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Ep. 23: Did Denny Poke the Bear at Pocono?
12 Plays1 year ago
Jake, Dillon, Steve, and Braxton are back to recap everything that happened in the last week of NASCAR, including the news of Justin Haley signing with Rick Ware Racing, Kyle Busch taking Corey Heim to school in the Truck race, Josh Berry giving away the Xfinity race to Austin Hill, and all the drama of Sunday's Cup Series race. Plus Steve talks about his experience at the Cup race, Dillon discusses his trip to Richmond (KY) Raceway for some dirt track action, and Jake gives a shoutout to friend-of-the-show Travis Braden for his top-10 at Five Flags last weekend. Plus as always, our real and random picks, and Sir Motorsports Meteorologist's weather forecast for the upcoming Richmond and Road America weekend.
Keep up with Cloudy With a Chance of Racing on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @CloudyRacingPod, and be sure to subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
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Transcript
Pocono NASCAR Weekend Recap
00:00:15
Speaker
My oh my, what a lot to talk about after Pocono weekend on the NASCAR national touring schedule. This is Claudia with a chance of racing episode 23. Braxton here with you as always, along with Steve, Dylan, and Jake this week. Guys, we have a lot to talk about. Steve, you are at the racetrack. Dylan, I know you went and saw some local racing as well. Let's get right into it. What do we see that we want to make sure we cover this weekend? We'll briefly get to that. And then there's some news from earlier in the week I think we should cover to start off with.
00:00:46
Speaker
specifically outside of the Denny Larson fiasco was the absolutely hilarious Austin Dillon fiasco. Just briefly, you really can't see anything at these big tracks. It's hard to see anything outside of where you're sitting. I sat pretty far down the front stretch
00:01:11
Speaker
And that was like in turn one and you can you can't see anything so from where I was so I had to rely on the
00:01:19
Speaker
the screen in front of us to see where what had happened. But just there was a comedy of errors that yesterday it seemed like, you know, with that and then Ty Dillon, then Corey La Joy and Matt and Ryan Preece and obviously Denny and Larson. So just unbelievable amounts of stupidity yesterday on the track, it seems.
00:01:46
Speaker
And I'm sure you were there in the middle of it, Steve, at the end.
Fan Reactions and Experience
00:01:51
Speaker
I got to ask you, were the boos as loud as it sounded on NBC? No, I really didn't hear that many boos. I mean, it was like my entire section. Well, no, I'll tell you what, the boos were louder for Bubba Wallace when he drove by on the truck with the other drivers than they were for Denny.
00:02:14
Speaker
Uh, Dan, there were a lot of Denny fans in my section, although there were two or three Denny fans. I'm sorry. Uh, Chase Elliott fans who threw their full bottles of Budweiser at Denny Hamlin and didn't even come close. They didn't even hit the catch fence. So, um, no, I don't, I don't think so. Really. I saw Jeff Gluck said there was like a chant. I didn't hear anything. I mean, it's a big, big grandstand, but I didn't hear that. Yeah, it was probably a little bit of NBC pumping up, uh, some volume there, but.
00:02:44
Speaker
Man, of all the tracks to really bring all this drama and heat, I mean, Pocono. And one thing that I'll note, and Steve was a part of the crowd, was just the crowd itself and the camping. I mean, I think one of the best things
00:03:07
Speaker
you know, Poconos done. And well, I guess they didn't do that, do it to themselves. But you know, when they ended up going from two dates to one, I mean, what what the track has done to turn or turn a lot around there. Well, see, I will say and you're right, but I will say the the biggest thing that I had an issue with was that the fan experience is bad. Like it's very bad. They didn't have they they built this like platform that you could like watch the race if you had
00:03:37
Speaker
but infield passes which we did and the infield passes were they didn't really give you a whole lot so it was kind of tough to like get this uh a good fan experience so um yeah i mean with as many fans as they had in the infield they didn't really have anything for them they couldn't really you couldn't really see the garage all that much just
00:03:57
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, I thought Vegas was better. Watkins Glen is a better fan experience. I don't know. I just I mean, for as many people as that were there, you know, I think the racetrack should be more suited to have stuff for fans. That is noticed. What I know, I know Dylan has some some thoughts here on the race. You know, yeah, I mean.
00:04:21
Speaker
well first my pick Denny Hamlin gets the win but I just thought the whole that whole fiasco was ridiculous when we get to that topic I'll talk about it but I will say in my experience of Pocono when I was in the infield a couple years ago though I will say they have like game set up for us and stuff like that I don't know if they've changed it since then I was a member of the fan council for one year as well at Pocono and you know obviously I'm not a member of that anymore because I don't think they allow media members to be
Controversy: Denny Hamlin vs Kyle Larson
00:04:50
Speaker
to be a member of the fan council, but, um, I hate to hear that Steve, because most race tracks are known for their fan experience. But, um, it on a normal race, the Austin Dillon fiasco would be the headliner considering you threw a helmet. It's been quite some time since a cup drivers thrown a helmet at someone and that is not even, you know, cracking the list of top stories from this race. It has everybody talking, got people at work even.
00:05:17
Speaker
My TV station who aren't racing friends came up to me and like man, how about that? Denny Hamlin, how about Denny Hamlin? So it's it's getting national attention I think in the sports world again, which is why a summer series for NASCAR Some sort of special summer event they would do would be perfect. This is such a downtime in sports right now I'm glad to see there be some drama at the right time Well a whole lot to talk to
00:05:45
Speaker
from the or talk about from the Pocono weekend, but there are some news items that came out before anybody even got to the racetrack. First of which, the shorter of the topics is Shane Van Gisbergen is going to be running it back with Project 91 with Track House Racing on a couple of weeks from now at the Indianapolis Road Course. So we'll have a couple of V8 Supercar stars in that after the prior week's announcement of
00:06:15
Speaker
Brody Kostecki going to be running a third RCR entry there in the number 33 car. The other news item, which shocked all of us, and I'm sure it shocked many of you listening at home as well,
Justin Haley's Career Move
00:06:27
Speaker
is Justin Haley leaving Colleague Racing to go drive for Rick Ware Racing in 2024. I think color all of us shocked about that, but let's dive into that a little bit. What did you guys think and have you come up with any possible logic after hearing a little bit from Justin over the weekend about
00:07:09
Speaker
potentially lock up Haley to at least stay with one manufacturer for the next maybe year or two before they feel like, you know, RFK, which I feel as though this is the bigger picture here is RFK is going to put Haley in one of their cars, you know, maybe a couple years down the line. That's really the only thing I could think of, because to me, it doesn't make sense to leave a colleague outside of that.
00:07:15
Speaker
what he was thinking here.
00:07:39
Speaker
Yeah, it really just has to be just one of these for Haley's sake, you know, a chess move thinking long term here in his career. When this news came out and we were texting, I had the double and triple check that, you know, this wasn't like, you know, parody accounts tweeting out or sending out this story. I mean, and it really came out of left field. I mean, there wasn't
00:08:09
Speaker
any rumblings about this at all. And now you think, what about this colleague seat and what is going to happen there? I know there's already been talks and Braxton just mentioned him of SBG, maybe potentially moving to the cup series. I have no idea where he could fit in, but there's an open seat there. But as far as Haley goes,
00:08:39
Speaker
Who knew that, you know, people feel this strongly about Rick Ware racing and, you know, RFK Alliance together, but I guess it is what it is. And hope for the best of Hailey, because I think we're all, you know, pretty high on him.
