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Ep. 35: Vegas Win Caps High Limit Week for Larson
14 Plays1 year ago
Steve, Jake, and Braxton are in this week to break down the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including a first career win for hometown driver Riley Herbst, and the successful end of a jam-packed week for Kyle Larson. The guys also discuss Sheldon Creed's announced departure from RCR in the Xfinity Series, James Small's bad gamble for Martin Truex Jr., and what Christopher Bell could have done with just one more lap on Sunday.
The guys then share their Pop Up Showers from around the world of motorsports this week, react to the results of their real and random race picks from Vegas, and get excited about the tight race to the end of the seasons in the race pick standings. Plus picks for Homestead and looking ahead to perhaps the most fun track on the NASCAR schedule.
If you like Cloudy With a Chance of Racing, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, leave a review, and tell a friend about the show! You can also follow along on social media @CloudyRacingPod.
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Transcript
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Highlights
00:00:15
Speaker
Cloudy with a Chance of Racing episode 35 coming to you tonight. Braxton Crisp, Steve Binko, Jake Flatley here with you after the Cup Series went out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Cup and Xfinity Series went out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend and
00:00:33
Speaker
two drivers found themselves locked into the 2024 or excuse me 2023 playoff finals for the cup and Xfinity series actually
00:00:48
Speaker
I take that back. I thought Riley Herbst. Riley Herbst had a pretty good season. I thought he was in the playoffs for a second. He is not in the playoffs. He did not lock himself in. Kyle Larson did lock himself in on the Cubs series. It's been a long day of travel for me. So I apologize for that error. But Steve, Jake, how about the action at Las Vegas this weekend?
00:01:07
Speaker
I was pretty satisfied with the racing overall. I think the spring race was better. I don't want to say that this was a down Vegas race with the next gen car, but overall I thought it was pretty good. I was listening to
Was the Las Vegas Race Exciting?
00:01:24
Speaker
Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck's podcast, The Tear Down. They kind of got into a discussion about, I don't know if you guys have listened to this, but they kind of got into a discussion about whether this was good and an exciting race and a good race. I thought it was good. I didn't think it was great. I thought that there was a decent amount of action and some cautions that made it interesting, but
00:01:52
Speaker
As far as the cup goes, I mean, there was a lot of.
00:01:56
Speaker
There was a lot of opportunities to pass for a lot of drivers. And then some drivers who you thought would be good were not.
Bubba Wallace's Qualifying Struggles
00:02:02
Speaker
And I definitely thought after qualifying, Bubba had a really good shot. And then it seems like the last few weeks, they haven't been able to put it together. And so overall, it was a good weekend. Great for Riley Herbst, who pretty much dominated. But I didn't think that there was any issues with it. But it definitely was.
00:02:22
Speaker
On the lesser side of those intermediate tracks that we've seen with this car Yeah, I'm with you Steve on it, you know it being good great and I did prefer the spring you know, these are the types of tracks with the next gen that Really consistently delivered as far as good racing entertaining But there was some things throughout in the cup series that did you know
00:02:51
Speaker
kind of keep you on the edge of your seat. Some issues for guys that were running pretty well. You had Eric Jones and his tire. Alex Bowman, I really thought going in to this weekend, you know, it was pointing towards a top 10. He had a disappointing end there.
00:03:17
Speaker
But like we see kind of year after year, I feel like in the Cup Series, you know, when it gets to this eight in this round, it's normally, I mean, these eight playoff drivers all are right in the top 10. They're, you know, normally, you know, they're always up front. You see that with the, we've seen consistently with the championship four when
00:03:43
Speaker
We get there that normally those four drivers are way up front in the top five. So everyone's kind of rising to the top right now.
Riley Herbst Dominates Xfinity Series
00:03:53
Speaker
In the Xfinity series, it's certainly a different kind of race in terms of the Xfinity series. When you look at it from a stats wise on nascar.com, they stated that it was the most significant margin of victory in the series all season.
00:04:12
Speaker
And seven seconds better than the previous best margin of victory for an Xfinity race at Vegas, which was 8.4 seconds in 2002. So Riley really, really did very well. So it was a little different for the Xfinity series to see something like that at the end.
00:04:32
Speaker
Yes, certainly. And the Xfinity series has consistently produced close racing throughout the season and for the last several years. So to see a margin of victory, nearly 15 seconds is quite the quite a wide margin of victory. And especially for the guy like Riley Herbst, who I think has shown speed throughout the entire season and gotten better and better. I think it's
00:05:02
Speaker
uh... especially now he's won a race but even before this past weekend you could easily say this is riley harps better the best season of his career to this point and uh... and so it's uh... definitely good to see him get that uh... get the win but i don't think anybody saw it coming in the manner that it came it was a complete domination uh... and i don't think it's necessarily had bad results himself there have been sometimes he's made mistakes but
00:05:30
Speaker
I think it's just been Murphy's Law with that team a lot of times this year. They just couldn't get out of their way to some extent and that was certainly frustrating for them. So good to see them get the win. Also, I think it was kind of an interesting
00:05:46
Speaker
Um, kind of role reversal and that usually the Xfinity series puts on, you know, the most exciting racing, but the, the closing laps of the cup series race, I think far Trump, the Xfinity race, uh, with, with Christopher Bell tracking down Kyle Larson and, uh, and making a race out of it on the last
Strategic Challenges at Las Vegas
00:06:05
Speaker
lap.
00:06:05
Speaker
for sure and a very, very exciting finish. Although I will say it was frustrating me to an extent kind of midway through a run, especially in the second and third stages where a driver could be right up behind the car ahead of them. And like going into turn one, for example, the lead car, all they had to do was basically run the middle.
00:06:33
Speaker
dare the guy behind them to run the bottom through the bumps or Take the long way around and there was if you didn't have a a Much better like if you're if your car wasn't significantly better than the car in front of you, you just couldn't pass And that was that was frustrating to me to see that because I think forget who Larson was battling against but there's somebody in the middle part of the race and
00:06:58
Speaker
that he got under might have been keselowski he got underneath keselowski multiple times in term one and two and just couldn't complete the pass because you couldn't you couldn't hold it wide open through the bumps uh... because i was gonna hold it open it's just that's not really racing to me you know if you if you can pull up beside somebody and then just stall out that's that was frustrating but exciting to see that uh... there was a competitive finish at the end for sure
00:07:24
Speaker
Uh, there wasn't much in the way of news that came out last week that I can recall it. Did you guys, uh, uh, hear anything on the, on the news front we should hit before we get into the races themselves? Nope. Nothing really that have note. I don't think.
