A restart violation means someone broke a rule when the race restarted. Restarts are controlled and cars are bunched up, so the officials watch closely and can penalize drivers.
Brake rotors are the discs your brake pads squeeze to slow the car down. If they have problems during a race, braking can get worse, which can make it easier to lose control.
They’re talking about how the NASCAR race in Nashville went and why it matters for the sport. The conversation focuses on what happened on track and how exciting it was.
“Under the lights” means the race is run at night. Night conditions can affect how the track feels, and they’re also talking about why the race started so late.
“Loose balance” is a way racers describe how the car feels in corners. If it’s “loose,” it can feel like the back end wants to step out or the car feels harder to control. Setup changes are used to make it behave more predictably.
Racers say “tightening the car up” when they want the car to feel more controlled. Usually it means making the car less likely to be loose in the corners, so it turns in and holds its line better.
Term
arrow imbalance
“Arrow imbalance” sounds like a shorthand for the car not having the right aerodynamic balance. If the front and rear “push down” differently, the car can feel off—like it won’t turn or grip the way the driver expects.
“Mechanically tight” is how racers describe a car that feels restricted or doesn’t want to turn the way they want. It’s usually caused by the suspension/tires setup, not just the airflow over the car.
A diffuser is a shape on the car that helps air flow in a way that pushes the car down onto the track. “Simple diffuser” means the rules limit how complex that shape can be, which changes how much grip the car has.
Downforce is what helps keep the car stuck to the road. If there’s “less downforce,” the car has less aerodynamic grip, so it can be harder to turn and brake confidently.
Brake pads are the parts that press against the brake disc to slow the car down. Different pad types can handle heat and wear differently, which matters a lot in heavy braking.
“Under braking” just means while the driver is slowing down. That’s when the car’s weight shifts and the tires work hardest, so it’s a key moment for staying stable and controllable.
Attrition just means cars drop out of the race—either they crash or something breaks. When that happens a lot, the race gets more chaotic and the strategy has to change.
Stage breaks are scheduled segments in NASCAR races where the race is divided into parts, and points are awarded at the end of each stage. Teams often adjust strategy—especially pit stops and tire management—around these breaks.
A brake package is basically the car’s braking system parts that the team chooses and sets up for racing. The better the setup, the more consistent and reliable the braking feels over a whole race.
Durability means the car can take the abuse of the race and not break. In NASCAR, finishing matters a lot, so teams care about parts lasting the whole time.
The “regular season” is the main part of the NASCAR schedule before the playoffs. Points earned during this time affect who can fight for the championship later.
A “hard impact” means the car hit something really forcefully. In racing, that usually means a big crash that can damage the car badly and take a lot of work to fix.
AJ Allmendinger is a NASCAR driver who’s especially good on road courses. Here, the hosts talk about a tough crash involving him.
Term
using the brakes
If drivers are “using the brakes more,” it usually means they have to slow down more often or earlier to stay in control. That can happen when the car doesn’t grip the track as well.
Downforce is the aerodynamic “suction” that helps a race car stick to the track. Low downforce means less grip from the air, so the car can feel harder to control in turns.
Horsepower is how much power the engine makes. More horsepower can help the car accelerate harder, but it can also affect how you have to brake and manage tires.
A Dodge Ram is a large pickup truck made for carrying cargo, towing trailers, and everyday driving. People talk about it in the “truck” market because it’s one of the well-known options for buyers who need a work-capable vehicle. In this podcast context, it sounds like they’re discussing what’s going on with Ram’s trucks.
Practice is when teams test and adjust the car before it counts. Qualifying sets where the cars start the race, and starting position can make a big difference.
A “Toyota team” means a racing team that runs Toyota race cars. Different teams can have different levels of support and how well they can improve the car over the season.
It’s a metaphor for adjusting strategy when things aren’t going your way. In racing, it usually means changing what you’re doing—like setup and preparation—so you can get back to the front.
In NASCAR, the “Chase” is the playoff part of the season. Drivers need enough points (or wins) to get into it, and if they miss, they can’t realistically contend for the championship.
A “Cup car” is the race car used in NASCAR’s top series. When they say someone did better in the “Cup car,” they mean they performed better in the top-level NASCAR race category.
Corey Heim is a NASCAR driver. In this segment, they’re saying he’s been doing really well in the Truck Series and could be a big deal when he moves into the Cup Series full time.
The “crew chief” is the team’s main decision-maker during the race. They help plan strategy and work with the team to set up the car and make calls on pit stops.
Michigan is a NASCAR track where races are run. It’s a different kind of challenge than other tracks, so teams often have to change how they set up the car to do well there.
In racing, a “love-hate relationship” with a track means the team has struggled there for a long time, but later finds a setup or approach that finally works. It’s a shorthand for how results can swing dramatically once the team learns what the car needs at that specific venue.
A test is when the team runs the car to try different setup changes and learn what works at that track. It helps them get the car ready so they can be faster during the race.
That means the driver won two separate races that happened during the same weekend at the same track. It’s hard to do because you have to be the best more than once with different race conditions.
COVID is the pandemic that changed how many sports events were scheduled. NASCAR had some unusual scheduling during that time, which affected how weekends and races were run.
Brand
Ram doodles
“Ram” is a truck brand. The host is making a joke or reference to Ram trucks, but we don’t get enough detail here to say exactly what they mean.
The pit box is the team’s assigned parking spot on the pit road. When they decide to pit, how early/late they do it from that exact spot can strongly affect who ends up winning.
“Saving fuel” is a race strategy where drivers manage throttle and engine output to stretch the amount of fuel available. In NASCAR, that can force teams to choose different pit timing and can be decisive at tracks where fuel consumption is tight late in the race.
Mid-corner speed is how fast the car is traveling while it’s in the middle of a turn. Keeping it high usually improves lap time, but it has to be balanced with tire grip and stability—especially when the driver is also managing throttle behavior.
Throttle down means easing off the gas. In a race, that’s often done to keep the car from getting loose or losing grip while still staying fast through the turn.
Term
sliding that car, but not sliding the car
Racers sometimes let the car rotate a little in a turn, but they don’t want it to spin out. It’s a careful balance: rotate enough to go faster, but keep control so you don’t lose traction.
Term
every ounce
“Every ounce” is racing slang for extracting the maximum usable performance from the car—grip, braking stability, and cornering balance—without exceeding the limit where the car becomes uncontrollable. It’s about consistency and precision as much as raw speed.
When the front tires start to slide in a corner, the car can lose steering grip. A little can help the car turn, but too much makes it push wide and go slower.
