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Ep. 18: This Episode Has More Cautions than Sonoma
18 Plays1 year ago
Steve and Braxton are here this week to recap the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway with a surprise Aric Almirola win on Saturday and a dominant Martin Truex Jr. win on Sunday. Plus Steve unveils his ideas for a revamped NASCAR schedule. The guys also recap the Garage 56 effort and overall outstanding weekend at Le Mans for General Motors. Steve laments the poor finish of his race pick in Tyler Reddick, and it's a Ford sweep in the random picks for the next race at Nashville.
Cloudy With a Chance of Racing will be taking the week off along with the NASCAR National Series, and will return June 26 with an all new episode recapping the Nashville SuperSpeedway races.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review Cloudy With a Chance of Racing wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show on Twitter and Instagram @CloudyRacingPod.
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Transcript
Podcast Overview & Host Introduction
00:00:15
Speaker
We've reached the halfway point of the NASCAR Cup Series season. Claudio with a chance of racing has also reached the halfway point as we are on to Episode 18 here. I'm Braxton, glad to have you joining us, as well as Steve joining me tonight. Jake and Dylan a bit tied up this evening. It sounds like Jake had a rowdy time in Nashville this past weekend.
00:00:39
Speaker
where the NASCAR circuit is headed next after an off week. So we'll give him a bye. And then Dylan is doing very important things with with his weather forecasting compatriots, his his better halves on the TV screen, a.k.a. his puppies. So I definitely give him a pass
Sonoma Race Weekend Recap
00:01:00
Speaker
for that. But Steve, you're joining us tonight. How's it going for for you? And how is the Sonoma race weekend?
00:01:06
Speaker
Sonoma Race Weekend overall I thought was pretty good. I was somewhat surprised by the Xfinity Series winner in Erika Morola.
00:01:19
Speaker
especially in that car, geez, specifically. You know, the Xfinity race, if we're going to just jump right into it here, not too many surprises for me there. You know, I thought there was a chance of either Larson or Almondinger. I thought there was a chance that Larson would sweep the weekend, honestly, going into it. That was very much not the case, especially in the Cup Series race.
00:01:45
Speaker
Great, great, great run for Elmore Olin in the Xfinity series. And, um, you know, I, uh, overall, um, I thought the Xfinity race was better. Cup race was, I don't know. I think I was being a little hard on it. I think some people on Twitter were basically saying it wasn't as bad as everyone was saying it was, but I just wasn't. It was, it was a typical Martin Truex win where.
00:02:12
Speaker
Nothing happened, really. So I thought great for him and great for that team, but it was a snooze fest for the entire race.
Sonoma Strategy & Surprises
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, I'll agree that both in terms of the on track racing and the overall entertainment factor, the Xfinity race put on a better show for sure. Kyle Larson was wicked fast, but he was like a second faster than the field in qualifying. And you could say, oh, well, most Xfinity drivers haven't been to Sonoma before. They don't know their way around the track.
00:02:46
Speaker
Wajay Almadinger has a lot of laps at Sonoma and he was in that field and Larson was still over a second faster. So I was very impressive by him. But then, like you said, surprise winner and Eric Almorola and granted the team owner was listed as Rod Seague, you know, Kyle and Ryan Seague's dad. I can almost guarantee you that that is a Stewart Haas chassis that had a RSS wrap on it.
00:03:17
Speaker
But still, you know, Al Merola doesn't race in those cars very much. It's his first time, you know, racing a stick pattern or an H pattern in quite a while since the next gen has gone to the sequential. So that's a tough change to make, you know, on a one off like that. And.
00:03:37
Speaker
He managed to put himself up front and and stick around there pretty much all afternoon. And and really, that's that's what you have to do it really anywhere, but at a place like a road course where anything can happen. And and when calamity does happen, it's usually really big. You know, it's a big off into the tires, you know, it's getting caught in the wall and a narrow front stretch like what happened to Denny Hamlin yesterday. Anything can happen. And and it was Eric Elmarole there to capitalize.
00:04:08
Speaker
Correct me if I'm wrong. AJ Almondinger had some sort of issue, right? He had, I think he mentioned something about, like something smelled like it was burning up inside the car and then it felt like they didn't mention it much, but he definitely didn't have the same speed that he has had at many an Xfinity series road course in the last three or four years. Correct. But the
Cup Race Strategy Analysis
00:04:32
Speaker
funny thing about that is regardless,
00:04:34
Speaker
He's always at the front. And if you look at the top four finishers of the Xfinity race, Almerola, Almondinger, Larson, Gibbs, all full-time Cup Series drivers with Parker Kligerman, who, again, just somehow recently has been very solid, and then Cole Custer in sixth, who obviously former Cup Series full-time Cup Series driver.
00:04:58
Speaker
Um, they just know the track better. I think there's a better, um, understanding of, of how to be upfront. Uh, you know, especially for guys like Almond Dinger and Larson. Um, I mean, there were parts of that race too, where, um, Amarola was, uh, you know, I, you, you were kind of thinking, well, you know, he's, he, he could get past at some point maybe, but didn't end up working out that way. But I mean,
00:05:24
Speaker
Like I said, the best racing of the weekend generally goes to Xfinity Race, and this weekend was no exception, especially considering the fact that, like I said before, it's a typical Truex race where he gets out in front and nobody can pass him, but specifically nobody can pass anybody else.
00:05:44
Speaker
Yeah, I did like that the in the cup race yesterday, it seemed like there was a different a difference in the tire. You know, there was fall off, right? But not many varying strategies and the one and the varying strategies that did happen. The field was so strung out that you really didn't get any.
00:06:04
Speaker
um any battles out of it you know it was a lot of the same folks who were on the same strategy were in a pack together and then maybe a secondary strategy they're all in a pack together it seemed like and there was kind of amongst themselves and there might be you know half a lot between those two groups and you really didn't see any of that play out on the track uh until i guess the very end the Denny
Team Dynamics & Performance Issues
00:06:27
Speaker
Hamlin caution
00:06:29
Speaker
And then, uh, there was a little bit, I think, uh, what Chase Elliott stayed out there. Um, who else? Maybe Reddick stayed out there, but they got gobbled up so fast. There wasn't enough buffer between them and the fresh tires. Right. And, and Elliott, it was, um, you know, I know Gustafson has had some, uh, criticism, a lot of it justified, but the, to me, and this is, you know, no, no insult to the nine team or Allen Gustafson, because this is a track where.
00:06:58
Speaker
Any road course really chase Ellie can go to and win, but it didn't really matter that much if you know trying to get track position You knew he was gonna get swallowed up by anybody who was behind him so track position in this instance doesn't really matter that much because they need to win if you go out on old tires and There are people behind you with new tires. It's not gonna matter It's this isn't he's not the thing about this is like I get why they were doing this they were hoping that
00:07:29
Speaker
The car had enough speed that they could try to hold them off for a while and maybe get another caution and come in. I'm guessing that's- Yeah, I was going to say caution breeds cautions. If they can do that and stay out in front, they can just chip away the laps and it just didn't work out like that. I respect that because they needed it, but I know that at this point for the nine, it's all about wind. Nothing else matters. Track position doesn't matter.
