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Ep. 29: Larson Finally Tames Darlington
12 Plays1 year ago
Dillon and Braxton break down the Darlington weekend, including Denny Hamlin winning the Xfinity race, Kyle Larson winning the Southern 500, Carson Hocevar's impressive fill-in effort, and tough luck for Martin Truex Jr. Plus, they go off the rails a little with some local track discussion, taking Dillon to Vegas for the first time, and the convenience store chain Buc-ee's. Looking ahead, they make their real and random picks for the Kansas race weekend, Dillon gives his forecast for Kansas, and both guys share their excitement for what should be a fun race weekend.
Be sure to subscribe and rate Cloudy With a Chance of Racing on your favorite podcast platform, and follow along on Instagram, Threads, and X/Twitter @CloudyRacingPod.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Setup
00:00:15
Speaker
Better late than never here on Cloudy with the chance of racing. Braxton and Dylan here with you on episode 29. Jake and Steve are the things that I had to take care of here on a Wednesday night, but Dylan and I are here with you.
Race Recap: Darlington, F1, and IndyCar
00:00:28
Speaker
Dylan, what was your weekend like in the world of racing? Well, I was able to watch most of the racing that took place at Darlington. And I was able to watch actually the formula one race and Indy car. So I got a full weekend full of
00:00:42
Speaker
of able to take in a lot of the racing there. So I was really impressed by both races that happened at Darlington, the Formula One race, which we hardly ever talk about on this show, was a bit of a snoozer, like most Formula One races this year. And F1 race being a snoozer, I never could fathom
Southern 500 Highlights and Emotions
00:01:01
Speaker
that. It is, I will say, it is impressive what Max Verstappen is just doing. I mean, it's unprecedented, truly. So that was cool to kind of see.
00:01:09
Speaker
Uh, the race Sunday night, I really enjoyed it. We had a kind of a classic battle between two guys. I love to run the top of the track and Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson and Larson finally able to get that Southern 500. And I think in the post race interview, he showed a lot of emotion where, um, he looked, he seemed like he wanted this one for a while. So it was cool to add that to his collection. Yeah. I mean, it was a big weekend in NASCAR, uh, with the, with Southern 500 weekend, the Xfinity car has always put on a great show there at Darlington as well.
00:01:39
Speaker
race won by Denny Hamlin. I thought it was entertaining to see the warm reception that Denny got from a lot of fans in the stands about that win.
Xfinity Playoff Cutoff Drama
00:01:51
Speaker
And there's a lot of drama there too in the Xfinity race about the the cutoff Riley Herbst and Parker Kligerman are right there neck and neck with each other and it's going to be a battle of course the Xfinity playoff cutoff race their regular season ends this coming week at Kansas so that'll be a very tight battle and one worth watching this weekend there and on the mile and a half
00:02:14
Speaker
Let's start there with the Xfinity race. I mean, I personally didn't get to watch a whole ton of it because I'm still in New York working tennis. So disclaimer, you all might hear a little bit of that in the background here. It is another American playing in the quarterfinals tonight. But what happened in the Xfinity race that caught your eye, Dylan? I mean, it seemed like some cup guys were kind of getting their last cup series or last dip down into the Xfinity series before they were kind of booted out of the series for the end of the regular season and then their playoffs.
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's, um, I liked the battling between some of the cup series guys. I think that's one of the better things, um, about the Xfinity Darlington race, because you get so many of the cup guys, just think of the past battles that we've seen, you know, with Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain at the time when he was an Xfinity, that's one of the all time, I think, uh, you know, kind of Xfinity races at Darlington was that event that happened. But, um, uh, you know, I've voiced my opinions about Denny Hamlin in the past, but
00:03:13
Speaker
I like it when he goes down and runs a couple of Xfinity races. And I thought he made it a little bit exciting. He also showed that he is extremely talented. And I don't think anyone ever questions his talent level. And then he goes and does that in a hard to drive Xfinity car at Darlington. He looked really impressive.
00:03:32
Speaker
yeah and the uh... of course we can't mentioned any hamlin without mentioning his big news from monday that uh...
Denny Hamlin's Re-signing and Team Updates
00:03:39
Speaker
he has re-opt with joe gibbs racing it also means the twenty three eleven is re-opt with uh... the toyota racing development family uh... as a big domino in the silly season uh... some people would say there was never any doubt about it but uh... there was at least enough grumblings to give you know a bit of a bit of pause in question about
00:03:58
Speaker
Could Denny and 2311 go somewhere else? And that's all been put to rest now. Yeah. And I think, um, you know, obviously a lot of details hasn't come out, haven't come out, but the speculation, I think kind of began, um, when, when legacy motor club, which today just dropped some big news there with John Hunter, Nima check, um, being signed for next year with them going to Toyota, that really adds to Toyota stable now. And, uh, I think kind of the thinking was sort of Haas racing struggled.
