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Ep. 21: Hot Summer Night in Atlanta, with Travis Braden
10 Plays1 year ago
Jake, Dillon, Braxton, and Steve are joined by 2019 Snowball Derby winner and current mechanic on the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Travis Braden. Travis shares his story getting into racing, winning his first ARCA start, winning the Snowball Derby, and trying his hand at dirt racing at the Chili Bowl. Plus he and the guys talk about what race they would take a new NASCAR fan to, and Travis brings up a continuation on what cities would be cool to have a NASCAR street race.
The guys then recap the Atlanta race with thrilling action all evening until the rains came, what could come of the softer tire to be run at Loudon this weekend, Dillon's forecast for New Hampshire, and our real and random picks.
Cloudy With a Chance of Racing is now on Threads! Be sure to follow along there, plus on Twitter and Instagram @CloudyRacingPod on all those platforms. Subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite podcast platform as well.
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Transcript
Recap of Atlanta Race Weekend
00:00:15
Speaker
Episode 21 of cloudy with a chance of racing kicking off now, we'll be recapping the Atlanta to race weekend here in the 2023 season. And we have a special guest joining us as well, but first let's bring in our co-hosts, Steve, Jake, and Dylan guys.
Discussion on Racing Events and Weather Impact
00:00:31
Speaker
How are we doing after that a weekend at Atlanta? Let's can't forget about the truck series on the left and rights in mid-ohio. I thought mid-ohio was a very interesting race, but
00:00:41
Speaker
Uh, the Arca race at mid-ohio or the Arca race in general, rather just ridiculous. Um, but, uh, overall, I thought it was a solid weekend. Um, disappointed that there was a rain delay last night or a, uh, a, uh, a shortened rain, rain shortened race, but, uh, it was good for the 24. Uh, not good for my pick, but, uh, overall, I thought it was a solid weekend. My pick was one of the other hundred cars in the nine.
00:01:10
Speaker
didn't work out for him either there Steve but a lot of people leaving Atlanta including you know Dale Jr leading the way broadcasting last night saying this is the hottest ticket in NASCAR right now this track and what they have going on in Atlanta man that that was exciting in the rain it's a bummer the way it ended but it really added even more excitement I think to the end of that race as
Momentum in NASCAR and Atlanta's Racing Surface
00:01:38
Speaker
You just didn't know when the rain was exactly going to hit. Yeah, I would just want to say, how often can you say after two straight weeks of rain impacted race that it actually feels like we have some positive momentum going with NASCAR. So I think that's pretty crazy to see. I don't think anyone would have expected that. But I thought it was an exciting weekend of racing. Atlanta delivered once again. Now the surface is getting kind of worn out a little bit, and it's only been a year. It's producing some really awesome old school, I think,
00:02:07
Speaker
Old school plate tracks is what it looked like old Daytona and Talladega what Jeff Burton said
Interview with Racer Travis Braden
00:02:13
Speaker
on the broadcast. I completely agree with Let's uh, there's a lot to unpack here and we'll go ahead and get started Jake because he's from your hometown. Why don't you go ahead and introduce our special guest for tonight's episode? Sure thing that wheeling West Virginia zone Travis Braden and
00:02:30
Speaker
Travis and I are both proud Wheeling Park Patriots and Travis has been racing in some form or fashion for a long time and taken home many checkered flights prestigiously and, you know,
00:02:50
Speaker
I'll let him tell you exactly what he's raced and where. I know certainly in 2015 I made a trip with the Braden family to cover Travis's Arco Menard series debut at Indianapolis Raceway Park. And how about Travis taking home the checkered flag that night and beating William Byron.
00:03:16
Speaker
the winner at Atlanta and now someone that he works with. So Travis, tell us a little bit about yourself and what first I guess what got you into racing and a little bit about what you've done and where you've done it.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, well, first of all, thank you guys for having me on. That was quite the intro, bringing up some memories. One of the probably coolest days of definitely my career, my life. Winning that first arc or ace and it was kind of all a blur. It was a lot of work to get that card to track for the first time.
00:03:51
Speaker
A lot of stress, a lot of excitement, and it turned out well. Cool memories, but I'll give you a brief story because, of course, everyone's story in life, and especially in a sport like racing, can get long, and then you guys can ask me some questions if you have them.
Travis Braden's Racing Journey and Challenges
00:04:05
Speaker
Um, you know, coming from Wheeling in West Virginia, there wasn't a lot of like racing background and my family didn't have any racing background, which, you know, if you follow the sport, most of the drivers end up having typically some sort of family ties or at least a brother or a cousin or uncle that was really into it or involved in a team.
00:04:26
Speaker
to kind of get them started. I didn't have that so it was kind of weird for me to get started and I didn't actually start racing in carts or anything like that. I actually started racing my four wheeler. I had a four wheeler from the time I could basically walk and would ride around in the mountains and stuff with family and I wanted to race supercross because I thought that was cool and I had seen that on TV and watched that a lot.
00:04:52
Speaker
And so my family let me do that a few times, but they realized that it was, as I got more interested in it, it was going to become dangerous. And they weren't so comfortable with that. So they eventually, after a couple of years, bought me a go-kart to race. And I started racing that when I was eight years old. It was just a hobby. You know, that was never the intention to go further than doing it for fun.
00:05:16
Speaker
And I took a liking to it and after a while I started to get good and I started winning races and it took off from there. And again, to make a long story short, I went from a go-kart into a quarter midget, which was like a national, a bigger step of a go-kart essentially that raced all over the country and in a lot of places around the world.
00:05:38
Speaker
Um, that was kind of my first time racing, you know, all over the place and nationally and competed at the highest level of that and took the next step into a legends car, which is of course, very popular in a lot of NASCAR and stock car racers of race legend cars as well. And, uh, kind of gradually back and forth worked from the legend car into a few late models.
00:06:01
Speaker
races locally, and that turned into, after a few years, into some national late model stuff, which is kind of what got me my presence out there a little further. That's what most of the NASCAR world that pays attention to the lower ranks, that's what they'll pay attention to mostly, is that stuff. Got my name out there, and every now and then I'd get one small opportunity. Jake mentioned that first race at what the title was, Lucas Oil Raceway.
00:06:30
Speaker
in Indianapolis and you know I always felt like that gave a lot of perspective on how hard the sport is because it took basically a full calendar year to get one car ready to go race my first race and we actually planned on racing sooner than that race and it just kept getting delayed and we couldn't quite have didn't have the time to get stuff ready didn't have the funding we finally put together
00:06:52
Speaker
And the amount of stress and energy that had been put into that to come out with that result is a good example of what it takes for a lot of these families and young racers and how hard it can be, but how rewarding it can be too. So that's kind of where it all went to. That was 15 years or so into my career when I ran my first ARCA Menard Series race.
00:07:15
Speaker
Um, you know, I was fortunate enough to do a lot of that racing the next few years, but, uh, that's led me to where I am now. A couple of years ago, moved to Charlotte and, you know, COVID and a lot of things in my life have kind of at least put a pause on me driving, but still enjoying, uh, the atmosphere here in, in, you know, race city, USA.
Snowball Derby Victory and Controversy
00:07:35
Speaker
Well, what Jake didn't mention is that Travis, you went on later in a super light model.
00:07:40
Speaker
between one of the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious, super light model race in this country, the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola. How did that race come to be for you, and how did that race, I know there was a bit of controversy with you winning and stuff, but your name is still in the record book as the winner, how did that all happen? Yeah, I mean, sorry, if the noise is too bad in the background, I had my door cracked.
00:08:09
Speaker
You know, that's an example, too. Like, we worked really hard for so many years. You know, I was in college in 2015 when I ran that first ARCA race.
00:08:17
Speaker
And that one race really propelled me a lot. I had just started to kind of work with a team. I was driving for them some that year in late models, which was the first time I was ever actually hired to race, which is really important because even if you're not making money, if you don't have to go out and raise these astronomical amounts of funding to race, it really can help.
00:08:40
Speaker
Um, and so, you know, that was the first year of that and me doing so well on that arc and art series stage really helped kind of boost that relationship. And, and so that relationship is, is what turned into basically, you know, five years of pretty much full-time short track, the racing and late models, uh, which was capped off in 2019 when we went to the snowball derby, which was the first time we ever actually went.
