Bringing the Heat: Michael Waltrip Shares Inspiration for Brewery, New Beer Flavors

Bringing the Heat: Michael Waltrip Shares Inspiration for Brewery, New Beer Flavors Frontstretch Podcast Network · Jul 2, 2026

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Person

Michael Waltrip

A famous former race car driver who won NASCAR's biggest race, the Daytona 500, twice. Today, he is well-known for his colorful personality as a TV commentator and for running his own beer company.

Person

Ned Jarrett

A legendary NASCAR driver from the 1960s who later became one of the most famous and beloved television commentators in the sport's history.

Place

Chicagoland Speedway

A large, D-shaped oval race track located near Chicago where NASCAR used to race regularly.

Company

Hendrick Motorsports

One of the biggest, richest, and most successful racing teams in NASCAR, known for winning a massive number of championships over the last few decades.

Brand

Dodge

A famous American car brand known for making powerful muscle cars like the Charger and Challenger. They used to race in NASCAR but left the sport in 2012.

Car

The Dodge Charger is a famous American muscle car. In NASCAR racing, the cars look like real street cars but are actually custom-built racing machines with a body shaped to look like the Dodge Charger.

Company

Kaulig Racing

A relatively new but highly competitive professional racing team that competes in NASCAR's top divisions.

Term

charter

A charter is basically a franchise membership for a NASCAR team. It guarantees that the team's car gets to race in every single event and secures them a steady stream of prize money.

Person

Connor Zilisch

An incredibly talented young American race car driver who has won major sports car races and is widely considered one of the most exciting rising stars in NASCAR.

Term

road ringer

This is a nickname for a race car driver who is exceptionally good at driving on twisty tracks with left and right turns, rather than the usual oval-shaped tracks.

Term

next-gen car

This is the newest style of race car used in NASCAR's top series. It was designed to make the racing closer and more competitive while using parts that are closer to what you'd find on modern road cars.

LIVE

It's time for Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle.

Welcome on into another edition of Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle.

I'm the aforementioned Trey Lyle, and let's get into a very fun conversation.

He, of course, is an iconic voice for Fox Sports and their NASCAR coverage.

He is a former two-time and Daytona 500 champion, former owner in the sport.

Michael Waldtrip is set to join us in the Inferno.

We also have Caleb Barnes joining me and talk with latest news and notes in all of NASCAR.

But let's get to that conversation.

Michael Waldtrip talking about his jewelry.

He's got a new beer out.

Check that out as well.

And as well as his thoughts on the season, plus some thoughts about Ed Jarrett and much more,

let's head to the Inferno with Michael Waldtrip.

Now it's time for Welcome back to Fox NASCAR from Texas Motor Speedway.

I'm standing on the world's biggest TV screen, and I got a giant remote.

And my problem is I still can't find anything I want to see.

There's Dallas.

I don't watch that anymore.

Check out me.

Look at those moves.

Hey, there's the Stooges.

That reminds the Hollywood Hotel, huh?

Hey, Brad, don't do that.

That's not a good look for you.

Oh, Darryl, Darryl, Darryl, you make the Waldtrip look like we can't stand.

Box sports club.

That's not bad.

Is that Buck and H.

Golly, come on.

There's got to be something on, huh?

What's this button do?

Sorry, I think cool.

Wow, look at that.

I'm on the big hall.

So I love that.

Hi, guys.

How you doing?

Do you know that if, well, that was fun with Darryl.

Y'all had a good time.

That was good.

Yeah, we did have a nice time.

It was a lot hot in there, but yeah, we had a good time.

Hey, Ricky, if you have one, we're just gonna say yes.

Okay.

I found that out for you.

Hey, can I have this dog?

To go into the Inferno with Tray.

Heading into the Inferno now, you of course, works for Fox Sports.

You'll see him do the grid walk during their portion of the broadcast.

Also, he happens to run Michael Waldtrip Brewering Company, Michael Waldtrip.

Joining us, Mikey, thanks so much for doing this.

Let's dive right into Michael Waldtrip Brewering before we get to talk about NASCAR.

Where did this idea of creating your own beer and brewing company come from?

Oh, it's been 78 years now.

Brian Sperber, he was with Phoenix Raceway out in Arizona, worked there and ran the place.

