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Each week, The Athletic has been asking people in the racing community how they are dealing with circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Up next: Rutledge Wood, the longtime NASCAR TV personality who currently works for NBC Sports among other television projects.

At the beginning of all this, how close did you come to running out of toilet paper? Was that ever a concern for you?

You know what? I think we were well-stocked on toilet paper. I’m in the house with my wife (Rachel) and our three daughters (Elsie, 11; Millie, 9; and Hattie, 6), so we need a pretty decent supply of toilet paper around the clock anyway. I think because of our Costco membership, we were long-thinking enough to go, “OK, this is cool.” So we did not have to be part of the massive run for toilet paper.

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The most fascinating thing is living in the South, I’ve spent my entire life here. And when people think it’s going to snow, they have this thing where they go buy all the bread and milk. And I’ve never understood what they’re going to make with those two things.

But this was such an interesting twist, because honestly, not to be gross, but we can all live without toilet paper. It’s not the worst thing; you’re just going to have to get more creative. But I never thought we’d see people running to get toilet paper in the manner we did. We’ve been very fortunate there.

And I laugh because years ago, do you remember when Sheryl Crow came out and said we should all just use one square of toilet paper every time we go? And people just ostracized her: “What a weirdo. Crazy hippy.” And now everyone is like, “Sheryl Crow had a crystal ball and she totally knew what she was doing.”

And maybe it’s because I’m a dude, but I’ve definitely gotten into this dumb challenge where it’s like, “Let’s see how little toilet paper I can use.”

Oh wow. That’s bold. I’ve definitely used less, but I can’t say I’ve gone to that level.

(Laughs) I’ll tell you what, I’ve never gotten closer to ordering one of those little at-home bidets. Hello Tushy is the one I hear on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair (Expert)” podcast and I’m always like, “Ooh, is today the day? Am I going to do it?” No. I’m not there yet.

With three girls at home and a full house, obviously, what have you been doing to pass the time? What are you doing to stay busy?

The biggest thing is I’ve not had this much time at home maybe ever, honestly. I started traveling a year after we got married and I don’t think I’ve been home for this long of a period of time in 15 years. So we’ve done a lot of little projects we’ve wanted to get to but just not had the time. The first couple days, I sanded and stained the garage doors. And then I started working on putting hooks up in the girls’ bedrooms. Little stuff like that that needed to be done.

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The girls have been really fortunate. They have such great teachers that they’ve really been busy with school stuff. It’s totally different for them and it makes me sad, because our kids love school. I remember the time period where I thought I didn’t like school that much, and it turned out it was because I was being lazy. When I tried, it was way more engaging. Our daughters are so bright and such great students, they’re missing that interaction in a big way. So we’ve tried to focus on things like, “OK, are you ready for your class Zoom? What kind of things can we do to help?”

And then trying to be as physically active as we can has been a good one. With the weather and kids, it’s tough because the time they want to go ride their bikes or shoot hoops the most, it’s pouring down rain. But we’ve tried to be really focused on doing more things together. Puzzles. A ton of cleaning. We’ve gone through every closet and gotten tons of stuff to give to Goodwill.

From that side, it’s been really incredible to have that kind of time. When else would we have this forced slowdown? I’ve been hugely appreciative of that. We have these little dirt bikes we can ride around in the yard. That’s been so fun to teach my daughters this whole notion of balance and how it’s like a bicycle but faster and you don’t pedal. There’s been a lot of fun things like that.

I’ve been asking people what shows or movies they’ve been streaming. Any entertainment recommendations for people?

Oh. Yes. There’s an amazing show on Netflix called “Hyperdrive”… (which features Wood as one of the hosts).

No kidding? I’ve watched that. It’s so funny you mentioned that.

(Laughs) Yeah, you know, it’s cars, it’s racing, it’s a really great show.

What’s funny is I have another show coming out with Netflix that I’m afraid is going to come out like two days after everything is lifted and goes back to normal and no one is going to see it. It’s a family show and everyone is home watching Netflix right now. This would be the perfect time.

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We of course watched “Tiger King,” and I’m so fascinated by that. Did you have a chance to watch it?

We did. Apparently there’s this new after-show episode with Joel McHale and we haven’t watched that one yet, though.

Yeah. You know what’s wild? David Spade has been doing a bunch of these lo-fi interviews with cast members from the show. And here’s what’s funny. You know the one zoo manager, John Reinke, who had both legs amputated? Did you notice he was a huge race fan and had trophies and it looks like he either works on cars or races them?