Red Bull is a major motorsports sponsor, commonly associated with racing teams and drivers. In this segment it’s referenced via a fan’s tattoo, but it still ties to how sponsorship branding shows up in NASCAR culture.
A burnout is when the driver makes the tires spin on purpose, usually to make smoke and show off. It’s harder to do well at some tracks because of how the surface and banking are shaped.
Banking is when the track is tilted, like a ramp around a corner. That tilt affects how the car grips the ground, which can make burnouts easier or harder depending on the spot.
LIVE
Denny Hamlin from the front to the back from the back to the front if he's going to keep
crowd new you're going to have to crowd him.
You've seen flashes this year of them running how are they 34th or 5th or whatever it is
in points.
We're going to dig him out of the pine tree you'll know when I try to wreck you.
Welcome to Kevin Harvick's happy hour presented by NASCAR on Fox.
I'm Kevin Harvick.
She's Caitlin Bensie and our good year.
Yeah.
We should have put him in a new AI outfit.
Mumba?
No.
Mumba.
Yeah, that's okay.
Mumba.
M-O-M-B-A is what?
For the backstory, Kevin was placing Mamba in unique scenarios via AI before we came
out here.
Yeah, he's playing too much with that.
Playing too much with Chachi to be or whatever it is.
It's pretty funny though.
It is.
It is pretty funny.
Makes you look a lot better than you actually are.
Okay.
Calm down.
Okay.
You know, I look great now and I made me look a little cooler on the AI thing a little
bit.
He has a cigar.
You know, hang on, hang on.
Before we get, I know we were supposed to start right into the show, but before we get
too far, you know who looked the coolest this weekend?
Was this race fan from the, from the track.
Look at this.
Look at this guy.
My guy fighting for his life.
You look like after NASCAR Sundays.
Yes.
That was all of us at NASCAR Sundays this week.
He's having a whole conversation in his head with himself.
You know what I mean?
That is pretty good.
I wonder who he thinks he's talking to.
Right.
Yeah.
What is that conversation that's transpiring?
Probably it's like, you know, his 15 year old version of him being like, we should not
be doing this anymore.
I don't know.
He looked pretty happy to me.
He did.
He was pretty content with who he was talking to.
Realization.
He was having a great time.
He definitely won MVP of the night.
There you go.
Yeah.
I love that for him.
I hope he's a nursing that hangover today.
Welcome in to episode 32 for Kevin Harvick's happy hour.
We have no shortage of topics, leaving a Sunday night race in Nashville.
A lot happened in that event.
We're going to Michigan.
Mama didn't know this in a few days.
We will review that fact.
And you have your, um, slappy sips.
Yeah.
Listen, we got a lot of stuff.
I love the fact that she is just unloading on your right.
I don't know why I'm such a team player.
This is awesome.
You know what it must be?
It must be because she's getting her ass kicked in the points right now.
So that must be, she's projecting Kev.
I just know that I'm winning by a whole bunch and missed a race.
You're not winning by a whole bunch.
You just set him up to be able to boast.
Yeah.
I know, but I can't help that you guys picked.
At least I'm not losing.
Crappy picks.
I might pick about one this week.
Mine did.
Yeah.
Never mind.
We'll address that later.
Okay.
So this race on Sunday, there was a lot going on.
You had teams struggling with their break systems.
There was varying strategies.
You had an epic battle with the teammates to the finish.
Were you happy with what you saw on Sunday night?
I was really happy with what I saw on Monday morning.
Kev was busy over the weekend.
I got about halfway through the race and I was like, I'll watch out in the morning.
I wondered why you didn't text me back.
That's why.
Because you were only on the group.
Oh yeah.
So I woke up this morning, drank my coffee and watched the race, but you know, it was
exciting.
And I think that that ending with the three Joe Gibbs racing cars right here, it was fun
to watch.
Had a lot of carnage throughout the day, but right here, Christopher Bell just drives that
thing in there way too far to try to protect against Chase Briscoe and winds up washing
them both out of the groove and basically handing the wind to Denny Hamlin there.
But still just a great race to watch Denny Hamlin from the front to the back, from the
back to the front with a restart violation at the beginning.
But yeah, I think as far as Nashville races go and we saw a lot of brake rotor issues,
we saw a lot of problems, we saw cars getting spun out.
So there was definitely a lot of things that were happening, kept it entertaining.
What'd you think Mumbo?
I thought that I thought C Bell drove it down to he saw Elvis trying to get
that guitar down there.
He almost got a hinted to him.
But I mean, they it was a what a show, you know, I mean, like the only other race, I
think very recently that we've seen that was like that was the O'Reilly's race at Bristol
between Brent Cruz, Larson and Zillich were just a dogfight at the front.
And I don't know what more you could really ask for as a fan watching that and it is under
the lights, which is also great.
Nashville, it's good that it put on a good show, because I think that's an important
market for us to continue to go to and continue to expand.
Is it good that it's under the lights, though?
Why did we start so late?
I I like and I know it rained, but it was still scheduled to start at seven.
I like visually night races.
I think they're on a Sunday or a Saturday.
I like Saturday night races.
But Kevin wants us to only race on Sunday.
So that's where we're in a little bit of a whirl here.
No, no, no, I mean, yeah, big boy racing happens on Sunday at one o'clock.
Right, right.
Big boy racing.
It's also it's hot on it's hot.
Kevin, Sunday at one o'clock in Nashville.
But if we're going to have a if we're going to have a Sunday night race,
shouldn't we have like a Monday holiday?
I think I think that would be great.
I don't understand.
I mean, I I like watching the cars at night, but I don't like I like watching
them at night, but I don't know that it's the Sunday night thing is tough.
Yeah, it's tough for everybody because everyone's got to go to work in the morning.
Right. Yeah.
And I from a fan perspective, going on a Sunday night is hard.
Yeah, when you've got to get up the next day and go to work and
continue on the East Coast.
Yeah, that's one thing I like about being on the West Coast.
Like the truck race was super delayed and I ate dinner on the West Coast
and and watch the race at an average time because Kevin was also racing this
weekend in Washington State had a top five just behind his son.
I mean, racing is like he was there.
He kind of like hit a bunch of stuff.
Oh, I was there.
I hit every time.
I have never heard you say that before.
I don't think.
OK, let's go back to Denny Hamlin for a moment.
I thought it was interesting listening to him talk after the race about how
he's really enjoying learning the process of getting better, learning
from his mistakes, things like that as someone who raced against him and with him.
How do you feel like you've seen him evolve in recent years as a competitor?
Well, they make less mistakes than than everybody else.
And I know that he made the mistake at the beginning of the race with with the start.
I think that just could have been old man syndrome there.
I think I think that my man, my man, Denny was looking at the flag with it.