00:04:29
Speaker
Will 2311 Ford might have, you know, had a big push to try to pick up, um, 2311 racing. So I think Toyota is going to be even stronger next year and adding another team in, um, when not only having Denny and his team, but having legacy motor club, that's going to make it even better. Yeah. And it seems like just having more data points to share across the TRD family. And especially when you get to the super Speedway tracks as
Nostalgia at Darlington: Lights Out Moment
00:04:57
Speaker
well.
00:04:57
Speaker
that the Toyotas have always had trouble with the kind of alliances with finding your manufacturer partners and being able to run together just because there's only been six or fewer of them for a long time and now they're gonna have eight cars in the field will be really good for that organization. In the cup race on Sunday, some wackiness for sure we have to mention, the lights going out on the inside radius of turns three and four
00:05:25
Speaker
Have you ever seen anything like that? I mean, don't you get a lot of short tracks? Have you seen anything like that before? Well, I actually have we had the they had to pause Well, they had to have a long break between in the intermission of one of the races I went to at Richmond Raceway here in Kentucky because one of the lights in turn one went out another small dirt track that makes a huge difference You know, there's a lot less lighting infrastructure on track like that to light the track But I thought it was kind of interesting
00:05:51
Speaker
because a lot of the drivers didn't seem to mind it. I think it was more of the spotters having a tough view of the turns, having a view of right against the wall at least. It did kind of add like an old school feel to the, because as soon as the sun started to go down, I noticed like that turns really dark. I didn't know if it had always been that dark or wet, but it was very noticeable when they turned the lights on, eventually the whole wall was lit up completely. So, because I remember Denny Hamlin saying, you know, it's fine. I don't see any issue with it.
00:06:20
Speaker
But yeah, that's so odd. Like, what are the odds that that happens?
00:06:25
Speaker
Yeah, I will say that Darlington is a unique place for that to happen. Like if it were to happen at like a Bristol or a Martinsville where, you know, a lot of the fast line is right around the bottom. That's a different story. But with it being right up against the wall and it's very hard for the lights on the grandstands to get down and kind of around the wall. I mean, like doesn't really have been like that. So I think that's a unique little quirk with with that track and it happening there.
00:06:53
Speaker
I remember the lights going out on the back stretch at Gateway for the truck race four or five years ago. I think it happened a couple of times. It was kind of embarrassing, honestly. But I remember seeing that happen. But it was interesting that it happened during the throwback segment of the race that NBC was doing. So it was Dale Junior, Dale Jarrett, and Kyle Petty in the booth.
00:07:18
Speaker
And for us West Virginia guys, we got a very cool story out of Kyle Petty about it. Yeah, that was awesome hearing about Ona Speedway when they used to race there. We've kind of mentioned that track in the past, but to hear Kyle, that sounded like I hadn't heard that story before, actually. So that was cool to hear talk about a whole field crashing when the lights went out.
00:07:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's on a speedway is a place I've been to many times in my life. It's 15 minutes from where I grew up. Literally, this is going to be a very West Virginia description. It's across the river in the mountain from where I went to high school. And so I've heard stories about the the Mountaineer 500, the West Virginia 300 being run with the NASCAR Cup Series there back in the 60s at on a speedway.
NASCAR History: Ona Speedway
00:08:07
Speaker
And I even
00:08:09
Speaker
have a memory of there was a I think NASCAR was racing in Pocono and I think it was Michael Waltrip and a handful of other drivers flew down after practicing qualifying at Pocono in the early 2000s.
00:08:23
Speaker
there's a little airstrip right there at ona that they flew into they came over to the racetrack and uh... and raced in and borrow cars and it was great they had a packed house at that place to see the nascar stars running against the local guys and then once their race is done they hopped back in the plane and and took back off and left and that was the coolest thing ever and
00:08:44
Speaker
Um, so yeah, Ona is a great place and I have definitely heard many stories about, uh, about Richard Petty, Petty, David Pearson, all them racing there at Ona. And so it was really cool to get that mentioned on the broadcast. Yeah, definitely. Um, especially a track that you, you know, you don't hear about much when they're talking about the history of NASCAR and an area that doesn't have a track right now. Um, so yeah.
00:09:05
Speaker
Uh, that was a cool story to hear. Cool to get a shout out to, you know, some West Virginia roots, which Kyle Petty does a lot, um, in Western Virginia, West Virginia area. Um, he does his, um, what's his drive that he does with, uh, the Kyle Petty, uh, uh, charity ride for the victory. I know a couple of
Standout Race: Larson vs. Reddick
00:09:25
Speaker
people that have rode in that, uh, when it was driving through like white sulfur Springs area in West Virginia. So, um, it's cool that he cares a lot about that area of the country.
