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Ep. 19: A Hot Summer Night in Nashville
11 Plays2 years ago
The guys are back from the NASCAR off week and ready to go for the back half of the season, starting with all three series showcasing at Nashville Superspeedway. Jake, Dillon, Steve, and Braxton start by breaking down the announcement of Josh Berry taking over for Kevin Harvick for Stewart-Haas Racing next year, and then get into the weekend's action. In the Truck Series, Carson Hocevar had a convincing win, and one that showed his maturity, AJ Allmendinger found victory lane again in a crash-filled Xfinity Series race, and Ross Chastain ran the best race of his Cup career to this point on Sunday. The guys also debate if Hailie Deegan is in danger of losing her ride, Cole Custer's frustrations with damage on Allmendinger's car possibly creating an advantage, Ryan Blaney's hard crash, and the return of NBC broadcasting the races. Plus as always, our Pop Up Showers, real and random picks, and preview of the upcoming Chicago Street Course this coming weekend.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review Cloudy With a Chance of Racing on your favorite podcast platform, and follow along on Twitter and Instagram @CloudyRacingPod.
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Transcript
Introduction and NASCAR Season Overview
00:00:15
Speaker
Back from the week off, we are cloudy with a chance of racing. The full compliment of us here with you this evening. I'm Braxton, along with Jake, Steve, and the motorsports meteorologist Dylan. How are we doing after a week off, guys? Hopefully we've had a little bit of time to get a catch our breath a little bit and get ready for the last half of the NASCAR season all the way through the championship race in Phoenix. I like motorsports meteorologist. That sounds good.
00:00:45
Speaker
I was just dubbed that recently. So shout out to the dirt racing and live podcast guys. Um, they dubbed me that nickname.
00:00:57
Speaker
I'm ready to get back to it. I was telling Braxton that it's been a minute since all four of us have been on together. Yeah, most definitely. I know Dylan and I went to the racetrack this weekend.
Racing Events and Local Support
00:01:10
Speaker
Both of us were at the tracks on Saturday. Dylan, you were a Richmond Raceway in Kentucky. I went to Summit Racing or Summit Motorsports Equipment, Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park
00:01:22
Speaker
whatever it is, the drag strip in Norwalk, Ohio, that is sponsored by Summit Racing to the NHRA Summit Racing Nationals. How was your experience there at Richmond before the storms? Great. Yeah, two weeks in, obviously we didn't have podcasts last week, but two weeks in a row, I was able to hit it up some short tracks here. I went to Lake Cumberland Speedway for a big
00:01:44
Speaker
Race there last weekend and it was at Richmond Raceway, which is one of the older dirt tracks in Kentucky open since 1966 It was a fantastic night. I mean, I love the short track feel anyways, but as you mentioned with the storms They just got some pretty pretty significant damage from some wind damage possibly even a tornado They're surveying. It's still there the next day last night So unfortunately, they're gonna be closed down for a good while probably likely for the rest of the season
00:02:14
Speaker
which is a really unfortunate for them, but hopefully they can get up back and running. So I'll try to keep y'all updated and podcast maybe in the future. If anyone's raising some money to help them out, maybe we can kind of share some of that information. Yeah. 100%. Uh, as much as we talk about NASCAR stuff, well, I think we all agree that we all support the, um, the local efforts and the grassroots racing, uh, in our areas for sure. Uh, Steve, Jake, what did you guys get into over the weekend? Uh, any in-person action for you?
00:02:41
Speaker
No in-person action for me. I've been trying to get back out to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. No, Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. That's sort of the PPMS. But it was they had races this week and they have races every weekend. But we tried to do more stuff with the local tracks around here, talking to one of the
00:03:09
Speaker
Owners and some of the drivers last week. I guess there's rumors that it could be the last year now I said they say that every year apparently but Obviously got to support some of the local tracks Definitely I've been I've been itching to get back away and I have a few Few planes to go to some NASCAR events here coming up later this summer as but
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah, I love following West Virginia Speedway up in Mineral Wells, which kind of had a resurrection. And I wrote a story on Metro News back when I worked with Metro News about that Speedway and has been kind of following that place there, which has been exciting.
00:03:56
Speaker
One quick question, Jake. Have you ever been to Ona Speedway, just west of you in Ona, West Virginia? It's the only paved oval in the state of West Virginia, and at one point hosted the NASCAR legends, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Kelly Arbro, that whole crowd, raced at West Virginia Motor Speedway in the late 60s and early 70s. I have not been there, but I would like to go.
00:04:21
Speaker
It's less than an hour from you. You got to go. They've had a lot of issues with rain outs this year. Like mother nature isn't helping. So, um, please don't jinx it, Dylan. There's nothing in Ona, West Virginia. Oh, I know. I went to high school on Ona. Oops. I've been, uh, I've been quite the jinxer cause I also interviewed a driver. I'm actually wearing a shirt. You can't see, uh, Dustin Linville, the rooster, which is a local short track racer here. He gave me the.
00:04:49
Speaker
Gave me a shirt. I interviewed him pre-race. He's a three-time winner of that event and then wrecked and three laps in. And then
Josh Berry's Career Moves
00:04:57
Speaker
the track also got hit by a significant wind shortly after I was there as well. So I was a jinx this weekend for sure.
00:05:05
Speaker
While we're talking of local tracks, the last one I went to, and I want to give a shout out because I had a great time, I went to Seaconk Speedway in Seaconk, Massachusetts. Oh yeah, I've heard of that one. I'm visiting my relatives in Rhode Island, and it's right on the border. It's like a NASCAR-type home track, and I had a lot of fun there. It was like a Speed Friday there, and they had all kinds of things going on.
00:05:32
Speaker
Yeah, the modifieds are big time up that way, aren't they? Oh, yeah. Yep.
00:05:38
Speaker
Cool deal. Glad to see that we're all getting into some racing action in our local area or going to some bigger races as well. Let's get into the NASCAR action since we last recorded. I think the big news that we have to touch on is it's official now. Josh Berry will be taking over for Kevin Harvick in the four car at the end of the season after Harvick retires. I think we all agree. Pretty solid move here.
00:06:08
Speaker
Absolutely a solid move. Now I have some opinions on this. I think Chevy should have tried harder to keep him within that group of drivers, but there was really nothing they could do. I think if we're being honest, I really believe that Josh Berry should be taking over the three
00:06:28
Speaker
But that'll never happen. And we know why. But, you know, sh, why is that? Anyway, so, yeah, but I think they, I think it's a smart move for sh, you losing a guy like Harvick, you can't replace him. I mean, that's not going to happen. The idea that you, you know, that you, you
00:06:53
Speaker
think you can is crazy. The best alternative right now is is a guy like Josh Barry, who, you know, was he's impressed in both Xfinity and the cup this year, and he's made the most of his opportunities. And I don't think that there was anybody else that would have been a better fit for the four, kind of that like, rugged,
00:07:17
Speaker
type of racer who can just hop in anything and go. And that's what Harvard has done for so many years. So it makes sense to me. I like the move. I'm super excited for Josh Berry. I love it for that organization. And we'll see what happens. But I'm happy for Berry. Berry, I feel like it really fits
00:07:44
Speaker
What kind of what Tony Stewart wants and you heard Tony talk at the press conference
00:07:50
Speaker
made some interesting comments that took some headlines talking about how he doesn't want, um, you know, kids coming in with, you know, daddy's money or something along that lines that he said. And he, he talked to the fact that Barry really is deserving and I, I agree he's worked, uh, his way, you know, through all sorts of series and he's proven himself. Um,
00:08:19
Speaker
And it has to be tough for Chevrolet to lose something like that. And I agree with Steve. I feel like he should have done more to try to keep him around. But right now, it'll be tough to replace Harvick.
