me it's exciting it's it's it's you know we we see movies get made about this stuff and sensationalized and so forth for me to know somebody in racing that was so successful yet had this whole other life that was incredibly dangerous hello are you have you come to terms with you know obviously that that that took a lot away from you and I understand I can't even imagine how that affected your life but Matt now you're here you're hit a podcast you're wrote a book you're doing a documentary are you at a point in your life where you're you're comfortable you know discussing that part of your history no for sure and yeah and sort of using it as a message oh yeah you know you don't want to get involved in that right mm-hmm so at what part of your life at what point of your life did you become a guy capable of doing that and I'm in the book a couple people come up to you it points in your career and say man this is something you'd be good at and it was kind of maybe tongue-in-cheek and then it become more serious conversation and you said at one point I need you know the money sounds good I'm gonna go give this a run all I got to do is count the bales that's not a big deal I'm just a counter so at what point in your life did it did you sort of move from a guy that would go count bales to somebody who thought man I'm gonna get a little further into this and make a little bit more money it wasn't further you know here's what happens how you do is you start out and I want to make $100,000 just get my bills paid off right you know so I raced for a living it was hard to tell like that lot of debt and be going you pitched bells and catch some bells and Kelvin you see everything everybody's gotten what they're doing it takes money to fuel all this yeah without money you're not fueling this that's enough and that's what the buddy come for him to get me to Daytona in 79 right I don't believe to this day that it's any worse than moonshine sure in this whole sport was basically built on moonshine and I can look at myself in the mirror and deal with what I was doing because it was weed it was marijuana it wasn't cocaine it wasn't heroin it wasn't none of that crap and I had an opportunity to do all that because my credibility was so good when I told you I was going to be there I was there when I told you I was going to do it I did it and my equipment was like my race cars right it finished because we keep you can't finish you can't win yeah and with that when you don't finish you throw it over it floats with you y'all getting rid of it you know I mean so you got a finish and I did much bugling just like hey race yes so you talked about starting at your first the first time you ever got involved any of that they the guy asked you to go on the boat as a count or just count the bales and then you created your own operation how big was that operation at its peak I mean it section that train running down the track you're just going to going to going it and everything gets bigger bigger bigger bigger bigger bigger where you out here you're there you know were you always on the were you always running a boat or did it because I know I got to put other people driving yes but I was there I was there for every one of them so experience never went abroad she never went to the racetrack without me being there yeah but explain to explain to the fans listening to this podcast when you're talking about running a boat what exactly are you talking about here Michael like like for the fans listen this that don't know this smuggling story tell that tell them what you were doing well basically what you do is you get equipment and you had a connection in the connection was good the dough is hot rod said we all know where that was about and which is time to go you go they tell you to go you got to go a certain place you got a fiery Rock or you got to go to Bimini or you got to go to North Leiter you got a point you got to go but you can't remember that's a stick sticking up to him we didn't have GPS then we had a competent right watch he's still a light out of water if he broke down and see how the current was him how much you were drifting how much you changed course and it was pretty hard to go out there in the middle of night it's dark out there there's no lights and I mean darker with the cloudy night there's no stars there's no moon I mean you can't see a hand right there so it was a challenge it really was a challenge I went like when I first got the boat 24 foot see Ray I went 13 times it almost lost my house and have my race cars all put up we couldn't afford to buy tires for him I just wouldn't quit I persevered Bobby Allison taught me that a long time ago yeah don't quit so you went the first several trips and didn't even get a bail nothing how could I mean how to understand that come because he didn't show up they didn't make it no they broke down so you're losing money you're doing this to get money and you're losing my killaby I got you you know there's something about this I mean like you had some lines in there and in the book that were like you you used a lyric from a song smugglers blues and it's but the because it's you know basically saying that he's mugging is easy and it's easy money and then you say you call BS that he's like nothing's easy so my question to you is the risk and the reward at some point it seemed like you you mentioned enough thing you talk about 20-foot seas and you're talking about your you know 13 time going over 13 and get before making money when did it did it not seem like this isn't worth it you know maybe this isn't worth it I have my theory as you were trying to get to cup and you're trying to pay your Ryder