Another buddy of ours, Glenn, we were out golfing one day.

We ordered a couple of glasses of Chardonnay, which was weird.

I know we were in wine country, but we said, well, we should get a beer.

We should make a beer.

You know how bright ideas sort of have a silly beginning.

We're really tired of basically normal beers, and we wanted to try something new and different.

It's been a lot of fun.

We've had some great growth and been able to have some great partnerships and have made some really

tasty beers.

We have a couple that are widespread in distribution.

You can get them at Foodline and Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods and all around.

Bristol Sunshine was just a beautiful tangerine ale.

And then the Talladega Light, which is a light log.

They're just easy drinking, normal beers that have a little bit more flavor to them than some other beers.

Just crafty.

I think we use great ingredients.

I really like what we put together as beers.

That led us into the partnership that we're celebrating now with famous toastry here

in this area of the country.

Yeah, I was about to ask you that part of the growth of Michael Walter Brewing has been

this new beer, a breakfast-inspired beer.

It is with famous toastry.

How did this kind of unique partnership come together?

It's a classic cinnamon roll ale that does feel unique.

Is this like, are you trying to create a brunch beer?

If you're watching on our YouTube stream, the perfect product display here,

the NASCAR driver and Michael Walter Brewing is still alive and well with product placement.

But how did this kind of unique beer come together?

Because it feels like the perfect kind of brunch beer.

Well, it's funny because I mentioned the Bristol Sunshine.

And I tease people all the time.

That's a tangerine ale.

So if you have one at breakfast, it's got a little vitamin C in it.

It's not that big of a deal.

And I've just always been a fan of famous toastry.

They have great food, great service, great people.

And just to be able to collaborate and have a partnership with such a beautiful,

wonderful brand was something that meant the world to me.

To be able to join hands and say, we got a great beer.

You've got a great restaurants.

And we want to do it together.

And so the mimosas these days are pretty popular.

So we decided we'd make a beer.

Maybe that people have an option if they wanted to have something in the morning.

And this classic cinnamon roll ale, when you open it up, there's no doubt it's a cinnamon roll ale.

And toastry has the best cinnamon rolls.

And you just smell it right off the bat.

And then you get a taste of it.

And it's just really drinkable and fun to have.

You put it in the glass wouldn't look near as good as the can does.

But when you pour it into a glass, it's just a great sip and beer that I think a lot of people really will enjoy.

And I'm looking forward, I think the end of this month, January 25th,

it'll be available at some of the famous toastries and also at selected food lines.

So you'll be able to get a cold Michael Walter Bering cinnamon ale,

something that honestly about two months ago, I didn't see coming.

But you like to have fun and you like to go in directions that are new or different,

new and different.

And we were able to do that with this beer.

Obviously, you had this long racing career leads into the ownership side of the actual,

you know, you sport with Michael Walter Bering.

What has this kind of challenge been for you creating kind of a business from scratch in an area where

you mentioned the connections you had at the start, but you truly, you didn't,

you know, you didn't, you know, it's not like racing where you were there your whole life.

But you know, how is this kind of the growth of Michael Walter Bering

been for you on the kind of the ownership side?

Well, like you mentioned, you know, there's a lot behind the marketing end of it.

You have to have a great product.

You have to have great beer.

And we make sure Levi Duncan's our brewmaster and he's just phenomenal at putting beers together that

I taste and approve and I enjoy.

And I think once you get a beer into someone's hands, they really enjoy it too.

But if you've ever gone to the grocery store and decided you needed a six pack of beer,

there's a lot of options.

There's a lot of different beers on the shelf.

And being able to get a beer into someone's hands is the most challenging part of the brewing company.

You know, our partnership here in the Cornelius area,

with 11 Lakes Brewery, has given us a chance to have our beer there.

People can go in, buy our beer right here in this area.

We're all around North Carolina now down into Florida.

So there are a bunch of places where you can try and buy our beers.

But that's the most challenging thing.

People thinking, you know, when they have choices in beers, what do they want to spend?

What's the cost?

What can we deliver our beers for?

And, you know, is our beer a quality product that they're going to enjoy?

And I know we check all those boxes.

Still, though, getting people to give it a go is probably the hardest part of the business.

And why I really enjoy the marketing side of it, trying to come up with new, innovative ways

to have someone be able to get the opportunity to enjoy our beers.