00:07:43
Speaker
I will say that the Kyle Larson did do his he had a busy week. We should make note of that He won the high-limit sprint car series championship at Lincoln Park Speedway in Indiana on Tuesday night and then on Thursday afternoon or Thursday morning and afternoon and
00:08:00
Speaker
He spent the day also in Indiana at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and completed his Indianapolis 500 Ricky orientation program, which he did pass.
Kyle Larson's Indianapolis 500 Preparation
00:08:10
Speaker
So he is confirmed. He is eligible to be in the Indianapolis 500 next May. That's a significant hurdle for him to cross. And his, his comments after the test were interesting in that he felt like he, it was hard to hold back. Like the speed came easy to him. And, uh, and I'm excited to see what he's able to do.
00:08:30
Speaker
with other cars out on the track and how he's able to get through qualifying because that's a whole different beast. I think in his ROP, they asked him to complete 15 laps, something like that above 215 miles an hour average speed was the top threshold you had to meet before you can go into the month of May.
00:08:53
Speaker
You look at the qualifying speeds from earlier this year, and they were another 15, 16 miles an hour faster than that. It doesn't sound like much, but when you're going 230 miles an hour, that's a lot faster. So I'm curious to see how he reacts to the speed coming in.
00:09:12
Speaker
He's never really been somebody who can't adapt quickly to the car he's in. I mean, I think there's something to be said for a lot of these guys who will jump in a sprint car, a late model, or something on a weekday, on a Thursday night, or even a Saturday night, and then get into a cup car on Sunday afternoon.
00:09:35
Speaker
finish well. So it's one thing to be able to do it with little to no success or just because you enjoy it. But Larson, any vehicle he gets in is a threat to win the race that he's in. So I'm not really surprised by it. I mean, I know IndyCar is a completely different animal. Those speeds that they're getting up to are stuff that he probably hasn't seen before. You got to think like in a cup car,
00:10:03
Speaker
even when he was in with the the previous generation car that they were probably touching to five, maybe more. You won't see speeds like that really anymore at the big tracks. But, you know, this is two hundred and thirty two, two hundred and thirty three miles per hour consistently. You know, so that's average average speed.
00:10:25
Speaker
That includes the corners. Right. So I know that IMS is a different track too for that because there's a lot of long straightaways. The corners aren't very big. So you can get up to a lot of speed and take that speed into the corner and then move it through the front and the back stretch. So I think there is also something to be said for the fact that those cars are obviously better equipped to handle those speeds.
00:10:49
Speaker
But it's dangerous racing. Open wheel is scary. One small issue. And you saw last year in the Indy 500 where a tire flies into the parking lot and damages a car. But if there's anybody who can do it, it's him. So I have full faith that he's going to be able to not only do well, but have a chance to win. I think so too. I'm really looking forward to it.
00:11:18
Speaker
I mean, everyone knows that full is auto racing, um, just a talent that Kyle Larson has in his willingness to, to race whatever has wheels pretty much. So I think, um, I don't suspect him having issues. I mean, it is an adjustment. Like Steve was saying, uh, it's just different than, you know, cup series cars or, you know, sprint cars. It's, but.
00:11:43
Speaker
You know, uh, if there was anyone, I guess in the NASCAR field that I would trust to do that right now, as far as the current drivers, it would be Kyle. What more do you think he has to do? And I guess kind of two part question. What more do you think he has to do slash what kind of ND 500 result would kind of put to rest some of the debate on, you know, on Kyle Larson being the most talented race car driver on the planet right now?
00:12:13
Speaker
Well, he's proven he's done it in stock cars. He's proven he's done it in dirt open wheel cars. Now he's testing this feet into asphalt open wheel cars. I think the only thing left to check off there would be if he got into a sports car and ran.
00:12:28
Speaker
competitively at the Rolex 24 or something like that. That's what I was going to bring up. I think with those, it's also codependent on your team and your car. You have less control at a place like the Rolex 24 or the 24 hours of Le Mans than you do with an Indy car or a Sprint car or something along those lines. Any open wheel car, point being that
00:12:54
Speaker
Nobody's ever won both, the double duty with the Indy 500 and the Coke 600. I think the best was what? Tony Stewart? Yeah, Tony Stewart had a top 10 in both one year. Yeah. It's hard to say, first of all,
00:13:14
Speaker
at least in American Motorsports, there aren't drivers that you can look at that like a casual viewer can look at and say, Well, yeah, it's it's it's either Kyle Larson or so and so like there's nobody in the cup series right now who competes at the level
00:13:30
Speaker
that he does in different, you know, areas
Kyle Larson's Racing Versatility
00:13:33
Speaker
of racing. So I don't think that there's really anything he has to do. Um, you're not going to see anybody, you're not going to see like hype around anybody else who would jump into, you know, Indy car and kind of see if they can win. Cause like, I don't think that if he didn't think he could win, there's no way that he would be just doing it to have fun. You know what I mean?
00:13:54
Speaker
Yeah, certainly. I think that just because, I mean, I think he's already kind of solidified himself as far as in America. It's interesting going kind of international with this, a debate like this, you know, the best auto racers in the world. But I expect and I think, you know, he would too, to be competitive. I mean,
00:14:22
Speaker
for the win. We've seen in the Cup Series, we saw someone this season jump in the car for the first time and win a race. Obviously, much different circumstances as Indy 500s is the Indy 500 and the other IndyCar drivers have a lot of experience there in racing.
00:14:48
Speaker
Nothing would really surprise me, but I don't think any result would really draw them back as far as being categorized as one of the best, if not the best driver in the country.
00:15:07
Speaker
A major talking point I think throughout the entire first half of of the 2024 racing season and some Xfinity series news Worth noting that Sheldon Creed announced last week. He will not be returning to RCR in 2024 It sounds like he has other plans and is not quite yet ready to announce them and
00:15:33
Speaker
Riley Hurst, coincidentally, just a couple of days before he won that first career race had announced that he will be back in the Xfinity series in the 98 car for Stewart Haas racing in 2024. I'm curious about where Sheldon would go. And also curious about who might slot into that two car or if RCR decides to cut back to just one entry.
00:16:03
Speaker
I mean, the RCR has gone back and forth many times in the last 10, 15 years on the number of XFINITY entries they have.
00:16:11
Speaker
I think Sheldon Creed actually had a pretty decent season with the two. He didn't win any races or anything, but he had a solid amount of, especially in the back half. The last 10 races or so, he's been consistent top 15, but a lot of top five. So I don't really know. It's kind of weird right now. Chevy is doing pretty good as far as talent level goes. They've taken a few drivers from Ford just as a manufacturer in general.