00:08:41
Speaker
it's uh it'll be tough um especially because you know harvick yeah he had some issues yesterday but don't remind me well but but ford i mean has struggled mightily so it'll be very interesting to see just how josh berry doesn't you know ford as well yeah um that was the big news him going there um i think he's
00:09:07
Speaker
He's really, I think, going to take over, you know, he's young still in terms of, you know, having experience in the Cup Series. But I feel like when Martin Truex Jr. retires, you know, I just could see Josh Berry kind of filling in that role of kind of, you know, the mature guy in the garage that, you know, a lot of people in the garage look up to and things like that. You know, I think working for Tony Stort
00:09:32
Speaker
Could help out with that, you know, I think he's gonna take on a potentially a leadership role, especially if he's successful in the four car I Agree with what you guys are saying about how it's difficult for Chevrolet to lose a talent like that I just don't know where they would have put him In a cup series ride they would have to try to convince track house to expand to three cars or RCR to expand to three cars or
00:09:59
Speaker
just, uh, like you said, Steve replace the driver of the three. Uh, I don't think there was any way he was going to go to spire, um, as a move up to the cup series. So, uh, it's kind of the same situation that Toyota's had in recent years where they've had.
00:10:15
Speaker
so many good drivers in the pipeline and know where to put them in a higher series. So it definitely makes sense. I also kind of liken Barry and not the same way, but like Martin Truex Jr. You mentioned kind of that he really kind of hit later in his career and started to really win races, you know, after obviously after he started to get put in good, good equipment. But, you know, he started off and really had to grind it out.
00:10:42
Speaker
for a while before he started to get equipment that really put him in, you know, with chances to win and then eventually to a championship. So I'm not saying that, like, that's the same trajectory as Josh Berry, but I think that there is a very good chance at it.
00:10:59
Speaker
Oh, very sly there. Sorry, I had to. I think it's a good move as well. A great pairing between him and Rodney Childers as the crew chief. They're both in that same mold of running the late model stocks and the Carolinas in Virginia. I think they're going to get along really well. If you listen to the Rodney Childers episode when he was on the Deal Junior download, you know
00:11:27
Speaker
that he and Dale Jr. are great friends. Of course, Dale Jr. has played a huge influence in getting Josh Berry to this point in his career. So it makes total sense there. And it's going to be very exciting to see how that plays out. And I think the biggest question mark of this whole thing, I think everybody agrees that the pairing between Berry and
00:11:51
Speaker
Uh, shoulders is good. The pairing between Barry and, uh, and SHR is good. It's just whether or not the Ford's overall can step up their game and give him the equipment that he deserves and needs to run well. Um, because Kevin Harvick has really been flying the flag for Ford and to an extent, Joey Logano as well. But aside from those two drivers, the Ford's have had, have struggled mightily.
00:12:16
Speaker
Uh, you know, in terms of running up front, I think like Chris Busher has had some surprising runs, but he's not really come close to winning a race this year. So definitely a, uh, a big thing, uh, in the news there with the replacement, I don't say replacement, the air to
Carson Hosevar's Rise
00:12:35
Speaker
the four seat, uh, announced in Josh Berry, we get to the Nashville weekend and the truck race won by Carson Hosevar.
00:12:44
Speaker
his second career win. And I got to say, we'll get to Ross Chastain a little bit later as he won yesterday in the Cup Series. But I think both Ross Chastain and Carson Hosevar have kind of mirrored each other in the last handful of weeks where both of them had a reputation for not necessarily being the cleanest drivers. And then they both
00:13:10
Speaker
get, uh, uh, some, some changes in their life. Uh, Chastain supposedly gets the talking to from Justin Marks. Uh, Josevar gets the opportunity to run some XFINITY races and then make his cup series debut. And all of a sudden, both of them, uh, seem like changed men after they win these races in Asheville. We'll start with Carson Josevar though, his second career to win.
00:13:33
Speaker
a very good job of him holding off Zane Smith at the end. But did you guys see that as well out of Whosoever? It seemed like he's definitely matured in the last five, six, seven weeks right before our eyes. For sure. Absolutely. I mean, he's got the talent. And I think we knew that from the beginning. He's speaking of, well, first, he also won the Triple Chuck Challenge.
00:13:56
Speaker
So that was 50, 50 grand to him. Winning helps. I mean, winning always helps with, you know, you get humbled a lot in this sport. And I think that there are times when you have to have a come to Jesus moment that allows you to, you know, you kind of have to go backwards to go forwards.
00:14:16
Speaker
And I think that's what Josefar did. Now, on top of him, the only really other note that I wanted to make about the truck series was that Zane Smith was unbelievable. But he also was unbelievable in the Xfinity series in that in that 28, I believe. Yeah. And
00:14:34
Speaker
So, you know, both hosts of our end Smith Zane Smith are going to be for the foreseeable future, dominant, I think. And when they get to the cup series, I think that this is going to be good for them. I think that hosts of our in Zane Smith, that'll, that'll be, you know, one heck of a battle for the remainder of the
00:14:58
Speaker
the truck series season, that'll be real fun to watch. Josevar, I mean, that's his fourth consecutive top five. And even though when he made that lone cup start, even though with his issues there, mechanical issues that he really, he turned some heads there just the way he was running early on in that race. And
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like, you know, I'm a big believer in momentum as well. So once, you know, you win races, you're, you're constantly in the finishing the top five. I mean, uh, this team is hot right now and I look for them to continue heading in deeper into the summer. I think that, uh, the trucks, when I think of Nashville, you know, uh, Xfinity, well,
00:15:53
Speaker
Nationwide in the past those series races, you know, that's what I think of when I think of Nashville, but also the trucks I think race well there It's just also I thought cool to see I didn't wasn't able to catch much of the race but cool to see so many fans I think that's a really supportive area of the country For racing it's not too far from me and I know this area really likes racing pretty, you know Not as much as you know, North Carolina, South Carolina, but the Tennessee and Ohio Valley's it's you know
00:16:23
Speaker
them in Indianapolis and the Southeast that's about as big as it gets for racing. So, um, cool to see the crowd turn out for even the truck race.
Female Drivers in NASCAR
00:16:34
Speaker
I got to give a shout out to, uh, Carson Josefaris teammate in the truck series race, Bailey Curry starting second, uh, his first, uh, his highest server start in an NASCAR national series race and finished fifth year and top five all day. Uh, great run for him.