Here with Fox Sports is Michael Walter.

Of course, he also owns and operates the Michael Walter Brewing Company.

Check out their great beer, www.MichaelWalterBrewing.com.

But moving to the NASCAR side now, I do want to ask you about a cool experience you just

got to live in person, which was down at Coronado, following the Truck Series race.

What was the kind of weekend like in one of, if not the most unique racing venues that we've kind

of ever seen?

Well, I was just really thankful to be there.

And I landed in San Diego on Wednesday and pretty early on Thursday morning, went to the track,

got to see some of the truck racers, got to walk through the garage, see how it was all

laid out and set up.

And then that afternoon, walked the track and was able to walk with some of the different

race car drivers that competed on Saturday, Sunday, and in the trucks on Friday.

So just learning, seeing everything that was going on.

And then Harvick and I, we had three hours of TV Friday morning on practicing, qualifying.

And we just, we really enjoyed getting to know the track.

And the thing that meant the most to me is every sailor on the base was happy to see us.

Thankful that NASCAR came to town.

And we, we had that same appreciation and thankfulness that we were there and thankful of the

warm welcome that we were given by the sailors.

So to be able to, to be there and be thankful to be there and then have them appreciate the

fact that NASCAR came to town.

We went out on the, on the ship and stood on top of that amazing ship there in the Carl

Vincent and just, it was in awe of the technology and, and the people that made all the parts

and pieces of that, that wonderful base work and the people that serve this country to keep us

safe and keep allowing us to do what we love to do.

It was beautiful.

Outside of just having the race at Coronado, the big story was the guy you're very familiar

with was Corey Heim, ultimately winning the Cubs series race in, in just so few of starts.

Being able to see his talent up close and personal throughout his time in the truck

series. Obviously he won the championship last year, now going full-time in 2020, next year in

2027. What, what is kind of the ceiling for this kid in terms of his ability?

Well, we said early on, on Fox and I'm really thankful that we get to do the truck series,

whether it's Phil Parsons and I who did it forever or, you know, Kevin joins us now,

Joey Logano, some of the other NASCAR cup guys.

I've been there for a long time, calling the truck races and we get to see talent when it

shows up and some guys turn your head. A lot of folks have come through the trucks and we've said

they'll win cup races and, and Corey Heim was certainly way up that list because I think it was

one of his, it might have been his first start, but first or second at Darlington back in 22,

he was on the front row late in that race and like he'd, he'd never been there before.

That was just crazy that he was able to do that and that night we said, well, this kid's real

and he's going to win races. Probably would have thought it might have taken a few more cup stars

to get it done, but wow, what a, what a performance and what an accomplishment and

it's going to be fun to watch him. I think, I think he's one of those guys that you,

you feel pretty comfortable saying he'll, he'll be a cup champion one day.

Looking at the cup series, obviously we have this season challenge going on

and now we have a, we have back to back years where the one seed has been eliminated in the

first round. Jenny went out early to Ty Dillon last year, Tyler Reddick with the issues,

goes out to Alex Bowman this year. Whatever your thoughts is, we're still very much in the infant

stages of this kind of in season challenge and in, in terms of trying to like shake things up

throughout the regular season. Well, my bracket got messed up real quick and I think maybe everybody's

probably did and I just, I like it. You know, I like trying to see if I can, you're guessing,

you're guessing is what you're doing and you're, you're hopefully, hopefully your guesses are

smarter than the rest of the world and, and it turns out it doesn't look like mine are going to be,

but it just gives you another way to another part of the piece of the race to be able to

watch and see how it all goes. I think it's really enjoyable and I think that this weekend

we'll see who's able to, to just perform straight up and, and maybe move on in the round because we

know that there was a lot of twists and turns that, that went on in the last two races. So

see what happens when we go oval track racing. Do you want to ask a couple about the broadcasting

side of things as we're here with Michael Waldtrip? The, the ultimate debate I feel like in, in,

you know, broadcasting is like, should we do more races at the track or at the studio?

You guys face this in the truck series. I know the CW faces this at the Xfinity series level.

Do you have a preference or are you just kind of a guy who just follows what he's told and

will call the race the same whether he's there in person or in a studio in Charlotte?

