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Ep. 30: Kansas Delivers Again with 3 Great Races
12 Plays1 year ago
Jake and Steve are back with Braxton after all three NASCAR National Series took on Kansas Speedway this weekend. They breakdown the news of the week with John Hunter Nemechek announced as the driver of the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 for next season, discuss how Carson Hocevar has done filling in for Legacy through two races, and revisit the news of Denny Hamlin finishing his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing.
In the race recaps, the guys break down the tough days for Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace, the contact between Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, the intense cutoff line battle between Parker Kligerman and Riley Herbst in the Xfinity Series, and the crazy three-wide battles at the front of the Craftsman Truck Series race.
Pop Up Showers featured three interesting stories from social media this week, including a WWE tie-in, a note from Kurt Busch's official retirement, and a kind gesture within the Corvette road racing team.
In our race picks, Steve and Jake had big weeks going 1-2 with their respective picks of Reddick and Hamlin. They're looking to continue the momentum into their real and random picks for Bristol this weekend.
Be sure to subscribe and review Cloudy With a Chance of Racing wherever you get your podcasts, and follow along on social media @CloudyRacingPod.
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Transcript
Episode Introduction & Milestone
00:00:15
Speaker
Roll in here on episode 30 of Cloudy with a Chance of Racing. Steve, Jake, can you believe that we're already on 30 episodes this thing? I absolutely cannot. I know. Wow. It's been a ride if you're still listening. Thank you for not tuning this out. Steve, that response was about as short as the time feels since our first one, right?
00:00:39
Speaker
I know. What month was that? It was after Daytona, right? It was right before Daytona, I think. It might have been after the Coliseum. Yes, that's right. Early February. Right. Anyways, we are here with episode 30 after the Kansas weekend for all three national
Kansas Weekend Races & Playoff Implications
00:00:55
Speaker
series. Of course, I am Braxton with Steve and Jake this week.
00:00:58
Speaker
A big weekend in NASCAR with playoff implications of all three series. Of course, it was a cutoff race for the truck series, the final regular season race for the Xfinity series, and then the second race of the first round for the
Nemechek's Move to Legacy Motor Club
00:01:15
Speaker
NASCAR Cup series. Plus, ARCA was there too in an exciting ARCA race.
00:01:19
Speaker
Uh, as well as Steve, you said you watched most of, so, uh, uh, we'll start off with some news that came out in the past week. And I think the biggest news in the NASCAR garage was, uh, kind of in recent times, the worst kept secret in the garage is John Hunter Nemechek will be driving the 42 car for legacy motor club next year when, uh, that team switches over to Toyota. Is that that was, that was the obvious choice, right? After Noah Gregson resigned from the position.
00:01:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think it definitely was. I think when you had so little production from Gregson throughout basically the entirety of his time, outside of maybe two or three good runs that he had in the 42, the car, in my view, looked as though there was no speed to it because I had just assumed that, well,
00:02:11
Speaker
Uh, no, as one of the probably last year was, I would say, you know, top three, uh, best XFINITY drivers, and then moves over this year and is probably bottom three of full-time drivers. So, um, I think a lot of people were thinking it was the equipment and then, you know, guys like hosts of our get in there and start wheeling the 42. So,
Performance & Equipment Concerns
00:02:30
Speaker
um,
00:02:31
Speaker
Nemechek definitely deserves a ride. This ride, specifically, I think, will be a match made kind of in heaven. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the equipment when they move over to another manufacturer next year. But I definitely deserving for Nemechek. I thought, honestly, there was a potentially going to be a chance that it would be somebody else. But I don't even know who it would have been. But I'm definitely happy for Nemechek.
00:03:02
Speaker
He's had one heck of a year and we get to the Xfinity race this weekend in a moment where he dominated, but well deserving. I think it's a testament to him to what he's done this year as a driver, going in full time in cup and then having to go back down to the Xfinity series. It seems like he's just really concentrated and has done well and improved.
00:03:32
Speaker
I do really like the fit of the 42. I know, I mean, a lot of times I would, you know, would like to say, you know, we told you so, but it was pretty obvious and we talked about it on the show. We all kind of agreed that this would probably happen and it did. And I think a lot of people knew it was coming. It was just a matter of time before it was really announced. And I'm really interested to see just where, you know,
00:04:01
Speaker
this legacy motor club goes from here. I mean, no secret that this season for them has been pretty much nothing short of a disaster. You know, Eric Jones has shown some things this season, but other than that, on occasion, it's been pretty much nothing.
00:04:23
Speaker
I'm trying to go through on racing reference real quick. I noticed Carson Hosevar has finished every lap of both of the last two races at Darlington and at Kansas in his first two races with Legacy Motor Club. He'll be back in the car this weekend for the Bristol Knight race as well. I was thinking, that's pretty impressive that he's finished every lap in both of those races. And I was trying to go through and see how many lead lap finishes Noah Gregson had in his 21 starts in that car this year.
00:04:50
Speaker
I would be shocked if it was. I see Atlanta, Coda. Let's see.
00:04:59
Speaker
By the way, uh, host of Argo with an app, very much an asterisk there. Oh yeah. Absolutely. Cause he was in the fence every single time that track, which was too big for him to get laughed. Uh, and Pocono. So for lead lap finishes for Noah Gregson and 21 starts two for two for Carson hosts of our in that car so far, I what a rhyming thing there. I think, uh,
00:05:22
Speaker
A host of ours also, by the way, has gotten a lot of seat time in general lately. And that's helped at some of these tracks. He's obviously very, very talented. We've talked about this a lot. But I think he's gotten his act together some. And really, really solid finish for him in the truck race. So solid run in the truck race, solid run in the cup. He knows how to adapt to equipment more so than I think Gregson did. And I think that that worked against him.
00:05:50
Speaker
Um, which is why among other things, he doesn't have a ride right now. So, um, I suppose too, that the trucks drive a lot more similar to the cup cars right now in terms of his aero dependence compared to the Xfinity to cuff. So perhaps that's helping hosts of are a little bit as well.
00:06:08
Speaker
So that's the big
Denny Hamlin's Contract Extension
00:06:10
Speaker
news there. Dylan and I hit on it last week that Denny Hamlin has re-upped with Joe Gibbs Racing, 2311 has re-upped with Toyota Racing Development. Since you guys weren't with us last week, let's get your thoughts on how all that played out and is that the result you expected or is that a surprise or what do you think there?