00:16:53
Speaker
And a guy who is showing that he is a better driver than what some of his equipment in the past would really recognize or allow him to show. And I also want to mention another disappointing result for Haley Deegan. And we can just kind of do a quick yes or no, but I want to say how many more of these
00:17:16
Speaker
Disappointing results does Haley Deegan have left before before the plug gets pulled on her in her NASCAR experiment
00:17:25
Speaker
I honestly, I'm on both sides of it'll be like the leash is pretty long, but also that I don't think it is. So I don't know. Um, I mean the, the, the results have to come to, to be able to justify, uh, keeping her in that ride. But I think, I think the leash is longer than I think most people think it is, but I don't know. I honestly have no idea. It's tough to say.
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah, it is tough. Right now, she's 18th in the standings, but only has one top 10 the whole season. And I'm sure that she has sponsorship. I mean, her partnership with Monster is great. So I guess it just depends. We'll see how the rest of the season ends up for Hailey.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's disappointing. I think as unsuccessful Danica's 10 year NASCAR was, every race I went to, there were little kids, little girls that would run up to Danica's stall or run up to her trailer with some merchandise and get stuff. So I think having a female presence in the sport is important. It's just, you know,
00:18:51
Speaker
I think a lot of people thought Deegan would be that and so far has not necessarily lived up to the hype. So hopefully things could maybe get turned around. She hasn't done terrible in the Xfinity races that she's raced in. So maybe that's a better fit for her. I'm not really sure though.
00:19:08
Speaker
I mean, I'm wondering how Tony Breitinger will be as far as female presidents in the sport. I think she's made some noise in ARCA and hasn't been bad in the few truck series races she's been in, and she has sponsorship. So there's no way of telling as far as Hailey Deegan goes. I mean, she hasn't been good this year, and she certainly wasn't good last year.
00:19:37
Speaker
It was different. It was a different ride last year. But if you're asking me if it's time to pull the plug, probably. But there's kind of no way of knowing when they would do that, especially if a driver, a sponsorship, it's kind of hard to do. It's kind of hard to do that. I mean, it's not easy with anybody if they have a company or multiple companies that are going to put money into the sport. It's really hard, I think, for teams to justify saying, well, no, sorry, your ride's done.
00:20:07
Speaker
No, all valid points. I think the one thing that is kind of a saving grace for her is that the rest are for Thor sport teammates aren't beating the field by miles and miles every single week either. So that's helping her, I think. But also, it seems to me like she gets caught up in crashes.
00:20:28
Speaker
way more frequently than I think anybody else at Thor Sport does. So that's definitely a mark against her. But I think with every time she does get involved in an accident, whether it's her fault or not, the question has to be asked. It is going to keep being asked, just because even if it's not her fault, why are you back there in that position in the first place? So definitely worth keeping an eye on.
00:20:57
Speaker
We've mentioned the Xfinity series a couple of times with Zane Smith and Carson Hosevar racing in that series on Saturday as well.
AJ Allmendinger's Emotional Win
00:21:07
Speaker
Hosevar had a tough break getting caught up in one of the many early cautions and crashes on Saturday afternoon at very hot and slick racetrack. And then Zane Smith survived the carnage and was able to salvage a top 10 out of it.
00:21:24
Speaker
Overall is a big win for AJ Almondinger and for Akali Grazing. That organization has, I'd say, struggled overall, especially the 11 car out of Daniel Hemric had a good run out of him. But what do we think about this Xfinity series race? A lot of carnage for sure, right?
00:21:46
Speaker
Certainly a lot of carnage, but the main thing that I wanted to point out about this truck saying cup is that Chevy swept the weekend, but dominating a very, very dominating
00:22:01
Speaker
race, well, very for the Xfinity specifically. I mean, four of the top five were Chevy's, with the lone four being Riley Herbst. So it was good to see Elmond Danger back in victory lane. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for Kallig. But really, the main, the biggest thing for me was that Zane Smith was able to
00:22:23
Speaker
stay clean and have a really, really solid run himself. I'm very high on him. I thought there may be a chance that he was going to be in the four next year. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility of the 10 who is supposedly retiring after he said last year and probably next year. But
00:22:50
Speaker
I mean, it's great. It's good for Sam Mayer and Josh Berry to both rack, uh, racked up top five, uh, finishes in Austin Hill. I mean, again, Chevy was Chevy was the, uh, the manufacturer to beat, um, and, uh, you know, came out with Dinger on top. Certainly. I felt like, um, you know, the race had a ton of carnage, but it was pretty entertaining per usual for the Xfinity series. And it's just a.
00:23:18
Speaker
It's, it's a deep, you know, I, you know, top heavy type of field. I, I really, um, I'm enjoying the Xfinity series and, you know, some of the, some of the talent that is developing and, and that is already there. Um, and as far as A.J. Allmendinger winning, um, it has to feel good. I felt like all three of the wins this weekend for their own reason really meant a lot.
00:23:44
Speaker
And not, they all mean a lot, um, every weekend to these drivers, but, um, just circumstances sometimes, you know, AJ obviously known for the road course racing. So, you know, he was, he was pretty pumped up, you know, taking, taking down an oval in Nashville, like, like he did. And it was, it's, it was special for him. And it was, it was fun to see just the emotion from the winners all weekend and hats off to AJ.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah, kind of like Friday night, I wasn't really able to watch the race as much, you know, being at the short track myself, um, here locally, but I was able to watch the highlights and the point about that Jake just made about the emotion of a jail mendinger. I mean, that's why, um, you know, I really hope that he could start finding some success in the cup series. Cause I mean, that just makes a good storylines, him going out there and, you know, showing that this stuff means a lot to him.
00:24:40
Speaker
Um, I think that's cool to see, but I mean, you mentioned Carson Hosevar in the trucks. Um, you know, it wasn't obviously as successful this weekend in the Xfinity series. So it's just interesting. I think too, to see the crossover between the two, clearly, even on a track like Nashville, they don't run very similar, um, to each other as you know, one might think too. So this is my things I've noticed.
00:25:08
Speaker
Couple of things on AJ. Uh, I didn't know his wife was pregnant with their first child. So congrats to them. I think if I remember off the TV broadcast, I said, uh, do in August. So that's a big, uh, big thing in their lives. He married up. That's for sure. Yeah. Miss, Miss North Carolina. Um, also AJ almond dinger only 24 points out of, uh, the playoffs in the cup series right now.
00:25:37
Speaker
Nineteenth place overall he's put together three No top fives three top tens Unfortunately three DNFs as well But still right there in the hunt within a race of being in the in the playoffs So, you know one of these road courses coming up
00:26:00
Speaker
Watkins Glen Chicago street course this weekend. Well, how about indie indie road course in August? What happens if she's due? He's he's won this race before. That's true. If he starts the race, then he is eligible. He retains the points and he points that are gained by the car as long as he takes a green flag lap or at least one recorded lap.