00:09:34
Speaker
on a speedway the only paved oval in the state of West Virginia. There's several dirt ovals. I think there's a
00:09:40
Speaker
road course over in the eastern part of the state but only paved oval is it there on a speedway little uh... was i think uh... little short of a half miles like a three-eighths or uh... uh... something like that mile track it's a it's a cool spot late models uh... legends cars uh... modified street stocks all the all the normal division see at your local track they're available in western west virginia in the actual race itself on sunday uh... it was really
00:10:08
Speaker
the Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick show, and they did put on a show. And I think it was especially entertaining that they were able to race the way they did, given how little passing there had been in races in the last month to six weeks. Yeah, that was the biggest thing for me. And you also had some big guy, big names with trouble. I think it all started with qualifying. Mark Truex, Jr., who showed no speed all weekend long, starts way in the back, barely makes any progress all race long. Then you have Denny Hamlin.
00:10:37
Speaker
who, uh, you know, just dominated early on after taking the lead, um, from Reddick. Um, and then he has his issues and then that's left with two of the best guys at this dollar racing and Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick. And I think they, they put on a show, like you mentioned, um, it was cool to see them, you know, every lap, it was like one would hit their marks, one would hit the wall.
00:11:02
Speaker
and
00:11:20
Speaker
He can't really call it the debut, but the second opportunity, if you will, for Carson Hosevar in the Cup Series, racing in the 42 car for Legacy Motor Club. And I think by all accounts he had a very good run and backed up what he showed when he was in the Spire 7 at Gateway. Finished all the laps, was competitive all the way through, didn't do anything stupid, kept his car clean, and really a good showing for the young man out of Western Michigan.
00:11:50
Speaker
No, he definitely did. And I think his finish was actually a little bit lower than where he had run all day. He was like early teens for most of the race, and they end up finishing a little further back. But he was outrunning a lot of guys that I don't think people expected him to outrun. Like Chase Elliott, for most of the race, he was outrunning him. So that was definitely very impressive. He has shown a lot of talent, I think, in raising some eyebrows potentially in the industry
00:12:20
Speaker
how well he's done in his two attempts. Let's say a good transition to mention that the 42 guards you mentioned earlier has been named the driver of John Hunter Nemechek with the Legacy Motor Club going to Toyota. JHN stays in the Toyota family. He'll be piloting the 42 next year alongside Eric Jones. I guess some people could kind of dismiss Host of ours run on Sunday as being like, well, that team's always been really good at that track with
00:12:49
Speaker
Eric Jones being the defending winner, and Eric Jones did have a pretty good run, was up there mixing it up in the top 15 as well. But you look at the way that car has run all season, and I don't think it's any fluke that suddenly Josefaro is there in the seat, and they have one of their best finishes of the year. Yeah, definitely. I don't think it was, and stayed clean, which that car seems to have mechanical issues just as much as driver issues, and maybe it wasn't.
00:13:19
Speaker
As much the car causing those issues is what we had thought, potentially, at the time. He will be in the car this week at Kansas, as well. So it'll be interesting to see along if he's able to back up, back up his performance there in his first two Cup Series starts. What else caught your eye over the weekend that you want to bring up on the Cup Series or Xinity Series? Well, the little feud there between Suarez and Alex Bowman. Oh, yeah, yeah. That was a little.
00:13:49
Speaker
I think frustration on both ends from both drivers not being in the playoffs. Bowman, I think he was too aggressive in his double block of Suarez. But I also think Suarez does have a little bit to blame. I mean, he did stay right on. He didn't lift. It didn't seem like at all. Or if he did, it was a very little bit of a lift. So it's kind of both of those drivers just equally showing their frustration. And then Bowman saying in his
00:14:18
Speaker
interview after that the crew chief flipped them off but then the crew chief comes out and tweets that I never flipped you off. So again that's I think just frustration at the end of the day because both guys aren't in the playoffs.
