The Honda Element is a small SUV-like car made by Honda. It’s designed to be practical, with a roomy interior that’s easy to use for everyday stuff like cargo and gear. People bring it up when talking about vehicles that are simple and convenient to own.
Topic
cars tour West
This is a regional stock-car racing series in the western U.S. Drivers use it as a stepping stone to bigger, higher-level races.
Late model stock is a type of stock-car racing that’s popular at the local and regional level. Many drivers start here before moving up to larger series.
ARCA is a well-known U.S. stock-car racing series that many drivers use to move up toward bigger national racing. The speaker is saying they’ve been covering it as part of the same ladder system.
A “truck race” means stock-car racing where the cars are based on pickup trucks. In this context, it’s the next step up after ARCA for drivers moving toward bigger national series.
Charlotte is a famous racing area in the U.S. The speaker is saying they talked with Butterbean there during a race weekend.
Topic
Daytona Cart Week
This is a multi-day racing week at Daytona that happens around the holidays. The host is using it to describe how drivers race back-to-back during that time.
Conor Zillich is a driver the host has covered. They mention he raced multiple classes around the end-of-year holiday period and had a great 2019 run.
Topic
junior classes
Junior classes are racing divisions meant for younger or developing drivers. The host is saying Conor entered several of these categories and did very well.
Place
Toledo
Toledo is where the speaker says Butterbean won the ARCA title. It’s a race weekend location tied to that championship moment.
Brand
Ram deal
“Ram deal” means a sponsorship agreement tied to the Ram brand. The host is saying it was an important step for Butterbean’s career.
In NASCAR, “starting position” is where a car lines up at the start of the race. Because passing can be difficult—especially in traffic—starting near the front often reduces the need to fight through the field and increases the chance to lead later.
Watkins Glen is a road-course venue in NASCAR where braking, cornering grip, and setup balance matter more than pure straight-line speed. A “Watkins Glen win” is treated as a strong indicator that a driver and team can execute on road-course-specific demands.
“Rain out” means rain messes up the schedule—like canceling qualifying or practice. When that happens, teams have less time to prepare and the race strategy can change.
“Practice” is time before the race where teams try different settings and learn how the car feels. If practice gets cut short, it can be harder to dial in the car for race day.
Sonoma is a road course where the turns are tight and the driving feels more like a street than a big oval. Drivers who handle braking and corner traction well tend to do better.
A “restart” is when the race starts again after a pause, like during a caution. When cars bunch up, it can quickly change who’s leading and how the rest of the race plays out.
They’re talking about the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s a big oval track where passing is hard, so making a move from the outside lane is a big deal.
On a big oval track, the “outside lane” is the part of the track farther from the inside. It’s often harder to go fast there, so passing from that lane is impressive.
Term
non preferred lane
A “non preferred lane” is the part of the track drivers usually don’t choose first because it’s not as fast or easy to drive. Using it anyway usually means the driver is taking a risk to make a pass.
A “one lap shootout” means the race ends with just one final lap to decide the winner. Everyone has to make their move immediately because there’s no time for a longer strategy.
“Hybrid” means the car uses more than just the engine—there’s an extra energy system that can add power. That can change how teams plan the race and when drivers can push.
Kyle Busch is a famous stock-car (NASCAR) driver. They’re mentioning him because the podcast is promoting another episode about his career.
LIVE
It's time for Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle.
What is up, ladies and gentlemen?
Welcome on into another special Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle on the app for mentioned
Trey Lyle.
Joining me this week was a man who had a very difficult task this past week.
That was Fox Sports' Eric Brennan.
He also is the play-by-play announcer for the Arkham and Ard series as well as the
Cars Tour.
He also had his first truck race where he was the first man to kind of be able to speak
on behalf of the sport to a national audience after the death of Kyle Busch.
He was calling the first race, unfortunately, for weather.
It didn't last that long and had to be moved to Sunday.
But we talked about how difficult that week was prepping for this kind of career-making
moment for Eric Brennan, his goals in broadcasting, how he balances a full-time job, yes, a real
full-time job, and the racing broadcast and his grassroots experience in seeing the people
that he has seen at the Cars Tour level now flourish in the NASCAR level.
Eric Brennan now heads into the Inferno.
Now it's time for Buddy and welcome to Timminsville, South Carolina.
I'm Eric Brennan alongside Matthew Dillner and Jaclyn Drake will be joining us trackside
here shortly.
And as you can see, Matthew, we packed this place.
Matt Hirschman gets a superb jump from the pole.
Meyer slots into second spot, double-wide, fourth on back as Zach Brueger is trying to
get up two and pass, caraway two-winner Joby Coulter with Hirschman leading lap number
one.