00:08:58
Speaker
I will say I'm upset that Reed Sorenson is getting his ride taken by Justin. I mean, that's the most disappointing thing about this whole thing to me. But no, it's interesting. I like Brad Kozlowski's comments about their alliance with them. That that might be strengthening potentially in the future. He didn't really hint at that, but this kind of points to it with them.
00:09:27
Speaker
bringing a driver like Justin Haley, they have improved their racing. Um, and honestly, you know, on the road courses, Jensen button hasn't done terrible with that team. So, um, they've shown some speed at times. So it'll be interesting. Uh, you know, I kind of think, I know there's all rumors at this time, but I mean, you know, why not speculate that this is SVGs. This is a potential spot for SVG to go.
00:09:54
Speaker
to the full time cup series because I don't understand that, you know, everybody kind of thinks that track house is going to keep them within their stable, maybe go into three cars, maybe potentially and Daniel Suarez a spot was a rumor I've seen flying around there. But I feel like, you know, pairing him with AJ Almondinger would be interesting for sure.
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah, and that certainly opens up a whole can of worms. Of course, a colleague has in their in-house stable, Daniel Hemmerich, who has a season of Cup of Experience under his belt already, so numerous opportunities there for changes. But I'd say I was definitely shocked, and the same points you guys have made.
00:10:37
Speaker
it seems like a backwards move right now. So there's got to be something to long term employee. Do is there a possibility that this is just what I'm thinking because I doubt Cody where is ever coming back to Rick where racing that at some point that Rick where would just dissolve his cup team and focus on
00:10:59
Speaker
other like IMSA or NHRA or something along those lines and just get rid of his charters. It depends on how much he gives his charters for. I don't think he would do that until a new charter agreement is reached.
00:11:14
Speaker
because right now the resale value on charters is basically nothing. It's simultaneously basically nothing but also super high because there's so much uncertainty about what the new charter agreement is going to be like and what the new revenue share is going to be like. Yeah, I see what you're going with this here, Steve, because sure, they have a charter or they have charters and they're making money off of that, but geez, they are just flat getting their teeth ticked in on the track a week in and a week out.
00:11:42
Speaker
Whereas their NHRA team has two wins this year. I just, I can't see why Rick Ware would want to stay in the cup series. It just to me, like I don't understand, like if, especially if like, you know, you know, Cody Ware is really bad. Like he was bad in the cup series, but obviously, you know, I think he was in, he was in a cup car because of, you know, Rick Ware and that's fine. Um, but I just don't see what incentive Rick Ware has to say.
00:12:12
Speaker
In the cup series outside of being in it. I will say that you know, they don't do They don't release like purse money anymore, right? For what teams make but you have to say you have to imagine that Rick where I would hope is smart enough to that He is not going to be racing in the cup series with two cars every week at a loss
00:12:37
Speaker
You got to say that between their sponsorship money with like that NerdTech ODT and stuff, and the money they're making off of their charters, even being very low in the charter standings, they've got to be turning a profit. Granted, they're not running at the same level of spend, I think, as Hendrick and JGR, et cetera, but they've got to be turning a profit. So that could be why, but it's good points here. It makes you wonder if maybe they, on the other hand, with getting Justin Haley, arguably,
00:13:07
Speaker
the most talented driver they've ever had in their stable. Could they be signaling that they are going to turn the corner and put a real effort out next year? Very interesting there. So a lot to get to on Pocono weekend. We'll start with the truck series and a big win on the the weekend for it's now suddenly Corey Haim.
00:13:38
Speaker
and And now they're just one race to go in the the the regular season there Looks like time in Jesky has locked himself in on points. Nobody can catch him But right around the bubble Maddie Dee and eighth place with 431 points Nick Sanchez 421 points in ninth Matt Crafton 409 he
Playoff Standings and Predictions
00:14:02
Speaker
is the last truck currently in the playoffs and
00:14:05
Speaker
Then Stuart Friesen lurking only nine points below the cutoff. Looks like Tanner Gray is 362 points, so he is 47 below the cut. That seems kind of daunting for him to try to make up, but any of those drivers down there could win the race on this coming weekend at Richmond and get themselves locked in. What are we thinking about the playoffs? How is that gonna shake out in the truck series? Who makes it? Who doesn't?
00:14:31
Speaker
Well, this is just a general question that I have for everybody, but do you think any of the, like the full-time truck guys, when they see Kyle Busch is going to run a race, they're like, Oh, come on. Like, that's true. Oh, I miss, but it was Kyle Busch who did win the race. Yeah, that's right. Uh, and it was Tori Heim was running pretty well.
00:14:51
Speaker
until the very end. But yes, Kyle Busch did win at Pocono. But you're right. Especially coming down to crunch time in that, like, there are guys who are like, like, I mean, so Nick Sanchez and Matty D, or who I'm looking at, is like, you know, two people who could potentially advance their position in that race. And I'd be honest, I didn't even see any of the truck race. So I'm seeing here that, like, Matt DiBenedetto finished 10th and
00:15:18
Speaker
I don't know where Nick Sanchez finished, but the Benedetto finished 10th. Kyle Busch changes the top 10. If he doesn't race. I'm not saying he shouldn't. I'm just saying, if I were one of the full-time guys who was on the bubble, I would be frustrated.
00:15:33
Speaker
Yeah, I forgot there was a Kyle Busch was tracking down Corey Haim over the last run. Haim led. We have a race high 27 laps on Saturday afternoon there at Pocono out of 60. And and yeah, Haim was leading up until the last lap last last couple of laps. Kyle Busch kept showing him the bumper and and like he was going to make a move and then and then rowdy.
00:15:59
Speaker
Took Coraheim to school in the tunnel turn and passed him for the win there But yeah, you're right Steve like, you know, that could have been a huge opportunity You know the top four Kyle Busch and first Christopher Bell finishing fourth That was an opportunity for for a guy
00:16:17
Speaker
like Matt DiBenedetto, you know, you take those two guys out, maybe, you know, it doesn't move up exactly two spots, but that's two more points to the good for for Mattie D, right? You know, and probability. So, yeah, the cup drivers makes a big difference. Certainly. And also a note on this with
00:16:38
Speaker
Kyle Busch winning and he was ready for this one because that was the 100 victory by KBM and man Kyle just you know when obviously when when he enters East he's the favorite that was a 64th truck series win when I look at the truck series standings and you know as far as the regulars go I have to say and I was
00:17:09
Speaker
I was a Matty D guy when he was in the cup series. Couldn't get a win, had some very close calls, but I'm pretty impressed by the season, you know, he's having and putting together and kind of, you know,
00:17:26
Speaker
When you're in the Cup Series and then you kind of go backwards, if you will, and go down to the Xfinity or Truck Series, you just don't know how some of these guys will feel and fare, but he's putting together a pretty good season and I'm happy for him. As far as the race up top and the points, as Matt is right near that cut line along with Matt Crafton, a champion,
00:17:56
Speaker
in the trucks. It looks like, you know, Corey Heim, it stinks on Saturday, but I think moves like that and racing against Kyle Busch will probably pay off here in the playoffs and later in the truck season. Yeah, I will say that, you know, it wasn't our typical Kyle Busch just dominate the whole race. So that is, I guess, a positive to some of the younger talent. But the playoffs for the truck series that
00:18:26
Speaker
You know, there just has not seemed like a whole lot of drama of late with the truck series. I know it was kind of a long period during the summertime with that series. So we'll end up seeing there have been some competitive car trucks that you might not have expected. So that could could lead to some excitement. And honestly, I wasn't able to watch the race this weekend. And I didn't really see a whole lot of social media buzz outside of, you know,
00:18:56
Speaker
Kyle Busch picking up his Kyle Busch Motorsports, picking up their 100th truck win, which there's a whole lot of controversy around that.