00:14:32
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not in the playoffs. And also, Darlington is one of those tracks that if you're not running good, your car's not handling good, it will drive you up the walls, literally and figuratively. And so, you know, a little bit of that frustration, you know, builds up, kind of boils over in that kind of race that's not really surprising to see it at that racetrack. Yeah, it's really nice. I thought that Bowman had a pretty good day up to that point. I think, you know,
00:14:59
Speaker
that he was obviously hoping for a little bit of a better run. But at the end of the day, you know, that's got to be a frustrating way to go out yet again. I don't think I don't think he helped this cause at all with this post rec interview either, which it was kind of interesting. NBC didn't air that until after the race because, you know, just the way the timing worked out where they were so focused on that battle for the lead, I think. And also from the race, Christopher Bell, I think,
00:15:26
Speaker
would have been there at the end had he not had his issues early on with his, um, bad pit stop, which fell of course on the first green flag stop, which that was another thing. A hundred laps of caution free racing at Darlington is unheard of. And we thought we're going to get another race where it felt like never ending green flag lap, but there were enough, some end up being some cautions at the end. Um,
00:15:51
Speaker
Yeah, Christopher ball I think showed some speed which he hasn't in a couple weeks So that could be something that could continue on a track. That's very favorable for the Toyotas this week in Kansas You know and that even plays well throughout the rest of the playoffs too because remember homestead is back in the playoff mix and I think that'll
00:16:10
Speaker
You know, kind of mix things up because that track is similar to Darlington in ways where there's many ways to get around that race track and make speed. It puts a lot in the driver's hands and that could very well play into the Toyota's hands because the Toyotas seem like they've run really well with this type of track so the Chevrolet's and the Ford's early in the season I think were pretty weak in those but again, the RFK car is finishing top 10 again, am I right?
00:16:41
Speaker
Yes. And they're the class of the Ford field right now? They are. And you know, Busher had, he didn't really show speed all day long. And then at the end of the race, a couple of pit stops, he's right there at the front. So once again, he is, I think, quickly becoming a favorite. And it'll be interesting to see how long this momentum could continue. Because I don't think the Ford showed a lot of speed at Kansas earlier in the season. But you go to Michigan, and then they do show speed.
00:17:10
Speaker
um... who knows what what they're going to bring i think i think it's tough to to bet against rfk having a good showing at cages especially with the run that they're on right now let's run through the point standing starting in the cup series is all three series are headed to kansas was run through the the points uh... right now william byron leading larson redick busher hamlin truex bush keselowski blaney and testing and legato
00:17:40
Speaker
are locked and they're going to cut three or four is it four? I believe so. Yes. So I'll hear it. It helps if I click on the playoffs tab on the standings. So as it stands right now, Bubba is one point to the bad. Kevin Harvick is two points to the bad. Stenhouse is four points below. And then McDowell, 19 points adrift.
00:18:09
Speaker
19 points not totally insurmountable, but he's gonna have to get some stage points because at this point all those guys are running close to the front of the field Yeah, definitely. He had him instant house. I think both had frustrating days there on Sunday night for sure
00:18:26
Speaker
So in the Xfinity series, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill are locked in on the bubble. As I mentioned, it's very tight with Riley Herbst and Parker Klugerman being one point apart.
00:18:41
Speaker
Daniel Hemmerich will lock himself into the Xfinity Series playoffs just by starting at Kansas. And we'll have some news on that in a moment. Below the cut line, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffat, Parker Redslaff, Casagrada, Ryan Seagun down, they all must win a race, win at Kansas, to get themselves into the playoffs. And that would knock out whichever of Herbst and Kligerman is fighting for that 12th spot. Truck Series is off at Darlington.
00:19:10
Speaker
The playoffs look like this Grant end finger time and Jesky Corey Heim Christian Ekas Carson hosts of ours ain't Smith Matt Kraft and a Nick Sanchez are Currently in position to advance. I believe Kansas is a cutoff race. I
00:19:27
Speaker
for the truck series, I'll have to double check that. But Ben Rhodes is three points down. He is the past champion there in the truck series. So Ben Rhodes has some work to do to try to make it into the next round of the playoffs. And Matt DiBenedetto, 20 points below the cut.
00:19:46
Speaker
Of course, Mattie Dee announced last week that he will not be returning to a rackley war racing in 2024, so his fond song with that team is not going well in the playoffs so far, and he has some work to do to advance at Kansas. Kansas, a racetrack that always puts on good races, and after earlier this season, there were a lot of people, I think, who were clamoring for Kansas to be the championship race instead of Phoenix.
Kansas Race Weekend Preview
00:20:13
Speaker
Do you think we see more of that this weekend?
00:20:16
Speaker
Yeah, the hope is for that. Absolutely. Especially having all three series there. It'll be interesting to see the turnout bands. You know, it's always a tough weekend because football opens up this weekend. But if you're in the Kansas area, Kansas City plays on Thursday night this season. So that could be, you know, some of their sports fans that are fans of both.
00:20:35
Speaker
could go to the football game Thursday, and then spend the rest of the weekend at the track, which they're not too far apart from each other. Could be a cool deal, too. If you make a whole weekend out of it, go to the arrowhead for the game, and then go cross over to the Kansas side of Kansas City, and catch the racing. Yeah. I wish I had done some more planning, because that sounds like an awesome weekend playing there. But I think it does continue.