00:06:32
Speaker
Not really a surprise. Denny is obviously going to be with Toyota forever regardless of anything that had happened. Maybe not obviously, but I think he's obviously got a lot of years left. I don't know how many exactly. We know the terms of this, like how long it is.
00:06:54
Speaker
No, it means they're pretty secretive about it. Yeah. So I mean, I can't imagine that it's more than like five years. But if I had to guess, it would probably be that long. I think that it's obviously good for both sides. I think it's going to also help 2311. That partnership has definitely been big for the sport. And it's also been big for
00:07:21
Speaker
2311, especially as of late. They've been really good this year. They've had two cars in the playoffs. Gibbs has been really good, too. I think it's a mutually beneficial agreement and partnership. And Denny's going to be there probably 25 years, which is a long time, potentially. So good for all involved. I had a feeling that it was going to happen there. I think some people may have thought that Denny would, at some point, try to drive
00:07:49
Speaker
maybe a car for 2311, but I don't think that's ever going to happen. I'm, I'm happy to see this kid. You mentioned Steve. I mean, he could be in, in the 11 with that team for 25 years. And that's something that, uh, is rare in NASCAR. And so that's nice to see some consistency. And as far as competitiveness, I mean, what both Hamlin's doing this season.
00:08:19
Speaker
And what 2311 is doing with Toyota, they're growing. I think it'll continue to grow. As, you know, a 2311 fan, I would have been nervous if, I think if they would have left Toyota and they, you know, potentially switched to a Ford. Just because you just don't, you know, it could, could have been a step back. You just don't know. But there's nothing wrong with.
00:08:46
Speaker
with the way they've been racing this season and developing. Now, it'll be interesting to see, you know, the switch with Legacy Motor Club and how, as far as resources go, how that impacts some of the other, like a 2311 in the Toyotas. But I think overall, it's a win all the way around, and I'm happy to see it get done, I'd say.
00:09:14
Speaker
Now, Steve, I'm curious on the length of the contract like you are, only because I just looked up Denny Hamlin will turn 43 in just after the end of the season. So a five year deal would put him finishing the 2028 season, 2029 season, just short of 48 years old.
00:09:39
Speaker
Which is, that's pretty old for an NASCAR driver these days. I mean, Kevin Harvick is retiring at 48 now. Somewhere along those lines. And, you know, they're very similar drivers. I mean, you know, five years from now.
00:09:56
Speaker
uh, through potentially, you know, I don't know, three wins per season. I know that Denny has wanted badly to hit 60 wins that he said that multiple times on his, on his podcast, that 60 is like a benchmark for him.
Sponsorship Questions for Hamlin
00:10:10
Speaker
Like, you know, there are certain drivers who hit 60 that they, you know, you look at like, you know, all timers. I think Denny is an all timer. Um, but, uh, he's at 50, he's a 50 exactly now, I believe. Right. Or 51.
00:10:24
Speaker
50, I know he got 50 at Pocono, right? Yeah. And then he didn't, he went another race. I don't, let me look, but, um, you know, you got to think like, you know, he races for, for he's at, yeah, he's at 50. He races for five more years. Obviously he, I think he's going to hit 50, uh, 60. Um, I think, I mean, his skills in my view have not started to go down. I mean, you know, his equipment is still top tier. I think he's still a top tier driver. Um,
00:10:53
Speaker
He I think he's learned a lot as an as a team owner also. And I think that that's going to help him kind of transition to the to the latter part of his career, which is obviously going to be, you know, being a team owner, but
00:11:05
Speaker
Five years, I mean, you got to assume that that's potentially going to be 10 more wins, even as he starts to wind down. That opens up the door for... And I'm just saying it might be five years, that opens up the door for five more Daytona 500 appearances, which would potentially give him four Daytona 500 wins.
00:11:31
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know how many years it would be. You got to assume that it's going to be a long time. He's still definitely one of the best. And I would assume that it's, you know, three years just wouldn't seem like a long-term extension to me. I don't know. I just feel like the, at the order you get the likelihood of signing a long-term deal like that, I consider five years to be kind of a long-term deal these days.
00:11:55
Speaker
It goes down especially considering the sponsorship involved and you know FedEx has been with Denny throughout the entirety of his career But you notice some other other characters creeping in there on the 11 car And so it's like okay
00:12:11
Speaker
Is FedEx going to stick around for five more years? And what does that look like? Is there a race inventory going down? There's a lot of moving parts there. And I think that's worth some thought, especially on how long it took the whole deal to come together. I know there was a large portion of it was what to do with 2311. But I feel like a lot of the deal between Denny and Coach Gibbs was figuring out the sponsorship stuff as well.
00:12:41
Speaker
It'd be definitely interesting to see how that plays out. You know, if any news comes out about the length of the deal or anything like that. Speaking of Denny Hamlin, I guess we can use that as a good
Kansas Race Recap & Playoff Impact
00:12:50
Speaker
transition over to Kansas. It was a good day for him yesterday. Basically just about as good as it possibly could have been. His car that he owned won the race. He finished second.
00:13:05
Speaker
I think that you couldn't really ask for much more except for the troubles that Bubba had, which is a really unfortunate deal. It seemed like Bubba didn't even get in the wall all that hard. And it destroyed the toe link and ravaged the whole right side of the car. I think that they were messing with air pressure a lot. I think they were probably gambling on air pressure.
00:13:31
Speaker
I think you run into problems when you're gambling on air pressure with a track that has been eating tires. And I think that they had a ton of speed. I mean, there were parts of that race. I watched it. I watched some of it. And then I had to rewatch the entire thing last night. But I think there were a lot of parts of it that you saw. Bubba was the fastest car on the track for multiple laps at a time.
00:14:02
Speaker
You saw Truex early on. He'd lost his car. There was an issue with the tires. I thought Booty Barker, crew chief of the 23, was probably gambling on how they had the car set up with the tire pressure. And it ended up not working out in the end. They should have probably been one of the top five
00:14:26
Speaker
at potentially winning that race, you know, redic one, the Toyotas are very, very solid. They know how to make the setup work to their advantage. Um, but you know, high risk, high reward in that instance. And it ended up being a too risky and didn't, didn't work out. It worked out for the other one for 45, but, um,
00:14:46
Speaker
You know, if you're a Bubba fan, it's a frustrating loss because he had the ability to win and going to Bristol, where he is not very good, at least hasn't been as far as finishing, average finish goes. Because if he were to punch his ticket, we come up to Talladega in a couple weeks, where he has also been very good.