Kyle Busch's Dominance in Truck Series
00:19:07
Speaker
Do you see the top Formula One guys racing in Formula Three, which I don't think there's very good comparison there, but a lot of Formula One fans make that comparison. It's a little bit frustrating. If I was one of the lower up and coming drivers, I'd want to compete against Kyle Busch.
00:19:26
Speaker
You know, I don't really think as a competitive standpoint that a lot of the drivers are getting as upset as the fans are because that's about as good of a challenge. I'd say the owners might be getting frustrated because they're not, you know, their trucks aren't winning. But from a competitive standpoint, I think the drivers appreciate the opportunity to get to race against one of the best all the time. Yeah, that's totally a fair assessment there, Dylan. Yeah, you're right. The drivers enjoy the competition, but
00:19:56
Speaker
When Kyle Busch goes out there wins, it does definitely affect the point situation and the purse money as well for those owners. So in the Xfinity series race, we'll move on to that. They have a handful more races to go before they get to the playoffs. But some drama in that one, John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer basically take each other out.
00:20:25
Speaker
on a restart, then it looks like Josh Berry has the best car all day long, and then he sails it off into turn one on a late restart and basically gives the race away into Austin Hill. A very, I thought, pretty tame race, but also it was exciting to see some different strategies play out in that one. I'm looking now at
00:20:48
Speaker
the standings for Xfinity. And I guess I just didn't realize that there's only one Ford in the top 10 for Xfinity and it's Cole Custer. But yeah, I mean, it seems like Chevy's been dominating as of late, and especially at the Xfinity series on Saturday with Austin Hills, Sam Mayer, and then Chase Elliott in third.
00:21:19
Speaker
Overall, I feel like a good Xfinity race at Pocono. For the last few years, the cup race has been okay. But yeah, I mean, solid win for Austin Hill. Outside of that, I really didn't have a whole lot of notes. I saw clips of nonsense, but outside of that, I didn't really see a whole lot.
00:21:49
Speaker
It, uh, it always feels like in Braxton mentioned how, you know, this, uh, in all honesty, this one should have been Barry's, but it just feels like there's, when it comes later,
Junior Motorsports Challenges
00:22:03
Speaker
you know, some mental mistakes and, and lapses, some, some of these, uh, the junior motorsports drivers this season, um, have, have struggled at points. And you look at, I mean, Josh Barry.
00:22:17
Speaker
Hasn't won in the Xfinity series this season, and some other guys, Sam Mayer, down the list. So you like to see that team kind of, I mean, they're competitive and will be in the playoffs. Some of these guys, Justin Allgaier does have one win, but like to see them step it up a notch. And, man, as much as, you know, Josh Berry kind of let that one go,
00:22:46
Speaker
I think Austin Hill is one heck of a racer and he's right there with John Hunter Nemechek and I think will be one heck of a battle. I can see it pretty much coming down to those two in the Xfinity series and I think that one will be really exciting come this fall. My favorite thing about the Xfinity series this year and really as a whole,
00:23:17
Speaker
including the race this weekend is, yeah, I think there's a little bit of parody, uh, this year more so than years past. And that was, you know, no different than the, than the race this weekend. I think, um, the struggles that some of the junior motorsports cars have had. It's just kind of funny hearing Dale Jr's comments, you know, while he's on the broadcast, this thought of a typical junior motorsports domination. Um, his car is getting crashed out.
00:23:47
Speaker
like what happened at Pocono as well. Overall, again, I wasn't able to watch this race either because locally here in Kentucky, we've mentioned some on the broadcast. I am covering motorsports or local short tracks every Saturday. So I'm missing a lot of Saturday action, which is going to be really unfortunate come some of these NASCAR Saturday races. But yeah, that's so again, I wasn't able to see the race live. So some highlights and some clips and of course, some of the read ups as well after.
00:24:16
Speaker
I'll say that it seems like Josh Berry has kind of turned back into a pumpkin over the last year. Yeah, it's really been an interesting turn. He's I mean, outside of a top five Nashville, a couple weeks ago, it's, you know, 33rd at Sonoma, 24th Chicago Street course, 19th Atlanta, 17th in New Hampshire, and now 24th Pocono. So
00:24:38
Speaker
He's picked up the stored Haas tendencies after He's in need season form for steward He fits right in You know interesting you noticed Steve about the lack of forwards in the top ten There's only one two three six forwards that are running full-time in the Xfinity series and
00:25:05
Speaker
One of them's Riley Herbst though. And so it should be higher. It's the, oh, he's 11th. And point, he is in the line. He's in the bubble spot for the playoffs right now, but it's the two HHR cars Cole Custer and Riley Herbst. Six. Brett Moffat. And then the three seed cars. So yeah, Ford, Ford, not a popular brand in the, uh, in the Xfinity series, but BS, uh, you definitely expect Riley Herbst to be a little higher up. He's been, he's been putting together a good season for sure.
00:25:34
Speaker
So it'll be interesting to see what they do the Xfinity series this weekend going to Road America one of my favorite tracks I'll be interesting to see how that plays out because Road America just got repaved in this past offseason IndyCar put on a pretty good show there and so there was a lot more grip than the had before but these
00:25:55
Speaker
Xfinity cars are not meant to go around that place. So all that grip the Indy cars had kind of goes out the window I think there's a good story me slipping and sliding. I said that race that's racist on NBC Yep, how about that now? I'll be interested to see what those ratings are. Yeah, totally Yeah, so trucks and copper in Richmond this weekend and the Xfinity series like I said at Road America
00:26:19
Speaker
Let's get to the cup series real quick. And boy, do we have a lot to talk about there? Where do we want to start now?
Austin Dillon vs Tyler Reddick
00:26:26
Speaker
See I think the earliest thing that happened that we noticed Was the the Austin Dillon incident? Austin Dillon basically comes down across It was a Tyler Reddick snows Essentially Rex himself actually you can go back further Austin Dillon ended up backwards earlier on a restart
00:26:47
Speaker
When BJ McLeod was underneath him and got loose and then Dylan rallies back comes across Ty Dillon's or comes across Tyler Reddick snows and Essentially wrecks himself then gets out of his car and throws his helmet at Tyler Reddick his helmet comes nowhere close to the red car and Then I guess you call it this point triples down on his anger and his infield care center of you saying It was Reddick's fault
00:27:15
Speaker
And I don't think anybody who has seen it agrees with him. Richard Childress agrees with him. Of course he does. Yeah. Look, so the funny thing about that was that I was pretty far past the start-finish line, closer to Turn 1, but still a quarter mile away, it seems.