That's how the rule used to be.
I think the flag guy through the flag early.
I'm just speculating here, but I'm I think that he was probably looking at
the flag guy and the guy through the flag.
And that's how you used to start the race.
The flag man always did when he waved the green flag.
That means go.
But the rule is you start in the restart box, just like a normal race.
Leader starts and it's officiated the same way.
We weren't even close.
It was just pure brain laps.
And and maybe we should make Denny start at the back every week.
Yeah, that was it will make it more entertaining.
The way it is going right now.
I mean, he's got he's got all the speed, right?
Yeah, I mean, Bell went to the back show.
Briscoe, I don't remember where he started from the back.
It seems like he comes from the back off.
Yeah, but lately.
Yeah, I mean, all of those cars at some point went to the back
and made their way to the front.
So. Toileters are tough right now.
123
A lot of a lot of people, the fan base, they're like,
man, that race is great.
It'd be nice if the other manufacturers could compete.
And I'm like, hang on, it's not that they can't compete.
They can compete.
They just need to get their shit together and get their cars faster.
Like they're it's not like over the course of the last few years.
Like it's not like Toyota has been winning all the championships.
That's not what's been going on.
So they just figured out their stuff and now they're ahead.
It's a cycle.
And that's what makes it fun for us to watch and us to talk about
is because there's always a cycle and there's cycles inside the race season as well.
So the Ford's and Chevrolet's need to get on with it.
You guys are talking about the Toyotas and Christopher Bell
visibly dejected after this one, blaming himself totally.
How does he move past what happened last night?
Well, he's right.
You know, I think when you look back at it, I mean, he's definitely right
that he has no one else to blame but himself.
And, you know, they they had a little bit of trouble on pit road.
And and, you know, then there at the end, he just I think he just got overzealous
and tried to do too much there driving into into turn one and wound up
costing himself a chance to have a chance in turns three and four.
So what happens in turns three and four?
I don't know.
I think Denny probably runs him up the racetrack and you might have a Kansas
all over and Briscoe drive by and win the race.
But we'll never know because it was over in turn one.
I find it so interesting how
people let Denny race him, race them.
He he does.
He puts him in a really compromising situation where they have to make a
decision on if they're willing to not come out of the corner or not.
And he does it very well.
And he works the last like four laps.
He just kept working Christopher up the racetrack a little bit, a little bit.
And by the two to go going into turn one,
it seemed like Christopher was running out of rubber to be racing.
And he was almost in the marbles.
I got to believe that if driver 29 or four, either one,
definitely 29 was in that situation.
Kevin, I don't think I would let someone drive you up the racetrack.
I am surprised how often we're in this same situation.
They just can't let it happen.
Like you go back to if you go back to
a loud in the year that that Denny and I raced and you just can't let yourself
get put in that position.
But what choice did he have?
Yeah, right? Like that's they were side by side.
You know, I know Denny was was working him up the hill,
but you got to crowd him or something trying to take his entry wave.
I mean, if if he's going to race, if he's going to keep crowding you,
you're going to have to crowd him at a different point in order to
try to put yourself in a better spot.
But I don't and Denny didn't do anything wrong.
No, I don't think there's anything wrong.
It was hard to race, but I don't think that
Belden himself any favors in trying to be a little more physical.
Yeah, you're you're saying you've noticed them be a little hesitant when it comes.
It's it's a teammate.
They I mean, they well, he's not.
I think what it is is he's not afraid to not make the corner.
Like he's not afraid that if he goes in going for the win
and Rex, Denny Hamlin is very OK with that.
But I'm not so sure that everybody else feel the same way.
And it seems like they're more apt to give more room to him,
and especially the teammates.
I remember last year Dover, specifically, it was these three again.
It was C. Bell, Chase.
Think about how many times he took advantage of Larson.
There we go. And they're not teammates.
I mean, he took advantage of Baba pretty bad at Kansas last year.
And I'm just interested.
It's interesting to watch that week in and week out.
You know how he's going to race you.
It's like they think he's going to give them more.
And he just takes all of it.
And so at some point, if you want to beat 11,
you're going to have to beat him at his game at some point.
So, right.
Denny Hamlin earning career win number 62 yesterday before we move on
to some of the bigger incidents in the course of this race.
We want to hand out some props to our guy, SVG.
How about this, making a lot of progress there on the ovals?
Kind of carrying the banner, would you say?
For track, he is.
And I think I think a lot of this stems
from the fact that qualifying has been rained out. Right.
And it's given them track position to start up in the front of the race.
You go back and you look at the 600.
He was able to start at the front of the pack.
Nashville gets rained out, start at the front of the pack.
So to me, it exposes a problem that they have with qualifying.
And if they can get these cars, this car, I don't know about the other two.
But if they can get the 97 car to qualify good, he can race up there.
I mean, they have the ability to run in the top five,
top 10 on the ovals, just like they did the last couple of weeks.
Very unique scenario, though, because of qualifying being rained out.
They haven't shown consistently potential to qualify in the front of the pack
to put themselves in this position consistently.
But they obviously have the pit crew and the in the pace
if they can get their car qualified in the front.
I think I saw a NASCAR insides post the last three races,
the top three finishers over the last three races.
And he is second at like five point seven or something.
But it's artificial. It's somewhat artificial.
They race well, but you can't do that unless you qualify well.
Yeah. So he said something interesting post race about when you're in clean air.
He's great. He's great. Back. Back in the mess.
It's a pile of hell.
He said, but you can pass because Denny Hamlin passed the whole field.
Denny Hamlin passed the whole field.
And the thing about the 97 right, we talk about the Chevy bodies
and everything and you wouldn't think that that car would be leading the charge.
And similar when we look at Spire and the 77 or the seven,
when they're up front, it seems like they run really well.
When they get there, they just have a hard time getting there.
The Hendrick cars is different.
Like they have a harder time.
I feel like getting there and then holding it, which I just find that Byron
hasn't been there yet. That's what I'm saying.
I don't really understand how, how that, how that's not translating to them.
Well, when you're chasing a balance like that and you have a loose balance
that you're trying to overcome and then you start tightening the car up,
trying to cover up the the arrow imbalance of the car.
Then you start to become mechanically tight.
These cars are mechanically tight in traffic.
And then if you, you know, you get that arrow balance off and you can't get
the front end to work, then it's it's just such a hard balance to figure out
to in order to get the car to where it needs to go from a handling standpoint
to be balanced arrow wise with the front end still where it needs to be mechanically.
And they have not not consistently figured it out.
We're talking about the Chevrolet's want to go to SVG's trackhouse teammate.
One of the first competitors we saw with the rotor issue and that would be
Connor Zillich, who ended up finishing 38th brings out the second caution
with 18 to go in the stage.