00:07:52
Speaker
They have to be, I mean, track position matters obviously, but track position in that instance doesn't matter unless you're banking on cautions happening often. But like that race yesterday, there were so many opportunities or so few opportunities for cautions and pit strategy and track position that it was just like, well, we'll try to see what happens. But within, I don't know, within a lap, he got passed by two people.
00:08:20
Speaker
I mean that it was, you know, like I, I thought that I felt for Ryan Blaney yesterday too. That was a rough, rough go of it for him. He had a really solid day going and then, you know, had two issues. One of which I think had to do with Michael McDowell. But, um, you know, again, if I see true ex leading in a race, I'm like, well, it's over. I should just stop watching. I think it's interesting that the, a couple of points here. So I felt like.
00:08:50
Speaker
There was very little passing despite Hayataya's fireworks. I think the cars were just so evenly matched, top to bottom, or at least in the top 20 or so. There wasn't really any meaningful battles.
00:09:05
Speaker
And the cars who did fall behind, you know, if they were, if they came in early being a Truex or a Michael McDowell, they were able to just zip through the traffic, like, no, this is nothing.
Race Outcomes & Driver Highlights
00:09:16
Speaker
And then get through. And that was really the only passing you saw all race. There wasn't a lot of comers and goers, even when the tires fell off, everybody fell off. It wasn't like, uh, you know, Truex or, or Kyle Bush burned up their tires and then somebody was able to make a charge from behind. It was.
00:09:34
Speaker
You know, they burn up their tires. OK, they're just going slower and everybody else is going slower, too. And I think that's that's the biggest difference is I think we finally got a a tire wear effort. We saw a lot of times go down. That's great. But the cars are still too evenly matched to make a difference about it. I know it was frustrating. And the other thing I wanted to point out is it seems like the nine team, I don't know if it's just of some like
00:10:00
Speaker
solely or the engineering or what. But that team just doesn't have hasn't had the same speed, you know, as the others, I guess, as the five and the 24. Because I would say Bowman hasn't had the same speed either. But the nine and the 48 just haven't had the same amount of speed. And I know there's been like kind of a revolving door drivers between those two cars and the consistency matters. But still, in the races that chase all it's been in,
00:10:26
Speaker
Hasn't been overly impressive and the races that Alex Bowman's been in hasn't been overly impressive. I think some of it has to just do with the equipment, um, with at least the nine team, because, you know, I, I know that, I mean, at least in the Coke 600 for the time that chase was in it, they started off, they did not look good. And I think throughout again, throughout.
00:10:49
Speaker
The time he was in the race, they looked a little bit better than they did before, and then he jumped himself and Denny, and then that was that. But even think about the races that Josh Berry was in. He finished second in that Richmond race, and now it's purely strategy. That was right in the middle of two where Larson and Byron were still cleaning house through the entire series.
00:11:14
Speaker
And Josh Berry, you know, you know, he doesn't have a ton of cup experience, but by the time, you know, it gets, you know, five or six races in, like he's not, you know, totally green anymore. Like he's going to a lot of race tracks that he is familiar with the track itself. So that helps a little bit. And he's getting more and more experience and he wasn't really running. Closer to the front that you would expect. Corey LaJoy is very intimate with the next gen platform. Like he's been at all two years or all year and a half now.
00:11:40
Speaker
did not have very much speed. And certainly it could be that he just isn't the same driver. But at the same time, you look at the rest of the nine results, it's not like the nine was cleaning house every week, right? And then Cory literally gets in the car and finishes in the mid 20s, right? The nine was running like
00:11:58
Speaker
15th, you know, 12th to 17th ish, you know, in that neighborhood, maybe get a top 10 here or there. And then Corey, the joy finished in the mid twenties. It's a much smaller golf there and makes you think that it's not necessarily the driver or there's something going on with the setups, uh, engineering, whatever you want to point to blame at. I certainly agree with that. I mean, and.
00:12:19
Speaker
He still managed to snag a top five at Sonoma. He out drove
Le Mans Participation & Challenges
00:12:28
Speaker
his car there. Oh, for sure. That's because he's not a ringer. I think he's good just about everywhere. For instance, Joey Logano is who I'm looking at yesterday. Just kind of hung around. He was really good. He's really good everywhere.
00:12:47
Speaker
good strategy, hung in there, and I think he finished third. I think it was, it was, I think it was, it was Truex, Bush, Lugano, Busher, Chase, I think. That's correct. Um, Lugano was, I mean, did anybody really stand out at all yesterday? I don't, I certainly don't think so outside of Truex and, and Kyle Busch, but you know, again, some of this has to do with strategy.
00:13:13
Speaker
Reddick was my pick, had a rough end of the race and it is what it is. But to your point overall, Josh Berry looked great for the reps that he got.
00:13:29
Speaker
Um, La Joy didn't look good at all. And he's been in a car with worst equipment. I would say if it's me, if I'm Rick Hendrick, I'm going to start pointing the finger at the setups for both the 48 and the nine. I mean.
00:13:45
Speaker
There's only so much the crew chief can do during the race. It goes back to how they bring the car to the track. So at this point, the most successful car over the last two years has been the five. But I think, you know, Rick Hendrick has
00:14:07
Speaker
And I don't have anything to back this up, but I would say that he has more of an allegiance to chase Elliott. I think the chase will probably be there longer. I don't think that Larson is a lifer with Hendrick that I just, I don't, I feel like at some point he's going to get offered to be like the, the, the, in my head, I'd think of Tony Stewart, you know? Um, but I don't know. I think to counter that you think though, is that the Rick Hendrick
00:14:37
Speaker
is putting his name on the side of that race car every week, or just about every week on the five. I think that that has certain considerations that, you know, he doesn't, he wouldn't have to spend that money from HendrickCars.com to sponsor Kyle Larson. He's not just sponsoring Larson in the cup series. Every Xfinity slash truck series start the Larson makes is HendrickCars.com on the side of the sprint car and the dirt lane model that Kyle Larson races. There is at least one logo. This is HendrickCars.com.
00:15:08
Speaker
I think Rick Hendrick is putting a sizable investment in there, but I could see a situation where Larson might go out on his own and make something happen. I do think one guy who stood out and he's been having a great season this season is Michael McDowell. I think, you know, the last run from basically from the Denny caution lap, like 93, 95, something around there to the end, he made up six positions, which
00:15:37
Speaker
in a race where there wasn't much passing, that's quite a bit of passing. Sure. And he ended up with a seventh place finish from that. I think so. Yeah. Well, I was going to say, I think that like McDowell had helped himself a little bit, uh, in that race, uh, with his interaction with Ryan Blaney. Um, wait, but I, you know, I, I he's gotten better. He, I think I'll,
00:16:04
Speaker
always out drives his equipment, which I'm not trying to dump on the team, but the reason that they won the Indy 500, geez, the Daytona 500, I think there was a little luck involved there. But overall, he's always good at super speedways. You look at McDowell and you think, oh yeah, if it's a super speedway, he's going to be top 10 until the very end.