Pulls a half-carlet advantage off two, Dill Jr. just behind, trying to sides up.
Green, honey-cut, and Diaz-Tango.
Jr.
squeezes by to the topside as they pile up behind.
To go into the Inferno with Tre.
Bringing in to the Inferno now from Fox Sports, the play-by-play announcer this past week
for the Craftsman Truck Series Racing, Eric Brennan.
Eric, good morning or good afternoon for recording us in the afternoon.
So good afternoon.
Glad to have you join us.
Thanks so much for doing this.
Let's dive into, unfortunately, one of the most unique broadcasts you had to be a part
of.
Let's take us through last week for you where you think about the beginning of the week,
it's going to be this kind of monumentous moment for your play-by-play career.
You're going to be doing one of the national series in NASCAR.
Then you have to be the first voice for this unspeakable tragedy.
What was kind of the process of last week like leading to a weekend in which you didn't
even know when you were going to race in the Truck Series?
It was tough.
I mean, tremendous opportunity that we kind of had on the schedule for a little while.
I was kind of telling the story yesterday to a couple of people, but leading up to the
race, the story was Kyle going for win number 17 at the place where he won his first one.
You know, Thursday morning kind of got a hunch that something wasn't right and then kind of
reached out to a few people, got some more information in the early morning, and then
by mid-afternoon it was like, yeah, everything's going to change here.
I'll be honest, I did not sleep at all Thursday night.
I mean, my heart is with Kyle's family and those who knew him, worked with him, loved
him, RCR for having to go through this again.
I mean, man, I just can't, I can't really imagine.
As far as preparation and preparedness, the focus kind of shifted to making sure that we, one, we
of course acknowledged all that Kyle was able to accomplish in his life and in his truck
career, but the secondary important element, at least for me, kind of came in from a sense
of, I wanted this race to be a distraction for those who were hurting.
You know, we all turn to sports and racing is something that is the ability to break free
from, you know, the average lives that we're leading and what we're doing during the day.
And I think the race getting pushed to Sunday helped make that a little more possible.
And even for me, in that moment, that was my chance to escape and break free too of the reality.
And then once you get to the end of it and you get set the sign off, you unfortunately kind of ease
back into what is the new reality of the sport and that this, this prominent and impressive figure
is no longer with us.
So quite the emotional roller coaster ride.
To be quite honest, I went home with my family that afternoon, we live in Moorsville, not far from
the track and watching pre-race ceremonies for the 600 and seeing that all unfolded.
That was the time that I think I allowed it to kind of run through me in a way that it hadn't in
the days prior.
So really, really tough circumstances, but I'm glad that, you know, it was, it was a wild race,
a little bit crazy, chaotic, a lot of cautions, but I'm glad that people seem to enjoy it.
And I think for a little while it was that, that temporary break from the sadness and circumstances
that we were all living in.
So you have the difficult element of everything that built into the week, which was the aspects
of the, the tragedy with Kyle Busch.
And then you have the unfortunate circumstances of, you know, the race itself getting moved to Sunday,
Sunday morning, which honestly was probably a cool spot considering there was no Monaco GP that weekend,
but talk about the race itself.
It ended up having to be kind of like a time limit.
It felt, was that kind of unique to you being a play-by-play broadcaster where, you know, in the last
10 minutes of the race, you were counting down the 10 minutes, not the laps.
Yeah.
It was really one of the first times that I've, I've seen that unfold that way.
And it was unique and, and I mean, I watch all forms of racing.
So I think I made the parallel at some point that it was similar to motocross where, you know,
we're supercross.
Now they went to a time format.
So they'll count it down to the end of the clock and then it's two to go, essentially white flag next time by.
But the variable for us is we traditionally have this overtime format.
And now we knew that it was not going to be possible if Acacia came out and sure enough we had that happen late.
So, and quite frankly, the way that the communication was going from, you know,
us to our producers who are in direct communication with NASCAR,
it sounded like there was maybe a bit of uncertainty as to whether or not we were going to go back racing.
And I, I seem like they were trying.
And then once the clock, no pun intended struck 12.
We got the call white flag over 34 next time by really unique circumstance.
And I think the fact that the drivers knew that that was a potential that that could happen.
I don't know if that was pouring fuel on the fire and what was already a really aggressive race.
Everyone was really aggressive with their blocks that the runs were massive.
I love the way that they prepped the track, which they've been doing it the last few years and it's,
it's even worked out well for all three series.
But yeah, really, really different circumstance.
I mean, I'm a race fan at heart.
So I of course want to see it go the distance.
And I think the way that those trucks are racing that day, the finish probably would have been pretty wild.