00:26:28
Speaker
Uh, it could, I suppose if it starts under caution or whatever, but as long as you win the race, you know, you can win now. Yeah, that would absolutely be huge. So, uh, and, and I think Watkins Glen's in August too. So two of his best opportunities to win. Yep. Are in August. That's he's going to win. He could win three times. Yeah. Three of them Daytona. Yeah. Um, wow.
00:26:55
Speaker
So there was a little bit of controversy in that Xfinity race with A.J. Allmendinger winning and one of the many accidents he collected some damage to the rear bumper of his number 10 car that pushed the right side rear quarter panel kind of out a little bit and added a ton of side force to that car and was able to make it drive a whole lot better than anybody else once the tires wore out. And it caught the ire of Cole Custer.
00:27:26
Speaker
Of course, there's nothing illegal about it. It's not like the team pulled it out intentionally trying to make side force or it's not like he intentionally hit somebody he was running to from behind.
00:27:37
Speaker
And he played it to his advantage. I think that's what happened with, was it Chase Elliott and Truex? Was that two years ago, where I think Chase hit, not hit, but bumped Truex and gave him a little swoop in his left rear quarter panel. And they seemed a lot faster after that. So I think when they were doing the post race, I think it was after the championship race.
00:28:05
Speaker
Um, they're kind of joking that they were going to do it next year. And so they would have faster cars, but I don't care of whatever. I mean, I don't really want to hear Cole Custer. Isn't it funny that I believe Cole Custer's car was the one that was brought back to R and D. All from the Xfinity race. Yes. So that is funny. Um, so, but still, I think it was a pretty solid Xfinity series race. Um,
00:28:33
Speaker
This car is put on a good show every week, but especially on a hot and slick race track like that, uh, they put on a exceptional show and they did once again, it was action all over the track. Uh, and it was, it was pretty solid racing all
Broadcast Quality and Challenges
00:28:49
Speaker
around. We get to last night. Uh, I felt like I needed to, uh, I, in my head, I had the, the music.
00:28:56
Speaker
from the, uh, Sunday night football lead-in, uh, where Carrie Underwood sings, uh, waiting all day for Sunday night. That's what I felt like last night waiting for the cup race and fitting. Cause it was the, uh, debut of NASCAR on NBC for the season. Great broadcast also. Uh, well, great. It was, there were some, you know, little technical issues, things I think, you know, just kind of, um, gremlins. Great idea to have Burton and Dale Jr.
00:29:26
Speaker
call the race from the end of pit road, not very effective in practice, only because the microphones picked up every little bit of exhaust noise. A lot of natural sound that you have to hear them screaming, because they know when these cars are going by just how loud it is. So they're trying to talk over it. And so they weren't overmodulated or anything.
00:29:54
Speaker
It was just funny hearing both of them scream into the mic, you know, like they were trying to, like, you know, talk in a loud bar or something. But I was I mean, NBC puts on a better broadcast than Fox. No offense to Fox. Again, we mentioned before they I think they do a very good job. But I I also think that fans who watch on TV every week are always excited for the changeover.
00:30:17
Speaker
I think that also Fox lost a lot when Jeff Gordon left the booth. And so they haven't been able to replace him. And NBC's kind of just kept plugging along with no issues. Real quick, Steve, I think Dale Jr. has plenty of experience talking in loud bars. Yeah. I've never been in a loud bar with him, but I'd have to imagine he has a lot of speaking up. He pulled a slide job yesterday. He did. And I had to play it like three or four times. I'd love that call.
00:30:46
Speaker
I just think it's, it's like, um, and I, I sent it some, uh, tweet yesterday to you guys in this context, just like the intensity. I feel like when you hear like the NBC open and in the broadcast just makes the race feel like it's like the final one. I mean, it's for all the marbles, but every, every week with them and it, it's, uh, it's a nice refresher like mid season.
00:31:15
Speaker
I feel like just for the fans, it's a different broadcast. It's a better broadcast, in my opinion.
00:31:25
Speaker
I enjoyed it all and I made a note of it too. The post race, I thought was really well done yesterday. It usually always is. I believe some of their post races this year will just be go right to Peacock. Last night, they were trying to fill time before local news, so they got a whole lot in on NBC. You have Kyle Petty, Dale Jarrett, those guys are right there breaking it down.
00:31:56
Speaker
on pit road and everything. I just think all in all it's very well done. I will say NBC is also known for cutting it off very quickly if they are getting close to a TV deadline. I've worked for NBC in the past and I know that I remember one time they didn't even get the post-race interview in because
00:32:15
Speaker
It was right at six o'clock for the time of our six o'clock news to start. So it can be on both ends of that inspection. There are, you know, on the weekends, people that aren't familiar with TV, they may be listening to this podcast. They, Fox doesn't have a traditional Sunday afternoon local news block.
00:32:33
Speaker
like NBC does. So that factors into, I think a lot of these decisions for wrapping up quickly. But I agree with y'all. I just wish, I think that this would be the perfect setup for, it would be the perfect for TV right now. You couldn't get a better booth and production and everything if Alan Best was the play by play now. So that would just be perfect. But unfortunately we don't get that. But if you go to Indianapolis, you can hear him at the track at least.
00:33:03
Speaker
I was going to say he was the PA announcer at the Indianapolis 500. He does a great job with that. And I see Alan every year. He is one of the World Feed television commentators at the US Open Tennis Tournament.
00:33:18
Speaker
that I work every year. So I've seen him the last like two or three years. And it's always nice to have a quick word with him and talk a little racing and yeah, just generally a really good guy. I think in the winter, he's the voice of UConn women's basketball as well on S&Y, I believe.
00:33:35
Speaker
He's in a one thing is Rick Allen, I think does a very good job, but he's also he he he lives and dies on every single pass. Everything that happens is like like he he he commentates like it's always the last lap and lead sometimes to fans saying, what did he just say? You know, so but Alan Besswick, absolutely. I've also heard it's like one of the nicest people
00:34:03
Speaker
I think he did SRX last year. Yeah, is he doing it this year with the switch to ESPN or not? He is doing SRX. And just a side note, his color commentator for two races will be Connor Daly. Wonderful. That's going to be great. Daly is great. I don't know when he would do this, but when he hangs it up, I think he has a future either in the booth or as a pit reporter or whatever he would want to do.
00:34:32
Speaker
Two second Connor daily side note, uh, an absolute shame that he is no longer full-time in IndyCar, uh, got released from ed carpenter racing a couple of weeks ago. Uh, very bizarre. Yeah. Uh, I listened to his podcast and it sounded like there's some, some weird politics going on there, but I'm excited to see whatever he gets into.
00:34:53
Speaker
In fact, I think he was announced shortly after that, that he'll be in one of the nice trucks. I forget the 41 maybe at mid Ohio in a couple of weeks for the truck series. So Connor DeLa will be returning to NASCAR in that capacity. He's done some nitro rally across the beyond TV. So, excited to see whatever he gets into. Now he's not full time in IndyCar. Sorry, a little side note there.
00:35:20
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so, uh, I think we all agree that the NBC broadcast, uh, knocked it out of the park yesterday. Um, had a great, a great showing. It was a great crowd at Nashville as well. And they got to see what I'm going to call Ross Chastain's best race of his career to this point.
