In racing, “momentum” is the idea that once a car is moving well—especially through a corner—its speed and stability can carry you forward into the next phase of the lap. Drivers often talk about momentum because it affects confidence and how aggressively they can drive.
Topic
Spanish F3 at Tala Daga
They’re mentioning a Formula 3 race in Spain at a specific track. The exact track name is a bit unclear, but it’s part of the racing news they’re bringing up.
“Wrecked him” means they crashed and took the other car out. The hosts say Busch hit Niemachek’s car and then things went wrong going into the next turn.
Concept
driver's compartments
The driver’s compartment is basically the cockpit where the driver sits. The hosts mean the drivers were really frustrated this weekend.
Here, “sequence” means the order of key moments—like when cars pit and when the race restarts. The order matters because it can put you in front or behind at the worst possible time.
A pit stop is when a race car pulls into the pits to get service, usually tires and sometimes fuel. When you do it can make you gain or lose positions.
“SMT data” is race data that helps explain what the car was doing—like where it was and how it moved. People use it to figure out how close drivers were and whether the situation was avoidable.
This means the car was running a bit more toward the middle of the track than expected. On a tight track, that can affect how much space you have if another car comes up alongside.
They’re saying the rules for winning the championship changed this year. That affects how drivers and teams plan their races, because points matter differently.
“The Chase” is NASCAR’s playoff system. It’s designed so more drivers still have a shot at the title later in the season, which makes every race and position matter a lot.
The crew chief is like the team’s main strategist and problem-solver. If they change that role, it usually means the team is trying a new approach to car setup and race calls.
Pit lane is the special area on the track where teams pull the car in to work on it. A pit stop is when they change tires or do quick service while the car is stopped.
A full 360 spin is when the car rotates all the way around because the tires lose grip. It usually makes the driver fall back and then they have to adjust to catch up.
An alternate strategy is a different game plan for the race. Instead of following the original plan for when to pit and what tires to use, the team changes it to recover from trouble or gain an advantage.
“New regulations” means the sport changed some of its rules. Teams and drivers have to adjust their cars and strategies to match the new rules before the next race.
Formula One is the highest level of open-wheel racing. Teams build and update specialized race cars, and drivers compete across many races in one season.
This is about turning a great qualifying result into an actual win. Even if you start first, you still have to keep control of the race and beat everyone for the whole distance.
Mercedes here means the Mercedes Formula One racing team. The idea is that their car is already strong, and Antonelli may do even better once they add more improvements.
Your teammate is the other driver on the same team. Since they usually have the same kind of car, comparing results can show who’s doing better as a driver.
An upgrade package is a bundle of new improvements the team adds to the car. It’s like bringing updated parts to make the car faster, and teams often do it at different times.
A “caution” means there’s a problem on the track, so cars slow down for safety. Because everyone is moving slower and the field tightens up, it can change who has the best chance to win.
“Track space” is basically how much room a driver has on the track. When cars are close together, there’s less room to maneuver, so mistakes can lead to contact.
Blocking is when a driver defends by making it hard for another car to pass. They position their car so the other driver can’t get a clean run at the same time.
A “three-wide” is when three cars are trying to race side-by-side at the same time. It’s exciting but dangerous because there’s very little room for anyone to make a mistake.
Talladega Super Speedway is a well-known NASCAR race track. Because cars run close together there, restarts and track position can really decide who wins.
A “midget” is a small type of race car used in certain U.S. racing series. It’s compact, so driver height and seating position—like where your knees and head land—can be a big deal.
A roll cage is a strong metal safety frame around the driver’s seat. It helps protect you if the car flips or crashes, and it also affects how the driver fits in the cockpit.
NHRA is a big organization that runs drag races in the U.S. It’s where you see record attempts and super-fast runs, especially in the top-fuel classes.
A “top fuel pass” is one full drag-race run by a Top Fuel car. When they say it’s the fastest in history, they mean it set the best record time for that class.
Concept
High limit racing
“High limit racing” is basically racing where everything is pushed to the extreme—trying for record-level performance. Here, they’re talking about the insane speeds from drag racing.
A transporter fire means the truck carrying the race car caught fire. If the car is destroyed, the team can’t race and may have to pull out for the weekend.
The Cars Tour is a racing series where drivers compete in stock-car/late-model events. They’re saying someone plans to build a car specifically to race there.
Concept
pro late model division
A pro late model division refers to a higher-level class of late-model stock car racing, typically with more standardized rules and more competitive teams than entry-level classes. The segment frames it as the category Cleetus McFarlane’s new car would compete in.
“Gear changes” means shifting between gears while driving. If those shifts don’t happen smoothly, the car can feel slower or less responsive, especially when you’re pushing hard.