Cup and so that exactly that that's the why question but at some point did it seem like well this isn't gonna get me to cup yeah busted you know I'm just catch air you know and I never got busted I got told on you know and it was a dry conspiracy it didn't happen we were there and it didn't happen I come home put everything away and went to Circus and one circus you know like when we finally got successful when you drives it at cutter and you get that stuff unloaded and you get in a house and you get it back two people are on it like one in Daytona when Annapolis 500 really yeah yeah I mean random Russia's yeah absolutely incredible see I never that I never got that from reading the book I mean I did understand that you got an adrenaline rush from it and that you found some thrill in it but I'm I never I never took that's the first time I'm hearing that you know you wouldn't you were done with a job it was like all right when it rise hell yeah like one in a race right like afterwards having a beer whatever but yeah that's fascinating but it's hard it's there's no end to it like you know once you get it home you got to get it off loaded you got to get in and out you got a skillet you got to go through to go get your percentage out you got to get the rest of the people own it now you got to get it out the front door the front door is different than the back door the back door is about front door it's straight mmm so you got to come up with a deal on the front of camping trailer just there you know what floor it's all done in it and everything out of it and put a door in the house so you get to the trailer and you take out the trailer in and out every weekend like you're camping with the neighbors out there to think that that's what's going on yeah oh that was fascinating actually cuz the sprinkler system company putting plants in or Brooklyn company I mean it had to be something to get you care to get it out he got just as creative he's all the creativity was put in race cars he was put him also named frosting like the charade the right seems exhausting to try to cover up how the actual operation well how about the back what about the dachshund neighbors you take them fishing you take them to have a drink and they bring it back you today you come in they're standing on top of it I'm cooking finish and spinning a fish you know what I mean like they had to make you nervous a little bit about you know Bahamas and the cops are saying on top of it on top your boat come on everybody go you'd have a bird Watterson talking stand on top y'all got some points to go one of the one of the group one of the craziest stories from their smuggling days for me in the in the is a close call you had where the boat filled up with gasoline and tell that story and and and I want to ask after you're done if that is that is that the one real scare the pinnacle of the scale is it was a pretty good scare that's of other ones but that one there we had moved two times three times it trying to get de Lyonne was afraid to get what we had to get and why don't we got moved around my north light and and we got loaded and that was a small it was probably two thousand pounds or something it was a twenty or thirty foot boat that's all gasp is that we put a bigger tank in and covered it in carpet and rod holders it look right well kid it worked for me did the lines and stuff evidently tie-wrap broke where he didn't tie it off and off and the line got it in to the balancer i flipped back up and look as he gasses all the way up to the old inators if we'd ever tried to start it with a boat kill us all and I had a rider with me good family and you're still to dock know you're out waters check out in the middle is seventy eighty miles out okay Christ so we start bailing the gas out well the guys just gonna float with you the Builder guys talking about the king I get on a head holding my car - look how got problem big problem we need to get off this boat did somebody else and I don't know what we're gonna do here with this thing keep going keep going I'm gonna go gather some soap for your boats cleaner you know Dom works real good with that so they go gather all felt like together all the bilge cleaner and Dawn everything everybody's got it's just probably 20 30 boats out 30 do it and he brings out to me well but he brought that tell me I put the rider off on a boat without yeah you know you had a buddy on the boat yeah sense but I was bowing up here right you just seen that you just see net exposure from Miami yeah so I put him off but we bailed and put water in it and build water and bellman I dumped all this soap and boat skin are in it and I put some water and I'll wash it out I fill it back up again if you ever use your wife not think about I said I'm gonna turn the switches back on they're not supposed to you know waterproof they shouldn't that shouldn't ignite this is the bilge pumps so I took the bilge pumps and pumped it out and fill it up bumped it out well now with that that tank leaking there's pure wine we don't have the field we had that's why that tank was in there right so I borrowed about ten gallons and I thought you get everybody else already topped off they bring the field with Jerry does say wow this is gonna be close so I start back when I get all the way back and I get about five miles on it shuts off hmm oh no I think you might I said well I got taken for up in this thing that I take it floor up the tank was under and they think apart and the pickup goes down and it's about that far down and there's probably that much an inch of gas and a gas there's a seam here so you had to fashion some more to the pickup so a little MacGyver here's a