00:09:05
Speaker
Um, and we, you know, it's a long story, but we ended up actually finishing the race in second after starting dead last and, and having our car wrecked in final practice. And, uh, and then in the post race tech, the winner was disqualified and we were crowned the champions of the race. And, um, you know, again, a lot of your audience may or may not know a whole lot about races like that, but the snowball derby is one that's been won by like, you know,
00:09:32
Speaker
Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, William Byron, back in the day you had like their overall trip and just a lot of those guys from that time, Mark Martin, of course. It's always been a prestigious race. It's always been one that guys look at as like the number one hardest one to win, the one they want to win the most, you know.
00:09:53
Speaker
And of course, I did too. But again, it was a cool story. Getting there took five years to just get there for the first time, just to simply enter in the race the first time.
Braden's Chili Bowl Experience
00:10:02
Speaker
Five years from the beginning of that relationship with that team, that was my eighth or ninth year of racing late models. So very cool to get to go do it and then to win it was unreal.
00:10:15
Speaker
So then you go back in 2020, granted with a lot of different situations, stuff with COVID, but you go back to defend your title with the fellow West Virginia team that happens to be from my hometown as well. I'm from Huntington. And so you're raised with Jake Keaton. Tell us about how that came about and how a couple West Virginians came together to get you back to Five Flags to defend the title.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that was another good example of the, the challenges that racing can present, but, um, you know, it was, it was kind of bummed the team that competed with that year that I won. Didn't want to go back and compete again the second year. And I really wanted to, of course, for obvious reasons. Um, and on top of that, I had a guaranteed qualifying spot in the race. So no matter what happened, I was guaranteed to be able to start that race, which I was the only person in the field that had that guarantee.
00:11:08
Speaker
Um, and so, you know, once I knew that we weren't going to go back and compete again as a team the following year, I decided to try to see what my options were. And, um, I had met, I actually kind of forget on the spot here, how I have met the Keaton's, but I've met them prior to that.
00:11:26
Speaker
And they, you know, I reached out to a number of people and I reached out to them, of course, and they were very interested right away in trying to figure out how we could go down there together. And so it was a couple of, at least a couple of weeks, if not longer, figuring out how that could work. But we made it work and we pulled together a few sponsors here and there.
00:11:44
Speaker
It was definitely still a shoestring budget as far as what it really costs to go there and what we had to go. But we made it work, and my girlfriend Jess and I kind of did on our own. I would say she did 99% of the work and basically deserved all the credit for actually pulling it off. But it was so cool to go back. We didn't compete for the win. I think we finished sixth or ninth or somewhere around there. And we kind of started in the back and just struggled. But it was so much fun.
00:12:14
Speaker
the whole week leading up to the race and, you know, talking about it, seeing all the people that I hadn't seen in a while that were down there and just kind of getting to enjoy the previous year's win because I didn't really get to enjoy it the year prior because of the disqualification. I wasn't even crowned winner until like 3.30 a.m. So it was cool. It was a great experience and very cool to do it with a West Virginia family, West Virginia team.
00:12:42
Speaker
You know, I thought that was the coolest part about it when we started reaching out to people and they were like the most interested ones I was like, let's really pursue this because that'd be a cool story And there's one other race that you did that I want to bring up real quick and I'm sure Steve and Dylan have some questions and we'll get to those in a moment, but in 2022 late 2021 I think I might have
00:13:09
Speaker
been a little bit of a cattle prod that got you a wild haired to decide to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma in like six weeks' time and try for the chili bowl. You that did that. That was me. I'm sorry if I put you through hell on that. But it was awesome to cheer you on and see how that came together. How did that ride come together? Because that is so far out in left field from anything you had done in your career before. Well, it started apparently with you, kind of. I remember somebody kind of mentioned on Twitter
00:13:39
Speaker
you know, something, and I had tweeted, like, you know, the race was coming up, people were starting to talk about it, and I don't think I was, well, maybe that's what it was, maybe you just brought up, it'd be cool to see me go, I don't remember, but. Yeah, I mean, and I was literally just thinking, I mean, it would be cool to see you go, but there's not a chance in the world that somebody who's never raced dirt is going to, you know, be serious about going to the biggest midget race in the country for the first time.
00:14:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, at the time I was like, I wasn't joking, but it was kind of like playful because I just figured there would be no way and no one would like take any bait on it. But I remember saying something along the lines of, you know, like, I'm not afraid, I'll buckle right in and go, you know, as hard as I can with zero laps. Like, I'm not afraid of it, right?
00:14:28
Speaker
Because it is kind of an intimidating thing to do just to get in one of those cars for the first time in general But to go out there and you get zero practice laps and all that like it'd be pretty intimidating I knew but
00:14:41
Speaker
Um, I wasn't afraid and then it kind of got bounced around and people kept talking about it. I think a few people offered up some support, um, you know, or at least like maybe connecting us to people that might be interested in sponsoring us. And we ended up doing a small partnership, of course, with racing America. And, um, it just kind of like a few people mentioned they'd be willing to help. So then I'm like, you know, maybe we should consider it. And Jess was like, let's just do it. Right. Like.
00:15:10
Speaker
It'll be a cool story. We get a lot of attention. It'll be fun. As long as you don't get hurt, which was something to consider, it'll be positive. Being that I had no experience, there's no expectation. I'm not expected to do well. You don't have to worry about not performing well, which is
00:15:30
Speaker
never the case. So I was like, yeah, let's try. And it all came together. And we worked with Flea Ruzik that owns Ripper Chassis or Team Ripper Chassis. And he's out in Illinois and he's a great guy, cool guy. I was the first I met him and he had really, really good stuff and way better car than what I was capable of. But it was fun for anyone that doesn't know about the Chili Bowl. It's an
00:15:54
Speaker
indoor, dirt, open wheel, chassis, race in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I think the couple of weeks into January. Yeah. It's like, what, eight or nine days long. It's just a really fun event. And it was quite a hard draw. They commonly draw like 300 plus cars like they do prelims all through the week and then Saturday is the big day.
00:16:16
Speaker
Yeah, it is. Yeah. I mean, there's racing all day, every day for basically a full week. So, um, and even with all that racing, I still was only on the track for probably what, five or six minutes total. So very cool though. So fun to be there. I would have loved to go sometime anyway, just to be a spectator, but to go be small part of it was, was awesome.
00:16:36
Speaker
I will say that when I saw that you got the Racing America deal done, I did send a DM to Matt Weaver, who at the time was editor-in-chief of Racing America. And I'm like, dude, this is awesome. Thank you for helping Travis on this. I genuinely felt bad. I didn't want to send you down a rabbit hole that you're going to kick the tires in this thing and try and try and try to get a ride together. And nothing come of it. I was so glad that you actually got something together and could go and get to experience that.
00:17:05
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, trust me, we were just as worried as well because you get started, you get started into it, you almost have to finish the deal. And we were kind of worried there for a while that we were going to be in a bad spot and maybe, you know, not have enough funding and we're kind of like halfway in, halfway out.
00:17:23
Speaker
But it all worked out. It was great. And we had some, unfortunately we didn't need to take the merch to the event because it was so last minute, but
Transition to Engineering Role at Hendrick Motorsports
00:17:30
Speaker
we had some awesome merch done. I bought a t-shirt. It was fantastic. And I see it all the time on social media and all over the place. People wearing that stuff. I haven't raced in three years and people are still, still wearing it. So very cool. Dylan or Steve, you have any questions or Jake, any questions for Travis?
00:17:50
Speaker
I'm just like, so what you're doing now Travis is, uh, you know, kind of interesting too, because you don't really hear a lot of racers anymore, especially at the NASCAR level have, you know, the kind of academics background that you have being an aerospace mechanical engineer. Um, you know, how was that transitioned now from racing to now in a different capacity with Hendrick motorsports, having that kind of background from WVU.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, honestly, um, it's probably been easier than, than you'd expect or even I would have expected. Um, you know, unfortunately for me, like I've raced for a long time, so I've been around racing. Um, but I've also spent most of that time like working on the cars I drove and, um, you know, I always really enjoyed like the engineering aspect to racing just as much as the driving almost. So, um, I spent a lot of time on my own trying to develop
00:18:47
Speaker
you know, strategies and stuff to apply to my racing. And so it's way a whole other level, right? It's multiple tiers above what I was doing, but at the same time, it's still racing. There's still four tires connecting a piece of metal to the ground.