00:16:31
Speaker
You kind of don't like
American Manufacturers at Le Mans
00:16:33
Speaker
it. It was like Chris Busher up until a couple years ago Busher's the same way. He'll always find his way up up to the front in races. You don't think you will I gotta give a shout out to Chris Busher He has the longest active streak of top tens at road courses in the cup series Really? Chase Elliott. It's not AJ Almondinger. It's not Kyle Larson or Joey Logano or Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Busch. It's
00:17:00
Speaker
Chris Busher has the longest active streak of top 10 finishes in the cup series right now. That 17 car has been impressive. Um, and he's been impressive in it. And I'm looking, I'm trying to look right now to the playoff standings and he is 11th. And oddly enough, Brad keselowski, wait, I think, yeah, Brad keselowski is 12th. And that's so what I'm seeing right here. So, I mean, look.
00:17:28
Speaker
he's
Future NASCAR Races & Schedule Changes
00:17:44
Speaker
going to show up on road courses and perform well, but he does. And that's one thing that I think a lot of drivers like hope to do. Like Bubba Wallace at some point, like he's, he'll come to a, I think, I forget what road course it was. I think he snagged like a top five or top 10. And I was like, Oh, you know, maybe they're starting to figure this out. I think he finished 17th. It was okay. Not a great day, but
00:18:09
Speaker
He finished better than Denny and Reddick. It is what it is with some guys, but certainly agree. Buscher has been very impressive. It was a big road course weekend for the NASCAR next-gen car because the garage 56th century with Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR competed at the 24-hour Le Mans this past weekend, finished 39th overall, I believe, 38th to 39th.
00:18:36
Speaker
They had a tough break in the wee morning hours, a driveline issue, put them in the garage for about an hour. Yeah. Yeah. And then that really kind of killed on the opportunity for them. But they were running, you know, at the head of all of the GT cars and they were ahead of several LMP twos that had fallen out of the race. But they were in the high or like low 20. Sorry. And running like overall, it was a really good day for them. And
00:19:06
Speaker
And just that one drive on issue, but, um, it doesn't sound like that was a quality issue. I don't think they haven't really seen what exactly it was. I think it's just a matter of, um, of, you know, that's what happens when you race for 24 hours and you know, anything can happen. You know, you catch a curb just the wrong way and it can shock the drive line or anything like that. So, uh, so I think a very impressive showing for them. And, uh, I think everybody was blown away with the speed that car had.
00:19:34
Speaker
They think they ended up qualifying four seconds a lap faster than the fastest GT car, which was really impressive They had to like redo the safety car procedures Because the garage 56 car ended up being so much faster than the GT cars But then also I think it was really impressive
00:19:53
Speaker
that they were able to go as long as they did and put on a show. I watched 17 of the 24 hours, which beat my, last year I watched, I watched 15. I slept for about seven hours. Toward the end, I woke up with about an hour and a half left of the race.
00:20:18
Speaker
The Cadillac racing, let me just say, uh, outside of the action express car, which, you know, really bad luck, uh, you know, on the first lap, just, just right into the wall. Um, the two and three cars, they were really, really, really strong and finished better than the Penske Pujos, uh, in the race, which, sorry. Um, which was like.
00:20:46
Speaker
I don't want to say it wasn't expected. I mean, but when you bring two American cars, American manufacturers over for a hypercar category and the top category where you have Toyota who has been like a buzzsaw in this race every single year, you don't know what you're going to get. I think it's also
00:21:10
Speaker
that, you know, some of those, there's two cars have had, they haven't had the best of luck this year here. But, but overall, they hung in there. And I think the one thing about endurance racing, and I was at the sale in six hours at the Glen last year. The one thing that you don't realize when you're there, and you're seeing these cars, it obviously it's on a smaller scale, it is really just hard to be in them.
00:21:38
Speaker
and, you know, take laps and constantly, you know, outpace another car for a long period of time. And, you know, with how these cars are set up now with the hybrid model and with the V8 hybrid, you know, you don't know what to expect, but specifically, it is like really, really impressive what these cars were able to do. Having, you know, basically the first year of them and then running in Le Mans
00:22:09
Speaker
for 24 hours, uh, and getting a podium out of it. And then the fourth spot, uh, overall. So, and also Corvette racing, speaking of which I know that we're talking next gen, but Corvette racing also, they had, uh, uh, they had some bad luck too and overcame it and then came back to a win. So general motors, they went very happy. The Corvette GTE car won the GTE class at 24 hours. They went to the garage in the first hour, right? With, uh,
00:22:36
Speaker
They said it was like some sort of shock absorber or spring issue, changed it out and ended up winning the class. Yeah. Uh, and I think that's a, uh, a monumental effort and result there for GM overall to have, um, such a high finish in the hypercar with the Cadillacs winning the GTE class with the Corvette and then the garage 56 car have put in together a fabulous race.
00:23:02
Speaker
And so
Driver Standings & Race Predictions
00:23:04
Speaker
right so the memes were hilarious too, by the way everything about the garage 56 the garage 56 memes it would be the you know, it would be dead silent and then you would hear the roar of the VA and then Freebird by Leonard Skinner would be playing in the background as the car is flying down the Molson Street or just the overall like you would hear the the
00:23:30
Speaker
You know a lot of some of the european japanese cars flying like coming through the start finish line and then just this roaring v8 from the garage 56 car flying down Um the front straight away. So it was I mean, it was awesome. I love lemana. It's such a fun Race to watch. I mean, i'd love the roll x24 also um, but lemana's is uh
00:23:53
Speaker
It's the biggest stage in the world of endurance racing and it's nice to see some American manufacturers really put on a great show. I'm going to Paris in about a month and I've already asked and been rejected from the rest of my traveling party about making a trip west to Le Mans.
00:24:13
Speaker
Well, I would certainly go. So I looked at this a while ago because I was just trying to see how to get there. And I could be wrong. It's not exactly like super easy to get there, I don't think.
00:24:26
Speaker
No, it's it's kind of out in the countryside a bit. It's like only available to get to by train, I believe, but they have roads, of course. Well, yes, that yes. So you can't fly there, but it's driving a train. Fastest way to get there, I think, is what I meant to say is by train. Yeah. But overall, I don't think that I would I don't if I were somebody who was not a fan of motorsports, I probably wouldn't want to go.
00:24:52
Speaker
Yeah, that that's my issue is that my my the rest of my family is going is not motorsports fans as much as I am. So they don't have much interest in it. But it's a fabulous result there for the American contingent there in the 24 hours of the month.
00:25:11
Speaker
Uh, it's a off week for NASCAR coming up, uh, this weekend is father's day weekend here in the United States. So that means, uh, for this year and off weekend for all three and NASCAR national series, a welcome respite for the cup series, especially having gone, uh, 19 straight weeks. I think at this point include the duels, uh, and qualifying for the 500.
