"I wasn't enjoying it as much" - Mike Davis makes feelings known about stepping away from Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s show

After years of being Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s right-hand man on his self-owned podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, Mike Davis stepped away from being the show's co-host at the end of 2023. In a recent interview with former NASCAR driver and TV personality Kenny Wallace, Davis revealed what led to his decision to leave.

It came to Davis' realization that he was no longer having as much fun as he used to while doing the show with the 26-time Cup Series winner. Once he realized this, Davis said the show was in need of a shakeup.

"It was time," Davis said. "I wasn't enjoying it as much. I felt like the show needed to change and I just felt like it was time. Sometimes, you just have that instinct that, 'Oh, wait a second.' Sometimes, you have to really self-reflect." (0:19 onwards)

Since starting the show with Dale Earnhardt Jr., there was never a thought in Davis' mind other than it was the former's show. As time went on, Davis wanted to put more effort into his and Earnhardt's media company, Dirty Mo Media, and it was tough being able to do so along with his podcast commitments. Davis went on to say:

"I was starting to hold a bit of a grudge, not at anybody in particular, but just at the situation that I wasn't being able to really put my efforts and energy and thoughts into the company and starting new shows and doing those things, and still doing The Download. The Download was a commitment, and it still is a commitment. I just felt like it was time for me to take some of that time back and put it into the company." (1:35 onwards)

Another reason that led to Davis' decision was because of his identity. He didn't want to be viewed as someone who was just in the company to be a co-host on the NASCAR star's podcast, but rather someone who has a broader scope of what he can contribute to Dirty Mo Media.

"That was something I was really having to wrestle with," Davis said. "I had bigger plans. My vision for this was not going to be regulated to The Dale Jr. Download only. The Dale Jr. Download is a huge piece of it, but the fact of the matter is it's Dale's show and I need that to keep going. I still think there's a lot to do." (2:31 onwards)

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed how he "cheats" tailored outfits in recent podcast episode

In one of the final The Dale Jr. Download episodes of the year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some laughs with his wife Amy, who was a guest on the show, about getting dressed up for special occasions.

The 15-time Most Popular Driver of NASCAR shared his secret of how to "cheat" a tailored outfit in order to give himself a more comfortable fit. While his wife suggested he needs to try on the outfit a week prior to an event to see how it fits, Earnhardt Jr. said that isn't how it's done.

"Guys don't do that," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "So getting a new tux. While the guy's measuring it, man, I'm like trying to make my belly as big as I can. I was trying to cheat it a little bit, so that the guy would tailor it a little large."

On the racetrack, Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently raced in a late model stock car race at the Florence Speedway, behind the wheel of his iconic #8 Budweiser car. Unfortunately, a broken fuel pump ended the driver's race prematurely.