00:19:06
Speaker
Um, it wasn't all that bad other than just getting used to like working in an organization with, you know, 400 people that you kind of do have to work with each other every day. Like that's, that's kind of new to me, but, uh, everyone there is, is, is awesome. And I'm really fortunate to be working, you know, directly, um, with some, with some people that are so easy to get along with and, um, you know, kind of helped me get right up to speed quickly and, and just enjoying it. So, and honestly, like it's, it's.
00:19:35
Speaker
It's a great situation. They take great care of their people. And of course, as you guys know, it's obviously a great time for my girlfriend Jess and I to have some stability in our life. And so it's been great all around just being a part of it. It's been fun to see the success already right off the bat. You're getting thrown into it and you get to reap those same rewards as somebody that's been working there for 10 years.
00:19:59
Speaker
be a part of it. So it's been really fun. So that kind of to kind of build off of that a little bit, you know, a lot of people see from a standpoint of, you know, just a casual watcher of a race, maybe not like a diehard fan, they would see obviously the driver and the crew chief and the pit crew, all of that stuff. But can you just kind of take us behind the scenes a little bit as to like, what is a week like for engineers set up mechanic, like from a Monday to Sunday type deal?
00:20:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, one thing I'll say too, like it's kind of, this sport is so unique in so many ways, right? And so inside of these teams, I can at least speak for Hendrick, but I'm sure it's the same everywhere. Like there can be a lot of flexibility and there's not always a rubric to how it's structured, right? And I'm a great example of that because, you know, I do have the engineering degrees in the background, but
00:20:52
Speaker
The job I was hired for is a set up mechanic and you don't need engineering degrees to do that job. I don't even know that you need a four year degree at all to do that job as far as their requirements to employ you. So experience in the field is kind of better and that's great. But so what's cool about it is I was kind of brought on and interviewed by the crew chief of the 48 car, Blake Harris.
00:21:18
Speaker
And Blake, understanding that I have the engineering background, he wanted me to try to apply myself when I had the available time and be involved in those engineering tasks and those meetings and get to know that side of the team, because it is a little bit separate. And so I'm unique in that way a little bit compared to some of the other setup mechanics. Like I do spend time working with the engineers and I work with Alex a little bit to kind of
00:21:47
Speaker
look at the SMT data and things like that, that is something that's not a part of my job description, but it's also really great experience for me. And it kind of plugs me in a little bit everywhere, which, you know, over
Next-Gen Car Setups and Tire Compounds
00:22:00
Speaker
time would be great to have someone on the team that is, that is plugged in in all aspects of the team to kind of see it. You know, I'm not, I'm not seeing it from, from a management role necessarily, but I'm seeing everything.
00:22:13
Speaker
and might catch some things that could help us find more success than someone that's buried in an office somewhere, which is unfortunately sometimes the case when you're doing a lot of these engineering tasks. So I guess the easiest way to say it, I probably spend 30 or so hours a week on the setup plate, basically preparing the car setup, but then I spend 10 or 15, maybe sometimes 20 hours working with the driver and the other engineers.
00:22:41
Speaker
And, you know, I've spent some time like on the weekends at the shop during the races with the race engineers and seeing how all that works and what they do there. And, you know, just right now just kind of gained that experience and trying not to like interfere and slowing one down. But also, you know, finally used to help and to apply myself. You mentioned Blake Harris, crew chief of the 48. How would you describe your relationship with him?
00:23:11
Speaker
I remember when Hendrick Motorsports put out an article, a news release about you, it kind of mentioned how it was a chance connection
Favorite Racetracks and Future Speculations
00:23:20
Speaker
between yourself and him. And he obviously has brought you into the 48 team. What's the relationship been like? And how did the whole thing with Hendrick actually come through for this? Yeah, it's kind of funny how it all,
00:23:37
Speaker
can connect sometimes, right? Because the really reason I know Blake is his younger sister actually works in this sport as well. And, um, you know, we, my, my girlfriend Jess and I have been friends with her for a number of years, uh, but had never met Blake. You know, of course I knew who he was. Well, Blake's wife is Caitlin Vincy and who of course works for Fox Sports and is a part of the broadcast a lot of times. And so,
00:24:07
Speaker
Um, when we went to the chili bowl last year or two years ago now, we met, um, Blake, I met Blake for the first time there, just because we were spending some time with Jacqueline, his sister, and he was around. So I met him for the first time and, uh, we just talked for a few minutes, chatted about this time. Now there, no, you know, I wasn't even really looking at the time for a job and he didn't bring anything up. And, um, of course he wouldn't have even been a Hendrick yet at that point in time, but that was the first time I met him.
00:24:37
Speaker
And the second time I met him was just in passing. We were in town and Jess was actually delivering something to an office at Hendrick. And I was in the car with her, just happened to be with her that day. And Blake was walking out the front door leaving for the day when we pulled out to the door. So I jumped out of the car. I was like, Hey man, how are you? Like congrats on, you know, he had just recently been hired and just kind of brought up a conversation with him. It wasn't even about a job, but
00:25:05
Speaker
I did think during that conversation, I'm like, hey, I should probably mention something, let him know I'm potentially looking for a role somewhere right now and could use something steady. So I brought it up and he was like, you know what? We just started talking about how we need to hire someone on our setup plate. Let me get ahold of you after the holidays, because this was like before.
00:25:28
Speaker
And so he did, and we
Community Support and Episode Reflection
00:25:30
Speaker
interviewed and all that stuff and just kind of came together from there. So it's a sport of connections and people, and that was a good example of that too, for sure. Travis, tell us how your season has been on the 48 car. A little bit of up and down. Of course, Alex missed some time with a injury, but how has the 48 season been thus far?
00:25:55
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's actually really been solid. It's been unfortunate to see where it's kind of fallen to, right? Because we were leading the standings for, gosh, most of the season, for the first 10 races, maybe, roughly. We were either first or second, I believe, the whole season. And as you guys probably remember, there was a bunch of the controversy with the penalties at Hendrick. And we were one of the worst to come of that. I think we lost 60 points or maybe 100.
00:26:25
Speaker
Um, so that put us behind it. We were still in great shape. And then of course, Alex, you know, unfortunately gets hurt. Fortunately, uh, was not worse than it, than it was. Cause it could have been really bad, really bad. He fractured his spine and, uh, obviously very scary stuff when you're, when you're messing with spinal injuries, but you recovered quickly, but we missed, you know, of course three or four more races and, uh, it's put us in a hole. And I know that, you know, Alex, I think feels like the middle stretch of the season.
00:26:55
Speaker
these couple of weeks, these tracks are not always his best compared to what his first 10 or so are and the ones at the end of the season. So just a bad time to be down in the points and you're closing on the playoffs starting, right? So all in all, like it's been a great year. We've been so competitive, a lot of top threes, top fives to start the season in a bunch of polls. Really can't complain about like the raw performance of the car and
00:27:24
Speaker
and Alex and the team, it's just been like you said, up and down and stuff kind of can't control right now. So hopefully, hopefully we get in. We're still close enough. We can definitely get in. If we could win one race, we'll be in. So, uh, we, we're going forward as if that's like inevitable, inevitably going to happen. But of course it stinks to be on the outside looking in with just a few weeks left. Got a quick next gen question for you. So.
00:27:50
Speaker
Of course, you said you mentioned on your cars, you know, all the way through late models and with the Arca team and everything. How is the setups on the how are the setups on the next gen car different from anything you've ever worked on before with truck arms and all that? Yeah, I mean, very, very different, right. And I don't still yet work with all the different, you know, components of the car in terms of
00:28:18
Speaker
what we do setup wise, we assemble the setup and we prepare the setup. But what decisions are made to get to those points are not something that I'm involved in, in every category per se. But it's very different. The cars don't have a solid rear axle like every stock car has forever, right? That's probably the main thing. And you can tell if you watch the cars on TV, right, they look different the way they kind of like
00:28:46
Speaker
drive on the track is a lot straighter and they seem to roll over and kind of lean back more than what we're used to seeing the cars used to look like, right? And that's a big part just due to the independent rear suspension and it's got a lot more grip so they really use that grip.
00:29:02
Speaker
It's got probably the second biggest difference is the whole underside of the car is basically an upside down wing to create downforce. It's a big piece of carbon fiber all the way from the very front edge of the car.