ticket to a lighter part off the record got bit beats the clamp put on the bottom put all back up at the floor back in to the console back so fold it back down alright here we go I Drive run in while I get to where I'm supposed to be at the marina cat two trying to travel if supposed to look me out not there okay use a forklift remember now don't fuel in the baggage thing and all that's in the front he lifts it out mister like this I grab the back no hang it on the back he says get away from that man you crazy I said now yeah a little bit yeah if it dumps over I'm done anyway right on the trailer was that what you said there were some crazier stories and and some closer calls do you remember in those here's a real cool woman they call me up I'm at home my bed and they got a 48-foot chris-craft it's got probably 15,000 pound on 15,000 pounds they call me Marilyn and they call me honey things going down that's it what do you want me to do well I believe some help we need some help I'm putting some pole at my house mud sucker there that's right on my way I call couple my guys and it had my wife but that bloodsucker the back of my dually you wide open all the way to stop but you know Miami I live in Fort Lauderdale and to get there and this thing won't start we're pulling it we're pulling this thing's rolling over on its side now waters running out of portholes I was sad to hear sirens and all this and here they come down the waterway chasing this boat is just Chopin oh those cleaners they can pass us up I'm just I just stop stuff till they went down here in the water when turn I take them back the other way does it what did I just go they were forming a movie my god fine we got the bloodsucker go we got a pumped out no we saved it oh my god that's the clothes have any idea how upset they would be if you sank behind a house with 15,000 pounds of weed they're upset yeah yeah how upset what do you think way upset my life or death upset way upset yeah I had a partner too thought he could move everything and do this and do all that and we have kept keeping a bunch of their stuff one time and they had he made gathered about heading for ransom damn I said oh you know yeah that's when you get out too far you believe in people that do that don't know what you're talking about yeah you did you fear for your life or you fear for your getting caught I prefer getting caught but you never feared for your life nobody's up listen me if you do the right thing you don't steal there's plenty of money there for everybody why would you want to steal from them mmm there's no sense in that right and you do the right thing you tell me gonna be there in you there I got told myself I ever get this big trip I'll buy all Rolexes presidentials that's nothing to them you know I mean that's like a piece of bubblegum yeah but for me to do what I said I was gonna do about I don't know didn't roll I says I can't believe it like you really did that I said yeah I told you I was gonna do it tell me I was a candidate for all the time with him want me to do bigger better things and I don't know it seems like that you knew you knew at some point that the whole thing was gonna unravel share later it followed us for four years right and so that I mean in during that time why are you thinking I I want to get out of this I'm too far in I can't get out like what was what's going through your mind I was pretty close so I think with a cop deal but it's 28 car yeah and plus I was able to bring a beetle a third but Reggie and Raymond or not any mobile walking all that and I had to bail but they didn't understand you know Remy didn't understand carry can't you can't I God do you route at all for all right I put Tim Richmond in a car but then I put rusted when Tim won't would enter get roasting the car but your but in the smuggling game you you knew it was gonna come to an end you knew the cops were watching what why why did why don't you try to get out sooner if you knew they were watching for four years in Speer C is conspiracy if it's five years six years four years conspiracy you never get you we were pretty good at what we did as far as getting in and doing everything right and people in house and all that but you can't control that yeah that's what get you I understand what felt like I get what you're selling me is when you learned that the cops were on your trail you knew you were getting the time whether you stop now or kept digging when they coming arrest me I love within the 500 cut a tire down they pull all that and they come at five o'clock in the morning and first thing they said to me was you got a better career in future anybody were arresting the more rough than 70 people to smart on later oh uh a lot of people going down but they've been for years yeah when they come for you buddy they got it don't you think when you see it's in the book here when you see the United States government watch the scary blue that's your first clue you get your attention how do you on beat United States come me hey how much thought I could yeah you make a little money I like a good attorney right and I could have won it I should have almost wanted but they wouldn't sever me from the other nine defendant said they were you know tape and just just bail lists and names everywhere died me oh my god - guilty as sin yeah but that's way goes you're in you're in Gary I mean my question the thing that Dale and I would ask each other is before we started reading the book we were like why would someone with this much talent in this much opportunist with to get where he wants to go get caught up with it and then why'd you read the book you realize this was what you called the shortcut