00:15:16
Speaker
with the ability to win. And, um, you know, he would, he would punch his ticket into the next round. So, uh, I think it was probably a really frustrating day for the 23, but that was a, that was a, I think a gamble with Toyota that they were doing, you know, and it didn't work out for a lot of them, but the race winner was a Toyota. So I guess they can't be too mad. Yeah. Well, that sounds good. Uh, Bubba Wallace fan. How we thought of that? Jake, go ahead. Well, uh,
00:15:43
Speaker
I also rewatched the race. I was at a football game yesterday. Which football game, Jake? The one in Pittsburgh where the 49ers won by 23 points. But anyways, speaking of 23, it was a bad deal. I rewatched on NBC Extended Highlights on YouTube, which I think is great. They pretty much do the whole race in about 30 minutes.
00:16:13
Speaker
Watch that and was reading a bunch of notes on it. Um, but I, it's disappointing because this was the one race out of the three in this round where there was a real good chance to win and Bubba performed really well at Darlington. And he was right at the cutoff line around the 12 now, you know, minus 17 heading into Bristol that not much confidence at all in that.
00:16:42
Speaker
you know, anything can happen.
Bristol's Crucial Playoff Stakes
00:16:45
Speaker
Like we've seen with man Truex falling below the line, but just it is disappointing, especially when you're kind of riding high and I feel like he's really ran well to get into the playoffs. But, you know, just head to Bristol and do your best. It's nice to see Kyla Reddick get in victory lane. I picked, excuse me,
00:17:12
Speaker
Denny Hamlin to win the race, which was kind of a bummer to see him. He was on his way to a victory before that late caution. So he ends up finishing second. But yeah, overall, pretty good day for Toyota other than that. And the way NASCAR sets up this playoff schedule, we are headed to Bristol with a playoff cutoff race. I was at this one last season. It was exciting. So looking forward to that.
00:17:43
Speaker
You know what struck my eye was that there was the last few races, the first few races of the playoffs. Darlington and Kansas are very much run around the top racetracks and they're won by probably the two best run around the top drivers in Kyle Larson and Tyler Edick.
00:18:00
Speaker
And don't forget, Homestead is the third to last race of the season. It's not a cut off race, but it is a very important race in the regular, in the playoffs. And that could make it very interesting for one of those two guys to pop their ticket to the final four. I don't think, yes, I don't think, and by the way, I believe I picked Redick this week. I don't think that, uh,
00:18:24
Speaker
Bob is a championship car or driver right now but what I will say though is that there are a lot of their tracks coming up that he could
00:18:38
Speaker
Win at that would punch his ticket into the following round with somewhere like Talladega with somewhere like Homestead. He's performed well at Martensville before. You know, it's weird. There's some I don't want to say fluky, but like we're looking at like a Christopher Busher who's been really good.
00:18:57
Speaker
and just kind of came out of nowhere. Not out of nowhere, but sort of out of nowhere is looking like a championship contender. But if I had to put my money on anybody right now, it's Tyler Reddick. He is, to me, becoming really, really a superstar-level driver. And I think he has some super speedway issues.
00:19:26
Speaker
Some what sometimes but I think there's a really good chance now that he he can get his way into the championship for but I mean you know, I'm not so sure exactly what I'm not so sure exactly like what the what the
00:19:42
Speaker
What's going to happen at Bristol? Because there are so many potential problems that people run into. You remember a couple of years ago with the Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick situation, if that doesn't happen, that changes the trajectory of the season, really, for multiple drivers, including
00:20:09
Speaker
Kevin Harvick, because like, remember that caused Kevin Harvick to, he didn't win that race. He, he had a chance to then at the roval, he had a chance to, you know, he could finish better than he did. He crashed because of the whole, probably because of the whole chase Elliott situation and ruined his season there. So Bristol is one of those races that just completely throw everything out and then see what happens with, uh, with, with the race. So. Yeah. See.
00:20:39
Speaker
Bubba, I think he's got a couple of tracks he could win, obviously Talladega, but he's got to get there first. As it stands right now, he is on the outside looking in. He's 19 points below the cut line as we head to the cutoff at Bristol.
00:20:54
Speaker
But doesn't need a win. He needs to finish well. I don't think he can finish the stages outside of the top 10. But I think if he wins a stage and finishes in the top 10, I think that he would probably help himself a lot. Oh, totally. He needs to have a good run there. And it's not necessarily been his best track overall. So definitely a lot to look for there.
00:21:18
Speaker
Um, the Martin Truex thing was just wild. Um, yeah, we briefly hit on it, but you know, the, the regular season champion finds himself, uh, on the outside looking in, he is seven points below the cut line. And really it was taken out of the race almost instantly right at the drop of the rag for laps. Yeah. I don't know how that happened. I do. Um, but it just goes to show that like,
00:21:44
Speaker
You
Truex Jr.'s Struggle in Playoffs
00:21:45
Speaker
blow a tire in one of these cars, and it ends your race completely. So it could. I mean, obviously, there are levels to it. But how low profile these tires are with how much they can do so much damage to your entire car, break toe links, and allow you to not be able to get even to pit road. These drivers on these types of tracks have to be really super careful. There's nothing that he could do.
00:22:11
Speaker
He was just kind of, his car was just, that was going to happen regardless. But very strange situation, especially considering the fact that he should have been somebody who could have potentially won this race. Coming into the playoffs, 36 playoff points. Obviously, we know this season that him and William Byron have had, and they were the favorites coming into the playoffs now.
00:22:39
Speaker
You're at, you're out of it right now. Um, you know, minus seven Harvick in that 12 spot, just a weird set of circumstances. Um, you know, but that is what this playoff format is. I mean, in the, in these, you know, rounds of three races, if you have one bad race, you are in the hole and look at what's happened to the 23 and true exes.