00:29:18
Speaker
the very back and there's not much you can do with it, but there is a little bit of tolerance. And so what they allow you to do does have a pretty big effect on the handling of the car. So that's something that's new, right? We've never played with these undersides of the cars like this to this extent in the past. So super different when it comes to that, but you know, it's still a race car. At the end of the day, they figure out kind of what they think is the best and
00:29:42
Speaker
We spend every week just trying to fine tune that, and it's just a little, sometimes different areas that we're working to find the speed, but it's the same thing, right? We're just trying to go fast in circles. So tell us how your Atlanta race went last night. Of course, rain shortened. I saw Alex was up there dicing it up a little bit in the second stage. How did that all turn out for you? Yeah, I mean, again, bummer, like, super good performing
00:30:11
Speaker
day for us. So I don't think we got any stage points in the first stage, which is really important right now to get stage points. Um, we didn't get any, we were close enough to the front that we could have just didn't work out. And then it was kind of looking like we could probably run top five or maybe even win stage two. And we just get kind of tangled up there racing hard. Everyone knew the rain was coming and was going to probably be the end of the race.
00:30:37
Speaker
Uh, Alex was doing a really great job. I thought of, of, you know, minimizing mistakes, making that bottom groove work and, and getting his way to the front. Every time he would lose a few spots, he could get a bag. So you're having a great race. Just, you know, part of this type of racing is things are going to happen and you just hope you're not that guy. And we were that guy. So, um, you know, bum for this team and I'm bummed for him because I felt like this wasn't, it was a good turnaround after
00:31:06
Speaker
at least five or six races of just nothing really going our way. That whole race was kind of going just fine for us. And so to see it all go up in smoke in basically one second, definitely stung, but we're going to move on and go to this weekend in Loudon, which is I think one of his least favorite tracks, but he's been really wanting to really emphasize this one and maybe turn it around and shock ourselves and just lock into the playoffs this weekend, which would be great.
00:31:38
Speaker
There's a new tire at Loudon. I don't expect you to divulge any secrets or anything, but just as a- Devote secrets. Devote secrets, who would have known? Just generally, what do you think that's going to do, if anything, to the racing that we've seen? Because I think everybody, fans and inside the garage can all agree that the short track racing has been a little lacking with this next gen car. Yeah. Yeah, I think that I don't know anything
00:32:06
Speaker
That probably, you know, Bob Pokras hasn't already said about the tires. I believe they're just trying to make the tires softer and fall off more and, you know, make the short track race is a little bit more traditional because with this car, as we've seen, like the tires don't fall off. So there's no need to put tires on, right? There's no need to pit and it becomes a little bit of a track position and fuel strategy race, which is super weird for a short track.
00:32:32
Speaker
Um, but this, this just to remind, you know, everyone, like this car has a two inch wider tire than the other car did. So it's just, it's just got so much surface area that in my opinion, like it's hard to wear the tire out. So it just doesn't wear out. Um, so it doesn't slow down and you don't need to put new tires on as much. So they're trying to, I think their goal is, is to try to make this tire wear out more without the tires blowing apart or failing.
00:32:59
Speaker
So I think this is probably just a small step closer and closer to a softer tire. I don't think it's probably going to be the end all be all like their end goal. I don't think NASCAR anticipates this tire change necessarily being the last phase of making changes to keep improving this package. And I'm sure you guys, this is probably going to be your next question, but I'm sure you've heard that they're doing a test on Monday after the race in Loudoun.
00:33:29
Speaker
They're testing different aerodynamic configurations to kind of go with this tire to see if they want to implement those for, I would assume next year. Um, and so I think there's a lot of pieces to it that could make the racing battery on the short tracks. And I, you know, everyone gets bombed and kind of can be hard on this, you know, the powers that be, I think at times, but.
00:33:54
Speaker
You know, they're, I think they're doing a great job making this car better. And I think it's, you know, performing really well, putting on a great racing, a lot of tracks already. And sometimes it's at the tracks that have been historically poor races. So I hope that, uh, between this tire and this, this stuff they're testing on Monday, hopefully they find an even better short track package and to keep working on it going for them. Jake, I have an idea.
00:34:18
Speaker
Let's do our pop-up showers. We texted about this a little bit ago, but I'm interested to see what Travis is saying, so let's do the subject. So we have a segment here, Travis, pop-up showers. Something that doesn't necessarily have to do with something on the track, you might have seen it online or something, but there was some buzz last night about Atlanta, and on the broadcast, Dale Jr. said, if you were to take someone to a race for the first time,
00:34:47
Speaker
Where would you take them to? He mentioned that, you know, take them to Atlanta night race now over a Bristol night race. So our question, if you were to take someone to the track for the first time on a race on the cup series schedule, excluding Daytona 500, the Super Bowl, where would you take them to try to get them hooked?
00:35:12
Speaker
I'm glad you said excluding Daytona because I was going to say it. For an outsider, that's a big event. It's a great venue. It's a comfortable place to go and enjoy a sporting event. It's just a really cool place. That's cool. I want to mention, of course, honorable mention.
00:35:31
Speaker
You know, I definitely agree with what Dale said about Atlanta. I think it's cool because Atlanta for so long was always really cold and rainy because it was too early in the spring and it was kind of sometimes too late in the fall. Sometimes you get a good fall race because it was always a bad spring race. And so they've moved around the schedule, got better dates there, they're racing it at night to get away from the extreme daytime heat in the summer.
00:35:55
Speaker
Um, so that's really cool stuff about Atlanta. And I think this new configuration is exciting. So now what I've seen right away, and I think that's kind of what Dale's talking about is like it's drawn the race fan that wants to go for the weekend, bring their camper, go to all the races, you know, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or whatever the schedule is.
00:36:16
Speaker
and just be there and enjoy and have fun and get to watch some cool races at the same time while you're doing that and having fun. And so that's to me, always what made the best racing events was, you know, not just the two hour or three hour long race event, like what makes it an experience for the whole weekend. And I think they've done a great job shifting Atlanta around with this new schedule, new surface and all of that. So I think that's really exciting. I agree with him.
00:36:42
Speaker
I would still say though, my pick would be Talladega. I think, you know, I hadn't actually been to Talladega until just a few years ago. And I did the Arca stuff and I stayed for one of the long weekends and watched the rest, but Talladega is a lot of fun. It's kind of more of your laid back, like, you know, your fishing trip kind of fun. You're just hanging out, you're kind of in the middle of nowhere. And so you just kind of unplugging and having that kind of old school
00:37:12
Speaker
weekend off doing something different. I think anyone that went for the first time would think, this is really fun, but it's definitely different than anything they've done. And so I would say Talladega would still, at least currently, for me, I would say Talladega over Atlanta. Did you go in the boulevard beyond this? Yes.
00:37:34
Speaker
The first thing we like on what we got done with the arc race, and I don't think you wrecked, fortunately. You know, my first arc race there is I decided to stay for the weekend. And as soon as the trailer was headed out of the garage area, went straight to the boulevard with, you know, a couple of guys on the team and Jess and, you know, whoever else. And we just kind of went and saw it all for the first time. It was awesome. Was Bob Pokris there and how hard was he partying?
00:38:02
Speaker
Bob's always there. I don't know if I saw Bob that time, but he's always there. Another cool thing about a race like Talladega is you will see a lot of the cup drivers, a lot of the drivers from all the series will go out and have some fun on the Boulevard. Whatever day they don't have an early morning practice the next day or qualify, they'll go and have a few beers and walk around and say hi, sign a few autographs, and just have some fun.
00:38:29
Speaker
That's really cool. That's not something you get to see like right if you go to the Super Bowl You're not gonna run into Tom Brady in the parking lot tailgate. You're just not going to so
00:38:40
Speaker
That's something unique about racing, but it still only happens at a few of the events like Talladega and Daytona. And so that's probably part of the reason why I would say Talladega would be my topic. But hopefully Atlanta has turned into something like that too. I haven't really got to see much of the behind the scenes, but it looks like on the broadcast, you know, there's a lot of people that are having fun camping out.
00:39:03
Speaker
And I've heard, I don't know, have you guys heard about Atlanta, all the rumors for a few years that they're trying to kind of turn it into some resort and casinos and hotels on the property? And I don't know if that got shot down or that's still in the works, but.
00:39:18
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, I feel like that kind of thing is done in some other places. Obviously Dover has the casino and nice hotel right off of the back stretch in turn three. Kansas has the Hollywood Casino right there as well. They had talked about that at Vegas too, but I don't think that ever actually happened.
00:39:39
Speaker
Yeah, I was at that race last year that Alex won. So that was my first race of like 20 years. And it was freezing. It was like 55 degrees in Las Vegas. It had snowed that weekend. It was ridiculous. Of course, right? Where there's a race, there's rain and snow.