Ross Chastain's Strong Performance
00:35:37
Speaker
That's, I think, very much, at least I think that is undoubtedly true. He made a lot of risky, not dumb risky, but very calculated, but bold moves.
00:35:54
Speaker
And they all paid off. And that's rare that he makes a number of risky moves and they all pay off. And they didn't really leave any any issues for anybody else, which is another thing that is not as much that he's had issues with recently. So great to see Track House kind of back in, you know, in looking dominant from start to finish with no issues. And
00:36:24
Speaker
You know great for the interview with with Ross, you know, you could just tell how emotional he was I think that He has probably been very frustrated over the last well, probably this whole season. Honestly, he's probably been very frustrated That he hasn't won and that he's had to deal with as much as he has on the track and then off the track with you know issues with other drivers, so
00:36:50
Speaker
I think you could tell that this one meant a lot to him, especially, you know, it's always different under the lights. It's just a different kind of racing, I think. And, um, just great for him and the one team. And also hilarious that I think Daniel Suarez went to try to maybe door him a little bit as like a congratulations and then got kind of run into by the 14. So all in all, it was a pretty good race, I think. Yeah, I thought, you know,
00:37:20
Speaker
It was throughout. I thought it was entertaining. I was very impressed by Ross. And like I mentioned earlier in the show, how the winners this weekend just showed this different level of emotion. And for him, it was just, I feel like it also was kind of getting a monkey off his back as well, just finally getting back into victory lane after
00:37:47
Speaker
all the the drama that seems to surround him and the fact this was in Nashville and that's you know big for Justin Marks in Track House I mean the whole thing was big I mean he he's won you know but his last one was at at Dega but this this was as good of a win as you can get like Braxton mentioned that you know his best performance I feel like and he's
00:38:16
Speaker
You know, he is a title contender. I mean, he made it to the championship last season. It kind of came, you know, out of nowhere in a way, and you saw what he did at Martinsville to get there. But now I feel like, I mean, this is real for them. He's right up in the, in the point standings right now, you know, with, you know, the True X's and Byron's of the world and Kyle Busch.
00:38:40
Speaker
So we'll see where this can bring the number one team, but I think I feel like the sky's the limit. Definitely. I think the sky is the limit. It's kind of weird, the foreshadowing before the race from Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. of, you know, we're going to get peak. Did you guys notice that too? I really was able to only listen to the pre-race and the start of the race, but, um,
00:39:10
Speaker
They kind of foreshadowed, uh, Ross Chastain being at his peak self for the race. Did you guys notice that at all? I, I, I think they hyped him up, but I didn't at the time think it was anything any different than hyping up a surprise poll winner.
00:39:30
Speaker
first-time poll and that's what I took it as but I said I took it as though like it sounded like Ross wasn't gonna be his you know reckless self I don't know if maybe I was alone in thinking that but at the time I was like that's kind of weird like and then at the end of the race I immediately went back to their comments
00:39:48
Speaker
you know, kind of made it sound like he wasn't going to be reckless, but I thought he raced very well. Again, I wasn't able to watch every lap, watch the highlights. It's very possible that, that those guys like Jeff and Dale have talked to Ross and, and maybe have some sort of feeling that none of us have. Uh, that's, that's what I think, especially Jeff, you know, given the position that Jeff Burton been in, you know, without his interaction with the drivers, you know, is he still the head of the,
00:40:16
Speaker
The drivers like the A's on to NASCAR are not anymore. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. And like Dale Jr. I think has planned to have Ross on the podcast on the download and stuff at some point. So, uh, so yeah, very, very possible. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I just, I wasn't saying, you know, it's rigged or anything, but I'm just saying that, you know, it's good that Ross maybe did figure something out during the, then the awful week and, you know, kind of collected himself because.
00:40:42
Speaker
You know, if they get this, you know, this rumor that he's going to get Bush beer, which is one of the premier advertisers in NASCAR, if he can get that and, you know, in the season on a successful note, I think that's huge for him and huge for track house. If he starts to hit his stride right now.
00:41:01
Speaker
I think also I saw my weekly chipkin as he mentioned but he tweeted after the win that I like winners over Ross' victory which it's always good to see from him because
00:41:20
Speaker
I don't know if Ross would have a ride or that ride specifically in the one right now if he didn't get picked up by Chip that year that he was with Gansi. But also props to Chip for staying with Ross and
00:41:36
Speaker
and being loyal to him after the whole DC solar thing went down too. Yeah, especially considering that is was probably one of the biggest financial issues that that chip has had over the last maybe ever. And I think if on the on the download, he talked about how he just settled it, I think, like two months ago. So but just, you know, Ross is he's a polarizing figure, but there is no doubt that he is a top tier driver.
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah, I was very pleasantly surprised with Ross's post-race interview. Um, much like Carson Hosevar, he said all the right things and it sounded like he, uh, at least in my, in my estimation, like accepted the responsibility that he had kind of earned a reputation for himself as being a bit of a bull in a China shop. Um, but he, he was still able to, to find that balance of being aggressive,
00:42:36
Speaker
Making the moves when he had to without imperiling other drivers days I think that was a huge step in the right direction for him That's why I'm calling it the best race of his career that he was able to to have that kind of a race And it was so clean in the way he did it And that's just that that's a huge stepping point and a career for a younger driver and I say younger in terms of experience that
00:43:05
Speaker
I'd say he's kind of like Josh Berry. Ross has definitely more national series starts than Josh Berry, but, um, and I don't recall inferior equipment, but certainly not as fast as track house gear equipment. And, uh, and so that I'd say there's still pretty inexperienced and, and Ross was able to make something out of it. And that's, uh, that's huge, uh, in track houses, backyard track house, you know, based in Nashville with the race shop in North Carolina, of course. So.
00:43:35
Speaker
a big deal there. It is really a great win for him and that organization. And I pointed out to you guys in our chat last night, we've kind of seen rumors, heard rumors on social media about Ross landing the Anheuser-Busch sponsorship with a Harvard retiring. And the team was celebrating with Busch Lights in the Victory Lane last night. So I don't know if that's some foreshadowing or just pure coincidence, but
00:44:03
Speaker
Uh, something to keep an eye on throughout the rest of the season. Uh, other news in the cup race last night, a, uh, a really bad break for Kevin Harvick, uh, late in the race with that flat tire and a, uh, don't I know it? Oh, you know it because you had Harvick in your fix. Yes, I know that flat tire has tightened things up and we'll get to, uh, our points in the, uh, picks here in just a moment, but also we can't
00:44:32
Speaker
go through this podcast and not mention how hard of a hit Ryan Blaney took. That was really, really hard. And, you know, I, I like when they, I mean, I, you know, it's, I don't like when they showed it, but I like seeing, uh, the, you know, no commentary, just kind of the natural sound of the car hitting the wall. No safer Barry, obviously, but hitting like the wall. Um,
00:44:56
Speaker
to give people an idea of how really hard that impact actually is because it was, I mean, you know, with fast motion just straight into it, it doesn't it didn't seem as bad as it it probably actually was until you saw the fast motion from the cam inside the car hitting the wall. It was really a really high impact collision. So it was it was good to see he got out immediately. A window net came down. Everything was fine. But
00:45:27
Speaker
The Fords just were not good yesterday. But I thought Blaney was pretty good out of all of them, and that ended his day right there. I will say, I thought the NBC's virtual cutaway car was really good, how they were able to take parts out, and then they were able to show
00:45:53
Speaker
what some changes to the chassis have been with different colored parts. I thought that was some really good animation and illustration there. And the modifications they made to the chassis after the Ryan Priest and Kyle Larson accident at Talladega, I think certainly played a big impact in that wreck with Ryan Blaney last night.