00:16:41
Speaker
um and haven't relinquished that many people although you could say that they've kind of relinquished an entire team with in the cup uh at least and lost uh gms so um i don't know i mean i don't i mean i i made a joke about this before but you know it shelled and carried out and then tied ill into the uh
00:17:02
Speaker
to it. But I don't think that that would happen. Although, you know, he seems to find a lot of rides. And I think, you know, there's a reason why. But truthfully, I don't know. I mean,
00:17:14
Speaker
I don't know why Richard Childress himself would want more than one car in the Xfinity series. I mean, to me, I don't I don't know. I just I don't see that there being a driver that fills it that is like a surprise to anybody. Maybe if if there's
00:17:38
Speaker
This kind of came as a surprise, didn't it? I mean, it certainly wasn't something I was expecting. And it wouldn't surprise me really to just see, you know, RCR just go to one vehicle in the Xfinity series. You know, there are the rumblings with Ty Dillon. It was last week's show, I believe.
00:18:05
Speaker
last week when Ty announced, you know, he was out at Spire. So there's still some, uh, there's, there's a few steps left to really make the, um, the 2024 rides complete in both series. And I think some dominoes, you know, are falling a little bit and there could be some connections, but we'll just have to wait and see. But as far as the number two goes for RCR, um,
00:18:32
Speaker
I just don't see, I mean, Creed, Creed was pretty solid. Uh, and I really don't know where, where this will go, but you could lean, you know, maybe they just cut this car off. Does Raja Karuth have a team next year? I was literally about to say, I don't think I've heard anything announced for him next year. And he is firmly in the Chevy pipeline, I believe.
00:18:57
Speaker
And also, uh, has made several Xfinity series starts this year for, uh, alpha prime racing and Hendrick. Well, not several, but a couple, he is going to be, uh, in the Hendrick car, uh, at Phoenix, I believe maybe homestead in Phoenix, but I know for sure. Phoenix.
00:19:14
Speaker
That would make the most sense for me. He's in the Chevy pipeline. He's shown a lot of speed. I think that he, out of anybody in the Xfinity or truck series, has gotten the most unlucky that I've seen this season. Some of it's self-inflicted, but a lot of it I think just bad, wrong place, wrong time. But I would like to see him there, especially with good equipment. I think that he can really make it interesting. Just taking a quick gander at the
00:19:44
Speaker
the Xfinity series entry list for Homestead. No Raja Karuth that I can see. It looks like it will be Jeffrey Earnhardt in the 44, Leland Honeyman in the 45. Those are the two cars that are the team Alpha Prime that Raja has driven for in the Xfinity series this year. Quick note while looking at this, we'll get the number 88 car back in the folded Homestead with Dale Jr. behind the wheel.
00:20:14
Speaker
I think I heard him say on the broadcast over the weekend that it is the same chassis that he wrote, raced at, uh, at Bristol. And they, uh, they think they have the electrical gremlin fixed and hopefully I know more fire at his pant legs. Well, I certainly hope so. Right. Uh, so let's get to the, the racing action we touched on a little bit, but Riley herbs did get his first career win in the Xfinity series at Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.
Xfinity Race Reaction: A Snooze Fest
00:20:42
Speaker
That was a dominant win. I wasn't I don't say I couldn't get in the XFINITY race very much. It was it didn't do a whole ton for me.
00:20:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I was just going to say I thought it was a snooze fest. So I really like I watched it, but I didn't. You know, it was it was fine. I mean, I like I've said we said we touched on this a little bit that the cup race was better, I think. But outside of the I don't know how many how long did it take for Herbst in the final stage to get out to that 15 second lead by that time I was just completely checked out. I mean, Nima checks been on a heater lately.
00:21:20
Speaker
I mean, you could have seen him coming into this race and winning it. And, you know, it was basically just Ford, Toyota, Ford, and then, you know, a whole host of Chevys that behind him. So
00:21:36
Speaker
It was fine. Good for Herbst, who's one of the few drivers left in the Ford this year, just in the Ford pipeline in general. But then again, Nemechek is going to be in a different area next year. And Custer, I guess, we'll see. But overall, this race was fine. I mean, there wasn't anything special about it. But it was kind of cool to see a dominating win like that. Yeah, certainly. And especially like we've mentioned,
00:22:05
Speaker
with Bradley Herps not even in the playoffs right now in the round of eight. It was surprising and really for the first time, you know, one of the first times that I can remember all season, we all kind of agree that, you know, the cup series is probably more on the entertaining side this weekend, a little bit better of a race, which is a shocker, but you look at
00:22:30
Speaker
Uh, the results and now, uh, from this race in now the current playoff standings, there's a little more separation, um, in the cut line for the XFINITY series, then the cup series, um, with, you know, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Allgaier and John Hardin, Nemechek all being well above the bubble. Um, so the, some of these guys below the bubble really, you know, honestly, we'll need to win here.
00:23:00
Speaker
But there's a little more separation in the Xfinity series than the Cup series because we've kind of seen all season, you know, those big four, the four that are above the line, just continue to, you know, turn out these results. You know, John Hunter and Evencheck, for what it was worth, he didn't lead a lap. But he finished second. And I think that says something about, and he started 38th, it says something about,
00:23:27
Speaker
you know, the season he's put together to do that. And Cole Custer right behind him, you know, he led the second most laps on Saturday, finishing third. He's putting together a really strong season, honestly. And I got to give hats off to him.
00:23:47
Speaker
for just, you know, you don't really know. And it's like John Hunter Nemechek, when you go move down from the cup series to the Xfinity series, how some of these drivers might respond. But both of those two are doing fairly well. But I would have, I would have liked to seen a little bit better of a race, but in the Xfinity side, but Riley Herbst winning and, you know, being a hometown kid was, was pretty fun. And he was emotional.
00:24:15
Speaker
Um, uh, you know, after taking the checkered flag. So that was cool to see. Yeah. I'd have to go back and do a lot, some research, but, um, I can't remember at all. The last time an XFINITY series race went green flag for the entire, entire final stage. Um, stage cluke stage two conclusion, uh, was last 92 to 96 was the caution flag.
00:24:43
Speaker
Cole Custer led on the restart for, uh, seven laps. Then Riley Herbst took over the lead at 140 or 105. Surrender the lead for one lap in a cycle of, of pit stops and then led the rest of the way. Just a dominant win there by, uh, by Herbst and honestly, you honestly say the most dominant performance of the season by Stuart Haas racing collectively, uh, a very good showing for them.
00:25:13
Speaker
Uh, I must say the one thing that caught my eye, actually a couple of things that caught my eye. So I can't remember the last time in a NASCAR race seeing two engines expire the way that, uh, the Patrick Emerling and Anthony Alfredo had, uh, no, as an Alfredo was, uh, Casagrada, excuse me, had, uh, had engines blow up and, and cause some havoc, especially in the case of, uh, uh, of Casagrada took out
00:25:41
Speaker
Uh, a couple of drivers that were right there behind him and ended up in the oil, but also, uh, the other thing that caught my eye and, and I really good, good to see a good run for lane rigs. The, uh, son of former NASCAR driver, Scott rigs has been tearing up the late model stocks, getting the opportunity.