Yeah, most of the people that complain about us not being at the track, they don't know what

they're talking about. So I don't, I don't put any validity in their comments. I know what I do

and I know whether I'm sitting at the racetrack in the booth and for, and for example, the booth we

were in at, at, at the Air Force Base, it was, it was basically what we were in when we're in

Charlotte. You couldn't see anything other than the TV screens and as you're taught as a broadcaster

at an early age, when you begin broadcasting, talk about what's on the screen. The folks at

home are seeing what's on the screen. It's your job to talk about what's on the screen. If you

want to talk about something that's not on the screen, push your little button and tell your,

your producer what you would like to be able to tell them about. And so that's just the job.

And I have a lot of contacts in the truck garage that I work closely with when we're not at the

racetrack. And so I make sure that whether it's the drivers or crew chiefs or marketing folks,

whoever it is, I have constant contact with them prior to the race and sometimes during the race.

So I enjoy either way. I like going to the races. I've been going my whole life and I really love

being in Coronado. But I can do, I think the job can be done exactly the same equally at one or the

other. It doesn't matter to me. Mikey, obviously the recent passing of Ned, Jared, I know he had

some influence at least on the broadcasting side of things for you. What was that kind of influence

was like? Because Ned was one of the first real iconic driver to TV voices that,

at least I can remember being a 29 year old. Yeah. He was definitely an influence on all of us

because he was such a great racer and he just became, went in the broadcast booth and then you

thought of him as a broadcaster. He was equally as good at both. And so I was really fortunate to

come along at a time when I watched my brother use all of his wit and his knowledge to make sure

that he took care of his sponsors and gave sponsors a different type of racer, if you will,

off the track. A guy that raced against Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt who were wearing cowboy

boots and he was in penny loafers. And he proved that you could be that way, be different and still

be effective. And so I think that I loved watching Ned and being on the track and listening to him

call some of my races the same with Buddy Baker. There were just racers that got on TV and you're

like, these guys know what they're talking about. They've lived it and they do a great job of telling

the stories. Benny Parsons is probably one of my guys that molded me the most when it,

if it, you know, not counting my brother or Richard Petty when I was growing up.

Benny was really a good friend to me. And so the racers become broadcasters are near and

dear to my heart. And I was really thankful to be able to go to Ned's memorial and listen to the

great stories that his family told and to be able to celebrate his life and appreciate what he did

all those years. Mikey, a couple more questions for you. Appreciate your time. What was kind of,

this is, this will say is a two-parter. How do you feel about Jack Harvey's skills doing the

gridwalk on the IndyCar side? And two, is there a person that you were able to bring with you this

season on the gridwalk that kind of stood out amongst the rest? Well, Jack Harvey is awesome.

And some of my favorite memories of the year was being able to be at Phoenix and, you know, be there

with IndyCar and sharing the stage with those guys. So just getting to, you know, getting

to learn more about those cars and watch them race and then see the IndyCar team on Fox.

And have dinner with them and talk about what we do and just how the gridwalk works and taking

Jack along with me on the gridwalk and letting him see sort of all that goes into what comes out on

TV. That was a lot of fun. And I get, no matter where I'm at, whether it's at the NASCAR races

or off somewhere playing golf, a lot of people enjoy the two minutes of fun we have on Sundays

prior to the race. And I'm mostly thankful to the drivers because the fact that they give me their

time, you know, I have to go to them and say, are you going to be here? Because I'm going to be there.

I got to go over there. But I'm going to come out and they're like, yeah, we'll be here. And one of the

one of the best memories of the year was with Kyle Busch a couple of weeks before his unfortunate

passing. We were at Talladega and Samantha was there and his children were there. And Samantha

was like, Talladega makes you nervous, you know, and Samantha was telling me about that. And

Brexton was there and I interviewed him a bit and was able to talk to Kyle about what it was

like having his family with him all the time and the fun they had off the track. And so just great,

great memories getting to share some time with Kyle. And then at the last race,

at Dover, getting to talk to Logano and his kids. I think that's my favorite thing, just seeing the

family side and the personal side of the drivers right before they get ready to hop in the car

and go. That's pretty special. Michael Walshrup Brewing Company. Michael Walshrup joins us.