It's been tough sledding there for Mr.
Connor Zillich. But what do you think contributed to all these rotor issues?
Why you have some choices.
And I think with this with this rules package with the with the simple diffuser
and less downforce and you're going to do everything that you can break wise
to offset the break pads and things to try to keep the car tight in the corner
under braking and then you have some choices from from a rotor standpoint
as to what you choose.
And I think a lot of these guys probably made that choice and and
wound up not making it through the race.
So it's it's a tough racetrack from a breaking standpoint.
You use more break than than you think you do in the race.
And if you get that combination of breaks and pads and everything off,
it's not fun. That is a terrible feeling when that rotor explodes like that.
And you have no control of the car.
And for the most part, Almond Dinger's hit was was pretty tough.
For the most part, they were against the fence and able to keep it from being
massive hits from the bottom of the racetrack all the way to the top.
Connor saying it's been a really bad stretch of races for them.
When you look at the points, I know you were looking at the points earlier for
Connor Zillich. I mean, it's a high mountain to climb right now.
I have to find one guy behind him.
A high mountain. There's there's no one below the mountain.
They're where you're at, except Cody.
I was trying to be nice.
Yeah, I mean, no, it's just a reality.
Yeah, it's just insane, though, because you've seen flashes this year of them
running well like you. So but then when you look at where they're at in totality,
it's like, how are they 34th or fifth or whatever it is in points
with only one car that's run all year behind them and stuff like this?
Like they just it's just one thing after another.
And all you can do is keep grinding away and keep stacked trying to restack the
days. And when you have speed, understand where that speed came from
and what you were doing to get it and try to duplicate that.
And when we talk about the rotor situation, it never seems like it's down
the middle of the back stretch.
It always seems like it's at the fastest part of the racetrack right before
you enter and then hang on.
And you talked about that happened to you at Gateway.
And this is like nothing you can do.
It looks super super violent to what happens.
Yeah. Well, and you have no brakes.
So, you know, I think it's it's an interesting position that it's put
in the whole zillet scenario in with the way that it's going at track house.
And whether he sticks around there or doesn't stick around there.
And what what happens with with that whole scenario?
I know he has another year on his contract, but it hasn't gone well.
No, no.
Katelyn, the one thing I did want to mention that I think Dale kind of
meant Dale Jr. kind of mentioned this about cars, about crashes and attrition.
I don't like to see people have bad days.
I don't we don't like to see wrecks.
That's not why we go to the racetrack.
But I will say that when there is attrition and people are falling out
and it's changing the complexity of the race, it does make the race better,
entertaining and better.
Like if they if no, if there's never a caution, like we didn't have stage
breaks and there's never a caution to just roll through.
That's not that's not a good race.
It's going to happen. Yeah. Yeah.
But that's not what look, yeah, when he's right, like when you have
that attrition and you have the wrecks and spin outs and bumping and banging
and motors blowing up and all those things are good for racing.
Well, shortly after Connor Zillich's incident, then his teammate,
Ross Chastain, similar issue.
What is that like?
Because we heard SVG talking about it, like, oh, is mine going to go next?
Like, what is that like for a teammate, senior, others?
And they were quick to assure SVG that his brake package was not like theirs.
Yeah. And yeah, you can get sucked down that rabbit hole
and, you know, go for the rotating weight and the things that you think are better.
But durability is the thing that usually guarantees that you're going to finish the race.
There's there's obviously a consistent scenario between a lot of these cars
that put them in a bad spot and speaking of bad spots, Ross Chastain is in a terrible spot.
He's 26 and six points and somebody that you expect to contend for wins
and of races and I would even go out on a limb and say that you would expect him
to be at least in the championship conversation in the hunt as we get to
the end of the regular season, but nowhere to be found as the season has gone along.
Yeah, I think you would have suspected Ross to be somewhere between, I don't know,
eighth and 12th, maybe in points like somewhere around there.
And then SVG were like, OK, we have the road courses and Connor, too, we have the road courses.
So maybe like SVG with an extra year than Connor, maybe around, I don't know,
14th, 16th, like to get in. Yeah, to get in there.
And then Connor, you know, you just would have thought
somewhere around inside the top 25 for sure, maybe around the top 20.
And then you never know what from there.
But it just has not worked out that way.
It's got to SVG kind of holding the banner up for a track out.
You guys mentioned to AJ Almondinger, I want to show that for a moment,
a very pretty hard impact for him.
He was saying more horsepower, low downforce were obviously using the brakes
more than in the past, but this was a it was a hard hit for AJ here.
Yeah, his was he was a little he was kind of turning into the corner
and had a little further distance to drive up and hit the wall, but definitely a big hit.
Yeah, he and they're having a good night, too.
They were they're having a good night.
What a stage. Oh, man.
And off a raw speed, like off of their speed, the things that that
group at college are doing, you kind of got to tip the cap to because
they are not getting like the same help and they are kind of out on their own
because of what's going on on the truck side with them and and Ram and everything.
So AJ, I feel like AJ is probably one of the best drivers in the field
because of what he's been working with over the course of his career.
Is it overachiever?
He on real, too, like really just buckles down.
If you ask anyone in the garage, they're like, that's a that's a wheel man.
Like he can get it done.
If he ever gotten to a team that was like a B plus to an eight team.
I don't know if we'll see it at this point in his career, but man,
it'd be good. It'd be interesting to see what happened. Yes.
So the cautions continued on.
I want to go to caution number nine for a moment when the 17
gets out of shape into bubble Wallace kind of creates a chain reaction with
Alex Bowman, William Byron involved.
Bubble Wallace sounded pretty disappointed in his interview.
Once he came out of the care center, just saying how hard it's been.
What are you hearing from him and what kind of pressure is he experiencing?
Well, I'm not hearing anything great from him.
I think he better wrap his arms around, you know, the opportunity that he has
currently with the cars that he has and figure out how to make him run faster
so that you don't get in the middle of these messes.
And, you know, I think that from a, you know, just mentally,
he is obviously not in a great place, you know, as far as the performance
and the things that keep happening on the racetrack.
He knows he has cars that are capable of finishing way better
than than where he is right now.
But look, it's they're underachieving and I don't know.
There's no, I guess there's really no nice way to explain it.
They're underachieving compared to Tyler Redick.
And, you know, that's your measuring stick and that's your team.
And that's the things that you have access to.
And you've got to figure out why you can't achieve those same goals.
And, you know, there's nobody going to feel sorry for you at this point.
And I know that he's, you know, he's had some bad luck to go with it,
but you've got to buckle down and you've got to figure out how to get your head
in the game, get your team and everybody remotivated because you're running
running out of time and you're also running out of spots
that are going to keep you into the chase
as you keep fading down this list.