00:27:40
Speaker
when that happened, everybody was like, Wait, he's getting out of his car. And then they show on the screen that he threw the helmet and he didn't even hit him. But they showed it like 100 times. Unbeknownst to me, I guess they didn't show that too much on the broadcast initially. Because so the they showed it like live one time and then I don't think they showed it again until
00:28:17
Speaker
Austin Dillon was in just a bad spot. He put himself in a bad spot. I don't know how that is hard to see from his standpoint, but the way that he took it was he just got wrecked by Reddick and then tried to take it out on him. I looked at that and I saw that
00:28:24
Speaker
they slowed it down and played it as they were going to commercial.
00:28:39
Speaker
I just couldn't see why he was so upset about it. It was like that situation was, it's racing to me. That's just what you, you just adapt to it. I don't know. I really couldn't understand the frustration because then he started getting mad in that interview and I'm like, well, what was Reddick supposed to do? What was the ideal scenario for Austin Dillon in that situation? Because I certainly don't know.
00:29:08
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you, Steve. He felt like for as mad as he was in the helmet throw, it certainly wasn't anywhere near. I thought, get that angry. But these things happen in a split second. And I'm sure maybe once he goes back and maybe looks at some things today, the SMT data, he might
00:29:34
Speaker
Might change his mind, you don't know. Some drivers in this Cup Series, and we'll get to some of them that don't seem to want to budge on their views of things, but I mean, Austin Dillon, maybe part of it is just the frustration of the season he's having kind of boiling over. I mean, he is 30th in the points right now. 3-0. Is he really? Yes.
00:30:04
Speaker
They had a penalty though, I think oh, that's right. I I wonder how I wonder how many points out was He uh, you know, let's let me see here. Yeah right now with with the penalty he's 30th But still I mean that's you know, we we all know how points I
00:30:25
Speaker
60 okay, well if I can do although outside of that he's been bad like he's still been very bad this probably he'd probably be up in 26 With with the those extra points near 24th. Yeah Yeah doing that in my head here, but I mean we and we all know how great Kyle Busch is and I hate I Guess I don't hate it. But like comparing teammates and cars and stuff. I mean, it's just night night and day at this point for our CR
00:30:59
Speaker
I, uh, at first I actually thought that Austin Dillon was accurate in his assessment, but clearly seeing the replay, um, I thought that, you know, he came down across Tyler Reddick's nose. Um, I will say it's good to see, uh, and it's not good, but it's exciting to see somebody mad. I just wish it was maybe, you know,
00:31:24
Speaker
more deserving for him to throw the helmet. Like I said, it's been a while since we've had a driver throw a helmet. Some of the more iconic scenes in NASCAR are drivers throwing helmets at other cars, typically at Bristol or something like that. Example A, Tony Stewart, chucking his helmet. So I think it's kind of his whole, it's honestly, he put off the aura that he was frustrated
00:31:52
Speaker
driver that knows he's racing badly and just wanted an excuse to get mad at somebody other than himself. And he took that opportunity. Um, so I guess that's, it's kind of, you know, I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast was something we'd be talking about more if what happened in the race
Austin Dillon's Season Struggles
00:32:11
Speaker
didn't happen. And I think that's to Austin Dillon's benefit because he wouldn't have a good look if this was like getting bigger attention.
00:32:19
Speaker
Oh, you're totally right. Interesting thing Steve mentioned was like, what was Reddick supposed to do? Like, Reddick was already taking a pretty shallow entry to the corner, and it sounded like Austin Dillon expected Reddick to just lift and let him go. And Austin should know more than anybody, you can't just lift and let somebody go in these cars. You lose all momentum, and it doesn't work. And it's not like Reddick was just at his quarter panel.
00:32:47
Speaker
Reddick was at his door. He was firmly there. And Austin just kept his wide arc going and went right into him. There's nothing that Reddick can do there.
00:32:59
Speaker
I mean, you're supposed to look. Obviously, it sucked. I mean, he was probably frustrated. Austin Dillon was probably frustrated because that was a hard hit. And looking at it on the replay a couple of times, his car was completely jumped. So I get it. But that was an aggressive move. See, this is where I feel as though there are times when there are things that are just certainly
00:33:26
Speaker
It's really hard to dispute after seeing replays that this is what happened. And we're going to probably get to it in a second. But the Denny Larson thing is there are people who are on both sides of it, which that's fine. I can see it sort of. But Austin Dillon, he gets frustrated. And I think it's just because he hasn't been good this year. Everything is everybody else's fault. And it is what it is. I mean, he hasn't been good.
00:33:55
Speaker
And it's hard to kind of look in the mirror, especially when your teammate is doing so well. But the three-car just isn't what it did. Hey, the eight-car didn't do too great yesterday. Ask me how I know. Did you pick him? I did pick him. Yeah. He came down pit road with, I don't know, a couple laps to go. And I was like, I don't know. They're not looking good for KFB.
00:34:22
Speaker
I do want to make quick mention of another incident early in the race involving Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez. Logano got out of shape on a restart. Everybody scrambles trying to avoid internet being bumper cars with Suarez ending up the worst of it, but it was Suarez, Bubba, and Michael McDowell. So three guys are right there on the bubble, kind of bumping into each other.
00:34:50
Speaker
It was the first real frontal impact I think we've seen on the next-gen cars since the Ryan Preece and Kyle Larson incident at Talladega. It was interesting to see the front end of the next-gen car crumple the way it did. Good to see that their modifications are working there. But also, how bad of a headache do we think Joey Logano has after getting towed around the track two miles on flat tires?
00:35:18
Speaker
Did you hear the audio that he had? Oh, yeah, he was I. Yeah. And, you know, I I feel bad because he's like calling him like stupid. Like how stupid can you be sitting there and I'm like, oh, man, that's brutal because like imagine being in that situation and thinking like. Like, how do they not understand? Like, I need to go. I can't go myself. Yes. What are you supposed to do? Yeah, yeah, I don't get it.
00:35:46
Speaker
But you're right, I think he makes a good point. Why can't they have just a set of ancient scuff tires? They don't have to be good tires, just something to roll the car around the track on that's not just a flat. It shouldn't be that difficult.
00:36:07
Speaker
So now that we've gotten through that, let's just go ahead and get to the incident I think everybody's been talking about in the Cup Series. I will say real quick, I think the fuel strategy was very interesting to follow. I think the fuel strategy races got boring there for a long time in the Gen 6 era. And this is really, I think, our first next-gen fuel mileage race to this extent. And it was definitely interesting to follow that.
00:36:37
Speaker
Coming down to the last couple of laps, Kyle Larson versus Denny Hamlin for the win. Denny Hamlin claims he did not touch Kyle Larson and just put him in a bad position. There are photographs that certainly say otherwise that Denny Hamlin basically fenced Kyle Larson and went on to win.