He was wearing an Eldora shirt in one of the interviews.

Yes! My first thing was, “We’ve got to talk racing with that guy.” Because that’s a neat thing. Like how did he get into racing? Because as a race fan watching that show, you’re like, “Well this guy is obviously cool. He gets me.” But I don’t know if that’s an interview NBC needs, so I have not tried harder to make that happen. (Laughs)

“Somebody Feed Phil” is a great show on Netflix that somebody told us to watch. It’s about the guy who created “Everybody Loves Raymond.” It’s this cool travelogue show, and I don’t know him from Adam, but it’s just so fun to see these places he’s been. So that’s a cute one and it’s super clean for families.

Oh, and with my daughters, we’ve watched a lot of “Zombies” and “Zombies 2,” which are made-for-TV Disney movies.

I’m not familiar with those yet.

I’ve got to level with you, Jeff. They’re fantastic. It’s all about these zombies, and they’re not like eat-your-brains zombies, even though they wear these little wristbands that keep them calm. It’s a fantastic soundtrack and we’ve been pumping that all the time. We always have a solid amount of dance parties and music going, but it’s been constant.

The greatest thing we’ve found is — I don’t know if you like bluegrass music, but I always feel like bluegrass is super soothing and they’re such great storytellers. I’ve always been a fan of Kyle Cantrell on (SiriusXM channel) Bluegrass Junction, who does these cool shows on the weekends where he goes track-by-track off an album. But I was looking for some good bluegrass and I decided to look for some bluegrass covers on Spotify. There are a couple great playlists on there of tons of popular music we all know, from Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” to “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” from The Darkness, and they’re all done by bluegrass musicians. And it is the best thing I’ve found on this break. Worth listening to.

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I’ve personally been having a problem with excessive snacking during this time. Are there any foods that have been your weakness during this period?

The weirdest thing, dude, is we’ve been losing weight during this period. Probably because we’re like, “Eh, I don’t think I’ll go out for that right now.” (Laughs)

I definitely never knew I could savor and cherish one Oreo at a time like I have. I never knew if you said, “This is the only Oreo I’m going to have and I’m just going to sit in this moment,” then you walk away going, “Oh, that was like an ice cream sandwich. This is so delicious.” Normally you go boom-boom-boom and kind of drop them. It’s funny when you have these kind of times when you have to slow down will make you look at those things differently.

My parents have a barbecue restaurant (Katy Lou’s Cafe) and we’ve gotten takeout from there a couple times. And I think we’ve ordered pizza once. But we have just dug in so much and cooked almost every single meal, every single day. And it’s been so fun, man. I love cooking. Dishes? Not my favorite. I’m surprised each time when I cook. It’s like, “Oh, I can really dirty up a kitchen in record time.”

But I think my appreciation of Oreos has gone up, and that’s the biggest change.

I can respect that you’re trying to limit your Oreos and your toilet paper squares.

You gotta save ’em, man! Oreos don’t grow on trees. You’ve gotta be cool with this stuff.

So your entire adult life has pretty much been based around TV and traveling and you’re always on the road and have different projects, and now suddenly everything has come to a stop and you’re at home for the longest you’ve ever been. How do you process not being out there in your routine and shooting TV stuff?

I mean, it’s definitely hard. This is one of those times where we all have to slow down and question our “why.” For me, the reason I’ve chosen this path of my career and worked so hard to try and make it work is I wanted to make people’s day better. I wanted to make someone smile. And I knew if I could make someone smile, I could help them have a better day. I feel like that’s what I’m supposed to do in my life. I’ve always said if I didn’t have a TV career tomorrow, I would find something else to do for work, because that’s what we’ve got to do. But I would still believe that’s what I’m supposed to do.

To me, it’s been interesting because I’ve had to challenge myself to find different ways to get that same fulfillment and energy back. But it’s little things, like I’ve been doing these videos on my Instagram called Rut’s Rides where I walk people around my cars. And unless you’re really into cars, it’s silly and you’re not going to care. But it’s also me just talking like if you were standing here and said, “Tell me about your 1984 Toyota van” and I was like, “Here it is, Jeff” and just walked you around it. So I think I’ve just been trying to think about all the different things I want to do when we’re able to get back to work and the stuff I want to show.

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One of the biggest things I’ve always pushed for in particular to our sport is every single team has way more people doing things than anyone at home could possibly think. And I’ve always believed we should highlight everybody we can. Whether that’s taking one weekend to highlight a certain team or saying, “OK, this weekend we’re going to focus on hauler drivers” and we show you every hauler driver we can and tell a little story on them. We could point out the fact that “By the way, they don’t just drive this thing. They’re also a mechanic on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Sometimes they pit or (run) gas.”