00:21:04
Speaker
I'll be interested to see the weather, because I believe it's going to be a little bit cooler, not as hot as what it was in the spring there. It was pretty warm, I believe, if I can remember correctly. Kansas raised it in. It won't be quite as hot there this weekend. Very interesting to see that side of it. But I think we kind of talked about this. It's going to be Toyota and Chevy's, I think. Maybe the RFK bunch are there at the end, but who knows. But I think Toyota, especially, I think is probably going
00:21:33
Speaker
at least early on in a qualifying show their strengths. Totally. And because this is just a two-person podcast tonight, we're going to mix things up a
Sports Betting in Kentucky
00:21:44
Speaker
little bit. We're going to jump ahead. It's only been 20 minutes into the show. We're going to jump ahead to our pop-up showers. And then, Dylan, you're telling me something about sports betting starting in Kentucky. So I think that's an interesting deal. We might be able to get some betting stuff in, if that's OK with you.
00:22:01
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Um, I'm going to be working on doing, uh, my auto racing is what I'm going to call auto racing picks of the week. Um, on our TV station or through our, through my TV station, ABC 36, um, the brick and mortar shops open up tomorrow on a Thursday, depending on when you're listening to this on Thursday.
00:22:19
Speaker
September 7 at 10 AM. Lexington has a spot at Red Mile, Caesar Sports Book there. So we're getting in contact with them, see if they can potentially work with us in the future in terms of me doing these auto racing picks. But it'll be interesting to see with auto racing how popular that is with the sports books here in Kentucky. I will say, looking at the odds right now for this weekend, a lot of Toyota's up near the front. Also for the championship, I'm
00:22:49
Speaker
I'm a bit intrigued that right now Larson's the favorite. Truex is right behind him. But then Hamlin's not, he's fourth on that list, plus 525 right now on Caesar Sportsbook, plus 525. So I think that's a little low for him. I think he should be right up there with Larson. You know, it is tough to, because he's never won a championship. But I think Hamlin, I mean, would you agree with that Braxton right up there with Larson right now?
00:23:20
Speaker
I understand Truex. He just struggled so much last week. And it's hard for me to put him up there with Larson. Yeah. I think the thing with Hamlin is that he's been so close so many times that it would make a lot of sense for the bettors to be, I'll believe it when I see it. Yeah. And that's not a knock on Denny. I mean, Denny will tell you, I'll believe it when I see it. It's just a matter of his
00:23:49
Speaker
You know, he runs so well. He just hasn't put it all together and and sometimes it's pit crew But a lot of times you look back at his record of of pyro penalties. It's squirrely on his shoulders Yes, for sure and another name I think that stands out on this list too is again This is Caesar Sportsbook current odds to win the championship is that Chris Busher is actually behind Kyle Busch Kyle Busch is fifth is the fifth favorite right now and
00:24:16
Speaker
for the championship at plus 800 meanwhile bushers at plus 850 um so other i mean obviously so close but uh i've been surprised by that i think just because kyle bush has championship experience i think that gives him the edge over that but it's hard to say bush has shown much speed recently so at the same time yeah very true it's always interesting and i think um
00:24:41
Speaker
I think NASCAR racing, granted, it's very followed, right? Amongst, you know, die hard fans, but I almost feel like there's not enough kind of mainstream following to where the odds are necessarily as true and telling of who can do well and who will do well. Yeah. Let's say like football, for example.
NASCAR Betting Odds Explained
00:25:02
Speaker
No, definitely. You can definitely find interesting odds for it. Because like last week, I believe I saw that DraftKings had
00:25:10
Speaker
Martin Truex Jr. His odds were not obviously very good, but they had a kind of a prop bet that somebody starting 30th or worse to win, which Truex fell in that category, had more favorable odds than Truex's odds to win. So you were better off giving yourself eight other drivers starting 30th or 36 drivers, however many there were, six drivers that could potentially win.
00:25:39
Speaker
than Truex. So I think you find some quirks like that quite a bit in NASCAR just because I think it's not catching up. But like you said, it's not quite as universally popular as football betting and basketball and things like that. And of course, they'll have odds, I'm sure, for Formula One, IndyCar, et cetera, as well. Yeah, they will. They also, so I'm looking at Caesar's website right now. They've taken off their odds for the race this weekend, which is kind of interesting because they were up earlier today.