00:25:36
Speaker
All the way through till now, it's right at the midway point of the season. So they'll go another 18 straight to the to the end at Phoenix. That means there are what eight races left in the regular season. So getting kind of down to crunch time. It's the summertime stretch here. NBC taking over the broadcasting, starting with the next race at Nashville.
00:26:04
Speaker
What are we looking for for the second half of the season? Well, I like to give a shout out to the broadcast booth at Fox first and foremost. They had some really good guests.
00:26:22
Speaker
I know that the fans early on were dumping on Fox. I think they had some very solid broadcasts and some solid races that they put together. But I will say that I think NBC puts on a much better product, what they lack in Booth. And the Booth is great. Don't get me wrong. Think Rick Allen.
00:26:43
Speaker
and Dale Jr. do a great job. Latar, everybody does a great job. The broadcast, the production value is much better. I know that fans also agree. I think that, you know, and this is, you know, working in media, we look at this differently than other people may, but
00:27:03
Speaker
Fox NFL games or NBC NFL games are much better than Fox NFL games from a production standpoint it's the same rings true with NASCAR so I am looking for that you know first I'd like to mention that I like I am looking forward to I think what is a better
00:27:23
Speaker
overall production value for racing. We're getting into a stretch after this of some very, very good races, but some races that I'm not super duper excited about.
00:27:38
Speaker
The Chicago street race I'm not super excited about. I understand why they want to have it. Um, I'll be at the Pocono race. So that'll be fun. Uh, it'll be my first time at Pocono, uh, which is, I'm excited for. I've heard nothing but bad things about the parking situation, but I'll have to just deal with that. Can you do something for us when you go to Pocono? Can you take a trundle wheel and measure the distance to the front stretch? Yeah, I'll do that. No problem.
00:28:05
Speaker
Thank you. Matter of fact, I have pit passes. I'm getting pit passes, so
Podcast Closure & Off Week Announcement
00:28:09
Speaker
I'm going to run out onto the track as fast as I can and then see how long I can get before I get tackled. That was a joke, maybe. Well, at least you end up with the same result as Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin had yesterday, when his fellow Canadian, Nick Taylor, won the Canadian Open.
00:28:31
Speaker
uh, in Toronto with a insane putt, like I know it's 70, it's like 70 feet, 72 foot putt for the win. It was ridiculous. Fellow Canadian golfer, Adam Hadwin goes onto the course, like onto the green to congratulate his buddy.
00:28:47
Speaker
and gets tackled by security because he didn't have his credential on and security didn't know who he was. Which was hilarious. I think the USGA sent him a vest, like one of those neon green vests in a hard hat, which I thought was also pretty fun. Well, they could have delivered it here today. I'm just three miles from where the US government is taking place this week. Oh, well, how about that? That's exciting.
00:29:15
Speaker
I know that I don't want to get too much off topic, but it looks like I would not want to golf there ever under any circumstance. It looks ridiculous. The rough is ridiculous. Like it looks like it's like 12 inches high, but it's so it's not that high. It's just very, very dense. Yeah, it is. They've overseeded it so much to put this in NASCAR terms. There is no doubt that if the car went through the infield with the rough they have here at the L.A. Country Club knows getting clearly ripped off.
00:29:44
Speaker
There's not a chance in the world. Yeah stays on anyway One race that I am excited super excited for and I'd love it every year. It's one of my favorites is Watkins Glen I'm such a big fan of Watkins Glen in fact, I would say that and I do have a
00:30:02
Speaker
For some people I do have a potential schedule fix that we could get to but I'd like to say that if they added and took away one road course and added two Watkins Glen Road courses, I would be fine with it I don't think anybody else would be but I would be fine with it with or without the boot Hmm I'm gonna say without
00:30:29
Speaker
So the current configuration they run now. Yes. I like, I'm fine with it. Um, but, uh, uh, I, I would say that if I had to pick, um, one, uh, road course that I think should always stay, uh, regardless of what other, I know, and I know that they want to get more road courses on, but I think Watkins Glen stays. You could take any other road course out for me and I wouldn't miss it, but that's one that I look forward to every year.
00:30:56
Speaker
You know, I will say I was looking forward to Sonoma a bit because it's a road course that you can't do stupid stuff going into turn one. And I thought, okay, we're going to get some more gentlemanly racing here.
00:31:11
Speaker
In it being a snoozer. Right. Well, and that's kind of how it is. Compared to like, compared to Coda, where everybody barrels into term one, same at Indy, same at the removal. That's what I was going to mention. Same to an extent at Watkins Glen. Coda is like, but see the one about, the one at Coda is
00:31:28
Speaker
there's no leeway, you know, you go right into the rocks, at least with Watkins Glen into turn one, you have, I mean, obviously, everybody funnels in the same, the same exact way. But there it's more forgiving. Like if you go outside, you can go outside and not have to worry about, you know, running into the into the gravel and then being stuck. And then them having to throw a caution. There's, there's one reason that's a recent thing in the last 10 years or so.
00:31:55
Speaker
I think it paved that over because of course there's that memorable, I don't want to say highlight, but moment from Jimmy Johnson in a Bush series race. Oh my goodness. 99. 99. Yep.
00:32:07
Speaker
Yeah, where his throttle hung and he went through the sand, basically flew over the sand and went into the tire barrier there. But by the way, he had some heads up driving right there, too, because if you watch where he realizes that his car, I think, was like his throttle was done and he was just going to go into the wall. He went into the grass first, I think, to try to slow his car down.
00:32:33
Speaker
And it did a little bit, but then just went dead on into the wall, got out of his car and like stood up onto it and was like, you know, but, uh, regardless, um, I, yeah, I mean, we're obviously also coming back on another Talladega and another, um, Daytona race, which I love Bristol night race and the Bristol night race, which I also love. So, um, homestead is a great, is a, is a playoff race, which I think we needed back. And so I'm excited for that too.
00:33:03
Speaker
You mentioned your schedule adjustments a little bit, and we just had the Coke 600 a few weeks ago, and it makes me wonder.
00:33:12
Speaker
Do we take away the roval and run another oval race at Charlotte? Because the oval racing at Charlotte on the mile and a half has been so good the last couple of years. So I think that there is a reason that they probably wouldn't do it. And I'm not joking when I say it's I think because Chase Elliott is so good there at the roval that they wouldn't take it away.
00:33:35
Speaker
But I could do without the roval. I think it's a good track, and it's a good road course. And people like road courses. If we're up to me, I would have two Charlotte Oval races. But there are worse road courses than that one. So I definitely don't have an issue with it.
00:34:05
Speaker
Right. I mean, there's so many good road courses in, in the area or around the country that you could definitely go to, uh, expand your horizons a little bit with some different markets, perhaps, and still have a great race at Charlotte. Now, now the question is, what track do you take a race away from in order to add one of these?
00:34:26
Speaker
road courses to it. You know, I think a lot of people have said they need to go to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. A lot of people say mid-ohio, mid-ohio. Yeah. Most sport again, go back north of the border to Canada. So I think I was in an Adam Stern tweet last week after we recorded. They said something about there had been talks between NASCAR and organizers at the Circuit Jill Villeneuve in Montreal.