Make sure you check out the collaboration with Famous Toast Street to launch a new brand new

breakfast inspired beer, the classic cinnamon roll ale. MichaelWalshrupBrewing.com for more

information. Mikey, appreciate the time today. Appreciate the great answers and good luck with

the roll out of this beer and good luck on the truck broadcast the rest of the season. And maybe

we can get to connect later on in the season. You got it, bud. Thanks for your time. Appreciate

all you all do and cheers. Cheers indeed. If I have a Chick-fil-A cup, so cheers.

Okay, that's fine. I got dessert. You got the main course there.

Works perfectly. Michael Walshrup in the Inferno. Thanks so much to the folks at Michael Walshrup

Brewing Company, Jillian, who helped arrange that interview. Make sure you check out the

Famous Toast Street classic cinnamon roll ale with Michael Walshrup Brewing Company.

Check that out if you have the chance. I think it's in the North Carolina area as Mikey was

talking about, but that was a great conversation with Michael Walshrup. But now let's get to

some more great conversations with what's still hot. What's still hot? It's time to upgrade you

on the latest news in NASCAR.

What's still hot? Caleb Barnes joins me. Caleb, earlier this week during a media availability,

which he's technically the defending race winner of this race at Chicago Land. Alex Bowman talked

about how he wanted his contract and his future to be resolved sooner rather than later. Obviously,

there's not a lot of clarity on it, but ultimately you would understand why he feels this way.

Do you have any expectations on the future of Alex Bowman?

I don't have any expectations. I really think it's kind of more up to Alex's case. I know there's

been a lot of people speculating about whether or not they think Hendricks is preparing to go after

some other people and there's been some rumors and everything, but I truly think that is dependent

on whether or not Alex wants to continue to race. I think that desire is still there, but I also think

that some of that stuff probably has been on his mind a bit. From what I saw, it sounds like he still

has some plans that he's trying to work toward. But yeah, I guess we'll have to see whenever

that comes out. I truly do think though that at this point anyways, I know he hasn't been the best

of seasons for Axon. He hasn't won since 2024 and that's probably adding a lot of pressure as well.

But I don't know. We'll see. I think like just some of the other guys, Mori Day is the one that

obviously Hendrick has him in the O'Reilly series, but I don't know that he's quite

deep for a cup ride yet. So I think if they wanted to, Hendrick would be willing to give

one more year at least to try and race full season at full capacity. But again, I think that's just

all up to Alex and we'll see. Like he said, hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll hear what his

plans are for next year. Yeah, we will indeed. I think I'm leaning towards him staying in Hendrick

Motorsports at least for one more season than Hendrick goes big game hunting with Connor Zillich

with his contract situation cleared up in 2028, unless a creative buyout can be met for 2027.

That is kind of the plan all along. And then we'll see what happens with Mori Day. Obviously,

they have him in the pipeline as well. That could easily be the option. I think it's too early for

him to go to cup. So we'll see how it all shakes out there. Speaking of things shaking out,

Dodge could return earlier than expected as soon as next season, according to Jordan Bianchi of

the athletic. Dodge is obviously the biggest hurdle is building an engine and that is what

they're working on now. So it was the charger model in the wind tunnel that has been worked on.

So they're starting to work in the wind tunnel. It doesn't say what team it would be joining,

but it's pretty simple. You would assume it'd be something with colleague racing.

And obviously, Dodge could join as a new team and have four charters, but they would probably want

more than just four cars out there. Caleb, interesting dynamic here. You expect

colleague racing to be driving Dodge in 2027? I'm trying to remember. I feel like I saw,

well, trying to remember what Chris Ross saying the other day on his podcast. I feel like

27 might be kind of ambitious. I mean, it would be, I mean, it would be great to see. And I just

feel like I'm super confident that we're halfway through, more than halfway through 2026. And

unless they've already been working on this kind of behind the scenes and some of that stuff is

coming out, I feel like it's still too early to expect Dodge to have a presence next year with

colleague. I mean, at the easiest, safest for them to do, or the best thing as well would probably

be 2028 just because of the time would give them to really develop rather than a rush into things.