Clash: Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson
00:37:01
Speaker
How do you guys see it?
00:37:02
Speaker
OK, I'm going to try to make this short because I I initially so I don't really feel bad for Kyle Larson. I just he's he's done that move before he did it last year to Bubba. That was a point that Denny made, and that's fine. Kyle is not one to shy away from doring guys or putting them up into the wall or just running them high.
00:37:25
Speaker
to gain track position. Now what I will say is that Denny basically said that he gave the 48 and the five like two options and it was either lift and lose track position or hit the gas and hit the wall. And I'm thinking, no, that's not what happened. You were trying to hit him because if you put him in a position and you don't
00:37:49
Speaker
Put him into the wall. There is a realistic possibility that he loses that race because and this I think was a really important race for Denny because He's now the all-time wins leader at Pocono And he put himself farther up and last year he was disqualified with the win from the win and this year and he puts himself up higher now on the point standings, so
00:38:11
Speaker
It was wrong. He did. He hit him. He put him up into the wall. It was a stupid move. He shouldn't have run him that hard. But I just have trouble feeling bad for Kyle Larson. That's about as much as I have for it. And I, you know, I wasn't a huge fan of the move and I, I like getting in, you know, I'm, I'm a 23 11 guy fan in
00:38:39
Speaker
I think one point, and this comes from Steve point, is Denny said yesterday, after the race, that if the roles were reversed between the two drivers, it probably would have been the same thing. And I think so with just the way that I've seen moves that Kyle has made in the past as well, not saying it's right or anything. But yeah, it was a stupid move.
00:39:10
Speaker
But, you know, I guess I don't, I don't have a problem with it happening. And then maybe after the race, you know, Oh, I, I messed up. Like I said earlier, if someone sees the replay, which clearly, you know, there's replays and photographs that they made contact, but to go on, you know, the podcast today and, you know, still, you know, with, with your feet in the, in the, in the mud here and stick to your same stance.
00:39:39
Speaker
when there's just evidence that that's not true. I mean, that's where I think a lot of people have a problem with what happened. And it was Denny and Ross, and now it's a little bit of Denny and Kyle. And I tell you what, for a guy who's won there seven times, Pocono, then shout out to Denny too for just,
00:40:07
Speaker
his 50th win career cup series win. I mean, um, there sure are a lot of people there, um, that weren't happy and just overall fans, I think of NASCAR, just some have a distaste for Denny Hamlin this season. And I am one of those people with a distaste for Denny Hamlin. And my thing with it all, I mean, let me get in my soapbox here, but I've said this before with this fuse with
00:40:37
Speaker
Ross Chastain. I've said this about Ross Chastain. When you make a move like that, own up to it. I mean, that's I think the fan's biggest point in terms of why they're so frustrated with Hamlin is because he always acts like it's not his fault. I mean, he will die on that hill that I didn't know wrong. Why are you mad at me? Yet he goes on Twitter and posts his data from his, you know, NCAR
00:41:05
Speaker
Data after his incidents with Ross Chastain proving. Oh, no Ross did he did move the data shows it? Yeah, he's he's out here claiming. He didn't hit Kyle Larson with his car yet the video clearly shows his footsteps are up that he Ran in to Larson, you know just own it up quit acting like you know that you can do no wrong and my
00:41:32
Speaker
You know kind of favorite part about it all and I showed it on our in our News segment because I have it, you know Monday morning motors motor motorsports Monday I put for a part of Larson's post race quotes, which shout out to kidney coon were staying on to him Larson and getting the answers that everybody wanted out of him because it's kind of hard to do that with Larson where he was very Open about his relationship with Denny. He kind of gave us a you know, you're
00:42:02
Speaker
It made me remind of some of my friends, you know, those friends. He mentioned, you know, Denny Hamlin can do no wrong. That's all the buddies know. Denny's, you know, always right no matter what. And, you know, it's kind of proved to a lot of fans, including myself, kind of the personality that Denny is. Kyle gave us a little behind the scenes. You know, he was very open about Denny's personal life and how he is, you know, with Kyle Larson one-to-one. So, you know,
00:42:31
Speaker
Larson I agree has made moves like that in the past and has kind of acted like Denny, but not to the extent of you know blatantly openly Saying you know, I did no wrong. So that's my biggest thing. I did pick Denny Hamlin the win because again Heart it will mind over heart. That's how I take my pics. So there's never any bias on on my pics, you know fan favorite or not
00:42:58
Speaker
Big shout out to Dylan on his Motorsports Monday segment. I watch it every Monday, doing great work there. And as soon as we finish up the Pocono discussion, I want to hear a little bit about the dirt track action you saw on Saturday. But yeah, I'm with you guys.
00:43:13
Speaker
You know, Denny, I understand like, you know, there's a part of the competitor that you're not supposed to like apologize for being aggressive because you have to be aggressive to win, right? That's just the nature of the game. But at the same time, you know, you kind of appreciate the honesty. On one hand, I almost wonder if he put it the way he did for fear of being penalized again.
00:43:42
Speaker
Because that was very similar, maybe not as much, but it was kind of similar to what he did to Ross Chastain earlier in the year at Phoenix and got penalized for it. So come around this time, a precedent has been set. He has to say that he did it that way in order to hopefully avoid a penalty.
00:44:05
Speaker
But also, you know, he's then he says that he left Kyle Lane on the exit of one, which he did after he had Kyle like that. You can't say that you left him a lane. There's a great photo that I saw of Denny Hamlin's car pointed more towards the wall than the lane on the than the lane, the preferred lane and turn one. Yeah, I mean,
00:44:32
Speaker
I kind of chalk it up a little bit to Just the penalty thing the way the president's been set like what is he supposed to say there? I definitely don't like I agree with the way Denny handled it because I certainly think it could have been a great finish to the race if they had not made contact, you know drag race down the the Straightaway there the long pond straight and battle it out to the end but at the same time
00:44:59
Speaker
I understand Denny's perspective of, you know, he has to be careful what he says because he's going to get penalized again.
00:45:06
Speaker
I get that, but I also, here's my issue is that if this were Ross Chastain, who dored Kyle Larson, there would be fans who would be trying to get him kicked out of the sport forever. Because at this point, Ross, in such a short time, has built up a reputation of like, and he's been very quiet over the last several weeks. And Denny has, well, there's been really no talk of Ross Chastain. The point that I'm trying to make basically is
00:45:36
Speaker
Denny has not really earned the benefit of the doubt because in any of the situations that he has had, whether it be Ross or Chase Elliott or any of the other issues that he's had over the last few years, he said on his podcast, when I'm wrong, I will admit it. The problem is Denny never thinks that he's wrong and that's fine. Here's the thing though.
00:46:03
Speaker
Kyle Larson doesn't have a podcast. Denny is now not only an owner, but he's got 50 wins under his belt. He is one of the 75 greatest drivers ever.
00:46:15
Speaker
And he's got a platform, so he can say basically whatever he wants.
Denny Hamlin's Reputation and Media Presence
00:46:20
Speaker
And guys like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, you know, who aren't going to say a whole lot in post-race interviews or just in general on Twitter, on social media, whatever, are not going to have that same kind of voice. So you can hear what they have to say, but that's going to be it.