00:34:54
Speaker
which is this weekend, this coming weekend is hosting Formula One about hosting NASCAR there. The Cup Series, the Xfinity Series previously had run there in the Island Park in Montreal, but the Cup Series has not been there. So sounds like there is at least some some grumblings about the Cup Series going north of the border to Quebec to run there at Circa de Villeneuve.
00:35:21
Speaker
Uh, that could be a very good one. Um, it also could be a total calamity because, uh, it's a very tight course. Again, it's on an Island. Uh, there's a lot of things they could do. Uh, but I think they're definitely in an impasse. And I think a lot of people are going to be upset because they're going to be tracks to lose races. Uh, and, and they're not going to be happy with it. And that's fine. I mean, look, I, I'll get to my schedule fix. The first thing that I want to say though, is that, um,
00:35:50
Speaker
Some of the, like, there are places I think that need to lose races. I understand that there are a number of fans there in some of these cities or states, regions that have been going to two races a year, uh, every year for ever. Um, but that the racing is not good there anymore and should be cut down in my view.
00:36:13
Speaker
I mean, that's what happened to Michigan, my home track. Chicago land. Yeah. And so let me just go through my schedule fix here. All right. So I don't like the Indy Road course at all. I think it's bad. I think a couple of years ago, there were major problems with it. And racing for me is just not that good. I think you take away the Indy Road course and bring back the Brickyard 400, which I think is actually going to happen.
00:36:42
Speaker
If I were to guess, I mean, there's been enough talk about it. I think it's probably going to happen only, though, if they fix the break issues. Right. I think I brought it up last week. Yeah. That the the straightaways at Indy are longer than the straightaway is a gateway. Well, we're going to see a Pocono if these rotors are exploding like they were a gateway. Yeah. And again and again, a gateway compared to Pocono as well.
00:37:06
Speaker
That is a very tight angle corner where you have to run a lot of brake to get around there. Granted, there's more banking at Turn 1 at Pocono, but still. Well, yes. But the problem, I think, is there is... Yes, there is. But the speeds are so high on those straightaways that when you come to... It's like at Martinsville sometimes, and it's not the same type of thing.
00:37:29
Speaker
Those breaks are glowing red just because of how much they have to utilize them in these turns. Whereas like at Pocono, when you're coming down to like turn one or any of the turns, there's so much massive force that is pushed down on these, I mean, it's the middle of the day. And how hot it is outside, they're glowing red in there.
00:37:54
Speaker
Totally. So look, we'll see, but I think the Brickyard 400 is probably a race that the Crown Jewel likely want this back. You know, people loved it. When it was here, it kind of took a little bit of a dive. But I think next year, we start with the Brickyard 400 again. Now, this is probably maybe a little bit more popular, but not from a conceptual idea.
00:38:20
Speaker
I don't really love CODA. I mean, I don't know how other people feel about it. I think it's a good Formula One race track. I don't think that it's a great Cup Series race track. But my fix, maybe not a fix, and this is probably not going to be as popular as you give Kansas a third race.
00:38:39
Speaker
Kansas has had the best racing of the Next Gen series, and even with the previous car, the racing was very good. Kansas with three races, you have three great races. I mean, it's just simply that's the case. You get rid of one road course that has not so good racing, and you replace it with another track that has two other races that are going to be good. The third one is also bound to be good as well.
00:39:06
Speaker
Quick devil's advocate moment for you here. So the CODA date came from the Texas Motor Speedway losing their spring date. And so if you take away CODA, I think NASCAR really wants to have two races in the state of Texas, whether it be at Texas Motor Speedway, or one at CODA, one at Texas, or some combination. Also, there aren't many
00:39:34
Speaker
facilities in the state of Texas for as big as that place is that could possibly host a NASCAR race. It's not like
00:39:40
Speaker
North Carolina where you have Charlotte and Rockingham and North Wilkesboro, et cetera. There's basically just Texas Motor Speedway. Right, which is, yes, I agree. I know, I get that. I also, the people who are in Texas who are going to listen to this are not going to like my last one, but I agree with you. The problem is that CODIS stinks as a Cup Series track and Texas Motor Speedway stinks as a track in general.
00:40:07
Speaker
Although I will say the Indy car race at Texas this spring was better than it's been before. So maybe some of the PJ one is finally getting out of that thing. Still not as good as it was before the reconfiguration. If that track was completely worn out, Texas would be a fantastic cup series race. Um,
00:40:27
Speaker
So we shouldn't have to sit through six years of junk racing. I know. Just wait for the track to wear out. I agree. I mean, but, but you know, the cup drivers, they hate it. I mean, they don't like it anymore. They know that it's a bad race and plus it's always at a time that it's like 150 degrees outside or a myth for six straight days. Right. And so, um, like I remember they red flag that a couple of years ago, uh, I can't remember why, but there was a red flag and I think it was.
00:40:55
Speaker
Can't remember who it was, but they showed the temperature in the car. It was like 141 degrees and You could just you could just feel how bad it was anyway Now this one also I it's it's kind of contempt prior to investigation I am not super excited about Chicago Street Race. I think as a one-person
00:41:18
Speaker
one-off thing NASCAR is trying to expand their market to a major city, this is the best opportunity that they're going to have. Although they had Chicagoland, that is no longer. I say get rid of the Chicago street race, make it a one-off race, and then bring back Rockingham, which I do think would be a good race for the NASCAR. Freshly paved. Yeah, freshly paved and has the facilities still to hold an event.
00:41:45
Speaker
Uh, would need some renovation. Sure. But, but would be, you know, not nearly, not nearly to the extent of North Wilkes, but no, because I think the last rocking him race was what Oh four. I believe so. And they still ran some late model races there and they were going to run, uh, I forget if it was cars tour and late model stocks or Southern super series in the, in the super late models, they were going to run a race at rocking him last year. And then, um,
00:42:15
Speaker
So they were running tire tests because they were working with Hoosier to try to develop a tire that would hold up to the extremely abrasive old surface there. And they ultimately decided not to run that late model race last year because they, Hoosier was going to have to go through so many hoops to, uh, develop a tire hard enough to not totally disintegrate and shred on that track that there was already a tire shortage.
00:42:43
Speaker
And they're like, okay, we don't want to take away available tires for other tracks on our schedule, just to make enough available tires for Rockingham. So they end up not doing it. Since then, Rockingham has been repaved. Could be back on a late model schedule.
00:42:58
Speaker
in the coming years. But yes, I like the idea of going back there. I think that there's also lineage. I don't think that a points paying race at North Wilkes-Barre is feasible at all. Just like I don't think that a points paying race at the Coliseum is feasible. I think Rockingham absolutely is.
00:43:16
Speaker
But that's my other one. Now, I would like to point out that I do love Sonoma and I love the weekend every year. The racing is not as good. I think you can dial back a Sonoma race to once every two years.