I feel like they're even kind of on the truck side. Just haven't really had time to develop that

body. And the performance just hasn't been there, which again, it's, I mean, that's just part of

it too. First year, it takes some time to get acclimated with some of that stuff. So I know people

would love to see Dodge in next year. I think it might be best to take a little bit of the extra

time as I'm trying to rush things forward and maybe having extra problems, I think about like

some of the, I think, Lexa team over in F1 that feels like they're having problems every single week

because their just doesn't feel ready for the comparison to everything else. So I would,

think Dodge would probably need that extra year, but if they're on the grid next year,

they're not complaining either. We'll see. I would love to see it. I do think,

you know, obviously people regularly speculated about RFK, but Frank Kizlowski killed that with

saying their deal with Ford has many years left on it. I am fascinated. Obviously the biggest hurdle,

and Chris Price mentioned this on DoorBlock Clear is the engine and getting an engine and building

an engine can Dodge do that in a year's time. We do not know. And that will be the biggest hurdle.

Obviously it is something to keep an eye on. I would love to see Dodge back in the Cup series.

I think what they've done this year, obviously going from scratch in the truck series, they

probably performance wise have not delivered, but I think what they have done with the race

for the seat, the drivers they brought into that car, it's definitely been fun. Well, someone who

finally maybe had some fun in a cup race this week with Connor Zillich, and he is now our focus

for 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? Dumb little s*** runs us clear

down to the infield. He wants to s*** about everybody else. And he's the one that drives

like a little s***. I'm gonna bust his ass. Thanks, Tony. Thank you. And short track race.

It's time for the sound bites of the week.

Connor, it's been a long road to this day and getting something to go your way.

Oh, just what's it like in terms of the processing what today was and ultimately what

you liked out of the day? Yeah, I mean, it was just a solid day all throughout.

You know, I felt like we executed, did our job and just struggled there on that last run.

A lot of long green flag runs today. What was the hardest part about saving time and putting

consistent laps together ultimately? Yeah, I mean, it was just very, very treacherous.

Career tires were a big thing today and definitely struggled. Connor, sorry.

Took me through your day. Good day for you. Yeah, it was a good day. You know, seventh is

something to build off of for us and the E. And anything you could have had

for Shane, you think you could have got that? The last run there, we really struggled for

to grab it. It wasn't good. So, you know, I feel like up until then we were decent,

but maybe not quite as good, but that last run we tanked hard. And then taking this whole

weekend as a whole, it's been a pretty good weekend, something to build on for you, would you say?

Yeah, no, a step in the right direction for sure. You know, second yesterday and seventh today is

nothing we'll hang my head about. And looking forward to next week, getting back to some ovals?

Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be fun. I never finished Chicago, but looking forward to it. Safe journey home.

Seventh place finish for Connor Zillich at Sonoma felt like he finally got a performance we were

expecting. A man who's, you know, unfortunately had a lot of bad luck, but underperformed this

season to expectations, had a lot of expectations being a rookie. Ultimately, do you think this will

get him going in the right direction for the rest of the season?

I think it's tough to commit to it. If it was earlier in the season with more of the road

courses, like in the past, it's been Kota, then Sonoma has been that second road course. And

I think if there were more road courses after this, it would be better for Connor to be able

to get some momentum going. I just don't know how confident I am in Trackhouse's oval performance

taking for many more steps forward. I know that's also a tricky one because SVG's had some better

runs this year. And then even like in race, like at Michigan, I was there and watched Ross Chastain

struggle during the first stage. But then as the race went on, that team found some speed and ended

up making their way into the top 20, top 15. And I know that's still not great, but I think for

where Connor's been at so far this year, just running inside the top 20, I feel like would be

just a major improvement confidence builder. So that's what I want to see out of Connor next.

I want to see him be able to get inside the top 20 and stay there. He just, yeah, it just feels

like he's really struggled on the oval so far. And it's not like, I'm not saying he's a road

ringer either. He just has that road course experience, but obviously he went on that

10 race win streak or whatever he did last year. That was so incredible. And maybe it wasn't that

many races, but I mean, the majority of those were oval wins as well. So I think the mental side,

it's great. I just hope that he's able to like back himself down a little bit at some of these

oval tracks and really work into it as opposed to what we saw where he just, some of it might have

been his own doing, some of it was getting caught up in other people's messes. I think it can help

him mentally, but I'm still not super sold that Connor Trackhouse will be competing up at the front

at any of these ovals the rest of the year. Yeah, we'll see. I still believe in Connor's

LLT. I mean, I picked him to make the chase. Obviously that's not happening. I still believe

in that talent. I mean, he shows it when he goes to the O'Reilly series, how good he is.