00:40:00
Speaker
Yeah, we were talking about the Chicago race There were only four because you know the cloudy with the chance racing comes from me being a meteorologist but they're only four flash flood warnings in the whole country and One of them was in Chicago where the NASCAR race was. I mean, that's just crazy to think about the Square miles of the whole country that one of those small flash flood warnings was exactly where NASCAR's racing
00:40:23
Speaker
Yeah. And like a record amount of rain. Right during the broadcast scheduled race. Whatever. It's just how it goes. I don't know. Yeah, it is. Well, thank you. I mean, your answers were awesome. It's kind of cool to see the behind the scenes side of it, especially with an organization like Hendrick. You know, that's kind of, as a science guy myself, you know, meteorology, but still a lot of connections, you know, especially a lot of classes I took in college to kind of see, hear a little bit behind the scenes. Very cool to hear that.
00:40:52
Speaker
Yeah, no problem. And I'll say, well, you just made me think about it. Like if any of you guys are ever in town or want to come to town or whatever, like I can take, you know, a guest or even a small group of guests through the shop and really show you everything, which is kind of a cool perk. A lot of the employees do take advantage of that and show friends and family around. And, you know, fortunately they still let us do that. You know, the company still allows it. So it's a really cool opportunity if you guys are ever around, I'd be happy to do it.
00:41:22
Speaker
Totally. We'll definitely take advantage of that. Real quick, Travis, I got a question for you. Not necessarily about you, but about Jess. How is she doing? Of course, she had some really tough medical things going on a couple of years ago. A lot of us have been following it on social media. How has that gone for her? And what's she up to these days? Yeah. Well, I appreciate you asking. And don't, you know, I know sometimes it's hard thing, like, do you ask about it or not, right? Because we all wish that it just wasn't the situation at all and didn't have to talk about it.
00:41:52
Speaker
Um, thanks for asking and actually just, you know, we're talking on a Monday, but just this last Friday, she, um, she had her final surgery of the whole process. It's been almost two years since she found out she had breast cancer and, um, started that whole process. So on Friday, she did her last reconstruction surgery, which was way easier. It seemed like for her and kind of exciting to finish.
00:42:19
Speaker
and everything she's gone through. So she's doing well. Like, I don't know how to describe how just tough of a situation and what you go through and what she's gone through.
00:42:31
Speaker
It's been a lot for sure. And she's still definitely recovering in a lot of ways, physically and mentally and all that stuff. But doing so much better. And we've been able to spend a lot of time this year going out. We went on a trip to Las Vegas. First time doing anything in a couple of years because of COVID before that.
00:42:53
Speaker
And, um, spending a lot more time outdoors in the evenings, going on walks and stuff like sounds simple, but for like three years, we haven't gotten to do that. And she hasn't gotten to do that at all. So, um, thanks for asking. And she's doing very well in all, you know, considering all things for sure. You're welcome. That's awesome news. And, you know,
00:43:11
Speaker
just in terms of like your racing and stuff and what she does with some media things, whatever you're an easy couple to cheer for. And then, you know, just the, her diagnosis and everything, it was so easy to just, you know, want the best for both of you all. So I'm glad to hear everything's going great. I appreciate that. I'll let her know and I'm sure she'll appreciate it too. Thank you. Sure. Guys, you have anything else for Travis before we let him go and continue on with the rest of our show? Keep on making Wheeling proud.
00:43:39
Speaker
I'm trying. Yeah. Appreciate it. You know, thinking as a West Virginia myself, cool to see, you know, it's just, I love falling West Virginians in any aspect of life, you know, but to have racing, um, someone in the racing world, West Virginia is pretty cool. I'm the only non West Virginian on here, but I certainly appreciate you coming onto the podcast. So you're, I know where you guys Braxton and Jake from Dylan, where are you from?
00:44:07
Speaker
I'm from Buchanan. I interviewed you once. I was working previously at WBLY, and we did a Zoom there when you were doing the virtual. I remember I was kind of wondering from the same Dylan, because you said when you mentioned that you were like on the news with the weather and all that stuff, I'm like, OK. Probably potentially the same guy if he's from the team. Yeah, now I'm in an election to Kentucky. So fingers crossed, Kentucky speedway someday comes back. That's what I'm...
00:44:34
Speaker
Oh, true. Maybe your next gig will be somewhere where there is a race track. Yeah, maybe so. If you're looking for another gig, maybe you're not. It's funny. I think Dylan is trying to get to Charlotte if I had to guess. Yes, that is. My aunt lived there for a long time. So that is the end goal. So fingers crossed down the road. You'll make it happen. If you want it, you'll do it, right? Yeah, thank you.
00:45:06
Speaker
I was going to ask you, where are you from? Oh, yeah, sorry. Well, I'm in Pittsburgh now. I work at KDKA. And I've been here about seven years.
00:45:17
Speaker
It's a sports producer there, so I'm probably one of the one of the few NASCAR fans in this region that I know of specifically, but most people most people here follow. It seems like a little bit of a little bit of every Pittsburgh sport, and that's about it. So, you know, it's it's somewhat of a dirt scene, not really mostly Lernerville and some other places.
00:45:47
Speaker
that are over the border in West Virginia or Maryland, but some in New York, but yeah, not a huge racing scene here. It closed at least in the region. It's so weird. We'll go ahead. No, you go ahead. It's so weird, right? Like Wheeling and Pittsburgh, that whole area right there, you would think could be such a great, like you would think that the people
00:46:16
Speaker
would love it and I think they would it's just for a reason there's never been the right tracks or I don't know it just hasn't ever really popped off but I feel like you know spending kind of growing up around there it's been a time like it would be a great market for racing.
00:46:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's what we were talking about with the street race last week. Pittsburgh could be a place that would love them. People that live in Pittsburgh, I think, would really rally around having that and kind of showcasing their city with also a bunch of new fans, potentially. Because I think the way Pittsburghers are, I went to school outside of Pittsburgh. I know several people from there that they would love that for sure.
00:46:54
Speaker
Like you said, no one really consumes it there, it seems like, Steve, but I think if they had a sugar ace, it'd be kind of like Chicago. People would still just immediately buy the ticket and go and try it out for once, right? If Pittsburgh's going to be on a network, people here are going to go... If the logo is black and gold, people are going to go crazy over it. It doesn't matter who... They're going to make some big name
00:47:19
Speaker
Can he pick at the Grand Marshal? People are going to watch it 100%. Well, we need to do the Pigeon with Ed and Kennedy to get it on the schedule in a few years. And we'll make sure to tell them the first thing, number one rule, whatever the logo is for the race, it has to be black and golden. It's going to be right. Guaranteed success. Absolutely.
00:47:37
Speaker
And Sidney Crosby has to drive either the command to start your engines or to drive the pace car. But if you start to finish on it, hit a hockey puck right as they go by. Oh, that would be perfect. You guys joke, but this is exactly how it would happen. 100%. Can you imagine?
00:47:57
Speaker
That would, yeah, people would eat that up. You heard it here first. I've been thinking about Pittsburgh because I have been thinking lately about like the street race thing is probably not the worst idea ever. And it's like, where can they take it? I'm not going to go to Vegas, Miami, right? Because of F1 thing. It's like, where should they go? That'd be a great place. I drew up.
00:48:17
Speaker
a Pittsburgh Grand Prix course on Google Earth a couple of years ago because I don't have a life. And so I was like, this would be really sweet. But some of it, I think, is kind of impossible because you would have to drive through a tunnel and then back through another tunnel and over a bridge. And I don't know how well that would work out with these cars because they're kind of narrow. The bridges are relatively narrow.
00:48:45
Speaker
through a tunnel. So I don't know, but it would be cool. I would be all for it. I would be the, everybody from my station would be relying on me for every bit of information they could get.
00:48:58
Speaker
And they did it in Chicago, and everyone said it couldn't be done. So I'll give them a chance. Can you imagine? Isn't there one of the bridges where there's two levels, right? Yep. What if cars go in opposite directions? Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. That would be like they would be getting lost, and we would be trying to have to turn around. There would be like caution flags left and right.
00:49:17
Speaker
That'd be awesome, though. I mean, there was an article a couple maybe last year when they announced the Chicago street race that that I don't know who it was. I'd have to try to find it. But it was the post-gazette. I wrote an article about how Pittsburgh has considered trying to get one of those types of races here. I don't not necessarily just NASCAR, but in general, you know, with maybe I don't know, IndyCar street races and IMSA and all those. So I don't know. But
00:49:47
Speaker
I certainly think it's something that could potentially happen, but there's a lot of moving parts that would have to happen, and this place is always under construction, so who knows. Well, Travis, what other cities do you think would be cool? We just do what Braxton did and just throw it out on Twitter. It probably happened. Yeah. Travis, what other cities do you think would be cool to try to street race in?