00:26:09
Speaker
But they also have the truck series listed on here, but they don't have their odds up at the moment, no Xfinity series listed. So again, kind of slim pickings right now if you're in an area that has the mobile sports betting and you're looking for seizures. But DraftKings odds at the moment, they do have Denny Hamlin as the favorite this weekend. Larson's and Truex are both at plus 550, and then you have Byron at plus 750.
00:26:37
Speaker
Again, that makes sense to me having those drivers up there. I will say, above all, last year's winner at the race is plus 1,200, which is ahead of Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Chris Buscher. Interesting. One thing I'm curious about, and you'll have to report back to us next week after all this launches, is how sports betting is received in Kentucky
00:26:59
Speaker
especially on NASCAR side, I'm curious to see if there's like NASCAR specific numbers on participation just because horse racing, horse betting has been around for ages in Kentucky. So I'm curious if there's some people will jump on board with it or there's some people kind of turn their nose to it. Yeah, it will be interesting. I'll definitely be on the lookout for those kind of numbers, especially since I'm going to be trying to get out picks every
Speculation: Kyle Larson's Race Absence?
00:27:23
Speaker
week. I may be heading down to Red Mile tomorrow because I've never actually placed the in-person sports
00:27:29
Speaker
bet before. Interesting. Not even in Vegas? I've never been to Vegas either. Cool. Sounds like we might have to make a trip out to Vegas for the race. Yeah, cloudy with a chance of racing pod at Vegas would be pretty sweet. What would you say? The chances of racing would be higher than the chances of betting or vice versa if we did that? That's a very good question. I think that's up for debate.
00:27:58
Speaker
Well, we'll get back to you if we get down that road. News on my front is I purchased a ticket to the Charlotte Roval race at the beginning of October. Just like we talked about, fans going to Kansas this weekend can make a double dip with seeing the Chiefs play and then go to the NASCAR race. I'm going to be in Charlotte for work. Then I'm driving to Raleigh two and a half hours to see Marshall play at NC State, my alma mater and Marshall Thundering herd.
00:28:27
Speaker
on Saturday and then Sunday headed back to Charlotte to catch the Bank of America Roval 400. Sounds like a lot of fun. You'll be heading right down to back road to the NC State. That will be cool for sure. Which out of school this weekend at college game day Saturday morning, they had the 2311 team on there. They did, yeah. They had Tyler Rex. Car was UNC colors, obviously, with the Jordan brand.
00:28:57
Speaker
Logo there. Um, so that was cool to it's cool. Always cool when nascar especially in a place like charlotte which is the home of nascar to To be talking about that especially on the first college game day of the year Yeah, especially it it was it was during game day in charlotte four in north carolina versus south carolina So michael jordan being a unc guy and yeah, it all makes sense there. So yeah That was really cool deal Let's get to our pop-up showers real quick
00:29:24
Speaker
Normally assignment Jake leads, but we're gonna keep it going even though Jake's not here I was actually looking right before we started recording Dylan at the world 100 entry list. It's a late model dirt race at Aldora that's being held tomorrow night Thursday night September 7th and One name I did not see on there Kyle Larson. Yes, that is interesting
00:29:48
Speaker
I makes me wonder if maybe an edict came down from the big man, Mr. H, about doing stuff which is interesting to think about if that did happen because the high limit racing series still has races going on through the NASCAR playoffs in midweek. But maybe there was some deals like, okay, you can finish the high limit season, but nothing more besides that. I has pure speculation on my part, but interesting to see a big money race on dirt
00:30:18
Speaker
that Kyle Larson has not entered into. Yes, that is interesting. It is, you know, a late model, a late model race where, you know, Larson, I think this summer has been focusing more on his sprint car race. So maybe that could be it. But yeah, you're right. It is surprising to see his name. All the big names will be there, though. Jonathan Davenport, Mike Marlar, Tyler Anderson, a West Virginia guy, sorry, Tyler Carpenter, West Virginia guy.
00:30:45
Speaker
I've always several times this season and getting better every time I see him. Yeah, so All the big names will be there at Aldoro tomorrow I think it's available on flow racing if you are interested in watching that and Davenport just won speaking of West Virginia racing He just won the hillbilly 100 this past weekend at Tyler County Speedway there in West Virginia Yeah, that was big boy and big win for him. They had a lot of people there. This is all the aerial photo there
00:31:17
Speaker
So Dylan, what's your pop-up shower for this week? Well, for my Motorsports Monday segment, I'll be headed to Rock Castle Speedway, which is one of the dirt tracks I haven't been to here in Kentucky yet. They actually have a race, which is one of the few that you see named in Memorial of a Woman, the Sandy Adams Memorial.