Maybe this, I think this might give him some positive momentum just to like

water finds its level. I think he, I think that will at least what we see and he'll pull off some

good performances. Well, we only got one more thing. Let's wrap it up with Checkered Flag.

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. Gaila Burns. Final thoughts. Checkered flags out.

I'm trying to, I'm trying to have something positive to say for final thoughts. I feel like

I'm negative most of the time, but I guess the main thing that caught my eye as I was kind of

looking at some things is actually the schedule for these next couple of weeks and the races.

All the races are night races. Like up through Indianapolis is the one day race in July.

Chicago LAN starts at six, ET on a Sunday, Atlanta is seven, Wilkes-Burrow is seven. So

I don't know. I don't know how I feel about those being Sunday night races. I love night racing and

like I used to love the early spring, Saturday night races. Those were so fun. And part of me is

like, man, like we're in the summer, July, like why not go back to a Saturday night race?

Especially for the fans who are trying to make it to the track. Like a Saturday night race is a

lot harder to go to versus a Sunday day race or a Saturday night race. At the same time, I get it

with like the weather. It's super hot. And so you want those to be night races so that your drivers

can survive so that fans are having a better time. But on a Sunday night, like, I don't know, I'd

like to see those maybe, maybe go back to some more Saturday night races. I think ratings is

probably a big drive as well. But I mean, they're still, saw the ratings for Sonoma compared to

last year. They're still down on a Sunday afternoon compared to where they were last year. So I don't

know. Saturday night, let's bring back some of these Saturday night showdowns.

I like that idea, Kil. I just want to say, you know, we're not in the last place in the

standings. That's all I care about. We're not in the last place in the standings, the league.

I believe we are tied for a second right now. So you know what? We're doing pretty good things. We are

trying to get it across the line. So I just, I am glad that we are grinding out. You know,

we unfortunately, Mike Neff is in first. That's, I don't enjoy that part. But

other than that, we're tied for second right now, which technically, and we got through the

gears in last place, so, which is the next podcast. So Michael, you might be calling a race or whatever.

I don't know who might change the punishment. We still haven't decided, but right now it's calling

a race during a live stream. So good luck with that. Anyways, for at Caleb Barnes underscore,

I'm Trey Lyle at Trey Lyle VT. Follow us. We'll be back next week with another edition of Bring

In The Heat. Enjoy the July 4th holiday. Enjoy the return to Chicagoland. Actually,

quickly, we are returning to Chicagoland. Expectations are the race this weekend.

Pretty high expectations. I mean, I think I'm thinking of like Kansas and Darlington,

kind of a mix in between what we've seen with the Great Mile and Half Racing at Kansas,

with the tire where at Darlington. And I think that's only, that's only good news. That's only

exciting things. And I just hope, I just hope if we see good racing, even if I know there's been

some talk about there's still tickets available. So if you are in the area, go, just, just don't

think about it, just go. But even if maybe ticket sales aren't where they want it to be, if we see

good racing, I hope NASCAR is like, well, that's a good enough reason to keep this track on the

schedule for a few more years. So we had some good, the classic finish in 2018. I felt like 2019 was

still a pretty good race, even with that Aero package. And we'll see what this next-gen car

could do with the track on Sunday. But I feel like, again, my expectations are pretty high up there.

Well, I agree. Yeah, I do think high expectations for a fun race this weekend in Chicago.

Get the deep dish pizza. I guess it's not really technically Chicago, but

Chicago land. But yeah, the greater Chicago area. The bears are, the bears are playing in

Illinois, Illinois are going to play like in Indiana. Yeah. Something like that. So,

and those struggle to be called the Chicago bears soon as. So for at Caleb Barnes underscore,

you can follow me at Trelawi. Make sure you check out Michael and through the gears on Friday,

signing off on this edition of bringing you. Bye, everybody.

0:00

36:04

Michael Waltrip

Ned Jarrett

Chicagoland Speedway

Hendrick Motorsports

Dodge

Dodge Charger

Kaulig Racing

charter

Connor Zilisch

road ringer

next-gen car

About this episode

Original notes