00:50:12
Speaker
I mean, I really thought like Miami and Vegas would be cool, but that form's already stolen those. I suggested Seattle maybe. I don't know a lot about Seattle. I'm sure that would be cool. I mean, that's the thing, any like super big market, any big city. So I thought of that mostly because it's got some cool angles with like the water being there and everything to create some natural like, you know, zigzags and all that. And also it's just a market that is rather underserved in NASCAR.
00:50:42
Speaker
Yeah. Well, talking about underserved markets, someone was talking today about, I saw like someone tweeted, you know, we don't really have any racing besides the trucks at, uh, mid Ohio. We don't have any racing in Ohio and Ohio is obviously another great market for, for racing. It doesn't get tapped into because we don't race there, but people in Ohio would definitely love racing.
00:51:05
Speaker
or something right in the center where everyone can easily get there quickly. And it's already, you know, it's a big city. It has an outer loop so people can still travel and it's not gonna be too bad. So it'd be cool. Yeah, it'll be cool for sure. Yeah, definitely an area. I was always like looking at the TV market, Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville are always, you know, top markets and they don't even have a track anymore. You know, the only track near there is Indy now. So I think it's kind of underserved for sure.
00:51:34
Speaker
Awesome. Well, we've gotten a little off the rails. I'm still glad we had a great conversation with Travis here. We've taken up a lot of your times. We really appreciate you joining us. And we certainly hope to have you back soon. Talk more about what's going on with the next gen car, what's going on with the Hendrick 48 car, and what's going on in your life. So I thank you so much for joining us, Travis.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you guys. I appreciate it. And seriously, don't worry about the time. I used to do this stuff all the time and I don't do it anymore. Cause I haven't been racing and haven't been involved in racing much until recently. So don't, don't mind it at all. I enjoyed it and thanks for having me. Fantastic. Thank you, Travis. Good luck with everything, Travis. Do you ingest and Alex in the rest of the season? Thank you. Well, big thank you once again to Travis Braden.
00:52:23
Speaker
a set of mechanic on the 48 Hendrick Motorsports car. A big thank you to him for joining us on today's podcast. Let's get to some recaps from the weekend in the truck series at Mid-Ohio. Started off in the rain, ended up drying out. Corey Haim had the fastest truck there the entire weekend, comes away with the win there in the truck series at Mid-Ohio. John Hunter Nemechek, a bit of a surprise winner
00:52:52
Speaker
in the Xfinity race on Saturday in Atlanta. I didn't necessarily have the fastest car, but he played his cards right and came away with the win after some of the other contenders fell out with some crashes and attrition. And then last night, the cup race shortened for the second week in a row by weather and they still have put on a great show. And I personally think that it, I think last week at Chicago and then
00:53:20
Speaker
This week at Atlanta, it's almost proved that you don't need a three and a half, four hour long show to put on a great race. And I thought the racing in Atlanta was great. Of course, William Byron coming away with the rain shortened wind there in Atlanta. Guys, what'd you see out of the Atlanta race that caught your eye?
00:53:38
Speaker
It was a lot of fun and it was a great coming back party for NASCAR on an oval and you look at Chicago and how much fun that was to watch and then you come to Atlanta which was just another good race.
00:54:00
Speaker
Specific parts that where they got real racy at the end of each stage You know the 48 had some bad luck the 11 had some bad luck because of the 48 it was You know the 23 looked good, and then he he had some bad luck you know and so I thought the some of the really impressive ones like were you know Justin Haley and
00:54:21
Speaker
You know, William Byron looked good for the, you know, for the race and he ended up winning it, which was good for him and the 24. They've been really good this year. But, you know, overall,
00:54:33
Speaker
The, you know, it would have been nice to see a finish because, uh, you know, the, the nine had better, he had new tires and he was moving to the front after starting, I think 25th or around that area. Um, but overall, I mean, this Atlanta is great. Um, this, the, the, the new setup that they have and next year, I think it's going to be even better. And by the fall race, um, or I'm sorry, by, by the first race next year, it's going to be, uh, it should be hopefully.
00:55:03
Speaker
Um, really a lot better than it was, uh, since they have reconfigured it. So overall, I thought it was great. Most definitely. And NASCAR and with the weather and the rain usually is on the bad side of things. And obviously whenever it rains, it's, it's bad for racing, but you know,
00:55:27
Speaker
the way they've dealt with it the last couple of weeks, I thought has been spot on. There was some, I guess you would, I guess for lack of a better term, controversy of some fans were upset with the way it ended, how they had, I think what, 15 pace laps when it was yellow, that last yellow before the red flag came out. But, you know, look at what happened last season at Daytona in the summer.
00:55:58
Speaker
with the rain coming out of nowhere. So that was a good call. And then it ultimately went to red, but the racing was great. And like Steve mentioned at the end of, especially at the end of the stages, and then the rain definitely factored in to the, I think the excitement of it and kind of the unknown. I mean, you just didn't know.
00:56:24
Speaker
When everyone knew it was coming, but exactly when and where in the race, I kind of threw a wrench into it. Um, I feel, uh, one of the, one of the drivers I feel bad for leaving that place is Brad Keselowski. I felt like, uh, that guy, uh, lately can't catch a break. He's had, he's had some heartbreaking losses, um, in, in.
00:56:50
Speaker
He, he was in contention there towards the end when the rain was coming. It didn't work out with the, uh, with the pit strategy and everything, but, um, hats off, you know, to William Byron and he, he was there at the right time. Yeah. Um, you know, used any Hamlin's words here back into it. I don't think you did back into it. He clearly took the lead.
00:57:14
Speaker
From other guys before that last before the last caution and you know It's just NASCAR Twitter is just so funny to see half the time You know people got so incredibly upset when the whole field wrecked in Daytona Because of a shower turned into a heavy downpour Which is not much different than what? potentially could have happened last night so um
00:57:41
Speaker
I think NASCAR changing their policy is very, you know, uh, kind of conservative. I think they're really trying to be careful, which I don't think the drivers are complaining. It's certainly not the teams because you're less likely to terrible bunch of cars doing that. Um, so I get the controversy behind it, but there's nothing really they can do. They could have potentially had a better forecast leading up to it and moved up the race in enough time within their window, you know, an hour or so if they're able to do it 24 hours in advance, but that didn't happen either.
00:58:10
Speaker
Um, but like you already mentioned, it produced a great race and I've been checking up with Jeff Gluck's poll. It's not as high as I expected it to be. I think a lot of people are just upset it and they're under caution, but I mean, that race had everything you wanted in those types of races. And also had a race better than Talladega or Daytona did so far this year. So.
00:58:33
Speaker
I don't know. It looks really exciting. If the surface continues to wear down a little bit, I understand if it gets too worn down, it's going to be, you know, it could run into some issues there. But right now I think it's hitting its prime. You know, maybe they pave it every five to 10 years. It might be the solution. Who knows? Yeah, I think on the weather situation, there were a lot of people I saw and so Jeff Gluck posted a tweet. It's like, I don't understand why you're upset about the weather. Like, please tell me like what you're or about the decision to end the race. Sorry.
00:59:03
Speaker
And he's like, please tell me what you like, what your perspective is, why you're so upset. And I think a lot of people in the replies, what I saw were saying that, uh, they should have moved the race up to like two or three o'clock. You could see the forecast earlier in the day that said it was going to rain at night.
00:59:18
Speaker
It is kind of missed the entire point that they can't just arbitrarily do that with the TV window. Right. So I think that's the big fault. But also I like the idea of, you know, just, you know, send it out there and having that obscurity of not knowing when the race is really going to end really made things exciting.