00:46:34
Speaker
And so this allows for Denny to basically say whatever he wants. And again, that's fine. But at some point, you have to at least try to earn the benefit of the doubt so that if something like this happens, they'll be like, well, he's normally going to own up to what he does. But in this case, he didn't. And that's not how it is. It's just, well, Denny did it again. And he's going to talk about it tomorrow, which is essentially what Larson alluded to yesterday. Or at least if Denny is going to say whatever he wants, like make it at least
00:47:04
Speaker
somewhat believable, right? Like, yeah, don't don't like basically lie about it. Well, I think that you got a good point. True. I think you made a good point. He can't really say I dored him because well, maybe that's race manipulation, and then he loses more points. And so
00:47:19
Speaker
It's a tough situation for any other driver to be in because I truthfully I think that this is because this was going to break the record for most wins of Pocono. He had a chance to win and he was like he he pulled a he pulled another one another Denny situation like he did earlier on the year with Ross. That's that's it basically. So so the top 10 dominated by Toyota's five of the top six finishers of Toyota Kevin Harvick spoiled that party by finishing fourth
00:47:49
Speaker
highest finishing Chevy Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a seventh place finish and a big shout out to Harrison Burton finishing eighth and Eric Jones finishing ninth that especially for the Legacy Motor Club team. They've had a tough slog through the summer and good to see Eric Jones get a result for that group. We mentioned Ross Chastain. Aside from that national when he has been a non-factor finishing 13th, no one really talked about him at all yesterday.
00:48:17
Speaker
Be interesting to see how that plays out as the summer rolls on And and I want to make a point to to bring up Dylan's point that Kim Kuhn did an excellent job with that Kyle Larson interview her follow-up questions were great and and did more to elicit more of a response from from Kyle and it was a
00:48:40
Speaker
Very, very good. And I don't think we would have gotten that had it been many other interviewers. So it's a big props to Kim Kuhn for that. I will say Marty Smith. Not Marty Smith. Marty. Marty Smith. Marty Snider didn't do a good job prying at Denny Hamlin when Denny Hamlin openly admitted, I didn't touch him. He should have said.
00:49:02
Speaker
MVC replay clearly showed you touched him. I think, you know, we could have used having kim koon interview both drivers in that instance I wish that kim koon asked and and you know, I guess just in the moment there's no reason for it to her to think about this in the moment, but
00:49:18
Speaker
Like my thought when I saw that immediately went to the Bubba Wallace incident. Because I guess Larson just like if she had asked, well, you know, what was the difference between that and between last year with the incident with Bubba Wallace, I guess he could have said, well, the race wasn't anywhere near being over yet. And he probably didn't completely break his car. I still think the question would have been interesting because it's basically the same thing. And this is another situation where Kyle Larson just could have addressed
00:49:47
Speaker
two things where he was complaining about one, but did it in a certain situation. I almost wonder, too, if the way Larson has spoken on it and then, you know, I think the only driver that Denny hasn't had a run in on track with so far is William Byron. But it makes me wonder, too, if maybe there's some sort of directive from somebody Hendrick Motorsports on how they speak about things. I mean, it's no secret that that there's a Penske way to speak in the media.
00:50:17
Speaker
Maybe there's a Hendrick way as well that is preventing, you know, a Larson, a Bowman, a Chase Elliott from speaking how they want to about a situation like this.
Friendship and Rivalry: Denny and Larson
00:50:29
Speaker
I certainly think too, my last note on this is it's an interesting dynamic between Larson and Hamlin because they are friends off the track and closer than most drivers are, if we're being honest. Like, you know, Denny Hamlin has let Kyle Larson use his plane to go back and forth to dirt races on a weekend.
00:50:46
Speaker
You know, they talked about Danny talked about her on his podcast about playing like airsoft Whatever at his house that he rented in Phoenix for the West Coast swing, you know, they're they're they're close So I think that adds a different wrinkle compared to you know, Denny and Ross most certainly not buddies off the track Real quick before we get to our race pics Dylan I want to hear some about your experience at Richmond Raceway on the dirt this weekend
00:51:14
Speaker
Yeah, and we're talking Richmond, Kentucky. Richmond Raceway in Kentucky, not Richmond Raceway in Virginia, which I think is funny. But yeah, I was there. My thing that I'm doing with my Motorsports Monday segment is not only showing the major national touring series, whether it be IndyCar or NASCAR, showing their highlights when they're big moments, but also kind of highlighting the local aspect. And Richmond Raceway in Kentucky was really badly damaged by storms back in June.
00:51:44
Speaker
Uh, the day after I went to Richmond Raceway for the first time and got highlights from their, their track seemingly was destroyed. The owners thought they may not even be able to return to racing, but, um, great community support. The owners have been there every day, bringing, you know, the track back to where it should be. And they were able to host, host, uh, the Butchey, Nathaniel Butchey Memorial there Saturday evening. It was a fun little race. Um, you know, I'm getting really accustomed to some of the touring.
00:52:14
Speaker
dirt series in this part of the country. So this was the Heart of America Ultimate Super Late Model dirt series. And there's some pretty good drivers. There's some young drivers up and coming in dirt ranks. Big race coming up here in a couple weeks is the North South 100 at Florence Speedway.
Local Dirt Track Racing Insights
00:52:32
Speaker
I'll unfortunately be at the beach with family that week, so I can't go. But I plan on going there next week and kind of previewing the race and
00:52:43
Speaker
and getting a look at that. So this week I'm actually heading to Thunder Mountain Speedway, which is a brand new track. Last year was the first time they raced there. That's in Corbin, Kentucky. You may have heard of Corbin, Kentucky before. That is where the KFC, the first original, where the KFC original recipe came from. There's a restaurant there in Corbin, Kentucky. I've been to it. Yeah. It is still KFP and there's a little, there's a little museum there, about a Harlan Sanders as well. Yeah.
00:53:13
Speaker
Um, we did get a question on Twitter, um, being from Tim Robinson says being a dirt track fan. What's the difference between the world of outlaw super late models and the super late model that run on the tracks earlier in the week? Uh, thanks Tim for that question. Really, as far as I know, um, just the difference between a super late model and a, uh, I guess you're playing Jane, you know, you know, local series late model, like what you might've been seeing at, uh, at Richmond there, Dylan is just the engine package, really.
00:53:43
Speaker
A lot of the late models, like the weekly series of local late models, run a crate engine, much more affordable for the weekend warrior, whereas the super late models have purpose-built race engines. They're turning 9,000 RPM and just doing crazy things. Yeah, you'll have, though, sometimes both super late and just a regular late model.
00:54:10
Speaker
There as well. My favorite though, I need to get in a four cylinder hornet. Those things are sweet. You can buy, you know, pretty cheap ones. I mean, they're running Chevy Cavaliers early 2000 Chevy Cavaliers out there. I was like, man, I want to be in one of those. Yeah, Jake, I'm going to issue a challenge. You need to go 35 minutes to your West to own a Speedway on August 4th and 5th. The only paved, uh, race track, the only paved oval in the state of West Virginia.