00:23:05
Speaker
you know, not been impressive this round and all of a sudden he's in 13th, just odd, but it, you know, if he gets, you know, he's another one that, you know, can win the last, I guess there would be seven races after Bristol can win some of those, but if he's out, I mean, it really opens the door for someone to come out of here, you know, as a title, favorite title contender,
00:23:36
Speaker
You know, Steve mentioned, mentioned the Tyler Reddick. Um, it's now, you know, looking pretty good. Maybe his, uh, true ex's teammate, Denny Hamlin, if true ex falters and can't make it out of this round, another Toyota, uh, G gives them a chance to make it to the championship board, but it's a really.
00:23:56
Speaker
really opens a door if he can't make it pass this round, because he'll more than likely shake this off and be impressive down the stretch, but will he still be in the playoffs? We shall see. I just want to point out, I'm looking at the schedule right now. If he had a good solid run like he did yesterday, which he was looking at, and he would point his way into the round of 12, a good run at Talladega, not having to worry about Texas or the Roval,
00:24:25
Speaker
and gets into the round of eight. I mean, there's nothing stopping him from winning at a place like Homestead. So, I mean, you know, I know it was improbable, but the path was there. You know, I know that he would have been a low rank, there would have been a smaller chance, but not as small as I think a lot of the Bubba haters out there wanted it to be.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah, that's a very good point. Martin Truex Jr. somehow doesn't make the next round. That definitely opens up Pandora's box to who could possibly win
Larson-Elliott Tension at Hendrick
00:25:00
Speaker
this championship this season. I think the only other drama yesterday that I can remember was the pit road contact between Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. And Steve, you were mentioning to me earlier, it sounds like
00:25:14
Speaker
you know, you look back at any of the teammate drama at Hendrick Motorsports and it seems like there is a lot more between Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott than there has been with anybody in recent memory. I mean, since at least Kyle Bush was with the team right back in the early 2000s. I don't really understand the situation because like,
00:25:36
Speaker
So, I mean, you've seen there have been issues that, uh, like I think fans have seen like last year at auto club, which I look at is if we remember, like, um, Chase had a run on, on Kyle and Joey and tried to go to the outside and Kyle put him basically like dored him. And then it really ended his day.
00:26:01
Speaker
And then, um, you know, last year, Watkins Len was a similar situation with Kyle and chase, you know, um, kind of taken him out of two races when, um, I think, I think chase has always been a good teammate. Uh, and we mentioned the Bristol situation with Harvick. Um, it's very strange to me. I mean, I don't really understand it. I don't, I truly believe that like, if we look at this from the a hundred foot thousand foot view,
00:26:29
Speaker
you know, Chase, I mean, I don't think that there was ever going to be and maybe not, but there was Chase, I think was going to be, you know, kind of Jimmy 2.0. That's, I think, how they looked at him and, you know, the whole situation with Kyle Larson.
00:26:46
Speaker
basically getting fired due to the racial slur changed NASCAR because I don't know if there was ever the possibility of Kyle going to HMS. He did. And now has outperformed Chase since 2021, which I don't know if they were expecting to happen.
00:27:10
Speaker
But but it has now and so I think that this has now kind of maybe I mean we don't know how chase feels about Kyle, but it seems as though Kyle's had to apologize multiple times for things that have happened whereas Chase's I think they've always raced each other hard. I don't think that it's ever been a question whether or not You know, they've been you know, they've they've they've been competitive but I mean it kind of makes you wonder like
00:27:40
Speaker
how the relationship actually is. I mean, NASCAR's sometimes are just teams and name only. We don't know how much they share or don't share with each other, but you got to think that it can't be as good as they probably want to make it look like. You mentioned right there, their relationship.
00:28:07
Speaker
today on Sirius XM, not sure if you saw this clip from Danielle Trotta, who's on track on Sirius XM NASCAR radio. She said that she believes that they don't get along at all and that, you know, Chase just doesn't like Kyle. And she really, I mean, she went in on Chase Elliott, which was interesting to hear someone, you know, that's around the garage to say something like that. But it's,
00:28:39
Speaker
Um, man, and they're both the drivers that have gotten into some issues, um, one way or another, you know, on, uh, off the track, as you know, as we all know with Kyle Larson, who's been a great redemption story in that way, but you know, chase Elliott, um, has had a roller coaster season and something like this.
00:29:03
Speaker
Especially, you know, when Elliot is not even in the, in the playoffs, I think to do something like this is, um, really just not acceptable. And I'm sure it was addressed, you know, today at Hendrick motor sports, but addressed how, because like Daniel Trotter made it sound like Jeff Gordon is, you know, gotta be like, like reading chase Elliott, the riot act. And I.
00:29:32
Speaker
truly just do not see it that way. I don't understand. I mean, from my view, looking at it, I don't understand how
00:29:41
Speaker
Like you remember like last year at the Glen, I mean like Chase was I think visibly because I think didn't he say in the post-race interview to get ready for Bristol? Bristol wasn't even the next race. Like he was so angry. I think he just didn't know. And then he played it off like, ah, like I'm dumb. Like I just didn't know what the next race was. But like there has to be, it can't be as good as like, it can't be a great relationship. You know, like I know that we've seen teammates before that have like not really gotten along with each other, but you know,
00:30:11
Speaker
You could you knew that kind of just how they they they raised each other. But I truly just do not believe I think that this is a working relationship at most. But I mean, how would I know? I just it's a very strange and strained situation. Yeah, I feel like that there is definitely some conflicting personalities there. And it's going to be really difficult to manage only because both of them are champions.
00:30:41
Speaker
In the last couple of years, it's not like one of them is kind of writing off in the twilight of their career. Both of them are very young and very good. Um, and it just, I just don't see many situations where you have, uh, successful teams where you have kind of two big dog drivers on the team. I mean, even at, at JGR with Kyle Bush, uh, and Denny Hamlin and Martin Shreks Jr.
00:31:07
Speaker
You know, they're all very good drivers, but it was clear Kyle Busch was kind of the big dog and Denny and Martin are kind of more reserved in that sense.
00:31:16
Speaker
I just don't understand how it's going to play out. I'll be very curious to watch it just from a mental perspective and not even necessarily in the context of racing is how you manage that situation. Definitely interesting to keep an eye on throughout the rest of the season and
Xfinity Series Playoff Field
00:31:35
Speaker
on to however long they remain teammates. Before we shift over to the Xfinity series, let's take a look at the NASCAR Cup series.