There are so many people — not just in NASCAR, but in any sport — who have so much more to do with what this end goal is. You and I know at the end of the day, all of these things are meant to be entertainment. We are literally riding around in circles for joy and fun and competition and all these amazing things. So I think for me what’s been challenging is I just want to go out there and entertain. Some people have a stage, and our stage has always been that box in people’s living rooms. So for me it’s been really trying to focus on how I can do things differently or what new stories I want to share and tell.

And NBC is so supportive of that. A bunch of us have been given access to this one little app where we shoot videos and share them with everybody at NBC. I was going through a box of storage stuff the other day and I found this chef’s hat that says Johnsonville Brats. I realized this was the hat I was wearing the day Kyle Petty and I became friends at Watkins Glen in 2006.

I was the DJ (at the SPEED Stage). I had worked my way up from a Craigslist ad the year before. I was given this job where part of the time you sort of smile over here on the side of the stage. I had met this guy Billy Race, who is still one of my best friends and worked for Kyle at the time. Billy said, “Hey, Kyle is going to be on the show. You should ask him to go do the grill with you.” I said OK, but I was so nervous.

I went back there and said, “Mr. Petty, sir, is there any chance you might want to stand out here with me?” He’s like, “Oh sure, man. Yeah.” I, of course, had spent a year and a half watching him, and I thought he was really great and fun and funny. I said, “Look, I’m going to put this brat on your bun. Then you put a little mustard on it and smile at the camera. That’s all you’ve got to do.” He’s like, “That’s it?” “Yeah, that’s it.” “Great. OK.”

So we do that. I put a brat on his bun, he puts mustard on it — and then he chucks it into the crowd like a live grenade.

And all of these people start diving for it! I’m immediately thinking, “I’m going to get fired! This is it! I’ve asked this guy up here and I’m going to get fired.” And as I’m standing there with my jaw on the floor, Kyle reaches his bare hand onto the grill, grabs another brat, covers it with mustard and chucks it into the crowd, too.

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People are diving to get this brat Kyle just threw into the crowd. I’m thinking to myself, “We are either going to become best friends or I’m never going to talk to this guy again.” And I’m so happy it was the first one.

But I got to tell that story and share it with NBC. So I think these times are very interesting in how so many of us have this opportunity to where we can pause and reflect in ways we don’t normally. I think it’s trying to see the good in every day and really trying to focus on that.

Look, it’s hard, you know? It’s like an ocean. There are big waves and there are little ones. You just hope most of the day, the sea is calm. But it’s really just trying to make the best of it.

(Tuesday) was our friend Steve Byrnes’ birthday. It would have been his 61st birthday. Steve was one of my very first friends at SPEED and was the hardest-working guy there and he became a huge mentor for me. He would always talk to me and answer every question I had. He would always remind me, “You get to be exactly who you want to be every day. You don’t need to look at any of these people out here and think, ‘I want to be that person.’ Because you’re not any of these people and none of these people are you.”

Getting to go through some of these boxes of my old SPEED stuff, whether it was that hat or whatever, (reminded me) the greatest thing about being on “Trackside” for me was getting to throw to Steve every time. That was just such a special thing. The nice part about everyone having to pause and slow down is it really lets us be in some of these amazing memories we’ve been able to build through this sport and bring something fans love to see.

Thanks so much for all your time, Rutledge. People really need the distraction right now. I appreciate it.

Well, here’s my big challenge to you, and the question I think people should be asking themselves right now: For you personally, having this time to pause and reflect and still try to carry on as normally as we can, is there anything you’re thinking about you want to do differently in your life moving forward? And what is it?

Hmm. That’s a really good question.

I’ve been asking my friends that, because I think it’s a great time for all of us to stop and think, “What do I want to do differently? Or do I?” Because not everybody does. Some people might feel like, “You know what? I’m doing exactly what I need to do.”

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But I also think it’s an opportunity. There’s going to be a line in the sand. There’s going to be this time where we all go, “How did my life change after that moment?” Did I spend more time weekly calling my parents or my best friends? Or whatever those things are.

But that’s what I would ask: What do you want to do differently moving forward? Or what changes might you want to make in your day-to-day?

Previous editions of Quarantine Questions can be found here. 

(Photo: Brian Lawdermilk / Getty Images)

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