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Place a pair of headphones over your ears, but be aware of what you're about to hear. You're entering a world where few sports outside racing want you to venture.

You can't eavesdrop on football coaches as they debate plays. You can't listen to basketball coaches discuss strategy in a timeout. You can't hear a manager chat on the bullpen phone.

NASCAR is different. So turn on your radio scanner at the track — or satellite radio or your computer at home — and listen to the driver, crew chief and car owner talk, discuss strategy ... or yell at each other.

Hear Kurt Busch argue with car owner Roger Penske, then call his boss "dude." Or Kyle Busch tell his pit crew before a stop: "Ladies ... man up." Or hear Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus joke during a caution period.

You never know what you'll hear on NASCAR airwaves. Just understand most channels are rated PG. That often changes to R after a driver wrecks or his car is slow.

Kurt Busch said he doesn't like people hearing his radio conversations, especially after his disagreement with Penske during the Martinsville race became public. Busch was upset with an ill-handling car that day.

"It's the most frustrating thing in the world to think that you think that we're better than what we are," Busch radioed Penske.

"It's no good if you blow yourself up," Penske said. "We'd be a lot better. I'll tell you that right now. I'm watching this thing, OK? You made a change, it didn't work. All we hear is a bunch of stuff on the radio. So let's get serious here, OK? You understand?"

"10-4, dude," Busch said. "10-4."

"OK, I'm the car owner," Penske said. "You'll listen to me, OK?"

Busch later said things were fine with Penske, but the conversation revealed the unique dynamic between them.

Busch's brother, Kyle, also has had some colorful moments on the radio. He ripped his pit crew after a bad stop at Bristol before bouncing back to win. Afterward, Kyle Busch said he wouldn't need to go back and talk to his pit crew about the outburst.

"If they don't know that, they don't need to be working for me," he said.

Other times conversations are needed afterward. Cousins Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. have fought like brothers on the radio at times, making some question how they could continue to work together.

"I don't think there's a driver in the garage that doesn't have something that they regret saying over the radio," Earnhardt said.

While some of the comments may sound harsh, Jeff Burton says critical comments are necessary to fix the car.

"We don't have time not to be honest," he said. "You can say a lot of things and wish you hadn't have said it, but at the end of the day are you being honest and are you being constructive? Are you giving information that they can work with?  If through a four-hour race you say one thing that isn't constructive and you're just venting, that's no big deal."

Then there are times a driver keeps quiet. Carl Edwards lost the lead on the final pit stop at Texas and lost the race. A lug nut fell off one of his wheels and cost him valuable time. Pit stops have been problematic for his team at times this year, yet Edward didn't scream at his crew on the radio. Instead, he tried to build them up.

"They don't yell at me when I hit the wall, so it's not my position to be mad at them," he said.

At other times, the comments aren't as serious. A driver admitted years ago, he went over a grocery list during a race.

Others receive NFL or college scores during caution breaks in the fall. Jokes are told and laughter can be heard even at a treacherous track such as Talladega, where this exchange took place between Johnson and Knaus last week:

Knaus: "Looks like your best bet is to stay with those two teammates (David Stremme and Sam Hornish Jr.). They're the only ones really working with you a whole lot, you know?"

Johnson: "Stremme and I all day have been good. I figured if I made a move and hung (Hornish) out (Stremme) probably wouldn't work with me."

Knaus: "Nobody is going to help those two. Nobody is going to want those guys to do well, and, obviously, nobody likes you. So I think you would be better off to stay with those guys all day long."

Johnson: "Losers can win. We can do it."

Knaus: "You were always picked last for softball."

Johnson: "Especially because I put the wrong glove on the wrong hand."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com