00:25:59
Speaker
to run the 11 car in the, uh, his colleague racing stable for a couple of races and, and getting a top 10 out of his, just the second race in that car and a very good showing there. And, uh, and that, that car has been fast all year. Uh, earlier in the year, the, the 11 was driven by Daniel Hamrick, but of course the, with the playoffs happening, that car was in owners' playoffs, but not in the driver's playoffs. They elected to put Hamrick as the.
00:26:26
Speaker
I'm sorry, the 10 car was in the owner's playoffs, not the 11 car. They moved Hemric to the 10 car so he could be a consistent focus on the owner's playoffs and let the 11 car be the all-star car for the playoffs. But in that all-star car, whatever number it's been, they've had good runs from Kyle Busch.
00:26:48
Speaker
You know a couple of the drivers have been in there and even young guys like Derek Kraus who's gonna be in the car this week at homestead Made it a good note showing for himself earlier in the year. So Good to see that car giving opportunities to young drivers to show show a good performance and help guys make a name for themselves Moving to the cup side it was a a more interesting race for sure than the Xfinity series race and
00:27:16
Speaker
And I outlined it earlier that it was There was some stuff for some frustration with passing but passing was still a little easier Than at some other places for sure It is a and being a very close finish between Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell. I
00:27:34
Speaker
What did you guys see in the cup race that you guys thought was a difference maker? Because aside from a handful of drivers who had exceptional cars and could really drive through the field, I didn't see it. There was a whole ton of true passing going on, unless your car was exceptionally good. You were making passes or your car was exceptionally bad and you were getting past kind of like when Truex tried that strategy call at the end of the first stage.
00:28:03
Speaker
Well, I think mostly what I saw was kind of similar to if you had speed in qualifying, you had speed early on during the race. But I don't know what it was that some of these cars just fell off so hard. If you nailed the setup, then like, and I mean like if your team nailed the setup and made necessary adjustments, then I think obviously a lot of the time
00:28:31
Speaker
that puts you in a good position to win. But a team like with with at least with Toyota, you know, you had
00:28:40
Speaker
Bubba and 7th and Reddick and 8th. And Bubba, it seemed like he struggled for most of that race. It seemed like limped that car to, I think he was in the top 15 somewhere. He finished 13th. Yeah. If you nailed it, you nailed it. If you didn't, it was going to be really, really hard. For instance, Truex seemed like he was really, really fast.
00:29:07
Speaker
And then there were some decisions that were made. And that team kind of had to play catch up the entire rest of the day and still ended up with a top 10 finish. I don't know how, because it seems like that team has been so underwhelming. There am I using underwhelming again?
00:29:27
Speaker
team has been struggling and still staying alive in the playoffs. So even with Blaney and Byron, those are two drivers who I thought were...
00:29:45
Speaker
going to be in a position to potentially win. Byron specifically never really saw him or felt as though that he was going to really take control of the race and win. So like I said before, if your team really nailed the setup and your car was fast, then you are going to be fine. But like Keselowski is another situation where he looked like he was in a position potentially to win and just ended up not being able to.
00:30:16
Speaker
I was very interested to see what I would have been interested to see if there was one more lap left who would have won between Bell and Larson. That was such a good finish to the race and you know you see a lot of those types of you know being able to
00:30:38
Speaker
Hunt somebody down in closing laps of the race and and make for a good finish at these mile and a half tracks. So
00:30:46
Speaker
Overall though, I mean, you know, again, like Denny, you thought could have had a potential to win this race. He's won it before finished in the top 10, but you know, now top 10 are not good. You know, you need a top one or two or three. Uh, so just kind of a strange race. People who I thought were a factor, we're in a factor and then Kyle Larson one. So it's like history repeats itself. Yeah, it always seems like, um,
00:31:14
Speaker
you know, the Kyle Larson's of the world and William Byron's really, there's a lot, you know, drivers going up and down on the leaderboard. And then at the end, it's, it seems to always be, you know, Kyle Larson and we've seen William Byron, you know, I guess, quote unquote, steal a few wins. But, you know, Kyle Larson yesterday is really just,
00:31:40
Speaker
It's, it's another win in a really consistent season. I, I believe in well-deserved, uh, ticket to the championship for, you know, um, some other runs that I thought were interesting to know just how, uh, well, you know, Brad keselowski was, um, considering he was much better. Uh, I thought then his teammate who is in the round of eight, um, you think that, you know,
00:32:08
Speaker
It could be reversed to where Chris Busher unloads a little bit better and performs better. But Brad will take a top five any day of the week. A guy like Ross Chastain unloaded well. It just seems like after that Nashville win in the second half of the season, hasn't really been the same. It was nice to see him up there again.
00:32:39
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I didn't, uh, looking down, you know, through the complete results or warrant really too many shockers other than, you know, there were, there were the incidents. Um, and then I'm sure we'll get to it
Playoff Dynamics and Dominance
00:32:56
Speaker
here in a second. Um, the situation with Ryan Balini, um, who is now, um, what a roller coaster of emotions for that him and that team.
00:33:07
Speaker
with the, you know, disqualification and now the pullback. But there weren't too many surprises really to me. And like I mentioned before earlier in the show, it always happens like this to where, I mean, these in, especially in the round of eight, I feel like these eight drivers normally dominate the top 10, if not the, I mean, top eight of the leaderboard in these three races.
00:33:38
Speaker
Yeah, you're right, Jake. It was good to see Ross Chastain have a better showing. I was looking at his results, and in the playoffs, so since Darlington, he has had one, two, three top fives now. He's gone top five at Darlington, then two races not. Top five at Fort Worth, or at Texas, finished second there.
00:34:06
Speaker
Then two races outside the top 10 or top five, top five, and then top five at Vegas. So in theory, he should not have a great runs or as good of runs at Homestead and Martinsville and then maybe have a good Phoenix. Uh, so that those are three of his nine top fives on the season. You go back before Darlington. He didn't have a top five between Darlington and his win at Nashville.
00:34:35
Speaker
Even even then before Nashville, his prior top, his most recent prior top five was at Kansas in the spring. So, uh, Ross Chastain, not the world beater that, uh, are, uh, you know, front runner all the time that maybe he was expected to be after the week he finished last year, but certainly has been running better, uh, than he was through the middle part of the season, the meat of the season for sure.