00:31:44
Speaker
So of course Kyle Larson and Tyler Edick have locked themselves in to the next round, the round of 12. Down close to the bubble you have Chris Buscher and Chris Bell. The two Christophers are both plus 13 above the cut.
00:32:00
Speaker
Joey Logano plus 12 above the cut and Kevin Harvick finds himself seven points to the good. Martin Shrux Jr. seven points to the bad. Bubba Wallace 19 points on the outside looking in. Ricky Stenhouse 22 below and Michael McNowell 40 below surely those last two even the last three really need a win or a whole heap of stage points and some trouble ahead of them to get into the next round.
00:32:29
Speaker
Uh, the, uh, extended race on Saturday was a, I think an overall pretty entertaining race, despite the fact that John Hunter Neiman checked lead all, but, uh, for 46 laps of that race. Uh, and then of the 46, he didn't need 40 of those were led by Justin Allgaier, who ended up finishing 18th after a crash. Um.
00:32:51
Speaker
That was a dominant win by John Hernimacek, his sixth win of the year. No surprise that he is earning the promotion to the Cup Series once again. But I think the big drama in this race was the contact between Parker Cloderman and Riley Herbst.
00:33:11
Speaker
and ended up kind of, I'm not gonna say ruining Riley Herbst's day, but ruin Riley Herbst's day. And ultimately, I think it cost that team a chance to get into the playoffs on some restart contact where it sounded like
00:33:27
Speaker
Parker didn't get his car into gear. I wouldn't go into gear. He stalled up the outside line, and then it was a trickle effect that ended up causing some right front damage for Hurst, who ended up going, I think, three laps down in total, got one of them back, but couldn't get the other two back and ended up finishing 23rd and missing out on the final playoff spot. Well, about Parker Kligerman made the cut.
00:33:57
Speaker
and is having a pretty good run as of late. So I mean, obviously, great win for Nemechek, who's probably coming in with a lot of momentum. So looking at the actual race itself, Clickerman, I mean, I'm kind of amazed. I think he's in the big machine car next year, too.
00:34:27
Speaker
Um.
00:34:28
Speaker
Uh, but just, he's been super fast lately. I mean, he has found himself at the front of these races a lot. I mean, Nima check, I think has kind of dominated. Um, I think he was at his fifth win this year, uh, sixth one this year. Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, Kansas has, has a lot of always has a lot of great races. Um, and we're going to maybe get to the truck series just in a, in a second, but, um,
00:34:57
Speaker
Overall great race not as much action. I think I think there was more action at least with the finish than in the in the cup series and the truck series truck series Obviously, I think having the best finish of the weekend But no great run. I think Nemechek still leads in points up points to playoff points to obviously so I'm expecting a lot of things good things from him next week, too You mentioned Cleggerman's run and
00:35:26
Speaker
Aside from Darlington last week where he finished 24th, he's had seven straight top tens, you know, fourth here over the weekend, fourth back at Daytona, third at Watkins Glen, seven in the eight Michigan, second Road America, ninth at Pocono, then he had a 32nd at New Hampshire, but really turned it on, I think is deserving of getting in.
00:35:55
Speaker
to the playoffs. It's disappointing for Riley Herps. But, you know, it's that's that's the deal to get in. And he's ran well could you know, you never know with this playoff format, we see in the cup series, there's some favorites now. One of the favorites in true X below the cut line heading into the final race of the round. I think we know that we talked about
00:36:24
Speaker
John Hunter Nemechek season all year because he's just been that good. It's pretty much looking at it, I'd say between him and Austin Hill. And that'll be a fun battle. And I could just look at John Hunter to continue his dominance in the playoffs.
00:36:47
Speaker
You mentioned that that run of form here for Parker Klugerman. You can take out that Darlington race like you did. He has an average finish since starting with the Pocono race back in July. That was an average finish of 5.29. That's crazy.
00:37:08
Speaker
That'll definitely that'll make up a a point deficit in a hurry for you. Um in park three, I mean, I've seen Ryla hearse just had every little thing that could have gone against them did go against them and it was really unfortunate because he's I think he's had the best season of his career here in terms of the quality of
00:37:29
Speaker
how he's driven the car. It's just been, you know, off the wall, like ridiculous things that have taken him out of contention. You go through that same stretch starting with Pocono.
00:37:39
Speaker
Riley Herbst finished 4th, 5th, 6th in Succession Pocono, Road America, Michigan, then 12th of the Indy GP, 35th at the Glam, 24th at Daytona, got us some ground at Darlington with a 6th place finish, but then 23rd at Kansas and
00:38:00
Speaker
And that'll kill you. I mean, you go over that same stretch, and it's not a good average finish there. Let me do the quick math here. 4 plus 5. Are you going to hear me do math here on my computer? Because I'm not that good at math mentally.
00:38:23
Speaker
Yeah, 15 and a half, 15.6, rightly-herposed average finish over the last eight races minus Darlington.
00:38:32
Speaker
So it's been a tough go for that 98 bunch. Really a tough go for the Stewart Haas cards overall in the Xfinity series because Cole Custer had kind of a fluke deal happen to him on Saturday. And I guess the only thing I can think of is it must have been a tire carcass that he hit, right? Because anything that was solid in terms of like a chunk of metal would have bounced off the side of the car and taken down a bunch of damage, but you'd seen some sort of deflection.
00:38:58
Speaker
whatever coal guster hit like the car basically ate up like the cookie monster and doing damage along the way and on the first part like the first time i saw it i was like oh my gosh how does how does the nascar corner spotter not see that i see this giant chunk of rubber on this on the roadway on the track
00:39:18
Speaker
Um, on the other hand, it's like, well, it is in the shadows of the, the fencing. So I guess you could say maybe it did blend in and stuff, but overall, not a super great look on NASCAR to have that big chunk of rubber out there, uh, right in the groove and not call a caution and ends up taking out a cold Custer there. Hmm. Yeah. No, I agree.
00:39:42
Speaker
So the Xfinity series playoff field is set. Of course, John Hunter Nemechek is the Irregular Assistant Champion. Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hamburg, and Parker Klugerman are your 12 competitors. They were locked into that field. Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, both two out.