Now, if we were just going to give it one attempt, we probably would have wadded up a bunch of trucks.
So maybe it's a good thing we didn't do it this time by,
but I am so happy that the race in the fall is on the oval this year,
because I think it's going to be just as crazy as what it was, you know, here in the, you know, late spring, early summer months.
So, but yeah, really, really odd circumstance.
If I had to vote, I would like to not be in that position again,
but I understand why we ended up there and judging by the way the forecast was all weekend and how quickly it was changing.
I kind of worked out that we got it in at all.
Here with Eric Brennan of Fox Sports and car store play by play guys.
So that's a role you've, you've picked over the last couple of years.
What has that been like to kind of get into like the biggest series of grassroots racing?
What it feels like the car store feels like it is exploded in popularity over the last three seasons, you know, since the new ownership group has come in.
What has that been like for you in the broadcast booth being able to call, you know, maybe the most prominent late model stock series, short track series, whatever you want to call it in the country right now.
A blast. And I've told everyone, no matter where my life takes me, no matter where my career goes, I still always want to be able to call car store races.
The racing is unbelievable. The tracks that we visit are like the backbone of the sport.
Some of them like Langley this weekend. I mean, that place is a palace.
They've got a playground there for little kids. They've got hospitality areas for, you know, some of the VIPs and sponsors.
The track itself is in beautiful shape. There's not a blade of grass that is, you know, cut a different way than any place else in the property.
And then you've got some of your places that are a little more rustic, old school, but the racing is unbelievable.
The talent level is off the charts. The amount of good racers that we've got coming up through that pipeline.
And one thing that I really loved about it is, you know, there's also a cars tour West element that Kevin and a bunch are doing a really good job at trying to stand up out there.
And one of the former champions of those branches realized like, okay, I've kind of proven myself in this region.
I'm going to go run the cars tour now in Jay's hail. He's had a really rough year on the late model stock side.
But his brother Colton, their multi-generational racers, they've kind of been doing it together with Colton run on a pro late model, Jay's a late model stock.
There seems to be this growing reputation of the series. If I want to prove that I have what it takes to maybe move up to the next level, the car stores where I got to go and I got to be good at.
And I love that the series has kind of gone into this circumstance and the situation and it's been remarkable.
And I'm really fortunate to be in a position that I'm in to kind of cover that series and everyone from top to bottom, from the officials, from leadership group, Kip Childress, Carson Eldridge does so much for them.
They all love what they do. And when we show up at the racetrack, when we show up at Langley on Thursday or Friday, but when we get there, everyone is happy to be there.
They know their role. responsibility. And it is honestly one of the most fun times that I've ever had working in the sport.
You talk about that and you've been very entrenched in the grassroots and you've been basically the guy for Arca this season as well.
What has that been like for you to now kind of your development in terms of growth is similar to now these drivers like the mini Tyrells of the world, the Butterbean Queens of the world where you were calling grassroots races and then you got Arca races and now you're getting truck races.
It feels like you're kind of going through the same developmental arc as these drivers. What has that kind of been like to build relationships with some of the future stars that we could see on Saturdays and Sundays in the sport?
To be honest, the dream come true. I never thought that I would be in a position to call a car store race, let alone an Arca race, let alone a truck race.
I was actually having this conversation with Butterbean on Friday at Charlotte just saying it's really cool to work through this system together.
Conor Zillich is another one. I was with the WK when he was running those races. They would run Daytona Cart Week basically between Christmas and New Year's every year.
We would go down like on the 26th. We would run 27, 28, 29 and then come home on the 30th. Conor went three for three I think in 2019 with his three junior classes he was entered in.
Then I started doing some of the Arca races. He was running cars tour in 23. I started doing some Arca races in 23, 24 that he was running.
I said, man, it's really cool. Granted, I think he's about half my age, but it's really cool that we're both working our way up.
Him and Butterbean are definitely way more talented than I am, but it does make for a stronger connection. It makes it a little bit easier for me to tell some of their life story,
some of how they got there to kind of bundle it all together. So when Butterbean won the Arca title, I love that I was there in Toledo because I got to talk about the two major supporters and sponsors that got him to that point,
which was still on that race car before he announced the Ram deal and having that past relationship and kind of walking a similar path.
That's what gave me that chance. Really a lot of the things that happen in this sport and in life is relationship based and having the ability to reach out to a few people,
have some conversations, maybe get some intel or insight that they wouldn't be willing to tell some other people. It goes a long way in terms of one,
me being confident to deliver the information on a race broadcast, but two, I think it also allows them to know that I'm trying my best to shine a spotlight on everybody's talents and abilities.
And that's really all I want to do. I spent a lot of my younger years trying to convince my friends in New York that racing was cool.