00:35:04
Speaker
You're right. Steve too. It was a William Byron had what seemed like a fast car early on. And then, um, I don't know if they just fell behind on adjustments or what, but he was one that I thought would definitely run better than he did. Uh, especially given the way that, uh, that Kyle Larson was running. And I think Alex Bowman had a pretty decent run going, right? When he crashed, he was 12, 13 somewhere in that neighborhood, right? Uh, maybe even top 10, uh, man, like
00:35:34
Speaker
I know he had the, the, the lagging back penalty chase Elliott did, but chase wasn't even in the conversation before that. I just don't get how, how he can.
00:35:46
Speaker
have weeks that he is that off. It's really weird because last year when I was at the spring race for Vegas, Chase couldn't, that whole team couldn't do anything. And this year obviously wasn't at Vegas because that was the first race after he broke his leg. But he's usually a pretty decent,
00:36:13
Speaker
I think he out drives his equipment at some of these tracks. The setup is never, I think, all that good at Vegas for the nine team. And I think it's always really good for the 48. So when you see the whole penalty that Chase got, I was just like, this is speaking. You brought up Murphy's Law before. Everything that could happen to the nine team, it seems like this year,
00:36:41
Speaker
bad is happening. So I don't really know like what to think about Chase or Alan or really kind of anybody there. But I think kind of one of the bigger stories here is that Chase has been very, very good when he is
00:36:57
Speaker
Like this is going to sound bad, but like when he's in the conversation, he is one of the top drivers in the race when they nail the setup and have a good qualifying practice and qualifying. But it isn't the same for Bowman. And Chase has been a factor in more races than Bowman has this year. And it's probably really, really hard for Bowman to say like, oh, this is a track that I've won at before and then go and then kind of be retired early. So
00:37:25
Speaker
Um, it's, it's gotta be really tough for, uh, the 48 team more so, I think than the nine team. Yeah. You look at, um, the way, speaking of Alex Bowman, I mean, um, and shout out to our guy, Ryan for my fantasy race. Uh, when I, I play some daily fantasy and, uh, it seems like every week.
00:37:50
Speaker
Bowman and Elliott and I'd have to go back and look they kind of under qualify and expressly, you know Elliott had some issues So he was starting in the back He was a heavy play Bowman, you know started in the middle of the pack there, but I
00:38:06
Speaker
A lot of people, we've consistently been, okay, this is the race. We're going to see Alex Bowman. Granted, he had an issue here, but in the top 10, this is the track. Elliot, this is the track where he can take the checkered flag and just consistently in the second half of the season, not been that way. I know they've both been pretty popular plays on a fantasy perspective because of that. In the place differential, these guys could be gaining, but
00:38:37
Speaker
It's wild to talk about Elliott and Bowman as a seasoned perspective and think about their other two teammates who are a 180 this year, Byron and Larson, arguably the two title favorites on the same exact team. They haven't ran in
00:38:58
Speaker
to the issues that Bowman and Elliott have ran into with injury wise and some off off the track stuff this season, but. Just you couldn't you couldn't have polar opposite seasons going on for a team in the Cup series right now, honestly, split between the four drivers.
Ryan Blaney's Disqualification Reversal
00:39:22
Speaker
A
00:39:24
Speaker
Exciting race at Homestead coming up, but before we get to that we have to get to the kind of elephant in the room with the the post race inspection Violation that wasn't a violation by by Ryan Blaney So an inspection yesterday, of course in the playoffs all the remaining eligible playoff cars go through the same inspection that the winner goes through just to make sure that
00:39:52
Speaker
there on the up and up as the playoffs progress. So in that inspection yesterday, NASCAR found that the left front shock for Ryan Blaney was too short. Its its minimum extension was too short and thus deemed illegal. And so they went through this whole thing and said Ryan Blaney is as qualified. He gets no points from his stage points. It had huge ramifications on
00:40:21
Speaker
the playoffs standings. And then it came out just a few hours before we were recording this and said, just kidding, we're going to reinstate Ryan Blaney's finish and all of his earned points, because there was an issue with the fixture or or whatever template that they use to measure this minimum shock length at the track and and said, OK, we can't penalize him based on a
00:40:50
Speaker
error with the template so so all the points go back so going back and forth and and finally we have I think finalized results Ryan Blaney does finish sixth gains 39 points and ironically as we're recording this the NASCAR website standings are incorrect they show the bubble correct I believe but
00:41:19
Speaker
No, they don't want to show the bubble crack. They don't even have Larson listed as the winner yet. Um, on the NASCAR website, which I think is funny. He's 10 point. He finished as, cause what was his, he finished what yesterday? Six six. And, uh, so he's 10 points out of the, so he's, yeah, no, so that's not right. Yeah, no. So I actually, I, I'm looking at J ski's website website right now.
00:41:45
Speaker
And they have what I believe to be the accurate point. So they have Kyle Larson in with a win. Uh, William Byron plus 91 ahead of fifth. That can't be right. He is plus nine ahead of fifth. That was a typo on JSC. So it's like plus nine ahead of fifth. Denny Hamlin's plus two Martin Shrucks Jr. Plus two William Byron minus two Tyler Reddick minus 16 Ryan Blaney minus 17.
00:42:15
Speaker
Chris Busher minus 23. That I believe is an accurate representation of where we stand in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs headed to Homestead Miami Speedway, where really any of the remaining seven drivers that aren't locked in have, I think, an excellent shot at getting in.
Anticipation for Homestead Race
00:42:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And I, you know, I know that we'll we'll get to our we'll get to the pop up showers before we get to the predictions. But I'm this is this is certainly going to be a I think that this is going to be one of the more I guess I'll say it. I think this is going to be one of the best races of the next gen.
00:42:57
Speaker
series this coming weekend at Homestead. Man, I hope so. I'm feeling like it has to be because you're going to see a lot of different things happening for starters. You're going to see
00:43:14
Speaker
You're probably not going to see as much Larson gambling. He's already punched his ticket. People like Bell and Reddick and Blaney are going to be really super hungry. And then there's always somebody who's a good mile and a half track guy who can play spoiler to one of the potential drivers for a win. So I'm very excited for this.
00:43:39
Speaker
I am too. I think of it in the playoffs with Martinsville looming, thinking that Miami is one where any of these eight can really win. I'll be at the Martinsville race, but I unfortunately, with what we've seen from the short tracks, I don't know. It'll be hard if a couple of guys get up front and are running well.