00:40:12
Speaker
of advancing after the roval race for the Xfinity series, Hemric, minus three, Clickerman, minus four. So definitely opportunities for those guys and a lot of shuffling in the standings in the bottom seven or so, seven or eight spots is possible between the Bristol weekend and then on to the roval.
00:40:39
Speaker
That'll be some exciting racing, especially with the Xfinity series at Bristol this weekend. I saw the entry. Let's come out for that earlier. And I did see that Bailon Hart Jr. is in this race that was announced.
00:40:56
Speaker
several weeks ago, some months ago, I feel like. So that will be an exciting one for sure to see Dale Jr. back in the Xfinity series this weekend. Some other highlights include Derek Krause back in 11 car. Hey, another top 10 finish for Derek Krause with the Call of Grace in cars.
00:41:14
Speaker
He's running a limited schedule. He did the dash for cash races earlier this season where no cup drivers were eligible. He's again going to be in the car. I understand for a good chunk of the playoffs where I know cup drivers can be in the Xfinity series.
00:41:28
Speaker
And he's done an amazing job in fill and duty on that car. And I think he's putting his name out there as a guy. He gets some funding together, can run some solid races for a race team. Trevor Bain will be in the 19 car. I think that was a prize deal.
00:41:45
Speaker
It came about kind of last minute because I understood that he had already finished his allotment of races for the 19 or earlier this season. But he got an opportunity and again, seeing Dale Jr. out there will be really exciting as well.
Truck Series Kansas Finish & Controversy
00:42:01
Speaker
We'll move on to the truck series where that was probably the three good races this weekend. I think we can all agree. And the truck series was the best of the bunch in terms of the finish. A wild and crazy win race of the finish won by Christian Ekas for his third win of the season. And now it's also a cutoff race for the truck series playoffs.
00:42:26
Speaker
that saw a bit of tough luck in for Matt DiBenedetto, who was right there. He finished third, but not quite enough points in separation between him and Ben Rhodes to get him into the playoffs the next round. Then Matt Crafton with issues also saw himself be one of the two drivers eliminated after Kansas.
00:42:50
Speaker
But that finished on Friday night was epic. And there were multiple battles that were two, three wide at the lead for multiple laps. Truck series, I mean, Kansas obviously produces like I think some of the best racing that you're going to see in NASCAR overall among the three series for if you count Arco, which races like but not not as many. But, you know, there was there was a lot of action in it throughout the entirety of the race, just about.
00:43:18
Speaker
One thing that I wanted in Hosevar, by the way, again, doing double duty finishes sixth in the truck race, and I think 20th in the cup race, which is still as impressive to me, especially with his lack of seat time in the cup. One thing I wanted to note about trucks was that Raja Karuth, another good run.
00:43:35
Speaker
He's had, he's had, uh, you know, four top 20 fobs are five top 20 straight finishes. Um, you know, seven place finish at IRP and a 12th place finished yesterday at Kansas. So, uh, GMS kind of kind of rolling right now, although GMS is, uh, will be no longer. Um, but, um,
00:43:57
Speaker
Yeah, the Benedetto, I think, also is parting ways. I believe parting ways to the 25, the record. The record, yeah. That's something Dylan and I mentioned last week. Interesting to see where he ends up, if he ends up there. I don't truly, I really just don't think he ends up anywhere. He's been OK in trucks. I mean, he was worse in the truck. And I also get that the 25 is not the fastest truck in the field by far. I think Benedetto was
00:44:27
Speaker
okay he's been okay in that car he was okay in the cup i don't really see a spot for him i'm not i mean he's definitely not going to get better equipment in the in the cup series truthfully i i mean i can't imagine that he has the
00:44:43
Speaker
sponsorship to keep going at all. I mean, that truck the entire season is sponsored by the team. Rackley war, right? So I, you know, he's still I mean, he's, I think 30, those young low 30s. So I just can't imagine that he's going to continue to be able to he doesn't have sponsorship, he doesn't have a fast car. He's not
00:45:07
Speaker
He's not setting the road on fire with his performances, which in turn it won't earn him a ride with no money.
00:45:23
Speaker
that we're going to see next season in, in, in any series. So, um, but, uh, Stuart Friesen top 10 and, uh, another one, Nicholas Sanchez with, uh, another top 10. So, um, outside the finish, I mean, it was really, it was an overall solid race. St. Smith yet again, really.
00:45:40
Speaker
Kind of also the opposites really is setting the world on fire lately. So interested to see what happens next week, which I believe everybody, all three series are back obviously at Bristol. So Bristol trucks are really a spectacle to see. So as are the other two, but specifically the trucks are usually very interesting there. Mentioned Zane Smith, his name has popped up this week.
00:46:10
Speaker
as far as, you know, potential cup series in rides and some moving parts here to this silly season. But yeah, he finished fifth here. The race was great. You know, in this, I've met Matt DiBenedetto, and I actually have a photo with him at, when he was with BK Racing in the cup series. And a nice guy,
00:46:39
Speaker
you know, disappointing to see him not make it to the next round. And it will be very interesting to see just where he land, if anywhere. When he was with, you know, Wood Brothers and ended his Cup Series run there, you look back and think, what could have been, because there were a couple of races that, I mean,
00:47:06
Speaker
you know, Talladega, he was leading on the, when the white flag hit. So one of the, one of the, I think it was a fall Talladega just before he left that ride. A couple of other races where he was right in contention for a win and it just slipped through that team's hands. And what could have been maybe if he would have got a couple of wins in the cup series. Looking at, at, you know, the trucks now, I, I, I'm going to, I, I'm going to enjoy this and I think playoff,
00:47:36
Speaker
push you know the Xfinity series as far as the standings go and everything you know it's front loaded with you know two drivers but i i think that this truck series championship is really up for grabs it will make it exciting
00:47:56
Speaker
I mean, right now the trucks are doing the final eight of cooking Kansas was a cutoff race for them. So, uh, the final eight, there is a 24 point spread from first eight.