00:54:39
Speaker
has a racing that weekend, they'll have all four, or all of their series. I think they have nine different series there. Legends cars, late models, modified U cars, like the four bangers, like what Dylan was mentioning there. So yeah, August 4th and 5th is our next race weekend. Challenge accepted, putting it in my calendar now. Let's do it, awesome.
00:55:05
Speaker
And one other quick shout out last week or a short track racing goes and whatnot, we mentioned that our previous guest Travis Braden returning to the track and he had a top 10 finish what on Friday night in the Friday
Travis Braden's Racing Comeback
00:55:22
Speaker
night. Yep. Eighth place of five flags. Saturday night got rained out. Yeah. And that I think that's that'll be in September that that one. But
00:55:30
Speaker
Overall, there was a great article about his return on RacingAmerica.com that came out July 20th or so on his emotional return. And just overall, it was a great night for Travis. Yeah. Is that essentially, we're going to let Steve come in here. We're going to call this a pop-up shower segment. We talked about some stuff there. Steve, do you have a pop-up shower for this week?
00:55:57
Speaker
Well, I'm still trying to ride the wave. I am kind of a fan of how fun ARCA has been this year. I know that last year, I'm going to go back to that well again this year. Jesse Love, fifth win, I believe it was his fifth win at that ARCA race at Pocono. So I'm sticking with the Pocono thing. But I guess if I had to pick one that was something that wasn't relating to NASCAR specific,
00:56:26
Speaker
The pop-up shower that I would have would be the guys throwing beer at Denny Hamlin yesterday, which was hilarious to me because they didn't even hit him. So we can call it a shower beers? Yeah. The pop-up shower beers. Perfect.
00:56:44
Speaker
I got to give one quick shout out not really racing related at all But a guy went to high school with Corey Ellis won the disc golf European Open One of their major tournaments in the professional disc golf tour over in Finland this past weekend So a big win for him and a big shout out to Cabo Midland class of 2012 getting the win there and
00:57:08
Speaker
Yeah, so let's get to our race picks real quick Dylan mentioned he did win with Denny Hamlin got 55 points for that one Jake with a good result from Kevin Harvick fourth place for a happy Harvick and his final trip to the tricky triangle Chase Elliott with kind of a quiet 10th place finish there in Pocono yesterday and then I got Kyle Busch and
00:57:33
Speaker
He talked a big game and after practice and I thought we were looking good and then he finishes 21st getting 16 points. Our season standings look like this. Dylan leads the way with 751 points. Steve, excuse me, I'm still in second place just barely by 13 points, but I'm way far behind. I have 664 points. Steve, you're a third with 651. Jake,
00:57:58
Speaker
Still bringing up the rear at 581 points in our actual picks going to Richmond Raceway This weekend in in Virginia not in Kentucky And I think I guess I have the first pick Hmm It's tough. I think I am going to go with William Byron
00:58:26
Speaker
Will it be there I picked him once this year he finished 20th at Wilkesboro Yeah, hopefully for his better trucks. I think Richmond. Yeah, I would say oh I'll say I he's a guy that we haven't picked much at all this year. I think Jake has had him once Dylan you've had him at Nashville Steve had him Steve has not picked William Byron and I picked him at a
00:58:56
Speaker
at Wilkesboro, so a total of four picks now, and we are on to, what are, 23rd race of the season. Just, I think it's all right, for the season he's had, he's been picked very infrequently. Steve, you're up next, who you're taking? So, it was not gonna be William Byron, so I'm not gonna pretend like, oh, you just stole my pick, but I, I was going back and forth between two drivers,
00:59:27
Speaker
I, but I feel like I have to go with Denny Hamlin, uh, going back to back. He won at Richmond. He didn't win this Richmond race last year, but I think he won the first Richmond race last year. Um, it's Toyota, you know, as good here. Um, and, and, uh, so I feel like Denny is going to have at least some momentum, but there's also a part of me that thinks he doesn't finish this race for.
00:59:52
Speaker
reasons we can all potentially figure out. What could possibly that be? Potentially. I don't know if you guys heard about there was a little run in with Kyle Larson yesterday. What? No way. But if he stays clean, I think that this could start a run for Denny that will lead into Daytona where he has been so good. So I'm going to go with DH.
01:00:20
Speaker
who I picked a couple times this season, and I don't think he's won any of them, but I have bad luck. So it's a good pick there, Steve. Actually, you had Denny once this season earlier, fifth place at Dover. So top five there. Forty seven points is a good point today for you. Jake, you're up next to you taking at Richmond this weekend. Well, I was debating between two drivers. One of them was Denny. So the other one will be his teammate.
01:00:49
Speaker
I will pick Martin Truex Jr. Ryan from I Fantasy Race friend of the show on his website writes that over the last nine Richmond races Truex has three wins
01:01:04
Speaker
a 3.9 average finish and a 5.2 average running position, the best driver rating at Richmond by a wide margin and those stats kind of back it up. So I'm hoping, uh, I don't put any kind of jinx on this pick and he runs like he does at Richmond. All righty. And that leaves Dylan, who are you taking there? Well, I'll have had, uh, Billy, the three drivers you mentioned,
01:01:31
Speaker
Not the order you picked them, but those are my top three. So I'm going with repeat winner, Richmond. I'm going with Kyle Larson. Oh, you're not going to read Sorensen? I'm not going to read Sorensen this week with my pick. I could be nice and let you guys come back. Maybe I'll save that for the Daytona race. Because that might actually score me well there, picking the 15 car. But yes, I am going Kyle Larson.
01:01:59
Speaker
Had a little bit of luck last time, I think, to get the winner Richmond, but I think he's mad and he usually drives pretty good when he's mad.
01:02:06
Speaker
You had Kyle Larson, who finished second at Kansas earlier this year. So some good luck there. So to recap, Jake has Martin Shrux Jr. and Dylan has Kyle Larson. Steve has Denny Hamlin. So a little bit of a feud between Dylan and Steve there. And I have Willy B. So it's Hendrick versus GGR this week in picks as well. In our random picks,
01:02:36
Speaker
Let's see. Steve actually had a good result with Tyloretic finishing second, obviously suffering no ill effects from Austin Dillon wrecking himself off the 45. The rest of us did not fare so well at all. Dillon with a 25th place finish from Cole Custer in the RicWare 51.
01:02:55
Speaker
Jake, you had a 27th place finish from Corey La Joy. What was that all about with Ryan Preece and him? I didn't see what happened on track, but I think we all saw on social media the aftermath. I didn't see it either. I have no idea. I mean, obviously, I could barely see anything but
01:03:14
Speaker
I guess nobody knows, but yeah, Ryan Priest was very upset with Coriolo Joy, had many, many beeps in the recording of the onboard audio that was released off by NASCAR after the race yesterday, Coriolo Joy finishing 27th, and then 29th for Chase Briscoe for me.
01:03:34
Speaker
Not a great points day for anybody except for Steve and that definitely helps Steve get away from the challenge from Jake in our random standings. I lead the way with 566 points. Dylan still second with 475 but Steve only 30 points behind and in random that can easily be made up in one race. Jake 398 still trying to crack that 400 mark.