And now I feel like it's my responsibility to present that what these men and women are doing in the race cars is badass.
And the best way that I could do that is to talk more about what they do, where they came from, how they got there.
And hopefully we're doing them a good enough job, but it's cool to be able to kind of float to the top with some of these.
But I'm pretty sure that your butter beans and obviously Kondo Zillich is already in the cup series.
I'm pretty sure they're going to surpass anything I'll ever get to be able to do in terms of racing resumes.
But nevertheless, it's fun.
Who is someone that's currently in the cars tour or even in the Arkham and Ard series that you are kind of like, you know, maybe no one's really truly talking about them yet.
That's going to make a splash in the next coming years.
I think the easy answer is Landon Lewis.
He's our defending champion on the late model stock side.
Missed the season opener this year to run the truck race, which he did great at there in St. Petersburg.
And I think Landon's already on a few people's radars.
I think someone who pops in the mind and I've known him for a while and he doesn't have a lot of late model stock experience is Carson Lofton.
Tour type modified driver, third generation racer from the south.
Carson is a tremendous kid who has proven that he could do well in tour type modifies, but he's only in his second year of late model stock racing.
He won the rookie of the year honors last year on the late model stock side.
He's with Nelson Motorsports.
He's won a lot of championships and titles.
They won a race with Landon Huffman as well a couple of years ago.
But Carson just that transfer from a tour type modified to a late model stock car is a pretty dramatic one to make.
And Carson seems to be doing it in stride.
I'm glad that him and Nelson signed up to do 2026 and do another year and continue to build off what they started in 2025.
And they're just tremendous at what they do.
And on the Arca side, I would say, you know, obviously, Andy J. Koyak is towing it for all of the short track racers.
And his story is incredible beyond just what his racing resume shows.
But I really have taken a liken to Matt Kemp, kind of local to the Midwestern center part of the country, if you will.
And he runs a lot for fast track.
Sometimes he helps out when they don't have somebody else for the fourth car or other times they'll try to run the whole race.
But he's definitely someone who if given the right opportunity, he can manage his equipment, get to the end and I think really outperform a lot of the equipment that that he's driving.
I was talking to him the other day, I hope he gets a shot in something significant at some point because he's he seems to have the right attitude, the right approach and just seeing what he's been doing and some of the equipment that he's been driving,
especially compared to some of his other teammates, very impressive when he gets a chance to run a whole race.
So that may be one that's a little bit out of left field, but after watching him for about a year and a half, I believe that if given the right chance, he could prove he can do this.
And full disclosure for our listeners, you have a full time job. This is might be the coolest part about it. You have an actual full time job.
And you broadcast like, you know, as a on the side, what is that balance like where, you know, you know, most, you know, you have to work some days, but like, there's also a big race on the weekend or you have to leave on a Friday or a Thursday.
Like, what is that balance been like for you managing kind of the full time job you have, and this kind of goal oriented career that you want to build.
It's tough, but I got a lot of support. To be honest, even on this call, I've got three phone calls that try to come in and eight teams messages about something that I've been ignoring.
So, but I work in corporate security at the local utility down here in Charlotte, kind of managing our video management systems and I've been here for four years officially, but I've kind of worked for them in a contracting rollback to 2019.
It's a lot. I mean, it's a traditional 40 hour week, Monday to Friday, you know, eight to 49 to five job. And then I've got a wife and two kids at home. So my two girls are, you know, about 33 and a half coming up on and about to turn two in August.
So it's, it is a lot to juggle. Usually after I get them to bed on week nights, that's when I start looking at my prep for the week ahead. So tonight, it'll be bedtime routine for the girls and then I'll shift gears to the entry list for Langley this weekend for cars tour.
And luckily, the week after that, I got a week off. And then week after that, it's back in the arc of booth for Pocono. And then week after that, it's, you know, Berlin and Elko back to back. So trying to juggle it all.
And fortunately, a lot of my bosses and teammates at work understand I got to use a lot of my vacation time to go to races. And fortunately, my wife understands that.
But it's been cool. I'm very lucky because there's a lot of people in similar positions that don't have that flexibility and grace. And I'm in a spot where I can kind of massage what I need to do both.
But, you know, hopefully the day comes where I'll know which career is going to flourish greater.
I should say off the record, but we'll put it on the record because we're recording this, but obviously I wanted to be on the racing side. So, but either way, I enjoy what I do at Duke as well.
So, but it is, it is a lot of hours. So well, you're setting me up for my final question for you with here with Eric, but what is your goals ultimately with doing broadcasting?
You have to have like, I don't say a bucket list of races to do because you've done some pretty big races in this country, the snowball derby, for example.