So can't have a pity party.
You've got to go and make it happen.
And you've got to be the leader.
And I think that that he's going to have to do that
because it just seems like he's he's pretty down on everything.
Yeah, I need need to see the guy with the swagger from about Brickyard
last year to about 67 races into this year.
Like it seems like we've kind of lost a little bit of the pep
in the step for whatever reason.
And and when you look at it, too, at the beginning of the year,
2311 seemed like they were head and shoulders above everybody.
Like it was like they had a strong advantage.
All three of their cars, including Riley Herps, was running pretty strong
and and had speed and practice and qualifying all the things.
Well, the JGR Toyotas have kind of closed that gap.
And in at the beginning of the year, it was like maybe two and a half of those cars, right?
It was it was the eleven and then it was like the 54 kind of
and like the twenty kind of right.
And the nineteen was kind of flopping around a little bit.
But now it's like three and three quarter of them, like almost all four of them
are rolling now. So now the pendulum has kind of swung to a different
Toyota team. And so you got to kind of restack the deck.
And even even legacy has had some decent runs here as of late.
So whatever is going on, they got to get it going back, not only for the 23
but, you know, the gap for the points lead for the 45 has also shrunk a little bit, too.
So that whole organization, I think they need to recalibrate.
Let me ask you this. I mean, can you think back to a race that Tyler Redick dominated?
No. Yeah. And that's that's maybe Kota.
Maybe maybe Kota. Yeah, I'd give him Kota.
But I mean, a lot of that like the Daytona 500 in the right spot, the Atlanta in the right spot.
You know, Phoenix did OK.
Yeah. You know, so I I know that they've they he's done a good job
of putting them in a position to be there at the end.
And then he's just flat beat them getting up on the wheel on some of those last resorts.
It hasn't been by sheer speed, right?
I'd say the most speed that they had was at Atlanta.
Yeah, because Kansas, they were like, fourth, third, I mean, like he was fast,
but like they were they were hunting him down.
Yeah, I mean, but at Kansas, I mean, I really thought Christopher Bell was going to win that race.
And, you know, he didn't.
But my point is there hasn't been that pure dominance of speed.
It's been great execution from keeping the car going, putting yourself in position,
great restarts and getting it done behind the wheel.
It hasn't been by pure dominance.
And I think that we've seen the pure dominance come out of the 11
and the 20 and the 54 at times.
So I can't think of anybody else who's just dominated a race like those Gibbs cars.
Someone in the past who used to have that pure dominance was Kyle Larson,
his streak of finishing in the top 10.
Every race at Nashville comes to an it was not a campsite on fire at the end.
It was Kyle Larson. Yeah, you saw.
But did you feel encouraged at all about any of the speed or things you saw out
of the five on Sunday? No, no, it's been the same.
No, it's the same, right? Like we saw it at Vegas.
I mean, think that's been way back now.
I mean, we're talking whatever race it was, March, 34 whatever,
whatever race it was, I felt like this was a very similar race to that.
Now, he led while the rest of those guys were getting back to the front of the pack.
Same thing happened at Vegas.
Chase Elliott was was about the same.
I felt like it's that Vegas scenario.
And then once they all got back to the front of the pack,
they were like, they were a fourth, fifth place car.
And so it just feels the same to me.
It's it is so in this year is one of the most intriguing years watching
the speed either be there for some people that we wouldn't expect
or not there for people you would expect.
And you know, we just keep coming back on on a Tuesday and being like,
oh, they're going to figure it out.
They're going to figure it out.
We're on week 14.
There's a there's a decent chance that some of these guys don't figure it out.
Like it's a it's starting to be the panic button.
You don't get to hit it.
But like it's only 12 more to the play or to win the chase chase.
Like and that's what we're that's what Team Hendrick wants to do.
That's what Team Penske wants to do.
Like making the chase isn't it's like they're winning or it's not really a great year.
So the panic button to win the chase is starting to get a little
hover with the hand over it. Time is dwindling.
It will be here before you know it.
Two guys I wanted to give a brief shout out to a Zane Smith and Eric Jones.
Oh, yeah. Good to see them in the mix.
Zane Smith did a great job.
I mean, they they they've been doing a good job throughout the season.
The interesting one to me is Josefar.
It's kind of I was really hoping that the whole Talladega thing would have legs
and really gain some momentum and Texas qualified on the pole.
And but we've just kind of disappeared.
And that's kind of the way it goes.
Sometimes you get all the hype behind a guy.
We look at Zillage, you look at Josefar.
But in order to have that that consistent hype behind it and enthusiasm from the fans,
you got to keep running in the top five and winning.
And that's super hard.
Right. We're talking about not easy.
We're talking about the highest level of stock car racing.
Some of the best drivers, teams and everything about it.
And you look at someone like a Ryan Blaney, like he he is always kind of in the mix
and up front enough to where like that hype has stayed.
Now he's a champion. So now that stays with him.
But like there were years where he would win two or three
and then kind of, you know, they were very sporadic.
So like it's hard to keep keep that on the front. Yeah.
One story I want to hit before we move on to Michigan was the announcement
that Corey Heim will be racing full time in the Cup Series next season in 20 27
for 23 11 racing, very deserving of this.
Finally, move up in promotion full time to Cup.
Doesn't surprise us, but it's it's good to see him getting that opportunity.
Yeah. And I don't think it's long away that that Heim time finds victory
laying on the Cup side.
He's he's done a better job in the Cup car than most everybody that we've seen
come in and try to run it on a part time basis.
He's been competitive in a lot of the races that that he has run in the Cup car.
So I'm excited to see if he can kind of break that mold of a hundred
races before you get to victory lane. I think because I think he can.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, especially if they can, you know, keep speed of those 23 11
cars that goes, obviously you need that.
So I remember talking to Corey at the banquet and just because I was like,
I can't believe that you haven't been.
I'm like, man, I can't believe they haven't put you anywhere yet.
You're like, you know, I think the lawsuit kind of had a hand, I think,
in some of this together, maybe that and just like partnerships and like,
just it takes a lot to make it all happen in the charter way, having them
and not having another one and all the things. And he's like, man, it's going to be fine.
Like, I know where I'm at. I'm going to be good. And I'm like, then every week
I'd see him here and there. I can't believe it.
He's like, it's going to be fine. We're announcing soon.
So I'm really happy for for Corey.
He, the cup field is going to have a dog to deal with because that kid works.
Yes, he does. Works and they're going to have to deal with Corey Heim.
Every crew chief that works with him always says how hard of a worker and
he makes every crew chief great. He's made every crew chief a winner.