01:03:58
Speaker
So let's go ahead and get the wheel going here. And I think I have the first pick for this one. So go ahead and get it spinning and see who we got here. The 78 of BJ McLeod. You nearly picked it. It was on BJ and just ticked over to Ross Chastain. Ross and Denny for you this week.
01:04:25
Speaker
Oh, no, I don't have Denny. I have a William Byron. Oh, sorry. Ross. I still have Steve as name, but yes. Yes. They're basically we're in some way or fashion. We have picked all of Denny's rivals. We just need a, we see one of you three to get the 48 next, right? Well, and Chase, which, uh, is, is, I'm guessing somebody's going to get Chase Elliott. Which I said, which I proudly when Denny Hamlin dumped Chase Elliott, I was one of the double birds in the crowd. I will admit to that.
01:04:53
Speaker
Jake, you're up next. You get Bubba Wallace and it just kicked over to Bubba from Kyle Larson. There we go. So a couple of solid cars there. Dylan up next. See who gets here. Reed. You're on Ty Dylan and it just flipped over to Ty Gibbs.
01:05:19
Speaker
Ty party. Ty Gibbs is also a pretty good pick. Toyota's been good at the flat tracks this year. I was going to say that, yeah. And Ty ran really good yesterday. He was top 10 pretty much all day. Steve, your pick upcoming after your second place from Redick. And you will not be repeating second place. I don't think you have whoever's in the 38. I don't know if it's Zane Smith or Todd Gilliland this week, but you have a 38 car. Well.
01:05:50
Speaker
I'll be picking first next week. You know that. He's winning. There's your perk. OK. Yeah, I think that car has been above average for a good part of the season. I think Todd Gillen is actually not a bad driver. And his teammate Michael McDowell is currently pointing his way into the playoffs, a very good effort there from the 34 car. I mean, he hasn't had any good equipment, so. No, not at all.
01:06:17
Speaker
So on a random picks this week Jake has Bubba Wallace Dylan has Ty Gibbs Steve has Todd Gilliland or Zane Smith whoever is in the 38 And then I have Ross Chastain What are we looking forward to this guy this weekend guys? Do you think the racing is gonna be any better than it was in the spring?
01:06:38
Speaker
No, absolutely not. I think this race is going to stink. I think it's going to be dominated by a Toyota. And I think we're going to be saying a lot of the same things that happened or a lot of the same things about this Richmond race is the last every Richmond race that it was that it was a snooze fest unless
Richmond Race Speculation
01:06:57
Speaker
Unless we see, uh, Kyle Larson take out Denny Hamlin, not because I want to see any, like, I want to see that, but I just want to see, uh, I want to see some excitement in this race. And I don't think we're going to see that just on the track with, uh, any passing or anything, which is not going to happen. It indeed is Todd Gilliland in the 38 car. Let's go top 20 baby. I'm rooting.
01:07:27
Speaker
for a, I guess, snooze fest or race, if you will, as far as picks go, because that's usually the ones that Martin Truex can, when he takes over, he dominates a race. That's my race pick. But I do think it'll probably be a
01:07:48
Speaker
Toyota Day if I had to guess. I also think as far as the weather goes, and I'm sure Dylan can give the forecast, it's going to be a hot one. I'm looking at the temperatures for the east this weekend. It will be insanely hot. Yeah, it's gonna be hot, but there also could be some rain, some storms, Sunday. So we could be looking at another
01:08:15
Speaker
another rain out. Potentially I would say odds of a rain out for this week. Probably around. 30% 3040% which is pretty high, which is kind of like where I was thinking New Hampshire as well. So be a close call Sunday. The interesting what have you looked any at all for road America just out of curiosity. It's OK if you haven't. I'm just curious. Uhm, I can quickly.
01:08:43
Speaker
look some road america also going to be hot road america while you're looking that up i want to point out that uh on the entry list that was released earlier uh today of course road america not close to richmond raceway but aj almendinger still pulling double duty he'll be in the tin car for color racing uh
01:09:03
Speaker
and in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and then commuting back and forth between there and Richmond for the cup race. So potentially, he may be becoming a father soon. So there is a chance that in the next few weeks, he is he said yesterday in the pre race interview that they were talking about that he hopes he's born on a Monday or Tuesday, but
01:09:28
Speaker
There's a chance that that could happen, that it's a Sunday. So I wonder what would happen in that instance. Well, and think about this too, uh, in the, the cup series standings, uh, he is very close to the cutoff. In fact, uh, a John Mendinger is one spot below the cutoff, 17 points outside right now. Um,
01:09:52
Speaker
You know, and a couple of road courses coming up, Indianapolis road course in Watkins Glen, plus Daytona track that he always runs well at how, uh, how unlucky would that be if he misses the opportunity to win one of those races and lock into the playoffs? Uh, of course, like, you know, you can't trade that for, uh, for having your first child and stuff, but it would just, I think it would be very unlucky, right? Yeah, definitely. Um, I wrote America.
01:10:19
Speaker
Looks like some rain as well in the forecast. Of course NASCAR's coming to town. There's odds are there's rain in the forecast, but rain and storms for our friends. I wrote America as well. So that means the weekend after next all expected to be pouring here in Michigan. Be good bet on that. We I think I might have a guest up my sleeves for after the Richmond race. So that'll be that'll be a little.
01:10:47
Speaker
subtle teas for the podcast easing from dylan you guys heard it here first you have to keep uh keep tuning in and uh see dylan's able to uh be a magician and pull his uh guest out of his sleeve there uh but it was a big weekend at uh at pocono we have another big weekend coming up especially with the truck series wrapping up their regular season on saturday at richmond and the xfinity series uh in road america and of course the cup series there at richmond as well uh
01:11:17
Speaker
Any final thoughts before we wrap this one up guys? Please let there be decent racing. Please. That's all I am asking for a decent Richmond race. I wouldn't, I, I, I would be fine with a light rain to where they could run the rain tires. I don't think it's going to be a light rain given how hot it's going to be. It's probably going to be storms and lightning hole and everything, but a light rain with the rain tires could, could be exactly what Richmond needs.
01:11:49
Speaker
Alrighty, well, silence from Jake and Dylan. We'll go ahead and wrap this one up then. A big thank you to all of you for tuning in and listening. We really appreciate it. If you like what you've heard, be sure to leave us a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Share it with a friend.
01:12:07
Speaker
Tell them everything you love about cloudy with a chance of racing also Big thank you to the other three guys make a time on a Monday evening to chat Steve You said you got in from Pocono like 1 a.m. This morning. Oh, yeah, it's been a long day, but worth it to go to the racetrack Big thank you to Dylan as well and Jake and and also I gotta say
01:12:30
Speaker
make sure to check us out on social media, Twitter, Instagram threads at Cloudy Racing Pod. We'll be sure to post some things over there. Of course, if you have any questions like we had earlier today from our good friend, Tim, be sure to drop them on our mentions on any of those or in the comments.
01:12:54
Speaker
We'll be glad to read through the best ones there and help help you get up to speed on some things in the world of racing. So for Steve, Dylan and Jake, I'm Braxton. Thank you so much for listening. Episode twenty three of Claudia with a chance of racing wrapping up now. We'll catch up next week with potentially a guest from Dylan. Have a good one, everyone.