But ultimately, what is your, what is your goal by maintaining this kind of maintaining this broadcasting rule?
So, to be honest, I actually met the original goal I set on Sunday. I had told not only my wife, my friends, people at Fox, it's like, what do you want to do?
And it's like, I would love to get to the point where I can call truck races.
I mean, so now that I got there, obviously the goal is bigger. And I think that I don't want to make it specific to a race or a series or anything like that.
But I really would like to get to a point in my life where racing can be my career. And I don't necessarily have to have, you know, three different jobs, essentially.
I would like to get to that point where I could live and work in the space that I love the most.
And I don't really know how close or far away I am from that.
I do like the pathway that I'm on, the relationships that I feel like I've made, the work that I'm putting out there, the reception from people, which has been very overwhelming and I appreciate it so much.
So I guess that would be my next goal is to get to a point where like, even if it's just for a few years, that this could be my job, you know, just working in racing could be all I got to do to pay bills.
Because right now I'm not exactly there yet, but I'm enjoying the ride anyway.
At E. Brennan 45 on Twitter, Eric Brennan, the Fox in cars tour play by play announcer remain the dark minards and cars tour series plus a little trucks after his truck debut this past weekend at Charlotte.
Eric, thanks so much for some time. I know you are a busy man. So I appreciate you fin me in during your busy week.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Hope to talk to you again soon.
Yes, sir. That was Eric Brennan in the Inferno.
Thanks so much to Eric and thanks so much to our own Mark Crystal, who helped me get that interview booked. So shout out to Mark. Great arc of coverage. Make sure you follow Mark Crystal at frontstretch.com.
Thanks so much to Eric for that time. And now let's focus on what's up with this week with what's still hot.
Joining me now a compandre at frontstretch.com is Caleb Barnes at Caleb Barnes underscore. He joins me for I would say a majority of these podcasts. Caleb, hope you're doing well.
Let's dive right into the news from today. The NASCAR appellant court, whatever you want to call it, upheld the national motorsports appeal panel.
Today heard an appeal on behalf of Ryan priests and under that they said the appellant violation rules set in forth and penalty notice. The panel affirms and upholds the original penalty assessed by NASCAR.
In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation. Although not a unanimous decision NASCAR and RFK racing presented competing interpretations of common data.
Neither side clearly proved their point, but Mr. Priest comments show that he shows to not cut his competition. Any breaks.
What do you think if if it's in the phrasing like they use they're not cutting your competition any breaks instead of intentionally wrecking.
What kind of precedent could this set.
That's a tough question to ask because I feel like I mean what Ryan priests did and when we talked about like the only mistake that he made was admitting over the radio that he was about to that he was fed up with tie gives and I mean you see this a lot with drivers where they say that they're like done with someone and that they're going to give it to them and then they never do.
And like that was a thing I can't remember how many years ago where people would talk about like the oh they're just all bark no bite and like they actually wanted to be like that's what fans enjoy is whenever drivers actually go and do something about about it.
But yeah it's just it's just one of those things where it seems like such like a small line to be looking at specifically those comments and just just that wording seems really just odd and specific and almost nitpicky in my opinion to versus just a guy that goes and dump someone without saying anything on the radio.
Like you can kind of tell with your eyes visually when someone's finally had enough and when they've decided that they're going to race someone hard and like.
So I just still am not a fan of the ruling and even today's like penalty report just kind of further confirms that and just feels like.
It feels like their priests is kind of being made another example out of but then at the same time like I don't know how this sort of thing will be officiating in the future because again like if you see someone.
Seemingly intentionally rex someone but oh they didn't say anything on the radio then like it's just like where do you go to officiate it just seems like it's a very kind of balls and strikes type of call and unfortunately Ryan Priest has gotten the wrong into the deal and then as much as fan support was on the side like I don't think anyone expecting them to actually succeed in in his appeal.
Yeah I just don't like the phrasing of cut do not cut his competitors any breaks I mean that's what if you do something similar for the lead you shouldn't cut your competitor a break for the lead or for the win.
So I don't like the phrasing of it I didn't agree with the penalty in the first place there's another penalty he could technically make a final appellant will they do that maybe but we will see another big decision that maybe Nascar the sport as a whole kind of has to make is
in his regard to Kyle Bush and what should they do about his whole of fame candidacy we already know he's a first ballot Hall of Famer Steve O'Donnell has said that which by the way side note I want to give credit to Steve O'Donnell for what he how he handled everything this weekend from his press conference on Friday to his tribute they did pre race while we had Samantha and Brexton and Lennox and the Bush family and RC and his family and the entire sport essentially right there.