plan or the or this was a way to kid or dream finally the answers the question why like in that answer the question why but when it didn't happen well hold on before I ask that how much can you somehow qualify us or quantify how much of this might have actually funded your racing and when we talk about the number of wins but like I think you must have been in this more before that I even realized so like how much of this do you think funded your career percentage-wise fifty particular none none I was involved in none at the end that's yeah at the end of when we finally got to the cut price when Harvey and so forth that that's what helped us didn't like when we went to Syracuse in 1980 but about 100 there's money there to do it right yeah I mean so it takes puku money to make all this happen so it didn't have ever contribute to your cup stuff yeah yeah did it did it yeah I got that money so it did what's the Harvey yeah in a way you could say that that was a successful your whatever the path you chose it helped you achieve it to a degree is that fair to say here's what I got yeah I got 275 car and got the race and got to be there and then Brandon beetle see me we got to come friends a drag race with him and he to get involved and we got Reggie Jackson involving me well pretty well on our way when Barry documented some good people put together Barry Dobson yeah yeah good people like when I want a championship with rusty in Old Milwaukee ba-ba-ba-ba wall I knew that I was fixing to be indicted but I've been my attorneys and he said you're three hundred percent I said she never sent over a thousand he said no three hundred I'm honored that's right boy never bad to clarify if I remember right you're talking about the chances you had to beat this right and he said three hundred percent oh yeah I did right right no you're three hundred percent in other words you have no chance of getting out of this so well there is also a chance though but you had to do something that you didn't want to deal wouldn't yes so there's you were real careful and you talked about that in the book being careful about certain details of the crimes and individuals involved is that why you feel like there's no fear of any danger for you even today like you haven't you don't walk around looking over your shoulder at all not at all really it never did no wow companies like me Bohemians love me yeah I didn't talk about nobody right and people I work for and work with I said nothing just like Dell all the years I've raced I've never approached us and nobody in races yeah never and I won't walk up into scale and watch you go through and tell the officials and Bob right I'll walk around look at and see what you got Lanka Mary yeah thank you better better during your during the years of your Appeals you continued to race and win and well I'm gonna rattle off some of those victories here in a bit but you had to know that jail was certain in your futures you just say that three hundred percent your lawyers telling you her out of a hundred percent how did you block that out like the hardest thing the hardest thing was to get that close with a cup deal a real good deal oh yeah the thing that I wanted to do from the time I was 19 years old now but you wouldn't ran out Pro and you won the biggest races of it nobody race I want to race another race so but yet I race all pro I raised that late wall car like no but many feel better mentally how did you block that out knowing that you were gonna go to jail for years I mean how did you I would have a normal person or some II would have said I I'm not a race for like I've got nothing to look forward to but you kept going about your business won a championship the main dollar sponsor for I don't know how you take able to do that yeah like you went so you thought I was gonna win the bill I never I never give up in your mind you never gave up never you went to the 1986 snowball Derby in one Saturday night a Saturday night in January 1987 you celebrated the 1986 all-pro championship that following Monday you walked into prison check in like I can't even a hardest things ever do in my life drivers these days a sinus cold will take over their mind while they're racing and to be honest with you and probably cause them to not perform as well I mean and that's just I'm not knocking drivers these days I'm just saying it's hard for a normal person to compartmentalize even the minor things that are going wrong because you're such a you know in a creature of habit in routine so so you've got your life on the line in your head and that's a fair question that he's asked how do you race and when while that's going on how can anybody do anything and do it so perfectly yeah but with that why do you race you race to win yeah have you ever sat at a hotrod you won to win I think it speaks to your tale about one I think it speaks to your pure talent as a driver and your ability to take a car and make it better than everybody else's that to me probably is the most fascinating part of your career I mean I'm I'm curious about the smuggling side of it but the fact that you did what you did during the appeal process to me is it's amazing we had eleven hundred and forty two motions those are from case closure what does that mean that words well you're in trial and they use something against you and somebody else one on it that's case law yeah that's a pallet issue the judge that something go through that somebody else had one on and you have to have real good attorneys just stand up in appellate yeah eleven hundred and forty two much took them four years then went on one how about people all went on that yeah so you keep thinking well there's