00:43:36
Speaker
I think there's an argument to be made for the drivers wanting an extra bye week. I know that there were drivers who were complaining about having to race on Easter instead of being able to be with their families. Granted, a lot of the families were there, but I think giving them an extra bye week throughout the season helps, and it would also help for the balance, kind of the work-life balance a little bit that most drivers are hoping for, especially the ones who have
00:44:04
Speaker
families. But no insult to Sonoma. I think it's a great track. It's beautiful out there, it looks like. So it also can draw Michael Jordan, which he was at last year.
00:44:18
Speaker
Now, Richmond, I think, is bad now. Take Richmond away, bring back another homestead race. Two homestead races, I think, would be good. I would take away Bristol Dirt because it stinks. We've seen it enough already. It was a novelty. The novelty's worn off. If they want to do dirt racing, take the cars to El Dora and call it a day. Then, the last but not least,
00:44:42
Speaker
Demolish Texas Motor Speedway? Well, no. Don't demolish Texas Motor Speedway. But if you want another road course, take away Texas Motor Speedway and then add Road America, which I thought was great the last time they were there. This is certainly also some interesting ideas. I would say if they're going to go to Aldora, can I make one request? Yes. Steel Bodies, please. Oh, my goodness. It would be banging and bashing all over the place.
00:45:10
Speaker
But they already do that and they do it with no penalty now. Yeah. Bring back the steel bodies just for that one race. I'm actually OK. I don't think it'll ever happen because a lot of the teams have already laid off all their fabricators that would hang steel bodies before because they're not composite bodies and stuff. So it would be a huge labor lift to make that happen.
00:45:31
Speaker
But at the same time, you're also not destroying composite components. And it's not a high downforce track. It's not like they're massaging every little piece of a steel body to try to get the most speed. I don't like to do it like a Daytona. Right. Just hang a body to where it looks presentable.
00:45:50
Speaker
because you're going to beat the hell out of it anyways. Well, the NASCAR I think should supply the funding for these bodies or at least build them because of the money that they're putting into the Chicago street race, which is absurd. They can save some of that money and then distribute it back for races like this. And in an instance, like you can have the opportunity to spend more money if you save money in other areas where like
00:46:18
Speaker
You don't have to spend it. They think they have to go into these markets to spend in Chicago. They don't. They took away Chicagoland, which I think with this car would be phenomenal. Oh yeah, totally. But yeah, that's not going to happen. I think I texted you guys after the Chase Brisco penalty was announced a couple of weeks ago now for like 120 points, like quarter million dollars, something like that, $200,000. I was like,
00:46:46
Speaker
Man, with all this fine money they're collecting, they should subsidize buying narrower wheels for the entire field so they can have smaller surface area on the track and help with some of the racing.
00:46:57
Speaker
It's I mean, it's like I know that it's I mean, it's not something that's completely out of the realm of like it's not crazy Like no, there are there are several issues that they've had and the way like said I see it every week I mean, this was a post-race inspection that they failed or no the the greenhouse was the post-race inspection for the for area the R&D was the issue with
00:47:22
Speaker
with Briscoe. Counterfeit party. Right. With the greenhouse. So I just think that, like, you know, you don't there's really no way for them to kind of change. But there it's just this is just a way to have a little fun. But also, like, I don't think that some of these are bad ideas. You know, I don't. Kansas is not getting through races a year, obviously. No. But but, you know, I do think adding a homestead race and adding rock and cam are not completely out of the realm of possibility.
00:47:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think there's there's some merit to some of those suggestions. Like you said, I think there is a push. The NASCAR wants to get the Cup Series to the Pacific Northwest because right now the closest the Cup Series goes to there is is Sonoma. I think there is a push to get NASCAR. Somewhere in the Upper Midwest, although I don't know where they would do that, because right now I think the
00:48:19
Speaker
the closest the cup series goes to say like a Minnesota or a, you know, in that part of the country, like the upper Plains would be Kansas and Chicago, which aren't exactly close. No. But again, I don't know where that would go. So that's a bit of a challenge. But I think there, you know, if there's an opportunity to go somewhere, I think they would try to explore that and to get into a new market.
00:48:46
Speaker
It's definitely going to be interesting. I also think there is considerations that they don't want to completely leave Texas. They don't want to leave Northern California. A lot of politics and negotiating going on there, plus the whole thing of taking races away from SMI and giving races to NASCAR on tracks and vice versa.
00:49:06
Speaker
It's a whole that business. I get that. But but also like you can't have it. There's you know, you take away Sonoma and you don't have any races in California. Right. At least until auto club gets finished. Right. But but as I think it gets finished. Right. But but as most people also think it's going to be worse with with how it is because it's going. I mean, the tracks not going to be any it's not going to be smaller. Here's the thought. If they don't race at Sonoma,
00:49:36
Speaker
What about going to the other side of the bay? Where? The south side of the bay. This iconic track with an iconic corners or two corners. Laguna Seca. Oh my goodness. That's interesting because you could also make the argument for Long Beach.
00:50:00
Speaker
In that instance, Long Beach street course would be interesting. It's very tight in some places. Yeah. Which drivers of cup cars do not like. Right. But also there's, I mean, so, um, Robbie Gordon stadium super trucks run as a support series for the Indy car at Long Beach.
00:50:17
Speaker
If they can get a trophy truck through there with as poor as its handling is, why can't they get NASCAR through there? That's interesting. That's interesting. Laguna Seca, and you look at those IMSA cars that run there too. I didn't even think of that. The IndyCar finale is at Laguna Seca.
00:50:38
Speaker
Interesting. I like that idea. I would, I would, I would definitely be on board with that. In fact, I would probably be on board with that over a Sonoma race, at least just for a year to see how it would be 100%. I will say the infrastructure, I was just in Monterey like six weeks ago, the infrastructure there to handle all of the teams and such is not great. Um, there certainly are a lot of hotels, but it's very expensive.
00:51:07
Speaker
There's not a whole ton of hotels then for fans to stay in. It's like an hour and a half from San Jose. So that gets a little, you know, a little bit of a hike away. But again, I guess you look at Michigan, they have a huge camping scene at MIS and MIS is a solid hour. Yeah, solid hour, 45 minutes from Ann Arbor. So it can be done. I think it'd be interesting though.
00:51:34
Speaker
I think there's a better chance of Laguna Seca than, I mean like if I had to choose between Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio, I would take a chance on Laguna Seca and see how it looks.
00:51:47
Speaker
I would selfishly say Mid-Ohio only because it's close enough for me to go to. Agreed. Same with me. But from a standpoint of a fan to watch on TV, Laguna Seca would probably be cooler. But there's tons of opportunities for
00:52:05
Speaker
for road courses that they could add or subtract. And I don't think that, you know, I think NASCAR is kind of looking for the best, like the perfect match every year, but I just don't like that idea. Like there are so many opportunities that they have that they could give a road America, one race a year, and then take another one away and then give it back next year. It's there's, you know, there doesn't, it doesn't have, or here's the thought is, is do they have, do they really need to go to a super Speedway style Atlanta twice? Right.