00:59:40
Speaker
You know, the drivers were having to push for everything right in the middle of the race. There wasn't a normal lull like there is in the middle of the race. Everybody's just writing single file. Like everybody was pushing for everything they had the entire race for the most part. And I thought that was really good. I also like at Atlanta how you don't have to be bumper to bumper like you do at Talladega and Daytona. You can have like a car length space there and still
01:00:06
Speaker
Being able to have runs and stuff and I think that's it's really interesting. It doesn't Yeah, I think it to an extent reduces a lot of the the chain reaction type accidents that you typically see at the at the bigger tracks at Daytona and Talladega With the cars are bumper to bumper and you can't avoid anything. I like that aspect of Atlanta and like you said Dylan to like
01:00:27
Speaker
The way that the track is aging, I'm not sure how they paved it and maybe did some different things with aggregate or tar levels, but that thing is wearing out faster than I've ever seen any racetrack wear out. And it is producing some great racing. I mean, I think we pointed out earlier in the season, like, holy crap, there's already patches in this racetrack and it was paved a year ago. It's crazy. And so hopefully, you know, another rest of a hot Georgia summer baking on that track will make it even racier as it goes on into next year.
01:00:56
Speaker
There was just wanted to add one thing about the race is that, to your point about the cars not having to really be bumper to bumper, is that there were a number of times where there was a caution due to somebody, I think, just getting loose where if this were a super speedway where it was like Talladega or Daytona, then they would have wrecked multiple cars. There were a number of cars, including the nine who somehow kept on missing
01:01:22
Speaker
you know, what really should have been the big one. And, uh, there was, uh, and that's good because you don't want to see that. You just don't want to see that. It takes away from the race and potential winner. So, um, but the track itself looks really, really good. Let's get into our, uh, race pick recap from Atlanta. Uh, Dylan, you win the day with a ninth place finish from.
01:01:46
Speaker
Ryan Blaney a nice run for him all those uh at least in the first part of the race all of the Penske cars were up there Battling and they kind of got shuffled up a little bit in the pit strategy there at the end of stage two But a ninth place with some stage points for Blaney it helps extend your lead in real picks Dylan second amongst us was Jake with a ninth from sorry 13th from Chase Elliott I had a 14th
01:02:16
Speaker
from Denny Hamlin and Steve, you had Alex Bowman, who unfortunately was caught up in a bit of a wreck with Denny Hamlin finishing 26 in the race. Our standings look like this. You mentioned Dylan, you're a leader at 658 points. I am in second place in the standings, but 588 points, so solid
01:02:39
Speaker
What is that? 60, 70 points behind you? It's 70 points. That's a monumental number to overcome. Steve is nine points behind me with 579. Jake, you have 534. Let's look forward to Loudon, New Hampshire. We mentioned with Travis, a softer tire compound being run at Loudon. Who are we looking for for picks there in the Magic Mile? We'll go first with Steve.
01:03:08
Speaker
This is completely just throwing this out there, but I'm going with Joey Logano, uh, only because he's a New England guy and this is a New England race. Uh, I have had bad luck over the last few weeks. I haven't, I don't think I've picked Logano all year. Um, and, uh, he hasn't won since I, the, was it the last Atlanta race? So, um, that's, that's what I'm going with.
01:03:37
Speaker
All right, Steve, you have Joey. I'm a second man. I think with the tire, it's going to require a experienced driver who is going to be skilled at managing tire wear like you haven't had to do in the Cup Series to this point. And fracking my brain for who is good with that kind of thing. And I'm leaning towards
01:04:03
Speaker
I'm really thinking like a Martin Truex Jr. could get it done. I was thinking, you know, him or Harvick, you know, somebody who's been around for a while and has done that kind of thing for a long time. And I'm tempted to go and PJ here. So I think that's what I'm going to go with. Jake, you're up next.
01:04:22
Speaker
I will pick a driver. I have not picked this entire season and he is the defending winner, Christopher Bell. C-Bell. Okay. No, he did not win last year. Al Morola won last year. It was darkness shortened and C-Bell was second and he was tracking Eric down and the 20 team was irate that the race ended the way it did.
01:04:49
Speaker
But yes, he did have a very good run there last year. Yeah, and he normally does. So why not pick the 20? All righty. Dylan, who are you thinking? Well, you guys both took my picks. So I'm going to go my third option. There's still two more JGR cars. You mentioned him already, Braxton. I'm going with Kevin Harvick.
01:05:18
Speaker
for all the reasons you said so I don't need to repeat them but I will give my forecast for this race as well and I will say rain is probably in the equation again not super heavy like our poor friends in the northeast are dealing with right now catastrophic flooding in some areas not quite that heavy but still there's rain in the forecast so that'll be something interesting to watch as well wish the short track rain package was ready doesn't sound like it is correct
01:05:45
Speaker
No, they are eligible to run to run rain tires there. I believe it's a mile or shorter track or shorter track they could run I'm pretty sure it's still it's still in place because they They did it at somewhere not long ago. I feel like they did it at a rain race though, wasn't it?
01:06:13
Speaker
Yeah, they did it this year. Martinsville Trucks did it. Yes, they totally did it. I think the Cup Series might have been close to doing it at one race, but yes, the Martinsville Trucks did it.
01:06:26
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think the Cup Series did Wilkesboro in rain, but the Martinsville trucks definitely did. So we certainly could see that in play there. And you know what's funny is they're testing a softer, slick tire at Loudon. Even if they run in the rain, they're still getting data with a softer tire. So it's a win-win. Let's quickly recap. Jake has Seabelle, Dylan has Kevin Harvick, Steve has Joey Logano, and I have MTJ.
01:06:56
Speaker
Uh, Jake, you do correct me. Al Merola, one Hampshire and 21. Who won it last year then? Bell. It was full. I remember Bell was irate in the, in 21 as well. The same scenario I just described. So it was Kyle Bush, because he hit the pace, the pace car. Cause he hit the wall and then he rubbed up against the pace car in frustration. Yeah. Anyway, it doesn't matter.
01:07:20
Speaker
Real quickly, let's get to the question we asked Travis, the track that you would take a first time fan to trying to get them hooked. Travis mentioned Talladega, and honestly, that is a great choice. What do you guys think? I really would take somebody to the Coke 600. I would take them to
01:07:39
Speaker
uh, Charlotte, cause, um, you know, that race, first of all, I mean, it's a, it's a, it's an important race. Um, it's a historic race and, uh, you know, it's a, it's kinda has everything that, uh, you know, you would think a first time fan would want to see it's, it's in the Mecca of NASCAR racing. Um, it's a re kind of a really interesting track and they have a lot of like, uh,
01:08:07
Speaker
like places that you can watch it from where not every track can offer, whereas like Airbnb's that are literally on the track, you know, stuff like that. So, um, plus it's like a under the lights and it's always, you know, for me, any, I I'll go as far as to say, I would take a first time person to a first time, uh, watch, uh, somebody to watch it for the first time anywhere that has lights. So not loud. No.
01:08:35
Speaker
No, we'll definitely know Michigan. No offense taken. I would take them just because this is my favorite track to go to is Martinsville. I just think you can really get a lot of the action. And from an affordability standpoint, Martinsville is about as cheap as you can get in terms of all the amenities at the track. But I will say,
01:09:03
Speaker
You said no Daytona 500, but you didn't mention Daytona in general. Daytona, if you go to the August race, the amenities at Daytona, it is a world-class sports facility. No matter how you look at it, its location makes it really cool as well, but also just all the renovations they've done there in recent years with the fan zone, with all the things outside, all the different concourse amenities.
01:09:30
Speaker
That is by far, I've been to a lot of different sporting venues. Daytona, I haven't been to the new football stadiums like in Vegas and stuff like that. But I'm sure this is on par with that given the technology that it has. So I'll just say go visit Daytona one time. It's like just a wonder itself. So there's a reason why the Jaguars are thinking about playing their home games in Daytona while they're sitting under goes innovations.
01:09:56
Speaker
Yes, it completely makes sense. And there's a lot of seats available. I, um, you know, Dylan mentioned Martinsville and that's kind of the one that I just love to go to. It's within driving distance from where I live, but, and I took, that was my fiance's first ever race. We went to Martinsville.
01:10:20
Speaker
He really enjoyed it. It was actually the Alex Bowman. He's a hack victory, which was awesome. The affordability, everything about it. And there's something I think with these races, I like the ones like later in the year, Martinsville fall, Caledego fall, something about it a little later in the year, but to be different. And I went to this one last year is, you know, the traditional Bristol night race.
01:10:51
Speaker
we sat up way up high and man just just the start of it the anthem and the flyover incredible and you know the Jets went I mean we were we were very close to the Jets flying over and just being able to see all the cars at once and sure you you can't talk to the person next to you at all the whole time but man
01:11:19
Speaker
That is everything you want to be, I think, in auto racing. Those are all really good. I have to ask Dylan and Jake, because you've been to Martinsville. If you took a first time fan there, what is the minimum number of Martinsville hot dogs that a first timer should have when they go there? You have to get two at least. You can't just have one. Yeah. OK. But also, be careful. They've been selling out of them recently. Did they sell out the last time you were there, Jake?