a shot there's a shot they did so many things wrong during trial right oh my god missing me they paid a judge no the agents get paid every Friday they don't care how long it takes right yeah I'm gonna beat that they got all the money in the world you're not being that but you thought you were oh well yeah I we all sit here every week on the show and talk about racing because we all understand racing from different levels especially Mike's got the PRN he's got the driving in and growing up and I got the the growing up in it but I don't understand things like what it's like to serve time and I want to hear from you since you're a racer and I can identify with you and he can identify with you I really want to know your words what it's like to serve time because I don't understand that well it is so hard to have somebody tell you when to get up when to go to bed one to eat and lock you down and you can't watch it and you can't do that it's incredible that way but my first deal was you have all your family and it's like you can't keep in your mind and survive prison in time and try to keep your life going with your family it's so hard it's so hard I'm in addition it's like it it takes all that away from me it takes them put you over here someplace away from everybody and everything it's Moodle Moodle did you then when they dragged you someplace on a red because they want to reinstate you they dragged each every craphole they can drag you to that's what you really know that what they're doing to you and where you're at I mean if the worst thing in the world is to get involved in a situation where you're ever going to have to any of that I think what I would do to change that I mean yeah I've had some nice stuff nice boats and planes and cars and race cars and homes and did a lot for my family my mom my dad and my brothers and my in-laws and my children for school and this and this and that but it's got to be a better way and the better way was racing I just probably got impatient because I I've been gonna get there but it was also for some money that was in the background but you see all that and you just you get tired of being without and doing without and struggling and struggling say get tired of your knees feet so you take that chance well it's like to me I started with a hobby car and I got too late wild card I got two sports book cars and finally you get the comp cards ever had spread cards and midgets and look at everything you know I mean it wanted most of it and so you get involved in that then it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and I was real careful not to get myself so involved that I had to do anything such as in when I'm off your life we can help you we catch out of this to me you know but you have to work for us no no no so it was pretty fortunate I never got involved that deep in the same thing with the Colombians I mean they're all my friends and their family they're really family man only gonna do it do the right thing with them they're not ruthless people they're good people but it's called do what you got to do and do what you say you're gonna do and my dad taught me the loving years old people the way you want to be treated and I've done my whole life that way sometimes that bite you but the other side that that's the way I want to be I mean that's the way I've been in that's the way I want to be Gary I'm gonna ask you one more thing if you don't mind just maybe think of that you're we talked about the first time you got involved in smuggling was to help sort of speed up the process of getting you into the Cup Series and affording that because it is big undertaken financially what was the reason for the second time What's in so when I read when I read about that it made me think wow I mean you knew the feds are watching me for four years in the 80s in the late a in the early eighties the first time how could you even think about going back in there didn't were they not still watching you do they not like keep an eye on you even when you're out you're done time they do but they don't that means they do you know with your probation and all that I mean I when this all started I did five five four years on a pill then I did four years and then did five years on paper which I was up here doing that then the second time I got a seven years sentence I did 68 months in in five years on paper afterwards so I had all that ups about 13 14 years I don't know why did you go in the second time the second time since one night my knees were bleeding it couldn't get a sponsorship you make no money had you at the bottom that's a bottom at the very very bottom and I went to bend me fishing and you gotta remember all them kids over there now grown up I made Christmas for all them kids I love my hat except with 30 $40,000 with toys they take over there and we have Christmas you know and they needed bikes in just indeed that whatever they needed figured out how to get it here now they're grown up they remember that the caring campus mouths shut grandpa they call me yeah he's our hero you need to do this you did yeah dude oh no I don't need to know yeah yeah yeah we got this buh buh buh buh buh so you do one trip one trips I'll tell them you're back in your the only thing I've done in my life that as exciting as racing they're smuggling Oh

Channel: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Dirty Mo Media

Views: 342,726

Keywords: Dale Jr Download, DJD, Podcast, Dale Jr Podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Gary Balough, NASCAR, Dirty Mo Media, Mike Davis, Matthew Dillner

Id: zZ7jrM08D0Y

Length: 30min 19sec (1819 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 11 2019