00:52:34
Speaker
Could they go down the road to Road Atlanta?
00:52:38
Speaker
Another great road course. Or if you want to take away Richmond, you could go to VIR. VIR, yeah. So the VIR is very close. It's right next to Martinsville. It's within like 30 minutes of Martinsville. So it's super close for the teams to get there. So basically, what I'm saying is, I guess this makes sense, is that you could take any of the IMSA courses, really, and use them as cup courses if you wanted to take away a course
00:53:07
Speaker
Take away a track and then replace it with something else even the Daytona road course. I don't think was bad But you know that they wouldn't have they don't think that'll come back no
00:53:18
Speaker
Very interesting stuff there. It's a lot for our listeners to ponder. If you have any thoughts on Steve's suggestion there or rescheduling thoughts, be sure to let us know in the comments on review or tweet us at Cloudy Racing Pod. And if you have anything that's particularly outstanding, well, I'll be sure to discuss it and read it aloud on the next podcast. Steve, let's get to our picks from last week.
00:53:48
Speaker
No, geez. At Sonoma, we actually, three of us had a good day. It's not used to, you do not have a good day. Yeah, that's super cool, yep.
00:53:59
Speaker
So Dylan led the way with from our group with a fifth place finish from Chase Elliott I was second of our group with a seventh from Michael McDowell Jake had a eighth place finish from Kyle Larson and then Steve Reddick had a 33rd place finish ending up with nine points What happened exactly? I don't remember what happened to Reddick that cost him. I think he blew a tire
00:54:26
Speaker
And then he had to do a pass-through penalty because he cut the course. Oh, okay. Yep. That was right. Because like you blew a tire and then they were like, well, he has to limp it around. You know what though? Okay. Just on a quick sidebar. If he tried to limp it around, they would have thrown a caution. They would have had to. Yeah. That would have helped out some of the leaders because they would have cut down on some of those laps. Yeah. There'd been a chance at another thing. Riddick said, absolutely not.
00:54:53
Speaker
just because the course went back through and then had to do a pastor penalty. So that's just bad luck on my end. Whatever. I, you know, we'll see what happens this week.
00:55:05
Speaker
So Steve, you have the first pick for the next race, which is again in two weeks time in Nashville. Who are you thinking there on the concrete surface, uh, just outside of town? I'm rocking with the closer, happy Harvick. Um, I think, uh, he, he was good. He's been good the last few years. They've been at Nashville, um, last year, obviously chase Elliott won year before that Kyle Larson, uh,
00:55:32
Speaker
I don't foresee either of them winning this week. So I'm going to roll with Harvick, who could definitely use a win. Happy got you a fifth place finish at Phoenix. So certainly could be a good result there. And definitely was super fast at Phoenix, by the way.
00:55:53
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, Jake is up next. Jake, let us know that he wants Denny Hamlin at Nashville. Yes, he's hoping for a rebound for the 11 crew after the off week. Not a bad pick there. The Toyotas have been very strong. So I have a worthwhile pick. After Jake is me, I am taking Martin Truex, Jr. He won in the last concrete surface. He just won at Kota.
00:56:22
Speaker
He has been on a hot streak and I think he could deliver a win there in the music city. And then Dylan let us know that he wants William Byron, which also I think is a very good pick because on these, I say moderate length, I don't want to call it an intermediate, but because it's a little shorter than a mile and a half. But I think on this type of track, the
00:56:49
Speaker
The 24 and the five, especially those 200 cars have been once to be in, uh, Dylan going with Byron. Interesting enough. I think that's Dylan's first time taking Byron this year for his ghost. Byron's been. Well, uh, I feel bad because I've been taking Tyler Reddick and he's been okay. But I think me and Jake have like, he's, he's hot high on, on Denny Hamlin and I've been high on Reddick and.
00:57:20
Speaker
I don't think I was right about Reddick when I picked him at all. I think the only win I have was Kyle Busch at Auto Club, I think. No, you had Reddick at CODA. I had Reddick at CODA then. Okay. I don't remember who I... I had somebody else who I thought was going to win who had a...
00:57:39
Speaker
a really good finish somewhere. I don't remember. Doesn't matter. But Reddick was like, I've been going. He's like old, reliable for me. So I've rolled with him. But last week, I think I jinxed him. Interesting. I think Dylan is only the second time that Byron has been picked all season amongst all four of us. I had a I had William Byron at North Wilkesboro when he finished 20th. Yeah, not great. No. So to recap,
00:58:07
Speaker
Uh, Jake has Denny Hamlin, Dylan has William Byron, Steve, you have Kevin Harvick and I have Martin Truex Jr. There's been a change in the points with Steve's tough day with, uh, Tyler Reddick last week. Uh, Dylan now leads our way.
00:58:24
Speaker
in our point standings for the season long race picks with 523 points. He has a four point advantage over Steve. I've also made some headway on Steve. I'm now back just 23 points of Steve. So that's a 46 point deficit to Dylan. So I'm clawing back a little bit and Jake still bringing up the rear in our actual picks.
00:58:50
Speaker
Somehow he is bringing up the rear and I don't have a win. Yeah, I'm the only one without a win in our actual picks in our random picks. See.
00:59:01
Speaker
Uh, Steve, you did lead the way with, uh, with Joey Logano. So that is a nice finish for you there. I was second amongst us with Ross Chastain, who again had a pretty quiet race. I think at, uh, at Sonoma finished 10th or so something. He did finish 10th. Yeah. He had a little bit of, he was on a bit of an off strategy, got up to the front a little bit, but, uh, none of the antics that we've seen out of Ross Chastain quite a bit in the last year. Uh, it's been like two or three weeks in a row now that he's had.
00:59:32
Speaker
pretty quiet races by his standards. Jake with a surprisingly good 12th place finish from Ricky Snithouse Jr. a guy similar to Chris Busher that you wouldn't peg as being a good road course racer but Ricky Snithouse Jr. with another good result there in one country and then Dylan with a tough break
00:59:52
Speaker
getting a 30th place finish from Josh Bellicchi in the 78 car. So in the season long standings, I still lead the way with four hundred ninety seven points. Next closest to me is Dylan with three seventy nine. Then Steve with three forty two. You have retaken over Jake with your third place finish from Joey Logano. You now have a three point edge over Jake for the third place in our random picks. Nice.
01:00:23
Speaker
So let's get a the random picks going. Let me make sure I get the order right. So it'll be Dylan first. See who all Dylan gets spinning away for our Nashville random pick for Dylan. Don't get Byron. He is not going to get Byron. He's going to get your guy. Happy Harvick. Oh. Says a could be a good day for both of you.
01:00:52
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. The next one is for. Jake. And Jake will have, oh, not a bad guy. We didn't talk about much headed into Nashville. Ryan Blaney. Yeah, he was somebody that I was considering picking, but I've already taken him.