00:48:09
Speaker
It's wide open. And if you look at it right now, as it sits right now, Ty Majeski and Zane Smith are not in advancing positions. They're not in transfer positions. Right now, it's Kory Haim, Christian Ekas, Grandon Finger, and Carson Hosevar, who would move on to Phoenix if the playoffs ended right now. And then Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, and Nick Sanchez,
00:48:38
Speaker
Would be eliminated that those are two especially Zane Smith at the time of Jessica, but also Ben Rhodes a former champion outstanding drivers who wouldn't advance and that that That competition is going to be very exciting to watch out over the next handful of weeks as the trucks go on so the truck
00:49:01
Speaker
races that are on the schedule will be Texas, Talladega, and, oh, sorry, I went to the Cup Series. Bristol, Talladega, Homestead, Phoenix. Yeah, Bristol, Talladega, Homestead are the next three races, so they'll get kind of weeks off between each of those races.
00:49:25
Speaker
Uh, but then that's just going to be, uh, it's going to be some exciting racing, especially at those, at those race tracks where anything can happen. Uh, it's going to be exciting racing all throughout and I can't wait for it. Honestly. Uh, we can't mention the truck series without mentioning the news conference. It was held on Friday by NASCAR and they revealed the.
00:49:46
Speaker
the part that was illegal off of time in Jesky's truck from the Milwaukee race and it was some old-school trip technology of a valve stem cap on a right rear tire.
00:50:02
Speaker
that had a little dimple basically on it to where it would push the valve stem and let some air bleed out. And of course that helps the lower the air pressure in the right rear tire and helps the high milling and of course that's illegal. So it'd be interesting to see that something that simple and we don't know of course how many times that was run throughout the season but
00:50:25
Speaker
You got to say that he was setting the world on fire there for a couple of races late in the summer. And it's like, wow, suddenly all this has been found. And it's been script tonight a little bit. He's not been quite as fast. I think it's truly I love it, honestly, I think it's great how, you know, I think if you're not cheating, you're not trying, you know, it's like one of those
00:50:48
Speaker
Every crew chief owner is going to want you to get the competitive advantage. They'll take it if, you know, if you don't get caught, you don't get caught. That is what it is. But yeah, I mean, if you look at them, like, you know, just look at both of the valve stem caps, like, you're not really picking like, like, if you had to pick between both of them, just from like the untrained eye, you'd be like, Okay, well, I don't know what the difference between these two things are. So
00:51:18
Speaker
Um, I think it's just funny how the officials were like, Hmm, I think I hear air leaky kind of this car out of this tire. I wonder what this is all about. So, um, yeah, kind of, kind of funny, but overall could have, could have been bad. For sure. Uh, let's quickly get to some, uh, pop-up showers this week. It could, before we get to our race fix. Sure thing. Mine, uh, quickly and it's,
00:51:46
Speaker
Anyone has free time this week. The most recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download I thought was pretty interesting was Cody Rhodes. If you're a wrestling fan, you should know who that is. And he was on the Dale Jr. Download and really got into some very emotional stuff and some other topics, including how his father, Dusty Rhodes, famous wrestler, was just a massive NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt fan.
00:52:15
Speaker
Cody recalled stories from his childhood and watching his dad in the races and really recalling the day that Dale Senior died and telling some stories there. And I thought it was just very interesting perspective and to get someone on there. And they talked about managing things. Cody has been all over with wrestling and
00:52:43
Speaker
Dale doing his thing. A very interesting episode on the Dale Jr. download this week. My pop-up shower was I was on Instagram today and I saw this post and I can't really
00:53:06
Speaker
It's hard to not explain it, but it was from Kurt Busch, and they were talking about the anniversary of Adam Petty's death. It was a cool conversation between Kurt and Kyle Petty about just saying that it was nice to see him.
00:53:24
Speaker
you know, given the blessing to run the 45, uh, which was, it was just, it was just, you know, very cool to see, you know, obviously Kurt, you know, really kind of officially retired, um, from racing, uh, completely just due to, you know, the issues that, you know, that stemmed from the concussion. Um, and, uh, just thought it was a, just thought it was a really cool thing, um, for both of them. And, and, uh, you know, you don't really get to see opportunities like that very often. So.
00:53:53
Speaker
Yeah, very cool. That's cool on both accounts for you guys. I didn't get a chance to listen to the download with Cody Rhodes, but some of those episodes with non racing folks are some of the best ones. I think they're all good, but it's interesting to see Dale kind of dive into different.
00:54:10
Speaker
that areas of sport in life. So that's really cool. And then, yeah, it definitely really cool to get Tyler at the blessing to drive the 45. And then of course, goes out and wins the race. So very, very cool there. My pop-up shower this week is interesting. It comes from the role of sports cars. So I'm sure we're all familiar with the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 24 hour race there. At the 24 hours of Le Mans,
00:54:37
Speaker
They also give Rolex watches to the race winners, but only to the overall race winning team, not to the class winners as well as they do on Daytona. Well, the Corvette team won the overall, or the LMGTE class, I believe it is. Let me look that up real quick just to make sure I got it right. But basically they won that division.
00:55:07
Speaker
And they, of course, didn't get the watches because they didn't win the entire race. So they get to, and of course, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is kind of a division of the World Endurance Championship, the FIA WEC. So they're at a WEC event this weekend coming up in Japan.
00:55:34
Speaker
And the team is back together. The team's compiled of Nikki Katzburg, Nicholas Varone, and Ben Keating. And Ben Keating is a cool story just because he's not a full-time professional race car driver. He is a exotic car salesman and dealer. And then he races as a really a gentleman driver, if you will. But he's
00:55:58
Speaker
probably the best gentleman driver in the world right now. And so he'll race LMP2s at the last several, I think, 24 hours at Daytona. He's raced multiple classes in the same race, which is insane. He's part of the Corvette team for the WEC races though. And since they won the class at Le Mans, he went ahead and had commemorative Rolexes made for his teammates.
00:56:25
Speaker
and delivered them to the guys there in Japan for the six hours of Fuji. So I think it's a really cool deal that he went ahead and did that and to commemorate that win because it's a huge win for Corvette and the U.S. manufacturer there to win Le Mans.
00:56:43
Speaker
Sorry, that was a bit of a long one, but, you know, I had to set it up a little bit. It's like, Oh, what's the big deal with getting Rolex? Yeah, Rolex is nice, but I had to set up some. Let's get to our race picks real quick. Uh, in our actual picks, uh, we had a one, two finish amongst us, uh, Steve with Tyler Ruddick. Denny was picked by G and then.
00:57:04
Speaker
Dylan and I struggled a bit. I had William Byron finishing 15th, and Dylan had bubble walls to finish 32nd. And our season long standings, it looks like so. Dylan, with this tough day, the gap has been closed. Steve, you're only 76 points down from Dylan right now.