You want that kid? Corey Heim, 24 truck wins since 2022.
Looking forward to him being full time in the cup series.
So that was Nashville. That was eventful. That was a lot, guys.
Got through that. Now we're going on to Michigan is a totally different challenge
for teams that lay ahead. Our guy here won six times at Michigan
from the course of 2010 to 2022.
Is there one that you remember more than others or stands out to you from your victories?
Let's say two times in 2020.
Does that say one on the same weekend? Oh, yeah.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. One Saturday, one Sunday. Yeah.
You know, Michigan was kind of a love hate relationship and, you know,
at RCR for a long time, we were awful at Michigan. I mean, awful.
And we went there and had a test and 2010 finally broke through to be able to
figure out what we were doing. Only took nine years, but we finally got it figured out.
And really from that point on, you know, we lost a lot more races than we won.
That I felt like we were in position to win, but we're able to capitalize on a few.
But that 2020 deal was pretty cool during COVID to be able to go up there
and win two races on the same weekend. I think that's only happened one other time.
Probably.
In NASCAR where somebody's won a couple races in the same weekend.
Probably Richard Petty too.
Yeah. And so, you know, COVID was obviously an interesting time.
Gave you opportunities to do stuff like that. But Michigan was,
when we went to Michigan, we had no expectations other than winning the race,
because that was just what it became because of how good we were up there.
And are you headed out there this weekend?
Yeah. Yeah. We got some Ram doodles.
Oh, we're big time Ram.
You're going to ram something?
We're big time Ram.
Chief Ram.
He's a chief Ram officer.
Yeah. It's going to be a good time. Honestly, I tell everybody,
everyone's like, what's your favorite racetrack to go to? And I'm always like, well,
for what reason, right? Is it for the infield party, for the, you know, the race itself?
Like, what is it? And they're like, well, for the party. And I'm like,
you aren't going to believe me. But Michigan throws the best freaking party on the schedule.
The fans get rowdy.
There's an 11 stop bar crawl in the infield that starts, I think Thursday or Friday.
He wouldn't know that.
I love going to Michigan. I can't wait to get down there. The last couple of times I've been there,
hung out with a lot of my friends. Shout out to Timmy Horvath and all his people.
He brings out a big group of people when we camp. And I crash out in his camper for one night,
because if I stayed there for two, I might not make it to work in the morning.
Because he didn't want to stop bar crawl.
I used to always take my kids up there by themselves because there's just,
there's a lot to do. We'd go play golf. We'd go fishing. We'd go do.
It's a beautiful part of the career.
We'd always go find something to do. They had great little ice cream shops. And so,
that was always a fun place to take the kids. We went up there one year.
I might have told this story already. But we went up there one year and I think Keelan was like
seven or eight. And it was raining. And after we got done with practice on Saturday,
we would always go play golf. So, I took Keelan to play golf and we decided that we were going to
go Saturday morning instead of going after because practice didn't start until late.
So, we went golfing in the morning and it was kind of dewy. And my guy always wanted to drive
the golf cart. So, I'm like, okay, you can drive the golf cart. So, I hit my ball and then I'm
looking for my ball. I'm like, oh, there's my ball. And I said, Keelan, go get the,
go get the golf cart. And of course, every time he gets in the golf cart,
he wants to drive it as fast as he can drive it. Of course. Well, you know the big pine trees that
go all the way to the ground? Yeah. Yeah. At Michigan. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, they,
here it comes. Full speed at my golf ball, hits the brakes, hasn't slowed down yet.
He goes right by my golf ball, right into this tree. And you know, those trees are massive.
All the way into the tree, couldn't see the golf cart. Completely disappeared. I'm like,
you're all right. Yeah. I'm okay. So, we had to dig him out of the pine tree.
Oh boy. I think Michigan is wet. So, Josh, you win and Keelan was there. I think this is when he
rode in the side and Josh gives him a water bottle to like spray. Oh, yeah. And he starts to, he
turns around and throws it all over Josh and Josh is like, bro, what the hell? That's where we broke
the rules. Keelan and I had the plan. I think it was 2018. He said, dad, I need you to win today
because I want to ride in your car on the victory lap. And you know, they went down this whole
path and not being able to have the kids on the pit boxes and down pit roads. So, my kids quit
coming for the most part because of that. And so, he said, if I win today, meet me at the end of
pit road. I'm like, okay. So, I told the bus driver, I said, if I win today, I don't care what the
security guards say, you just bring him to the end of pit road and we're going to put him in my car.
I said, we'll worry about the rest of it later. We'll ask for forgiveness later. So,
we win the race and I'm like, I'm looking around and I don't see him. I'm down at the end of pit
road and everybody's like, what the hell is he doing? Why isn't he doing a burnout or something?
I was waiting for Keelan to get to the end of pit road and that's when we broke the mold.
That's awesome. Broke the rules. They'll call the rules.
To give him a ride around the racetrack. That's such a cool moment. Yeah. So,
who were we eyeing to be the toughest competitors out there in Michigan this weekend? Who do you
think are the ones? Well, I think back to, let's see, 22, 20, 19, 18, 10. Probably raced against
Denny Hamlin at pretty much every one of those at some point or another. I think that, you know,
I think that if Blaney's going to win a race, he probably will have a better chance this weekend.
Seems to be a little more tolerant of the pushy Fords up at Michigan. So, and you know, Doug
8, so we'll come with some horsepower. It means a lot to them. It means a lot to them.
You're going to have to go through that 11, but you know, I think the Forge will run
better than they do at most places. I remember a lot of times this track came down to whoever was on
the pit box and had the gutsiest call because it was a lot of saving fuel. I feel like a lot of the
end of these races. So, it might come from whoever has the who ever has the Cajonas to keep their
guy out longer than everybody else. So, Spire loves doing that. And Carson Holsovar, this is a
home race for him. And so, I know it means a lot for him to win or at least get back into his
running up front ways here at Michigan. I know he wants to do that. So, maybe then.
When drivers come to you and ask for advice on this place, what do you tell them?
What's the key? Do they still ask you for advice? Well, we know they do.
Well, you know, look, I mean, Michigan is, it's got a lot of things that you can look at on the
racetrack. It's got a great, it's got great markers in the corners, getting into corners. It's got a
gate down the back straightaway. Every groove is marked with a seam and you've got options. And,
you know, I think that it's, it just depends on where the racetrack goes as far as how high it'll
go into that, into that third lane. But it's, it's a place that takes a lot of finesse in order
to keep the mid-corner speed up and the throttle down. Okay, there you go. Now, if anyone's listening,
they just got a lesson there on how to make things happen. Keep the throttle down. That's
all I heard. Keep the throttle down. That's right. Well, we look forward to seeing everything
that will transpire out in the Irish Hills this weekend for Michigan. Oh, why are you looking
over? Oh, because I know you had a pretty long list of sips today. All right, your turn, slappy.