01:01:18
Speaker
once and I feel like yesterday, like I feel like I was like if I took him that something was going to happen. My pick for the Nashville concrete is Michael McDowell. He sneakily could be there. Yep, that's a sneaky good one. I don't see what nonsense I get. See the wheels going for you now. It was going for you now.
01:01:48
Speaker
And OK. Eric Almarola. I wonder where he finished last year. Let me look, because I honestly don't remember. I think didn't he did he wreck last year? I don't recall. Because last. No, he didn't know. You know what? Nashville, he in twenty twenty one, he finished fourth twenty seven. I'm sorry. Twenty twenty two. He finished 17th.
01:02:13
Speaker
So there's a chance. I'm telling you, SHR could definitely use it. So if either Harvick or Almorola win, or at least finish very well, I'll be happy.
01:02:28
Speaker
So all four of us end up with four drivers in the random picks. Jake with Ryan Blaney, Dylan with Kevin Harvick, Steve with Eric Almorola, and I have Michael McDowell. I think that's actually the first time anybody has had
01:02:45
Speaker
Eric Almerola all season in random. I don't see his number in our grid system here. That's not surprising. I just I don't, you know, I don't know if the odds are because I'm not good at doing that. But, you know, he's one of 36 options in the wheel and he just hadn't come up yet through, I guess, a total of. Let me do the count function here, 17 times four, so one hundred and four hundred and two picks.
01:03:15
Speaker
Uh, that we had made through the first, uh, first part of the season had not landed on number 10 yet. Okay. Well, I guess we'll see what happens. Jake had, uh, Ryan Blaney at Fontana 26 Dylan had Kevin Harvick at Darlington second place there. Uh, again, I mentioned that nobody has had, you know, I'm early yet and I haven't had.
01:03:44
Speaker
Michael McDowell yet. Looks like Steve, you had McDowell Atlanta and he finished 21st, but I feel like if I recall, he was running better than that and got caught up in kind of a late race mess that wasn't of his causing. I think so. I feel like this is no insult to him, but I feel like sometimes like I'll see him and he'll run up front and then something will happen and he'll end up like
01:04:14
Speaker
20th and I'll just be like, yeah, well, this was definitely going to happen at some point in the race. Yeah, I will say they have been running very well. And really that whole, uh, front row motorsports organization, because Todd Gilliland has had some, some performances that he has finished better than where a lot of people would have expected him. Uh, so big prompts to them for sure. Uh, Jake, any, or assuming Steve, any final thoughts on the, uh, um,
01:04:41
Speaker
On the Sonoma race weekend or looking forward to the off week and then Nashville? No, I think I'm all set on my end for Sonoma snooze fest I
01:04:55
Speaker
I'm really, I'm happy for Truex. You know, he's had a quite a rough few years. You know, he's had a rough year off the track, or I'm sorry, off the track. Yes, but yeah, on on the track over the last like, you know, year and a half outside of this year. So he was he was super good last year. But you know, you don't know, you never know, like with with these cars now.
01:05:23
Speaker
going from year to year how you're going to be. He's driving, especially with the change at JGR. He's really the top dog, I think, now outside of Denny Hamlin.
01:05:37
Speaker
Um, but overall, uh, I excited for Nashville. I'm excited to have a week off. I think I need to regroup like these drivers do. Um, but, uh, yeah, like we'll, we'll see what the second half brings. But last thing, but Wallace is in 15th place, uh, in the playoff standings. So, um, like to see a win out of him, um, and some, some good finishes coming up to some tracks and tracks. He's won that, uh, before. Uh, so we'll see what happens.
01:06:08
Speaker
Yeah, very good points there about Bubba. Uh, I will say I really enjoyed Jamie McMurray in the booth for an entire cup series race yesterday. I thought he was really good. I really hope he gets more opportunities to do more live race commentary across any of the series. He does a really good job. You can tell he really takes his job seriously there. And I thought he did really well with, uh,
01:06:33
Speaker
With Clinton Boyer and Mike Joy. That's one thing I'm definitely gonna miss is as I really enjoy seeing Jimmy McMurray and I know he's on the Race show. Yep But still I really enjoy what he has become I enjoyed him as a race car driver and I really enjoy him as a broadcaster now So there's there, you know, they hear you hear about like nice guys in the garage Jimmy Johnson was always one that people always said like Jimmy was super nice Jamie McMurray and
01:07:01
Speaker
I've literally never heard a bad word on him. He had a solid car when he went to another manufacturer.
01:07:14
Speaker
I think it kind of, I don't want to say took his love for the racing away, but didn't have the same kind of luck and didn't have the same kind of treatment from what I understand. Still kept his great attitude regardless of where he's been. And I think it kind of sucks for him right now because just bad luck is going to get him with not getting the same kind of opportunities that he probably should get, but taking it all in stride and doing a great job when he has the opportunities he gets.
01:07:42
Speaker
Totally, yep, he's definitely one of the good guys in the sport, and I never get tired of shouting him out. One quick housekeeping note, we will not be having a show next week, so no show coming out on June 19th. We indeed are taking the week off with the NASCAR national series. It'll be a nice midsummer opportunity for us to take a break, and I'm tired of seeing Steve's face, and I'm just kidding about that. Yeah, same.
01:08:11
Speaker
I earned that, right? No. So so we're taking a week off to to enjoy a little bit of summertime without a podcast. We're going to it's going to be kind of weird. I usually I live for watching racing. I watch racing at every opportunity I can. I might tonight after recording, put on a flow racing and watch some of the high speed weeks, the wings, sprint cars racing all over the state of Ohio.
01:08:37
Speaker
I think they're Wayne County tonight. But I think I am looking forward to just getting away and totally having a no racing week next week. And I think it'll be good for the soul and get primed for the summer stretch all the way through the end of the season coming up starting at Nashville with the cup race on June the 25th. And then we will be recording two weeks from today on June the 26th.
01:09:05
Speaker
big thank you to all of you for listening wherever you get your podcasts Apple Spotify what's the other one stitcher Amazon Google we're on all of those a big thank you no matter where you listen if you do like what you hear please leave us a review subscribe give us a
01:09:25
Speaker
star rating. If your platform allows that, we really appreciate it. Also, if you want to chime in with anything you hear on the podcast or send any suggestions, you know, comment on the race and we'll let us know what you thought of it. Be sure to tweet us at Cloudy Racing Pod or follow us on Instagram at Cloudy Racing Pod as well. We might have to get some podcast pictures or some pictures on the podcast Instagram from your trips to
01:09:54
Speaker
to Pocono, Steve, that would be good and good content. I can probably post some, I know it's not really NASCAR, but from my D500 experience, we'll get some more pictures going there. Sounds like Jake is going to, sorry, Jake, Dylan is going to some local races there in central Kentucky, so we get some more content there. So big things coming on the way.
01:10:17
Speaker
on the Instagram. Again, it's cloudy racing pod. And again, thank you all so much for listening to Claudia with a chance of racing. We're going to take a week off. Enjoy the summer. We hope you enjoy a couple of week break as well. And we'll pick right back up with the NASCAR national series at Nashville in two weeks. Thank you. Have a good night.