01:11:49
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Spring last year they sold out. So I don't know if they did in the fall last year or not. So go early. People are walking up the steps with like 12 packs like they do. They put them in the big brown paper bags. And people love those. It's like a crave case from White Castle. Yeah. They live up to the hype though, I will say that. They do live up to the hype. OK, OK. I think my first time track is going to be very off the wall.
01:12:18
Speaker
But I'm going to go with Kansas purely because I think, you know, depending on who this fan is or whatever, they might be a little bit off put about like camping that first time or whatever. So going to Talladega or anything like that. I think Talladega would be a great time. But thinking, OK, you know, Kansas is right there in town.
01:12:41
Speaker
Um, there are things to do outside the track. They have the hotel. There's a big, uh, I figured it was the Cabelo's or Bass Pro shots, but right there outside of the track as well.
01:12:49
Speaker
There's a soccer stadium. It's right there in town. So you have ample places to stay. If they're not super diehard wanting to go with you to every single practice and qualifying session, whatever, there's still things they can do when there's not a competitive race going on. I think that's a kind of ease them into it a little bit. I definitely agree with all you guys and stuff. I think Kansas would be pretty high for me. Plus, this next gen car has raced amazingly at Kansas.
01:13:19
Speaker
That would be a pretty good one to take them to especially like you said Jake the fall race the intensity is ratcheted up I think Kansas could be a winner there We'll jump back real quick to
01:13:30
Speaker
our random picks from last week. Jake, you had a pretty good week with all things considered with Ty Dillon finishing 19th. Dillon won the week again for us with 10th place from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Steve Hardluck with Bubba Wallace finishing 25th and I had some hard luck as well with Seabelle finishing 23rd.
01:13:54
Speaker
In our season long standings, I still lead the way with 554 points. Dylan with 436. Steve with 379. And Jake, you're only 13 points to drift. Steve at 366 points. Let's get the spinny wheel rolling for Loudon. The first pick will go to Steve. So let's get that rolling here. By the way, last time it was the Quaker State
01:14:23
Speaker
400 was that what it was yesterday? Yes, and Suarez came in second, didn't he? And he that was that was his father's plan was the sponsor for the race. So yep, Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart. That's the old Kentucky race. Yep, that's right. Should've been Kentucky weekend, Dylan. You get Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Is your guy?
01:14:51
Speaker
Whatever. Let's just give a quick shout out while the wheels spinning for guy finishing in the top 10. He was AJ Yaley. Give him a round of applause. He got up there with track position, and he held on. He held on. He held on. He was great. He qualified well. Yeah, Steve, this will make you feel better. I have Corey LaJoy, who we've heard is close to signing a multi-year extension.
01:15:19
Speaker
with Spire Motorsports. Some people expect that to come out in the very coming. Rumors are swirling with that team too. They could have some interesting ownership. Just saying. I thought that the sponsorship with Group 1001 slash Gamebridge was very interesting. With Marco Andretti racing the Spire truck at Mid-Ohio. The Andretti family has a
01:15:46
Speaker
A very close connection with Gamebridge. In fact, I think Gamebridge is a very close sponsor. I know they sponsor Colton Herda in the IndyCar series. So the Andretti family in Gamebridge maybe could be a little bit of a rumor mill on some ownership there in Spire. Who gets the next pick? That would be Jake. Jake, you get William Byron. Hello. Great pick. Hello. Solid. Great on the short flat track so far this year.
01:16:16
Speaker
Shout out to our guy, Ryan, with iFantasy Racing. And Dylan, you get a guy who actually won on a flat track last year, and his teammate has been very good on a flat track. You get Chase Briscoe. I will take it, though. Let's get some Stuart Hosmer surgeons, because they've been struggling. Briscoe needs a good run. They've been struggling really hard this year.
Significant Announcement Tease
01:16:45
Speaker
One more news thing to note, BushBeater on their Twitter today teased an announcement to come in the coming days. And the tease video included a watermelon rolling through the frame, which almost certainly confirms the rumors that we've heard about Ross Chastain securing the BushBeater sponsorship once Kevin Harvick retires.
01:17:13
Speaker
We'll be looking forward to that official announcement as well. They have to do a watermelon beer with that, right? I mean, at least sometime in the future, right? I mean with the what they're doing with the peach with an apple watermelon is soon to come I'm sure. Hey Founders Brewery in Michigan makes a watermelon goes or goes a depending on how you pronounce it. It is a fantastic beer So I would definitely be willing to to try a bushlight watermelon
01:17:40
Speaker
the saga on the podcast when they release them. Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. We'll do it.
Upcoming Loudon and New Hampshire Races
01:17:48
Speaker
Anything else we're looking forward to with Loudon coming up this weekend? The Magic Mile, softer tire. Travis mentioned the test coming up.
01:17:56
Speaker
A week from now, right after the Loudon race to try some arrow things for next year. What are we seeing up there? I'm praying this race doesn't stink. And I'm wondering, I mean, if there's a softer compound that the racing, I don't know if it will be better, but you may be forced to pit more. And so we may see.
01:18:20
Speaker
you know, pit strategy in this, uh, which as far as tires go, which hasn't always been the case with these flat tracks. So, uh, with this car at least, so I'm not so sure what we're going to see, but I'm just kind of hoping for the best. Same here. And if it, uh, you know, you usually see the track like New Hampshire, uh,
01:18:43
Speaker
the usual suspects. And we mentioned with my pick, Chris Arubel, his success there. Eric Almarole is very good at these types of tracks. There are some drivers, obviously will be heavy favorites heading in. And I'm hoping for the best. It's always nice to get up there because New England
01:19:04
Speaker
is a market that there's New Hampshire on the schedule. And that's the only time that the series and NASCAR can get up there. So it's always nice to go to New Hampshire. Yeah, I'm excited for New Hampshire last year. It was actually one of the few races I didn't watch. I listened to it, which is probably going to be the case this year because I'm going to be traveling back from my wedding in Northeast PA. So I will get, what is it?
01:19:34
Speaker
PRN correct this weekend, so I will be enjoying the PRN broadcast Yeah, I like you Dylan I will not be watching live I'm gonna be watching on a tape delay I Recording it and watching them on a flight back from Italy
01:19:52
Speaker
which reminds me to tell you all that we are going to be recording on Tuesday next week. So just don't worry if the podcast is not on Monday. We'll be recording Tuesday evening next week after Loudoun.
Podcast Recording and Listener Engagement
01:20:06
Speaker
It kind of unintentionally, but that also allows us to get some notes and stuff from that testing session and we'll be able to share those with you as well. So that works out well. I think for this week, like Steve said, I hope that the software tire helps out things and creates some more strategy. I hope it's not just the drivers actually have to have more control. There's more in their hands.
01:20:29
Speaker
compared to what it has been of just hold us to the floor and downshift in the middle of the corner and drive away. I think they're going to have to conserve some tire and at least I hope so and make it more strategy. Do you go hard and try to get out a huge lead and then come in for tires and make it back up or do you save some tire? That's the quintessential
01:20:51
Speaker
you know, thing in short track racing. And I hope we get back to a little bit more of that. And at least it's a step in the right direction with the tires for the future with the next gen car. Well, Loudon, like I said, coming up, also good back to the Northeast because the it's a big wheel and modified area.
01:21:10
Speaker
so exciting to get back up there in an area that is clearly racing crazy and get the top show in NASCAR to that part of the country. Excited for that, of course. A big thank you to Travis Braden, a setup mechanic on the 48 Hendrick Motorsports entry, for joining us here tonight. A big thank you to all of you for listening. Wherever you get your podcasts, please do rate and subscribe. Leave a review if you're so inclined. Let us know what you like about our podcast.
01:21:39
Speaker
Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram at Cloudy Racing Pod. And I think some preliminary talks we have with Steve, we are very close to being on threads as well, if that's your thing, a very new platform brought out by Meta. So we will be sure to share that handle as well and promote it on the podcast next week. But thank you guys for joining along. We'll be excited.
01:22:02
Speaker
to get to Loudon, and hopefully we can hear back from Travis sometime soon. So thank you all for listening. This has been Claudio with a Chance of Racing. For Steve, Jake, and Dylan, I'm Braxton. Have a good one.