Safety Concerns and Future Broadcasts
00:46:17
Speaker
You didn't really, you know, you saw the replay, but, you know, when you saw the damage to the car itself, it's, and how heavy it was up front. You normally, you know, with these next gens, you can get away with a lot of bumping and banging and hitting the wall. There's not too much damage, but man, for the seed, the damage on that car like that, you knew it was one heck of a hit.
00:46:42
Speaker
No safer barrier at that part of the track, which was Blaney definitely made a mention of in his interview afterwards. One thing I thought was interesting in his interview is he thought once he got back onto the pavement that the car would correct
00:47:05
Speaker
and and steer and straighten out and he would be able to keep going and that's not what happened the car just kept basically plowing and and i watched that replay back a few more times and and he had the wheels cranked hard the whole way and the car just kept going straight it basically looked like the car was super super tight and had like no mechanical grip
00:47:28
Speaker
And it kind of puts the idea in my mind, and it kind of serves as an illustration for how reliant these next gen cars are for aerodynamic grip compared to mechanical grip. And you think about it, there's not much air going over the car at that point. It's slowed down, right? And he's got the wheel cranked, and the front wheels aren't doing anything.
00:47:53
Speaker
that's tight to my mind, right? And and he's lucky that it didn't turn at all. Because if like if he had hit that wall in reverse, we would be having a way different discussion about the after effects of what would be happening considering how how
00:48:11
Speaker
I think these next gen cars still have a problem with rear impact, which is something I think they have worked on fixing and have fixed a little bit, but not to the extent I think they're comfortable with. So the front impact allows him to, it allows his neck and head and helmet and Hans device and all of that to work the way it's supposed to work in an impact like that.
00:48:38
Speaker
Um, so it's it's I hate to say this but it was good to see That's how the car hit the wall because I think that that was the safest way for it to hit Yeah for sure um, especially with all the talk last year about Uh proper padding and such in the head surrounds on the seat. So right definitely makes sense there um before we move on to uh
00:49:04
Speaker
Finishing up our chat about Nashville and getting into our race picks Steve or sorry Jake you just shared a tweet from Adam Stern who is the Motorsports rider for sports business journal? That's a good news about the Xmunity series. At least I consider it good news It's the tweet says NASCAR appears to have moved away from the idea of selling the full season of
00:49:33
Speaker
of the Xfinity series exclusively to a streamer, and we'll probably do a mixture with one company. And I know we talked about that a few episodes ago with our, we had some concerns and worries. And, you know, there were a few positives in that discussion as well, but an interesting development. Yeah, I think that's definitely going to
00:49:58
Speaker
I think it's probably a result of some team feedback and it'll quell some team concerns. My biggest one was it's going to take away eyeballs and it's going to negatively impact sponsorship for the Xfinity series. So I'm ensuring that some of those are on traditional TV instead of exclusive on a streaming services.
00:50:25
Speaker
Um, well, it says that advertising a little bit, it says, uh, Amazon still appears to be a front runner for a mid season package of races akin to the six race package TNT carried until 2015. Uh, but I think that the talks have just been super duper slow. Um, okay. That's what, that's kind of what the gist of really reading this fast. Um, but that, I think that makes sense though. Um, and I, I would be, I would be on board with that regardless. Again, that's from Adam Stern.
00:50:55
Speaker
and John Oran from Sports Business Journal. So if you want to read that article in full, check them out for sure.
00:51:03
Speaker
Nice to see Carl Edwards at the racetrack again yesterday. He was inducted into, he was the first member of the Nashville Super Speedway Ring of Honor, I think they're calling it. He won six times at Nashville between the Trucks and Xfinity series back then the Bush and Nationwide series, but great to see Carl Edwards at the racetrack.
00:51:28
Speaker
He put to bed any rumors of him running a race. It sounds like he does not have anything up his sleeve, but it's still great to see him around the racetrack.
00:51:36
Speaker
Cousin Carl. Yeah, he's he's a great he's a great person to have around. I mean, there, you know, I would find it hard to believe that there would be anybody who would who doesn't find him to be a welcome sight, especially Joey Logano. But yeah, I always great to see him. Just a great guy, great person to have around the track.
00:52:03
Speaker
One thing I do want to mention about the race real quick before we wrap up that part is, um, and the cars were just so equal. It seemed like, it seemed like the lead was within, uh, like a second, the entire race. And a lot of times closer than that, uh, unless they were like, you know, somebody get held up in lap traffic, the second place car got held up in a lot of traffic. It seemed like everything was just so equal.
00:52:26
Speaker
Uh, that's the only downfall. I think there was that race. Well, I, I agree. And the one thing that I just wanted to make mention of here was that I think, uh, Chase Elliott yet again is, is out driving his equipment. Um, that nine car is not, is not anywhere near where it should be. And, you know, I think that he's the chase has had to use his ability to.
00:52:50
Speaker
limp it to top 10 top five finishes this year, which he hasn't had very many of just being not just not having the seat time as he normally would.
Driver Performances and Personal Experiences
00:53:01
Speaker
But the car was never going to win. But he still looked, you know, he he still drove, drove the heck out of it. Very true. Very true. Yeah. I just think that's going to have to be something that
00:53:16
Speaker
they might have to work on to improve the racing. And not just at Nashville, it was already a good race, but a lot of places, it's just to make it to where the cars aren't so equal, you know, have some separation in them. You know, the cream rising to the top is a good thing. You don't need to have 36 cars on top of each other. I think also to Steve's point about Chase Elliott, that, you know, maybe him being gone for so long,
00:53:43
Speaker
had more of an effect than I think people think. Maybe these cars are so in tune to who's driving them, their style, how they want their car set up to where losing Chase's data for that period of time with the engineers back at the shop with all the little minute things they're doing with their formulas in terms of very minute little changes now can make a big difference. And maybe we're just seeing the effects of that because
00:54:14
Speaker
Austin, uh, assuming Austin Alex Bowman, you're kind of seeing the same thing with him after he returned from his time away. Very true. Yeah. Let's get to, uh, quickly our pop-up showers. Uh, boy, we remember to do that. Uh, I don't think Steve and I did it on the last episode and I didn't realize until after we posted, but, uh, pop-up showers for this week. Uh, Jake, what do you have for us?
00:54:39
Speaker
Sure, I'll start it off. This is an article that I saw on NBC Sports yesterday. It's by De'Andra Leslie and Dr. De'Andra. She writes, do some drivers race better during certain parts of the season?