00:31:40
Speaker
is this weekend there. And it's actually the feature race will be open wheel modified, which you rarely see here too. So some of the, especially with the world 100 being Saturday, I think a lot of the bigger name open wheel modified guys will be there at Rock Castle there on Saturday night. So that'll be exciting. I'll have those highlights Monday morning on ABC 36 here in Kentucky. Very cool. Did you say anything interesting this past weekend or were you mostly at
Ken Schrader's Return at Richmond
00:32:08
Speaker
home?
00:32:08
Speaker
Mostly at home for the holiday. I was going to head down. They had a couple of big races, one at Lake Cumberland Speedway, and then one there at Thunder Mountain, which Blake Brown is a Corbin, Kentucky guy. Ma is on the mountain, so another modified race. He was able to win that one there at Thunder Mountain. And then again, a couple weeks, Ken Schrader is coming to the end of the month. He's coming to Richmond for a modified race there at Richmond Raceway here in Kentucky. So that would be exciting. That's awesome.
00:32:38
Speaker
get a good little sit down with him to be cool. That'd be awesome. I'm glad you mentioned Richmond because I have to ask you purely because it just came up in another conversation I had earlier today. Have you been to the Bucky's in Richmond? And if so, give us your view. That's usually because you know, it's on I-75, which is south of Richmond, which is where most of the dirt races are. So
00:33:02
Speaker
That's usually a stop when I'm heading down to Lake Cumberland. I head into Richmond. You got to take a little bit of a detour. But that Bucky's is amazing. That's the first Bucky's I've ever been to. So it's all I know. But it is always packed. That's the cool thing about it, I think. I've never been to a Bucky's. That's the closest one to anywhere I really get around unless work sends me to Texas, I think, then I would find a Bucky's around there. But it's definitely like a bucket list item. It's as ridiculous as that sounds. It's making a gas station, a bucket list item.
00:33:32
Speaker
I definitely want to go check it out. It's not your typical bus. I mean, gas station for sure. Now, you grew up in north central West Virginia. You went to college in Pennsylvania. Is an apples oranges comparison to compare Bucky's and Sheets? I think it is because Sheets is like a downscaled version. If Sheets wanted to do the big deal like Bucky's is doing, I think they could.
Unique Experiences: Visiting Bucky's
00:33:58
Speaker
And I will say, Sheets is like your mini alternative to that, you know? OK. Gotcha. Well, I'll definitely try to make a Bucky's trip at some point. We've gone a little off the rails here, but I think we're giving valuable information to race fans who are road tripping to races because there are many Bucky's along the road to NASCAR stops. So absolutely. So make sure you check out a Bucky's, not sponsored, but we would gladly take it if you wanted to, if you're listening.
00:34:26
Speaker
Let's get to our race picks since we're moving along here. In our actual picks last week, it looks like only one of us who got a top 10 was Dylan. He had a 4th place with William Byron. Steve had a 12th place finish from Joey Logano.
00:34:46
Speaker
Jake, an 18th from Martin Truex Jr., who had a disappointing race for Denny Hamlin, too, after he wrecked out leading the first 117 laps. The only saving grace for me for Denny was that he won the first two stages. That bailed me out a little bit on points, but still not a great showing.
00:35:06
Speaker
from him there. In the standings, Dylan, you have a commanding 100, 13-point lead over Steve. Then it's another 24 plus 11, so 35 points back to Jake. And then I am one point back of Jake. Struggles, struggle bust for me, continues my streak of, let's see, seven straight races without a top 10.
00:35:37
Speaker
Yes, since Martin Truex Jr. won for me out loud, and I have seven straight races without a top 10. Struggled less for me, but I'm hoping to rectify that this week by picking William Byron. OK, yeah, that's a good pick. And to do a little preview, which some people may not be listening to this podcast at the time, that's actually one of my first picks of the week for a little betting favorite. I have William Byron as my pick of the week this week.
00:36:06
Speaker
Fantastic 50 right now. It's Caesar Sportsbook Okay Jake has texted us and he would like to pick Denny Hamlin who I would have gone with had I not just picked Denny at Darlington and He won the spring race there. He did. I started the whole Larson deal cuz you know kind of pushed him out of the way Right and I am I am I only didn't do it I only didn't pick Denny because I'm principled and not picking the same driver back-to-back weeks. I
00:36:36
Speaker
Um, Steve owes us a pick, but he is tied up. So Dylan, go ahead with yours. Yeah. Well, uh, you took my William Byron. Um, so I'm kind of down between two other Toyota drivers, which both of which I think could, would be a surprise. One being Ty Gibbs and one being Bubba Wallace. Ty Gibbs, I think would be a huge surprise and a big upset out of the playoff drivers, but.