00:44:07
Speaker
I think it'll be really tough. We'll know early in Martinsville pretty much who were a couple of the favorites to win, but Miami, I think, is a roll of the dice. Looking at the points, a guy like Tyler Reddick, who we know how he likes to run and it fits well at a track like Miami, and he's down on the points he could
00:44:32
Speaker
Steve Lewin and this is probably his best shot other, you know, more than Martinsville, um, you know, to try to get to that championship four, uh, you know, so, and I'm, I'm really looking forward to it. And I hope, you know, Steve is right on the money. I just feel like as the cup series wise, um, they need, need some drama here. I mean,
00:44:58
Speaker
Uh, I'm not saying a playoffs, you know, has been stale, boring by any means, but it just, they need something, uh, creates more storylines headed into the championship four. Um, so I'm, I'm hoping and, and, you know, if the race is really good here in Miami, it, it, it gives us, uh, some more talking points and more lobbying to try to get Miami back to the championship race, which will be really fun for the next year.
00:45:28
Speaker
or get the championship race at a mile and a half of some sort. Right. Um, I think to Steve's point, if homestead isn't a, a home run race, it's not a great race. Then hell will be raised because one, like it's been well established that the next gen car races the best at the mile and a half. And we all know that homestead is one of the most exciting tracks on the NASCAR circuit period.
00:45:57
Speaker
And it's a mile and a half. So if you screw up Homestead, then you've got a major problem. So I think it's got to deliver or people are going to rightfully raise hell. And I'll certainly be near the front of the line on that. And I also noticed, Steve, you said something about Kyle Larson not taking risks. I think Kyle Larson has the chance to have the most fun of any driver in the in the entire series this week. He has no pressure on him.
00:46:27
Speaker
He can just go out and run the boards for 267 straight laps. Oh, he's going to be. If there's anybody who's ever sent it before, it's going to be him. He is going to be like, man, the homestead, I think, is the most fun.
00:46:44
Speaker
I think I remember, I think it was Bubba Wallace who was saying this in an interview one time where he said that Homestead is every driver's favorite track. And it's because you can do more at that track than any other track on the on the circuit. And you can run so many different you can write different lines, you can go high or low, you know, there are times when, you know, like Reddit will will be ripping boards and it's not really working for him. But, you know, there will be one or two adjustments that are made and, you know,
00:47:14
Speaker
other drivers are doing it and it starts to get better and then everyone follows suit. And then that becomes the premier line. So I just, uh, you know, I think that we need, this is like our, like that was a, it's like a last week was like, Oh, okay. It was fine. And this week is going to be like, all right, here we go. Let's get back to some good, uh, mile and a half track racing. Yeah. I like what Jake said too about, you know, home says really the last opportunity for teams, especially drivers.
Homestead: A Driver's Last Stand?
00:47:42
Speaker
to kind of control their own fate because the way the short track package has been, you know, it's not really much in the driver's hands, isn't it? It's in the teams and the crew chief's hands at both, uh, my, uh, both Martinsville and Phoenix. So, uh, yeah, this could be the last like driver is probably the last driver's race of the season, which sucks to say, but that's the hand we've been dealt, right? Yeah. Unfortunately.
00:48:09
Speaker
Let's get to some pop-up showers real quick before we get to our picks and talk more about Homestead. Well, while we're looking that up real quick, if you're compiling your pop-up shower, I just saw a notification from Jasky a few hours ago that Jake Garcia announces he will not be back with McAnally-Hilgeman racing in 2024, the 35 truck, which makes sense. I didn't think McAnally was going to go to
00:48:38
Speaker
a three chuck operation with the announcement that uh, that Daniel Dye would be over there in 2024. Uh, and, and it certainly, uh, you know, that felt a fruition. So I think it's kind of funny. So two weeks ago, I accidentally completely forgot about Jake Garcia. Uh, I remember Jake Garcia last week. And, uh, after having been at the McEnally Hilgeman shop, uh, a couple of days prior and now he's now, so he's not going to be there after all. So.
00:49:08
Speaker
MHR, two truck operation in 2024. Get this, the pop up showers started and I'll be short with mine, but I definitely think it's noteworthy and kind of appreciate what Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick's Budweiser Tribute
00:49:27
Speaker
has done. And I saw this today that Budweiser is returning to sponsor Harvick on Sunday.
00:49:34
Speaker
Same exact paint scheme when he won the 2014 Cup Series Championship in Miami. Sweet looking car. I'm sure it's going to be popular. Well, it is popular, but for the fans to purchase the diecast and the gear and stuff. And, you know, it made me realize that this is it, like for Kevin Harvick in the Cup Series. We're getting down to the final races.
00:49:59
Speaker
of his great career and pretty sad. I mean, he's one of the last guys, I mean, from the 2001, 2002, that type of era. One of the last, if not the last, along with Kurt Busch in this cup series. So shout out to Budweiser for coming back and making a cool paint ski.
00:50:24
Speaker
Hey, Steve, how long until we see a Budweiser 4 car over Jake's right shoulder in his camera shot? Well, I'm going to say, let me think about the next gen car or the one from 2014. Because if we're going next gen car as soon as Lionel makes it.
00:50:47
Speaker
Also, Jake took my pop-up shower. So if you have one Braxton, you go and then I'm going to find a different one. I had one, but I thought I liked it on Twitter, but I don't think that I have it anymore. Okay. Yeah, I have one. I got to give a shout out to Tony Stewart racing in the NHRA. They swept the, uh, the Texas fall nationals at Fort Worth in the nitro classes. Uh, Leah Pruitt, Tony's wife won the top fuel race. Funny car went to Matt Hagan.
00:51:17
Speaker
And I believe both of those drivers lead the point standings in their respective classes as well as the NHRA season winds down and heads towards Pomona here and not before too long. So very cool to see Tony Stewart Racing having a lot of success over on the thousand foot runs.
00:51:40
Speaker
So I do have a pop up shower that I was there's my backup. I figured somebody was going to use Harvick, which I do think is very cool. But I agree. It is cool. There was a it was asked Jeff Gordon if Kyle Larson was a better driver than him. And he said yes. And the quote I thought was funny was he said, I got my butt kicked by one guy at Hendrick Motorsports. I didn't need two of them.
00:52:06
Speaker
Which I think, as we talked about a little bit before, I was pretty telling. I don't think, I mean, I definitely don't think that Larson is a better cup driver than Jeff Gordon was or will ever be. I know that wins aren't the end all be all, but 93 of them is incredibly hard to do and probably won't be, if I were to guess, ever be done again. Guys like Harvick, who we just mentioned, and Kyle Busch, we also just mentioned,
00:52:33
Speaker
Rolling around at 60, I would be surprised if Bush has 60, I think, or 59. He has 52. Because he got 50 at Pocono this year, I think.