00:57:23
Speaker
Uh, Jake is another, uh, 38 points behind Steve. And then I am 27 points behind Jake. So I'm dead last. I need some help here. My street continues. I haven't had a top 10 since my win by Martin Truex Jr. That's eight races ago at Loudon.
00:57:43
Speaker
So the tough luck continues, but I hope it turns around. So Dylan has texted us as he gets to pick first. He wants Denny Hamlin this weekend at the half mile boring at Bristol. I'm going to go Kyle Larson because Kyle Larson won at Richmond. He won in the spring. He won at Martinsville in the spring. He won at North Wilkesboro in the spring. He has been the king of short tracks this year. So I'm going Kyle Larson.
00:58:12
Speaker
It brings up Jake, you're next. Oh, I thought about him when really because I picked him here recently and I just feel like he's due for a win. I'll go out on I guess maybe a little bit of a limb and a guy we. I'm not sure if we mentioned when talking about the Cup series, but. Is right there and I'll pick Brad Kuzlowski. I think he's another guy.
00:58:41
Speaker
that is due for a win. I mean, he's been so close, multiple times this season, last season, and he has a pretty good history at Bristol. So why not? Chris Busher won last fall race there, and why not Brad? Why not Brad? All right, Anna. Steve, who do you like? Well, I don't like going to the well too much, but I feel like I have to.
00:59:12
Speaker
Uh, it was going to be a tossup between, uh, Busher and the driver that I'm going to pick, but I'm going to, I'm going to go with, uh, chase Elliott for the simple reason that he is always very good at Bristol. Um, the year that he lost or lost the opportunity when he, uh, got tangled up with Harvick, uh, definitely thought that he could have won then last year.
00:59:37
Speaker
Uh, the Bristol night race, he was the runner up to Busher who won the race. Um, and since chase has been on such a heater, uh, outside of running out of gas, the Glen has been on fire lately. So, um, he needs a win badly for at least I think maybe his confidence. And, um, I think he's going to get it here.
01:00:01
Speaker
Alrighty, so our picks for this week look like this. Jake has Brad Kaczkowski, Dylan has Denny Hamlin, Steve has Chase Elliott, and I have Kyle Larson. Hopefully there's no feuding between mine and Steve's drivers this weekend. Well, it's only if that happens, then you and I have to start a rivalry. I don't want to do that. Well, yeah, we will be like how the opposite of how they are. Yeah.
01:00:29
Speaker
But not awkward, though, right? Correct. OK, good. On our random picks, kind of a junk week all the way around. I had the best finished of everyone in the random picks with a 12th place from Ryan Blaney. Next was an 18th place from Ryan Priest. Also, did you guys see Ryan Priest's eyes? Like, oh my gosh, it looked exactly like Ricky Rudd. Oh, yeah.
01:00:57
Speaker
That was bad. He drove from 18th place finish with those. Dylan had Ricky Stenhouse, who finished 23rd, and Steve had Todd Gilliland, who finished 25th. So the season standings are as follows. I have 735 points, which is 106 above second place, which is actually tied right now between Jake and Dylan. So Jake could move from the cellar all the way into second place come next week.
01:01:24
Speaker
And then Steve is way behind at 577 points. So like 52 points back of Jake and Dylan there. So let's get the random wheel rolling here. Unfortunately, we don't have a weather forecast for Dylan or from Dylan this week. What do you guys want to Google a forecast for Bristol this weekend while I'm doing this? Well, I will say,
01:01:53
Speaker
I will be in Florida Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and coming back Monday, and it is expected to be raining. So Bristol 78 and sunny on Saturday. It's going to be beautiful. Oh, so unlike a Bristol race. 70, it looks like it'll be just a classic fall night.
01:02:21
Speaker
Alrighty, while you guys are doing that, Steve, you got Ross Chastain. Hmm, whatever. I'm still bringing up the Rio in a pretty bad big way, so. Next up is going to be Dylan, and Dylan gets Brad Kuzoski. Hey, I guess Ross could, I guess, wake up here, but I don't have much faith. He had quite a quiet 13th place finish yesterday.
01:02:51
Speaker
Next is Jake, and Jake, you have Koryla Joy. Yay! Good luck with that. How many laps down do you think Koryla will finish this weekend? How many laps are there? 500? 500, yes. Oh, no. I'll say he finishes... six laps down.
01:03:18
Speaker
Okay, so fewer laps than his car number down. Correct. One fewer. Okay, I got Eric Jones.
01:03:28
Speaker
Is Reed Sorensen in this week? Have we seen the entry list? The entry list is out. Let me go back here to the Cup Series thing from Jay Ski. Jay Ski Trucks. Let's see. JJ Galey is in the 15 car for Rick Ware. He's back. And then Cole Custer in the 51. Okay. All right. Interesting. Most of our is back in the 42, by the way. I think I mentioned that earlier, but just to tie that up, he will be back in the 42 this week.
01:03:58
Speaker
And then nobody looks like out of the host of our, nobody out of the ordinary. So Reed's back. That's all I care about. BJ McLeod is back in the 78 car. I kind of floated the radar for me. I didn't realize that Sheldon Creed was in that car yesterday. I know. I noticed that because they were talking about it, and I was not really paying attention. I honestly don't know where he finished in that race, but I'm assuming it wasn't on the lead lap. No, I don't believe it was, no. I would be shocked.
01:04:29
Speaker
All right, guys, well, it's going to be an exciting weekend, an early weekend of NASCAR racing. Of course, it's a Thursday, Friday, Saturday weekend for Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup, quiet Sunday for the second week of NFL action. And speaking of NFL, that's where I'm going to head after we're done recording this podcast, catch up on some Monday Night Football. Well, Aaron Rodgers, I think, Torrey Achilles. So my fantasy season is in flux right now.
01:04:56
Speaker
Ouch. On the first drive, it looks like alerts on my phone. So. Big yikes. Yep. Okay. Well, I have a lot to catch up on once I get this podcast posted. So I guess we'll wrap it up on that note and I'll get this podcast out for you all. Thanks so much for listening to cloud with a chance of racing. We'll see you after Bristol for Jake and Steve. I'm Braxton. Have a good one.