00:54:57
Speaker
And there is a, there's a pattern for a lot of drivers. She leave it off with, you know, um, Cody Stewart's career average finished by month and he was, uh, you know, he got really hot in the middle of the summer and then she breaks down some other drivers. It's just an interesting article to read through if you have time and, um, you know,
00:55:23
Speaker
Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, there's a pattern. Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, there's actually a pattern when some of these drivers perform better at certain parts of the season throughout their entire career. So I thought that's an interesting article to go check out. He wants to go next. I can go next if you guys want. I can go. Just we kind of talked about my pop up show already, but
00:55:52
Speaker
We're really hyping up the, I've mentioned this before, really hyping up the dirt racing, local dirt racing here in Kentucky on all my TV station.
00:56:02
Speaker
On our Motorsports Monday segment, it's really gaining a lot of traction, you know, unfortunate what happened to Richmond Raceway this weekend weather-wise It's now been ruled something kind of quiet during the podcast and I've been ruled a microburst assuming not a microburst a macroburst Which is a larger scale event than a microburst that ended up hitting the track not tornado, but regardless All these dirt guys are so appreciative of you know having their names and even pictures from the races and video
00:56:31
Speaker
on the local news even if it's just for a two-minute segment. And I've really gotten great feedback from showing IndyCar and NASCAR highlights when I'm not at the local track too. So hopefully the local sports scene can kind of pick up on this across the Ohio-Tennessee Valley in the southeast. You don't have to be in Charlotte. If you need some sports content, throw some NASCAR and racing highlights in your broadcast. And I think it'll get good reception.
00:57:01
Speaker
Dylan, are you posting news on your social media every week in full? Yes. And we're going to have a place on our website you can click on and get all of those. Fantastic. So Dylan, you're at Go Day Weather on Twitter? At Go Day Weather, or look up Dylan Go Day Weather if you're on Facebook as well. Totally.
00:57:23
Speaker
Um, my pop-up shower is from our friend, friend of the show. I, Ryan, I fantasy race. Um, he said three of chase Elliott seven road course wins have come in debut races at new road courses since 2020. Only race he didn't win of the four was at the indie road course. And he finished fourth there. 1.8 average finish in debuting races at new road courses, not too shabby. So given that you pick first here in a moment, uh, it's pretty clear who you're taking, right?
00:57:56
Speaker
I think on it while I do my pop-up shower. As I mentioned, I went on Saturday to the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. It's a great time, my first time to an NHRA National event. The nitro cars, the funny cars and the top fuel cars are insane.
00:58:22
Speaker
at the start finish or at the start of the line and they're just crazy loud and like shakes the whole set of bleachers. But it's a it's a adrenaline rush that can't be matched. One great thing I like about the NHRA national events is that every ticket to pit pass so you can walk through the pits and walk right up to the like barriers or a little rope line and and watch the watch them work on the race cars and
00:58:51
Speaker
especially on the, the nitro cars, the top fuel, funny cars, they're rebuilding an engine after every run. And, uh, and that's cool to watch. And then the drivers will come out and they'll chat and take pictures and sign autographs right there too. And, uh, so that is super cool. I, I, I sent a picture to you guys. I got a selfie with, uh, with top fuel racing legend, Clay Milligan. Uh, and, uh, and we kind of joked around and it's like, guys, don't hate me. I took a selfie with a Rick, we're a racing driver.
00:59:21
Speaker
Um, but he's got to win. He's got, he's the most recent winner for Rick ware racing. He wanted, uh, Joliet at Chicago or 66 race way, uh, a few weeks ago. So, um, and his team is, um, is picking them up and putting them down. I think they were number two qualifier after a Friday night's run. So, uh, so it was great to see the NHRA, um, up close and in person. Uh, and, and I definitely hope to go back again sometime soon. Uh, it was, it was great fun.
00:59:50
Speaker
The only thing I didn't like is I got a little somber. My neck and the tops of my knees are pretty cooked. But you'll have them in big jobs is what they say. So let's get to our.
01:00:01
Speaker
race picks. Three of us had top 10 finishes. And Steve, you were well on your way to that had it not been for that flat tire for Kevin Harvick. So Steve, you finished 24th with Harvick earning 15 points. Dylan finished 6th with William Byron earning 46 points. Jake had a third place finish from Denny Hamlin good for 50 points. And I had a second for Martin Truex Jr.
01:00:29
Speaker
good for 51 points. My second second place finish of the season behind Redick at Bristol Dirt. I'm still the only one who has not won a race yet, but that swing with with Harvick having that flat tire has changed up the standings. Dylan now leads the way with 569 points. Nice. I am second with five. Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. Nice. I am second with 547.
01:00:59
Speaker
So what is that 22 points behind and I'm also 13 points ahead of Steve who has 534 Jake you're still inching closer to the 500 mark at 485 But a big week coming up at the first ever street course in Chicago for NASCAR Steve you have the first pick who are you taking this week?
Chicago Street Course Race Speculations
01:01:22
Speaker
Chase Elliott. Next question. No, I'm kidding. I feel like he he's he's due for a win. You know, it's been a really, really down year for him and the team in general. So it's the nine. All right. Chase Elliott for Steve. Dylan, you're up next.
01:01:42
Speaker
I will say my pick last week, William Byron, he's got to be the favorite or, you know, one of the top players. He just, he clearly didn't have the strongest cards, everyone else around him, but he still was able to run a pretty clean race. But I'm going to go a bit of a surprise here, especially for my picks. I'm going Michael McDowell. I think the experience that he has.
01:02:06
Speaker
What? Yeah. I took McDowell at Sonoma and he finished seventh.
01:02:13
Speaker
So bit of a surprise for me. I know I'm pretty top heavy. I'm picking favorites, but these are really narrow streets. Like this course is really narrow. And I think that is not going to bode well for guys like, uh, like, you know, well, yeah, you're going to start up front, I think for sure.
01:02:38
Speaker
Track position is going to be huge this weekend at Chicago. Jake, you're up next. He has some momentum heading into the weekend. I'll kind of do a little outside the box, but not really. And I'll pick AJ Almondinger.
01:02:54
Speaker
Okay, I just I don't know like no one knows really what to expect. I just That's probably a knock on wood here Safe bet if you will and I would we'll just see what happens So it leaves me to pick
01:03:13
Speaker
This is going to sound really weird, but I am leaning towards taking Todd Gilliland. What is going on here? I am purely I'm purely doing that off of I expect this to be an absolute crash fest.
01:03:31
Speaker
And it's going to be one of those races where you just survive through the attrition and somebody you have no expectation of winning is going to come out. Well, I don't necessarily think Todd Gilliland is going to win the race.
01:03:48
Speaker
But I feel like there is enough opportunity for crashes to take out so many of the favorites, you know, the Truex, the Legano, that whole crowd, all the HMS guys, that a guy like Todd Gilliland could be around and just sneak his way into the top ten. I'm surprised nobody picked Chase Briscoe then.