00:52:46
Speaker
Okay, then yeah, he I think he said his goal is 60. Yeah, he said his goal was 60, which I think he can get. But I just it was an interesting quote to me because, you know, I think if we're talking about overall, I mean, Jeff Gordon in his early years was a he was, I think he ran midgets. He was a USAC champion, I think, but
00:53:06
Speaker
He but but overall I just thought it was I thought it was an interesting quote because you know I don't think that there's anybody in the history of the cup series that is that is better than than Jeff Gordon certainly not Kyle Larson Very interesting. I think Kyle Larson is certainly more More successful in more different types of cars at a higher level than Jeff was because for sure I mean for being completely honest like the Usak midgets
Jeff Gordon's Praise for Kyle Larson
00:53:36
Speaker
Are uh, I don't think the level of competition especially then Is what it is now or is what larson faces when he gets into a sprint car or a uh, dirt lead model or anything? So An interesting interesting comment there from jeff All right. Let's get to our race picks from this past week and uh, let's not
00:54:00
Speaker
Oh yeah, of course you don't want to. It was a bad week for Steve. But it's time for somebody to feel my pain for a little bit. So I finally got my second win of the season with Kyle Larson. In fact, both of my wins this season have been max points wins. Martin Truex Jr. sweeping the stages, winning the race out loud.
00:54:23
Speaker
Then Kyle Larson sweeping the stages, winning the race at Vegas. Uh, it didn't really help me a whole ton in the point standings. What did help me a whole ton was Steve having a pretty dismal 35th, 35th place finish with Alex Bowman last week. Uh, Steve got Bowman in random and said, you know, I'll just take Bowman for the race too. And, uh, and did not pay off for him in that. So, uh, so the standings look like this Dylan.
00:54:52
Speaker
has a 118 point lead. Dylan got a 10th place finish from Denny Halen getting 38 points. He has 118 points as we head to Homestead. If we get to this recording next week after Homestead and Dylan has more than 121 point lead, Dylan is our champion. And he has vowed, we have it on tape, that he will pick
00:55:18
Speaker
Uh, Reed Sorensen or, uh, for Phoenix. No, it's Reed Sorensen. That's it. It's Reed Sorensen. We're picking. He, he, if he hasn't locked up, uh, for, um, for, for after homestead, he should have to pick Reed for both Martinsville and Phoenix. That could actually happen too. Yeah. Um, the race for second is actually tightened up a lot. So Jake is in second place right now with a thousand nine points.
00:55:46
Speaker
He is only 11 points ahead of Steve who has 998 and I am at 983. So the 60 points actually did help me quite a bit. And so I am 15 points behind Steve and then it's another 11 points up to Jake. So between me and Jake, it's nine and 17. So 26 points separating fourth and second. So, uh, the race is hot enough for sure.
00:56:15
Speaker
as we get on to the final few races of the season. Dylan, of course, not with us, so he has already texted us his pick. But Steve, we threw a 35th place finish from Alex Bowman. You get the honors of picking first tonight. I was playing the long game last week because I wanted to have the first pick for this week because I'm super confident that he's going to win. That's a lie. But I am confident that he's going to win. And I think
00:56:43
Speaker
We mentioned him a little bit before, but I'm excited to see Tyler Reddick ripping boards all day. I wish this was a night race, by the way. I'm really excited to see it, but I think Reddick is going to come away with a victory and punch his ticket into the championship four.
00:57:01
Speaker
Um, if it's going to be anything like a couple of years ago where he was, he finished second to William Byron, I think in 2021, um, uh, where he was just after you guys remember that race. He was just cutting down time. Like crazy cutting like a 12 second lead to like a eight to four. And it was crazy to see one more land. He probably would have happened. And then the two, the two, uh, races that, that redic one in Xfinity series championships at a homestead. Yeah.
00:57:31
Speaker
We're just outstanding drives, both of those races. So, uh, I'm, I'm supremely confident and I'm actually going to put a bet on Fandall sports book when on Sunday that he wins this race. All right. So Steve emphatically going for Tyler Reddick, Dylan has texted us that he wants William Byron. That leaves Jacob next.
00:57:58
Speaker
Guy we mentioned that pretty much has nothing to lose and should be an elite performer here. I'll pick Kyle Larson and I Don't know about winning back-to-back races, but man he what's what's not to like about him right now like especially He has a driving style like Tyler Reddick and I expect him to be Ripping it and and just going all out for a win
00:58:27
Speaker
That's not even low-hanging fruit. That's like non-hanging fruit. Hey, I was the third pick. Going out on a limb there. Yeah. Well, it's also worth mentioning not that it really matters, but JJ Yaley is in the 15.
00:58:43
Speaker
And yeah, like we mentioned, John Hunter Neiman check in the forty two and Ryan Newman in the fifty one. So also BJ McLeod not in this week with the bollicky in the seventy eight, but interested to see what what Newman does. Yeah, for sure. So my pick. I mean, I am I'm kind of torn.
00:59:09
Speaker
I part of me wants to go Brad Kuzlowski because I feel like Brad has had some good runs and it's just a matter of time before he puts it together. I can also see Chris Busher stepping up and having a good run. This weekend he finished. I took him on two road courses. I took him at Indy. He finished 11th and at the row he finished 7th. I also feel like Denny Hamlin could have a good run.
00:59:38
Speaker
But, uh, I think a guy who, who had a great run yesterday and was, it was so
Christopher Bell's Homestead Potential
00:59:43
Speaker
close. And I think he's going to be extra motivated going to another mile and a half track. And I think that their program is doing really well. I think I'm going to go Christopher Bell. Also see bell is he is not like the top. I think, I think most people when they were, when they think like JGR drivers, especially now that they would pick at a mile and a half, they're
01:00:09
Speaker
probably gonna pick Denny Hamlin and I'd say you know short of Martin's issues at his in the playoffs this year I think you finally got his first finish inside the top 15
01:00:24
Speaker
from Vegas. He, yes, he did get it. He got a top 10 at Vegas. So he's, he's broken the Schneider of no top 15 finishes in the playoffs. Uh, but I'd say, you know, most people would say Martin Truex, Jr. over, uh, Christopher Bell. But I think Seabel is, uh, is, is due for one and he was coming on strong yesterday. And I think they'll be able to take some of that data, uh, and use it at Homestead. This, this reeks of a Joey Logano win, by the way. So,
01:00:51
Speaker
that frustrates me because at Vegas one back in the spring, I picked Logano because I was like, Logano won back in fall of 2022. He wiped the floor with everybody. He's a home run pick and he finished dead last. Yeah, I it's something it's to me, it's going to be one of these like like Kyle Bush or or I don't know, Joey, Kyle Bush.