00:37:03
Speaker
that's kind of right on cue, considering Bub Wallace did exactly that last season. But I'm going to go with Bubba. Bubba's going to be my pick this week. Bub Wallace to win at Kansas. Repeat what he did last year. So that was my pick. All righty then. And that leaves. Ty Gibbs was very impressive in the spring and ran very well until he wrecked late in that race, finished 34th.
00:37:28
Speaker
Very true. Uh, at least plenty of good options for Steve, by the way. So, uh, no shortage of options there. I can't do this part also without mentioning that Ryan did pick Kyle Larson who won the race, uh, last week. So props to Ryan for getting the winner there. Right. Unlike me. Uh, in our random picks, uh, Dylan, you had a great day. You had Tyler Eddick in random finished second, of course. Uh, a ninth place finish from Ryan Blaney for Jake was second amongst us.
00:37:57
Speaker
Then a 10th place from Eric Jones and then I had the terrible luck of Michael McDowell finishing 32nd and getting only five points in random. My lead is still pretty healthy at 85 points. Still I have lost some track.
00:38:18
Speaker
Dylan your second with 615 Jake is only five points back of you So the the battle they're heating up and then Steve at 565 Because we were there some flux about not sure how or when we would be recording I've already done the random picks and sent it off to the guys But it goes as follows. I got Ryan Blaney this week Steve got Todd Gilliland Jake got
00:38:46
Speaker
Ryan priests bruised eyes and all and Dylan you got Ricky Stenhouse jr. Wow Well, Ricky also showed some speed at Kansas earlier in the year So I think he could run well potentially support some points for me I'm excited though
Anticipation for Kansas Races
00:39:04
Speaker
for Kansas. I really think it's gonna be an exciting weekend Hopefully NASCAR is able to have a good showing there with all that series, but especially the cup series
00:39:15
Speaker
They really need to after some some dud races both in terms of action and ratings the last few weeks of the summer. They need to get some good momentum going, especially with football picking up for sure. And Kansas is a great place for it. Absolutely.
00:39:32
Speaker
Do you have your weather forecast any for Kansas this weekend? Yeah, upper 70s. There's a chance of rain late Sunday night. But as long as everything goes according to plan, they should be good to go. A little cloudy potentially as well. So that's why I think it'll be interesting. It's going to be a lot cooler than earlier in the season, how the cars handle with that. I know they do really well on hot slick tracks. It's not going to be cold by any means.
00:39:59
Speaker
, and
00:40:19
Speaker
There we go. There's the shameless plug for our own Dylan Gooday. Well, I think there's plenty. It's going to be plenty of good action there at Kansas, even if the the Cup series doesn't react great to the weather. The Xfinity series and the trucks always put on a good show there. So it'll be exciting to see. And and it's definitely going to be a multi screening affair with with on Sunday with NFL picking up the Cup series race on Sunday.
00:40:48
Speaker
US Open men's final here in New York on Sunday afternoon as well So you're gonna have all the screens going or need to have all the screens going at least I will for sure To keep up with everything going on Anything else you want to add here Dylan before we wrap this one up. Nope. Um, I'll just Be it if if there is a surprise I know Kyle Petty said in the broadcast that he doesn't think there's gonna be a surprise non playoff winner the entire playoffs which was I think was a bold statement considering what happened last year and
00:41:18
Speaker
But could Ty Gibbs get his first win? Or could somebody like a Daniel Suarez run well? We'll see. Chase Elliott, it's not in the playoffs. Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, yes. So there are a lot of big names that could potentially spoil someone's win and get in playoff hopes. But also, a name we didn't mention much. Ross Chastain did have a good race there, Darlington, a clean race. So could he get a little bit of momentum? He needs it desperately.
00:41:48
Speaker
So ironic that he had a good race at Darlington. That's the track after which he had the talking to and it seemed to change his season. Yeah. And I thought he was going to actually be contender for the win there at the end. He had some really good speed late in the race. So it'll be interesting to see if that carries over to this week.
Closing Remarks and Teaser
00:42:10
Speaker
Well, thank you all so much for listening to Cloudy with a Chance of Racing. A big thank you for your subscriptions, your likes, your follows on social media, all that. We very much appreciate it. If you're not already subscribed, be sure to click that button on your favorite podcasting platform.
00:42:26
Speaker
Leave us a review or rating and also follow us on social media. We're on Instagram threads and X slash Twitter at a at cloudy racing pod. We very much appreciate all of you for interacting with us there. And we'll be back next week.
00:42:42
Speaker
I think Steve is working on a big guest for you next week, and if we get that on lockdown, we'll be sure to tease that for you on the socials leading up to next week's show. So for Dylan, I'm Braxton. Thank you so much for listening to Cloud with a Chance of Racing. We'll be back with you after the Kansas weekend. Have a good one.