Hey, welcome to your favorite part of the show, Mamba Social Sips. And I want to start this out
by giving my, my friends here. Oh, you're merchandise. Yeah, there you go. There you go,
guys. This is cool. Nice catch. Um, we just actually, we had a big party this past weekend.
We expanded to New York City. Has NASCAR given you permission to use their name?
Yeah, kind of. I mean, you know, minor details. And the logo? Listen, I'm supporting them. We're
making it happen. I thought the New York City thing was cool. New York, uh, they're on, they're
got it going. So we had a big one here in Charlotte. New York had one too. So we got stuff going.
Yeah, we've expanded. We got, uh, New York City too. Did people actually show up? Yeah.
We've expanded. They're like 25 or 30 people that showed up. That's what you do. Like in the
city? In the city. That's what I'm saying, man. Like a menu with his name on it, I saw. Really?
Yeah, we're doing stuff. You had your own cocktail. Okay. Yeah, we got, got some things
going on. We got some things going on. Anyway, let's get it going. All right.
I did not think that this driver, that's pretty normal. I did not think, but anyway. Yeah,
leave that part alone. I did not think that this driver was going to race full time.
Really ever. I thought they were just going to do it for fun. But Audrey Larson had a one,
one week out with, with Piper and with you, and then they hung out and now she's locked. It seems
like ever since then she's been locked in. Piper might have retired, but Audrey's locked in.
Piper did retire. She looked, she did the bow for, for KB, but she's been ripping and winning. I
feel like all year long, I think it's awesome. I love it. I love it too, because she is ruthless.
I mean, she is tough and ruthless. I hope she just keeps doing it. Yeah,
she's got a good teacher there and dad. Mom comes from. No, no, no. Let's get something straight
here. Mom is a ruthless one in this. Yeah, it is not Kyle Larson. Kyle Larson is calm, quiet,
and mom is, mom is not loud, but mom is very stern, very stern. You listened to you. That's
right. It sounds very similar to Ms. Delana Harvick a little bit. There is. Yeah, you better keep
your, that fire, that, that, that, that fire comes from mom. Yeah, for sure. We love to see it. Keep,
keep killing it, Audrey. All right. We're just in Nashville. One of my favorite Nashville memories
was Kyle Bush with his celebration. And I remember when he did that and everybody lost their mind,
they were like, Oh my God, he just destroyed the super. Because that trophy is so cool. Okay.
I think he, I think when he did it that the first time, he gave a lot of the pieces out
to everybody on his crew. But I remember it was a little hullabaloo about that situation.
Sit and bass. For sure. Guitar. Yep. Well, he's just trying to be a rock star, how they always
break theirs on stage. I guess that was the thinking behind it. And then he faked it out. Faked
everybody on the second one. Ryan Blaney was on busing with the boys last week with Bubba,
and he was explaining what is most fascinating to him about race car drivers that kind of always
seems to ring true. Let's see what he had to say. And as a driver, one of the most amazing things
about race car drivers across the board is just their feel that they have for what they're driving.
You're guessing pretty much every time you go into a corner. Like I'm running in the corner
200 miles an hour and I'm guessing how much grip I'm going to have when I get there. We,
me and RB used to be roommates and one night we were having some adult beverages and he was
explaining to somebody else about like grip and what you're always fighting for and how you're
always trying to keep all the speed and he explained it very similar to that. And I've
never heard someone break it down like that. When you think about the most impressive thing
about drivers, is it that, is it feel that you think that guys have or girls have that to make
them go fast? I think a lot of it is, I mean, first off, Rodney Childers would yell at you if you
said you were guessing about anything. He did not like being told he was guessing at anything.
One of the most interesting conversations that I've had with Rodney was when I told him we were
guessing. So that made me laugh. You know, I think the driver feel is real. I mean, that's,
that's a real thing as far as, you know, being able to look at the racetrack and drive in with a
car right on the ragged edge. And that's what makes these guys so good is they can go in and,
and get the every ounce out of that car with sliding that car, but not sliding the car,
getting the front to slide, but not slide and get the most speed out of it. So that last 10th
and a half, two tenses, what makes those cup guys special? Yeah, for sure. I'm, I, there's some
weird, there's some interesting things that always happen, always. And, you know, tattoos or autographs
that people want in interesting places on your forehead. Yeah, just dumping them out. Yeah,
this fan, this guy, big time Connor Zillich fan. I mean, full blown Red Bull Connor Zillich tattoo,
which is impressive to me because this is his rookie year. Yeah, we don't know how long he's
going to wait. There's a lot of, we don't know what all is going to happen. He hasn't been in one
number long enough to really like do that. Yeah. That's a little risky. Hope
you're a great looking guy. Great looking tattoo. Looks great. Yeah, maybe he wanted it just for
all the colors in the Red Bull. Yeah. He'll remember. Maybe he's a big Red Bull guy. Oh, he'll
remember. He'll remember. Damn, that was stupid. Damn, I got that. I'm sure you've seen a lot of
tattoos of your name and number of years. Yeah. Oh, I saw when the last time I was at the race
track, actually, there was, it was a 20, the 29 was shining through over the four. Oh, really?
Yeah. And then they had the happy of the firehead. Yeah. Whatever you call that on the
low flame and smile. Yeah, that was cool too. Yeah. I've seen a bunch of them. The best is when
you sign somebody's arm and then they go have a tattoo. That's come back the next day. How did
you guys come up with the flaming smiley? Like who's idea was it? Well, we had that pit board with
just the happy face and then everybody's like, man, why do you have that happy face when you're
always like raising cane mad? I'm like, well, that's a good idea. Let's just create a smiley
face that's on fire. Excellent marketing there. Yeah. So we created the flaming smiley so that
we had the smiley on the days where you want to be happy. And then you have the flaming smiley
that really represents who I was. I like it. And I figured out this weekend that I still
can be pissed off. Yeah, all you gotta do is, oh, glasses? No, okay. No, you just stick
seeing somebody stick their finger out the window and flip me off. Oh, somebody afflicted you off.
Of course they did. I would flip him off if I saw him too. Yeah, I would not.
Another competitor on the track. I mean, I'm not as shocking to me. Yeah, bumped into him
a few times and next thing you know, yeah, he's like, God tried to wreck me. No,
if I try to wreck you, I'm wrecking your ass. You'll know when I try to wreck you.