I don't want to give credit or credit is due to how the you know Steve O'Donnell handle this weekend but there's now a conversation around Kyle Bush and how they should handle his Hall of Fame can is the hand candidacy should they wave the three or waiting period making an elsewhere
place on the ballot in the next class or allow Roberto Clemente when he tragically passed away in baseball have a special election that a human ducted with this class in January 2027.
Or do nothing about it just you know he has the three or waiting period. Obviously this is still very raw emotions but what do you think should be done when it comes to kind of how they handle when to put Kyle Bush in the Hall of Fame not easy to be the Hall of Fame just when when do you think it should be done.
Honestly this is one of those things where like I don't really have any strong opinions on it one way or the other because like again you mentioned it it's all still so raw like it just happened and it as much as I think it would be very ultra respected ultra respectful to do the thing where they make them an addition in this next class like at the same time.
I just feel like it's still too early to even have those conversations yet I know it's been something that a few people have thrown out here and there.
But but I think ultimately like making a decision on that it'd be best to wait another like a few months and make some sort of an announcement later this summer or this fall or into the off season.
But at the same time like I've just heard a lot of different things about like people the way that what they knew from Kyle and like I also think it would be like one way or the other.
I mean his accomplishments are going to be recognized and whether or not they decide to make Kyle wish wait the full three year period and then get voted on or whether or not they they allow him to be eligible next year.
I feel like that's probably the most tangible solution just based on what we've seen out of NASCAR out of the Hall of Fame voting process in the past.
Ultimately part of me kind of would hope that maybe they wait the three years and then in that time period maybe we also see that change in the voting process that everybody's been asking for because there's been enough said about that as well.
But yeah we're just at this point like I feel like the most probable thing would be for him to be on the ballot next year as for just like but like I said I don't know that I have any super strong preferences right now just because again like we're not we're barely a weaker
mood from the news first coming out and again it's such a weird thing because everybody knows that Kyle's going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer but at the same time it's it just feels like we haven't had enough of a period yet to let everybody get kind of their emotion out from just the raw reaction to losing a driver.
I mean that that was for me like it it still didn't even really set in until Sunday seeing Samantha and Brexton on the grid and and like just the couple days after that like it's still setting in for a lot of people.
It is indeed I think either answer could work the Roberto Clemente answer which is basically make him part of the 27 class I think waving the I think I think waving the three year period and just putting him in the next class is the way to do it as well we've already been
into kind of how maybe the voting of the Hall of Fame should change entirely could you just make a special exception just make an additional member I don't know it's it's such a unique case.
There anyways well someone who may be making a unique Hall of Fame case and is improving on ovals is the one the only SVG as we now make him the focus of the sound bite of the week.
Well Tony what angered you at the end of the race what did you take issue with what the hell do you think I was mad about little runs us clear down to the infield he wants to about everybody else and he's when it drives like a little I'm a busty's ass.
Thanks Tony. Thank you.
It's time for the sound bites of the week.
I don't know if you'll agree with me but a lot of people are surprised that how well it was today should we be surprised.
I don't know it's hard like I had an amazing day but I'm past just bad shoes and should be top five or six we had an amazing day and then just didn't execute at the end but it was really cool to run up front all day obviously gifted a good starting position by the rain out.
Yeah filthy with myself for the end should have been a bit better.
Do you do you agree with the idea to stay out there.
Yeah yeah it was cool to lead.
Yeah that was that was awesome fun.
SVG shout out to Dalton Hopkins by the way and a little John newbie for getting that audio there.
SVG led some laps in the Coke 600 there was definitely a portion of the race where like oh my god he might win the Coke 600 because of the rain short and obviously going to Daniel Suarez.
But I flipped you Kale.
Is this a big signal that SVG is getting closer and closer to being I don't want to say a master of ovals but at least competitive enough on it.
I would say so like a lot of times I'm kind of hesitant to be like oh this is this is the turning point and all that stuff but I mean I do think one factor that's very largely playing into this was his like starting position.
It just makes such such a difference to be able to start up there.
And as opposed to having to start in the field and try to make your way through especially like your typical front runners the Hendrick the Gibbs the Pinsky cars.
You can kind of expect if those guys start further back deep in the field that they will find enough speed to be able to work their way through.
But a team like Trackhouse so far in this season they haven't shown that speed to be able to get unstuck from deep in the field.
So I think that Watkins Glen win was a huge setup for it but then also the fact that like we're able to get practice in even the qualifying was rained out like that also helps a little bit.
But getting practice in Shane got to work with his car he's he's had the experience in the years past now with some of these races he's getting more and more comfortable on the ovals and I'll be really curious to see kind of the next few weeks.