01:04:12
Speaker
Like he's one of those guys who I feel like is, you know, he has the ability, um, and would probably sneak his way into potentially close to a win. Do you want me to take Brisco? No, I'm happy with you taking Gilliland, believe me. I need all the help I could get. Hey, I need all the help I can get. I just barely snuck in a second this week. So, uh, so Jake has the dinger. Dylan has, uh, Michael McDowell.
01:04:41
Speaker
Steve has Chase Elliott and I have Todd Gilliland. Hey, Dylan and I are taking the teammates here.
01:04:48
Speaker
Wait, you mean nobody's picking Rick Rare Racing, who won the Chicago online, the iRacing version last year? Dominated it? Come on now. I think you have a better chance of putting Clay Milliken in a cup car and winning than whoever's in the system. Who was that? Again, the iRacing event at the Chicago street course. I mean, he just dominated. It wasn't like 15 second win. Yeah. I don't know. I just. I'll look it up.
01:05:17
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm looking up the they've announced the. Entry list, so a couple of notable ones there. Jensen Button is in the 15 Rick where a car. Oh man, I feel bad for it. I feel bad now. I like Jensen Button. Andy Lally is in the 51 Rick where a car. You'll have Josh Bellicchi in the 78. Jimmy Johnson is racing it and is 84 with Legacy Motor Club.
01:05:45
Speaker
And of course, we can't go without mentioning the 91, the Trackhouse Project 91 car with three-time Australian V8 supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen is going to make his NASCAR debut on that one. And he mentioned over the weekend at Nashville, by the way, that he is interested in doing a NASCAR oval race.
01:06:09
Speaker
I think he'd be fine. I also think, by the way, that this type of course would bode well for a guy like Jordan Taylor, especially since he has cup experience now. There's not really a car for him to go to with at least Chevy. But I think that that would have been a better, he would have had a better showing than I had a place like Coda at the street course here.
01:06:36
Speaker
Fair enough. All right, let's get to our random picks. Wait, James Davison won. James Davison, yeah. 15 seconds. Second was another Rick where Josh Balicki, so they dominated. Hey, Balicki's in the 78 this week. So our random picks from last week. Unfortunately, Jake had Ryan Blaney, who finished dead last with that hard head first impact into the inside of all, got one point.
01:07:06
Speaker
Uh, Dylan had Kevin Harvick who suffered the same fate as what Steve had in the real picks. 24th place finished 15 points. Steve had Eric Almerola who finished one point behind his HHR teammate or one position, excuse me, 25th for Almerola 12 points. And I had McDowell who finished 28th and nine points. So our standings are looking like this. I still lead the way with.
01:07:34
Speaker
506 points, Dylan with 394, Steve with 354, Jake with 340 in the random picks. So that means Jake gets the first pick of the random ones for this week, and we'll get the wheel spinning here. It's got to be better than one point, right? So only up from here. Right, right. All right, not bad. You get bubble Wallace. He was going to be a sleeper pick for me. OK.
01:08:05
Speaker
While the wheel is spinning for, it's me next. I'm going to be looking up the Xfinity entry list because there are tons of- Might rain Saturday too, by the way. Oh, interesting. Heads up. Yeah. I got a kind of a sleeper.
01:08:25
Speaker
the 17 Christopher Busher. I was just looking at his name. He's still in the playoffs. He's one spot above Bubba Wallace, who's currently 15th. Busher's 14th. So he's been driving the heck out of that 17 car. Steve, you're up next. And you get Happy Harvick. Again, sort of. I picked him last week, and I get him for random.
01:08:52
Speaker
Uh, I don't think it's going to work out super great for you because I don't think he is super jazzed about this race. Well, I'm not either. So he and I have that in common. All right, Dylan, uh, you get the last pick here in random. And we need it here. Sorensen. Uh, no. Martin Truex Jr. That's a really good pick. Heck yeah. That's a really good pick. I will take that. A big showing in random this week. That would be really cool.
01:09:22
Speaker
Um, let's look at the Xfinity entry list. There's a lot of one-off drivers. Uh, no one announced for the Oh seven from SS green light yet. Uh, Joey gase is in the Oh eight, even though two cars that he co-owns are also in the race. He's not driving one of those. Uh, Parker chase is going to be in the 24 for Sam hot racing. Andre Castro Castro, excuse me. Honestly, I've never heard of this guy.
01:09:49
Speaker
But Andre Castro is going to be in the 34 with Jesse Wooji Motorsports. Alex the Bay in the 35 with Emmerling Gace. Alex Gwinnett going to be in the 36 DGM racing car that La Bay has piloted very frequently in the past. Sage Karam in the 44. Preston Pardis in his family owned car this week in the 50. Brad Perez will be in the 53 for Emmerling Gace.
01:10:15
Speaker
two Dexter's in the entry list. Dexter Stacey and Dexter Bean. Dexter Stacey will be in the 66th with MBM. Dexter Bean will be in the 91 with DGM racing with Mario Gosselin. Miguel Paluto is going to be racing in the 88 for Junior Motorsports and they have Brent Sherman. I'm not familiar with them either. Going to be in the 28 for Ryan Seague and Rod Seague there.
01:10:43
Speaker
43 cars on the entry list five will go home and not make the race on Saturday and Dylan you're mentioning that it could rain on Saturday and make a big mess of things more than it's already going to be Yeah, Saturday could be rain. I think Sunday's gonna be dry though. So some good news there. I I don't want to see a rain filled caution fest at
01:11:07
Speaker
at the street course because that means for sure we're not doing it next year. I think if it turns into disaster like that, there's no way in the world they're coming back next year. I don't know anybody who is genuinely confident this is going to put on a good race. I think we can all agree this is
01:11:27
Speaker
purely just for a marketing thing of being in downtown Chicago. Yeah, without a doubt. I completely agree with that. And I don't think that the drivers are there. I think I feel like a lot of them are in the same boat as we are. But I'm not you know, I kind of regardless of how this turns out, I don't think I'm going to want to see it next year anyway. I think it's going to be purely just watching for how ridiculous it gets.
01:11:55
Speaker
I would like to mention though, Harvick may not be a fan, but he wasn't a fan of Bristol dirt either and he finished ninth, so. That's true. I think it's a very different game though. Oh yeah, for sure. Being on the streets and the concrete walls there. Anything else we want to mention on today's episode guys? I think we've had a pretty good one returning back from the off week and getting headed into the summer months here.
01:12:23
Speaker
Nothing. You know, I need to go to bed on three hours of sleep. Well, I thank you all so much for listening to cloudy with a chance of racing. Uh, we'll be back next week after the Chicago, uh, street course. Uh, in the meantime, though, if you like what you've heard, please, uh, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform rate review, leave a, uh, a comment. Uh, we appreciate all of that. Also follow us on Twitter and Instagram at
01:12:52
Speaker
Cloudy Racing Pod, and we'll be sure to interact with you there, share updates from the show, all that good jazz. So thank you so much for listening. For Jake, Dylan, and Steve, I am Braxton. We'll be back with you next week after the Charlotte Street course, or just meet the Chicago Street course. Have a good one. Charlotte Street course, let's go.