There's no trying. It just happens. Ladies and gentlemen, that is your favorite segment for this
week. If you want to leave a voicemail, no, this is week, voicemail 805-317-4175.
If you want a mail back question, harvickhappyr4 at gmail.com. Keep sending your tattoos.
Most creative wins. Yeah, I'll see you at Michigan, but let's see. Someone has a Mamba tattoo.
There's no way or mumbo. There's no way. Hopefully neither. Hopefully definitely not. I'm gonna keep
talking that little AI thing and see if I can come up with something better. That little AI thing.
Yeah, that's not. He sounds like a grandpa. AI thing. I could be your grandpa. No, we're like
10 years apart. How old are you? I'm 34. I'll be 34 in a week. 34. So I mean, yeah, I'm 50. So
you can't be my grandpa. Well, I can't be your grandpa. I could be your daddy though.
Oh, we have a call. Yeah, daddy. All right. Anyway, moving on. Time now for our last call.
And we have to grade the burnout for Mr. Denny Hamlin. What was the average?
Okay, well, he didn't even need to see the footage. Well, I liked it. I did like when he
started getting into it. He kind of whipped it and it was going backwards for a little while.
The tires were going forward. I thought that was cool. Look, when you win that much, that's just,
that's just, but I did ask last time I interviewed him. I did ask him if he was going to bring
anything special. I said he was going to do something a little bit more. I mean, it was a good,
I don't know. It wasn't great, but it was decent. It's a hard place to do a burnout though.
Why is that? Cause of the slope? Well, it's just in its concrete and it's in just the way that
the banking is on the front straight. It's just, it's just, it's a hard place to do a burnout.
Yeah. Okay. So just an average result. Yeah. Would you give that? Well, I mean, his performance
was an overachiever. Yeah, but that's not for that. Yeah. The average typically is a C
if we're on a regular grading scale. You would know. It's above a C. How would I know? I didn't
get Cs. But we didn't do school. Hey, he actually went to school originally for architecture.
That's right. He hasn't built anything. I learned that when I was researching him in more depth.
Yeah. You went to like high school for that. Do you want to be an architect? I didn't. That's
really interesting. Are you still interested in that in a weird way? Not really. Did you have a
venture set? Like you didn't help them figure out the plans to renovate your house? Like you
didn't have a say. No. He, no. Hell no. What? You thought he was going to have a say in how the
house was built? No, I'm saying like when he just renovated it. Oh, I definitely will say. No.
No. He didn't get no say. Yeah. No. Anyway, that's that's something I didn't even move a box.
I will call him out if I can see a technicality in something that they screw up. Okay. Yeah.
My baseboards aren't touching right. Speaking of screw ups, there's not much to be said for
me in the standings right now. Sadly, I picked Tyler Reddick who ended up finishing six. At
least you got some points. Yeah. Yeah. Mom is not too far ahead of me at 50. He picked Christopher
Bell. You picked the winner yet again. How many times have you picked the winner? Only twice.
No, it's been more than twice. Okay. Like I've won so much that he's getting old.
I swear Denny twice is one for you. SVG is one. Yeah. That's three. It's, I have two. He's not,
I even gave you an extra race. He's not that far in front. We will never hear the end of the extra
race. You know that, right? Listen, he can keep trying, but I'm suggesting that because his all
star win isn't a points race that he shouldn't get points for that. He's at 67. Do you want to
tell the rules now while you have the floor? Yeah, the rules are, since we're going to make the
rules, we're going to have our own chase. So we have, of course, yep, we're going to get 50 points.
No, no, no. Anyway, we'll come up with, with some sort of end of
season championship spread. Yeah, probably go over the 10 weeks and whoever after 10 weeks is the
champ. Yeah, there you go. Not some goofy ass one race. Caitlin Victor. All right. So that's the
new rules. We'll keep that in mind as the post season approaches. Okay. You got to make your
picks for Michigan. Don't look at me. He won the race. He's got to go first. He's not going to like
that. You don't mean to go first. You have to. You win the race. I thought the losers would. No,
that's not how it works. I will go first if you want. Okay, go ahead.
I was looking at the numbers and Ty Gibbs has had back to back third place efforts there.
Really? Okay. It's actually statistically one of his better tracks. I think Ty Gibbs.
Okay. I'm going to take Denny Hamlin. I wonder how many times he's picked him total this year.
It's been quite a few. He said he's going to pick Hamlin SVG for the rest of the year. Hamlin
might get the 70 wins this year. All right. No, I don't think so, but he's been going a lot.
At this race, at this point, at this rate, at this rate. Yeah, we knew what you meant.
Honestly, for how bad I feel for him, I'm just going to run it back. I would go and see Bell.
Like, they got to have them. They got to break through. So if you're in a row, you're picking
Bell. I was torn between Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. Yeah, I could tell. I think Blaney's going to
run better than he has. I think that he'll run decent this week. I almost picked him.
He's just ran. That's the thing, though, is like he's ran decent. Like, it just hasn't been
dumb up. Yeah. The pit cruising. Well, that also throws a rant. It's hard to tell.
Look, Christopher Bell, they got the best pit crew on Pit Road, right? And we saw them fumble the bag
this week. It happens. Fumble the bag. That was last year. That was the last year where he was.
Did you guys hear me say hello, Balloo earlier? We did. We liked to ignore you. You didn't like
to. You don't like to acknowledge you when you do something. That's the one that you couldn't
say. And I said it perfectly. But when you do something good, we don't like to acknowledge.
All right, this has been fun. Everyone, make sure you subscribe on our YouTube channel
and follow on social media. Harvick, Cappy, Pond for Kevin, Mamba, myself. We'll see everyone after Michigan.
About this episode
Denny Hamlin’s win and MVP talk kick things off, then the show digs into what shaped Nashville’s finish—restart issues, brake rotor problems, and an incident that “hand[ed] the wind to Denny Hamlin.” They debate how Sunday night timing affects fans, compare old-school flag starts to the restart box, and discuss why teams keep cycling faster. The conversation pivots to Michigan: fuel-saving calls, mid-corner finesse, and why the track’s party vibe is legendary—plus a full-time Cup outlook for Corey Heim.
On this episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith break down NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin’s incredible finish from last to first after a pole-start penalty at Nashville Superspeedway, how he edged out Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen’s top 5 finish, and which drivers disappointed at Nashville. Plus, Kevin gives advice to drivers as the crew previews the upcoming race weekend at Michigan and they react to Mamba’s Social Sips, which features a young driver who paid homage to Kyle Busch.
0:00 - Intro
2:45 - Nashville Weekend Recap
29:54 - Michigan Preview
37:24 - Mamba’s Social Sips
45:56 - Last Call
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