I'm looking at the schedule right now because it's like you got Nashville Shane I think he kind of struggled at Dover at least at the start and Nashville is another concrete track.
But then I feel like he could be pretty decent at Michigan and Pocono as long as he starts up close enough to the front of the field and then you get the street course Sonoma back to back.
And like I mean he's he's got an opportunity to continue to show that like he's learned from last year and that again like some weeks it just happens that you get put in a bad situation the week before or you have a bad qualifying lap you get put further back.
But like I think that was a huge confidence builder for him to start up front and stay up front most of the entire race.
I know the finish wasn't exactly what he had hoped for and even in some of that might have even just been because of the rain out like if we had gone the full if we had gotten restarted and gone the full distance.
I wonder what Shane could have been able to do.
Who knows maybe he would have stayed back there but yeah I mean I was super impressed by him running up there all night and I was gonna say like he belongs but that's even about because he did belong up there he started stayed there as opposed to some of the other guys who like started up front and then dropped.
I mean even even Daniel Suarez started up front or started closer to the front dropped a little bit and then they use some of that strategy to get back to the front at the end but yeah I mean it was a great night for Shane.
It does look like he mentioned being frustrated that he didn't get the finish that he deserved that does kind of suck.
But I mean I think that there's been a lot of talks about like can Shane put together good like being adequate on the ovals to get himself into the chase at the end of the year or the end of the regular season and I mean if he's running like that like I don't think it's going to be like that much of a question.
I think it's going to take all the suspense out of it so we'll eventually see what to probably revisit this in a few weeks but that was just a fantastic run and I do think it's kind of a turning point for Shane leveling out on the ovals.
I'll be curious to see if he can get to a point where he's going up and competing kind of like we saw like AJ Allmendinger towards the end of his some of his spending time with colleague like he started becoming a contender on some of the ovals as well.
So we'll see if Shane can get there sometime in the next couple weeks months maybe the next year or two. We'll see.
Well there's only one thing left to do and that's wrap this podcast up with some final thoughts.
It's going to be a drag race all the way back to the start finish line.
No caution.
They're side by side.
Right to the line.
Here they come.
Checkered flag.
The checkered flag is out and it's time for the final thoughts.
Final thoughts.
Caleb Orange you're first.
Anything you want to rant, rave or review the floor is yours.
I just wanted to bring some attention to the point standings.
First off Ty Gibbs sitting in fourth.
It's pretty impressive I feel like.
Carson Hosevar and Daniel Suarez both top ten ninth and tenth is also very impressive for people that maybe feel like they might have got lucky with their wins.
Kyle Carson won at a super speedway.
Suarez got a rain short to win.
Well their speed throughout the year has them top ten in points.
Brett Koslowski is in 11th.
I do want to bring attention to there's a few of the names that I'm starting to get concerned about.
Obviously Ross Chastain and Joey Logano are two guys that we expect to contend that are below the cut line right now.
But the two that I'm worried about from maybe your two most powerful teams are William Byron and Chase Briscoe.
Now those Toyotas are the fastest thing on the planet right now especially those Gibbs Toyotas plus Tyler Reddick.
And all it takes is for Briscoe to put together a string of races.
But he's already kind of he already had put himself in the hole at the start of the season.
And one guy that and William Byron on the other hand is a guy that I'm worried might be on the verge of digging himself in a hole.
He's had some really bad luck this year.
But it's also turned into one of those things where I just mentioned the benefit of a guy like Shane Van Guisbergen.
He's getting to start up in the front of the field.
He's able to maintain that track position.
Doesn't have to worry about getting caught back in the dirty air.
Guys like William Byron and Chase Briscoe because of these these bad races these bad finishes.
Chase was having a great race over the weekend and then took himself out in a crash.
I can't remember what happened to William Byron.
He had driven himself up and then had something happen and ended up going like a lap down at one point.
And those compound into putting yourselves back at the qualifying metric.
Don't get the lap that you want to.
You start deeper in the field.
You have to overcome all that.
And again, those are two cars that especially the Toyota.
Hendrick is still kind of searching for some of that speed this year.
But those are two cars, two teams, two drivers that in an instant could hit on something this summer and go on a stretch.
Of like a couple weeks where they're in victory lane or they're constantly finishing top five and they could easily distance themselves from the cut line.
My worry is that if you play, what's the phrase, if you play with fire, eventually you get burned.
I think that's the phrase.
If not, then maybe it goes a little bit differently.
But my worry is that they're going to play around too long around this cut line.
And you might see a few more of these guys end up not falling off.
I think some people are expecting maybe the 97 or the 77 to maybe fall off at some point and I don't know that they will.
So I'm a little bit worried about those guys at this point.