01:01:20
Speaker
Busher maybe, but I don't see Busher as much, but I it certainly will be interesting. So OK, so Jake has Kyle Larson. Dylan has William Byron. Steve going with Tyler Edick and I have Christopher Bell. Me and Steve on team Toyota and Jake and Dylan on on the two fast Hendrick cars for this year. We go to our random picks where
01:01:48
Speaker
Everybody except Dylan had a trash week. Uh, Jake, Jake actually had the third highest or the, sorry, the second highest finish of everybody with BJ McCloud finishing 31st. Uh, yes. You guys are loud from a cloud, loud from a cloud. There you go. Uh, Dylan had an eighth place finish from Tyler Reddick.
01:02:15
Speaker
Steve 35th with Alex Bowman like you did over on the real pics as well and I had a 30 second with Chase Elliott after he was a non-factor and then got busted for Liking back on a restart and had to do a pass through penalty
01:02:30
Speaker
So the standings look like this. I lead with an 846 point tally. Second place is Dylan with 769. I'm not quite good at mental math enough to figure that out, but it's just a hair under 100 points. Call it 75, 77 points, something like that.
01:02:52
Speaker
Jake is 3rd with 758, so I know that math. He's only 11 points behind Dylan for 2nd place. And then Steve, you have a ways to go. 639 points to Steve's credit so far in random. So while I spin the wheel, since we don't have Dylan with us tonight, do one of you guys want to take a gander at a forecast for Homestead?
01:03:21
Speaker
This one could legitimately be interesting because there have been known to be some late fall tropical storms. I don't think I heard any news about any of them churning out in the ocean, but you never know what you're going to get in South Florida. Sunday looks to me like sunny all day and in the 80s. Alright, so Steve, maybe you'll have better luck this week. Alex Bowman again.
01:03:51
Speaker
Okay. I don't know what he did. Was he in this race last year? When did he come back from his concussion? Let me see. No, he missed this race last year. So the last time that he ran at Homestead would have been
01:04:11
Speaker
Was there two homestead races or no one's a lot. No, just in 2021, there was, uh, the early homestead. So they've moved homestead around so much in the schedule. It's kind of annoying. So the last time it looks like he would have been at homestead would have been, cause would have been 2021. I was before the next gen car and he was ninth. That's crazy. Is that right? I guess that would be right because it's only been on the schedule once over the last two years.
01:04:41
Speaker
Yeah. Well, they, they did that thing where they moved it to the spring and then they moved it back to the fall. So it felt like forever between Homestead races. Right. So yeah, it looks like the last time he would have competed there was the spring race of 2021. And when he finished ninth, all right. Yeah. All right. I'm fine with it. Okay.
01:05:01
Speaker
Uh, well you're getting it anyway. Either way, so you can be fine with it. Fair enough. Um, so, uh, the second pick went to me and, uh, Dylan's jealous because I don't have to tell Dylan who I got. And I know he's jealous because I got Reed Sorensen. Let's go. So you said it's JJ Yaley in the 15 car this week. Yep. All right. I have JJ Yaley. Uh, Jake gets Martin Truex Jr. Wait a minute. I mentioned he doesn't have a sponsor this week.
01:05:30
Speaker
JJ, there's no it under sponsor. I'm on J ski site and there's no sponsor. Oh, I mean, sometimes there is no sponsor if they haven't announced it yet. Really? Like you don't have to put a sponsor on the on the entry blank. Oh, yeah, I've seen that happen before, like, like early in the season, if they're doing a new sponsor or whatever, like, like, Harvick has always been with Budweiser Hot Brothers, but say somebody who rotates sponsors a lot, like,
01:05:58
Speaker
And like a Todd Gillan, for example, like it might be blank on his thing if they're debuting a new sponsor and haven't publicly announced it yet. I feel like every time I look at like an entry list, there's a sponsor, but maybe I just am like not looking for it. Interesting. All right. Yeah. Yeah. So he I'm certain that J.J. Ailey will have a sponsor. Imagine if he didn't, though, he was just sure. I mean, well, I mean, the Ricwear cars, they always have that Nertek ODT or whatever on the cars. So.
01:06:25
Speaker
They'll have something like Bret Baier's book or Patriot Mobile or something. Yeah, that's probably live fast, but yes. So so Jake got Martin Shrux Jr. and then Dylan got Eric Jones, who is kind of interesting because, you know, Eric Jones has has a knack for getting around the.
01:06:48
Speaker
the tracks that we have to run up high and stuff. So he's got two Southern 500 wins, including in 2022 and the next gen car. So it makes you wonder if he might have a sneaky, good opportunity to have a good run on Sunday at Homestead, getting around the top. So to recap, Jake with Martin Tricks Jr., Dylan gets Eric Jones.
01:07:11
Speaker
Steve gets Alex Bowman for the second straight week and I have JJ Haley doing his best to read Sorensen impersonation. Hey, what if I, so if JJ Haley doesn't have an actual sponsor, what if they put Reed Sorensen's face on the hood?
01:07:28
Speaker
How much do you think it would cost to sponsor this car? We could just all put our money together and just put Reed Sorensen's face on the hood. It'll be kind of like with Talladega Nights where he just had the cougar on the front. Yeah. I think it would be a little outside of our budget. Considering Denny the other week said we're out there racing Lambos. I don't know about you guys, but I ain't buying a Lambo anytime soon. No.
01:07:59
Speaker
unfortunate, but that's the times we live in. So I think we've nailed it pretty much, but Homestead, I think, has a lot of anticipation. There's a lot of buildup. I guess the one thing I want to caution on, though, is that, Jake, you said something earlier about how the playoffs have been kind of lackluster this year. I think we've got to look back and be like, last year, we're insane. And I don't think it's sustainable to have
01:08:29
Speaker
Bonkers playoffs two years in a row, but you know get out in a crunch time and anything can happen because you know 340 days ago or something like that, you know in the weeks leading up to the Martinsville race nobody had any earthly idea that Ross Chastain could erode the wall and Did what he did so? And I think that was you know, so anything can happen is the point there. So certainly a
01:08:57
Speaker
A lot can still happen in the playoffs. There's still a lot of time to go. A lot of racing to be had. And, uh, looking forward to what should be a very exciting race at Homestead. Any final thoughts from you guys tonight? Onto Homestead. Looking forward to it. All righty. Well, the, all three series will be in action at Homestead, Miami speedway. We'll have a lot to talk about next week after that one.
01:09:21
Speaker
If you like what you've heard here on cloudy with a chance of racing, be sure to hit the subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. We really appreciate that. Also share it on your, uh, your social media page, tell a friend, uh, send them our way. We'd love to have some more folks joining the cloud with a chance of racing family. Also be sure to follow us on social media at cloudy racing pot.
01:09:43
Speaker
For Steve and Jake, I am Braxton. Thank you so much for joining Cloudy with a Chance of Racing, Episode 35. We'll be back with you after Homestead as the NASCAR playoffs line down. Have a good one.