We still got a lot of racing to go before we get to the chase.
But yeah, those guys, it's like, you better watch out.
You better find something, hit on something quick or else you could be in real danger zone for what equipment those guys are in, what their expectations are every week.
Sneaky sneaky right there, Kale Barnes.
Ultimately, I just want to go with just the emotions of this week.
I think the drivers like NASCAR lived up to the moment and I wasn't covering the sport in 2001.
Last week we spent a lot of times comparing Kyle's death to Dale Earnhardt and Kobe Bryant.
And for how emotional that weekend was and how difficult that weekend was, considering I believe the first time ever that all three races were rain shortened, essentially, affected by weather.
And just to kind of get the sense like you definitely felt the love in the community that NASCAR brings the uniqueness to it.
And it was a moment where NASCAR was forced into a spotlight.
It doesn't want to be in.
And this was one of those cases when the unfortunate tragedy and NASCAR met the moment and truly, I think, did a perfect balance of celebrating how big the Coke 600 weekend is and also celebrating the life of Kyle Bush.
So I want to give NASCAR there.
Also, flipping to the Indy 500, despite the fact that the man who finished second, his biggest fan resides in my house.
And she was very heartbroken by the finish of the Indianapolis 500.
And David Malukas falling short in the closest ever finish.
I want to give a hat tip to all those drivers that was in my luck.
She is screaming for David Malukas as I record this.
I want to just say in my lifetime, and now I am not the biggest Indy car expert, shout out to our Indy car team.
That was the greatest Indy 500 I've ever seen.
I mean, you had 70 lead changes, including on the final lap and you had a final lap with a guy who won it.
Basically, did something that is unheard of at Indianapolis and went a whole lap in the outside lane in the non preferred lane and still somehow had just barely enough to get past David Malukas and win.
And shout out to Felix Rosenquist for just an epic final lap.
One of the best final laps I think we've ever seen in the history of motor sports where he just decided, I'm going to go all out.
And now there are a lot of different factors.
Marcus Armstrong, who you saw was heartbroken, mentioned how he literally had to lift or he was going to wreck his teammate.
Shout out to David Malukas for literally doing everything right.
Like everything right to win the Indianapolis 500 and to have back to back years of finishing second.
I just, Indy 500 is the best race every year.
It was so good.
It was such an epic race and just the passing and I guess because they were racing, they think there was rain coming and how there was it ended with a one lap shootout and it was just an epic, epic race.
Trey, I got major FOMO because I thought about going.
I'm like three and a half hours away from Indy and I went last year and it was like the first year with the hybrid and the race wasn't all that great.
It felt like they really didn't pass a ton.
And with all like, I was there last year with some of the rain and there was rain in the forecast.
I was like, I don't really, I don't want to sit in the rain all day and go through all that song and dance and then just watching it on TV.
I was like, I wish I was there like super major FOMO.
I guess I saved me some money, but yeah, it was a great race.
It was indeed.
Well, for Caleb Barnes at Caleb Barnes underscore shout out to producer Chris Graham help and put this together.
You can follow me at Trey Lyle VT.
Check out all our covers from this past weekend.
Check out the latest episode of happy hour.
Holly Kane join talk about the life and legacy of Kyle Bush.
If you did not watch a week ago, about our tribute bringing the heat to Kyle Bush where we had multiple different perspectives.
Caleb even hopped on.
We had Tom Bowles hop on.
Michael Massey, Dalton Hopkins, Derek Gilroy who hopped on who was there at the track or at RCR.
We had Tanner Marlar hop on as well with a fitting tribute to that.
Please check that out.
We have a video on our YouTube page, youtube.com backslash front stretch that is four hours long.
That shot to Kevin Nicks who put together all the interviews we've gotten of Kyle Bush.
Check out all the track content we got from this past weekend and we're getting this weekend at Nashville.
But just in with this final thought in terms of life, the legacy of Kyle Bush for Rowdy.
Life is too short, take granted.
Make sure you tell the people you know you love them and you appreciate them.
And I appreciate all of our listeners and all of our supporters here at frontstretch.com.
So just want to end on that note.
So for Caleb Barnes for Chris Graham, I'm Trey Lyle, signing off on this episode of Bringing the Heat.
About this episode
Fox Sports play-by-play announcer Eric Brennan joins the Frontstretch Podcast Network hosts to talk about moving up the racing broadcast ladder—from calling car store and ARCA events to truck series work. The conversation also revisits a weather-impacted weekend marked by tragedy, including a race pushed to Sunday and run “like a time limit,” with late clock rules leading to a “white flag” sequence. Along the way, Brennan balances corporate security work with race-week prep and shares how track prep and starting up front shape outcomes.