Ferrari is a famous racing team that makes and races Formula 1 cars. When they’re “back on form,” it means their cars started performing really well again.
The championship leader is the driver who’s currently winning the season standings. It’s stressful because their position can change quickly based on results.
When they say someone “moves the needle,” they mean they made a real difference. In racing, that usually shows up as better results or being closer to the front than expected.
“Driver of the week” is basically a weekly award for who impressed the most. When they say it was the closest all season between two drivers, they mean those two were the top contenders for that honor.
“Kimmys” is the driver they’re talking about—Kimi Antonelli. They’re saying he’s been winning a lot early in the season, and that puts pressure on George.
Max Verstappen is a very famous F1 driver. They’re bringing him up because the team leadership might be trying to get him, which affects what happens to other drivers.
Toto Wolff is a senior leader in Formula 1 tied to Mercedes. The hosts are saying he might be trying to sign Verstappen, which would influence decisions about other drivers.
The “Peter principle” is a way of saying that someone can be promoted to a job they’re not actually good at. Here, it’s being used like a metaphor for how a driver might hit a limit when things get harder.
A “V8” is an engine with eight cylinders. The conversation is saying officials want Formula 1 to go back to engines that are simpler and make a louder sound.
In F1, “V6 hybrid era” means the cars use a V6 engine plus extra electric/hybrid tech. That tech helps the cars make power and recover energy, but it also changes the sound and feel compared to older cars.
“Engine regulations” are the official rules that tell F1 teams what kind of engine and hybrid system they’re allowed to use. Changing these rules can change how the cars drive and even what they sound like.
Engine manufacturers are the companies that build the F1 engines and related hybrid technology. They may want certain rules because it affects what they can build and how much it costs.
They’re talking about the 2030s as the timeframe when F1 plans big changes to the rules. The idea is that teams and engine suppliers will have to adapt by certain deadlines.
The FIA is the organization that makes the rules for F1. When the FIA president talks about going their own way, it means they’re deciding the future rules even if companies disagree.
Concept
raw, loud, powerful engines
They’re describing the kind of engine they want F1 to have—more traditional, louder, and more exciting. It’s basically a reaction against how the current hybrid setup changes the sound and feel.
Hybridization is when a race car uses both a regular engine and an electric system. The electric part can help boost acceleration, but it can also change the way the car sounds and drives.
A hybrid engine setup uses both gasoline (or fuel) power and electric power. The electric part can add a boost, especially when you need quick acceleration.
A “2.2 liter V6” is a six-cylinder engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V shape. The “2.2 liter” part is the engine’s size, which relates to how much power it can make.
A “2.4 liter V6” is a six-cylinder V-shaped engine that’s slightly bigger than the 2.2 liter version. A bigger engine can help make more power, and in this case it’s paired with a hybrid system.
Power-to-weight ratio is how much “pull” the car has compared to how heavy it is. If the ratio is higher, the car usually feels faster and accelerates better.
Horsepower is basically how strong the engine is. In racing, more horsepower usually helps the car go faster, but it can also make the tires work harder.
A Honda Civic is a regular everyday car model. The speaker is using it as an example of how racing rules can get too focused on making cars resemble regular cars instead of being optimized for racing.
A V6 is an engine with six cylinders. The “V” shape is just how the cylinders are arranged inside the engine, and it affects how the engine makes power.
A four-cylinder engine has four cylinders. In racing, it’s often discussed because it can be cheaper or more efficient, but it also changes how the car makes power.
Tires are what actually grip the road during a race. The speaker is saying you can tell how hard the cars are pushing by how the tires are interacting with the track.
This means making the race car less powerful by changing the rules. The speaker’s point is that even if the goal is to save money or improve efficiency, it can still end up costing teams more.
Concept
cost controls
Cost controls are attempts to keep racing from getting too expensive. The idea is to limit spending, but the speaker says that sometimes teams end up spending more anyway.
Endurance racing is about racing for a long time, not just a short burst. Teams plan things like pit stops, tires, and driver changes to keep the car going strong.
In a multi-class race, more than one type of race car runs together on the same track. Some cars are quicker than others, but each group is racing to win its own class.
This is about racing classic Formula 1 cars that were built in different time periods. Since the cars were made with different rules back then, they can behave very differently on track.
LIVE
This is the way that racing championship should be decided.
When he gets in a race car, it's a stud.
There is nothing better than momentum
because that just goes straight into the brain
and the confidence goes straight into your foot.
Make the engines scream that sounds fucking terrifying.
That's what racing is all about.
What goes together like peanut butter and chocolate?
Spanish F3 at Tala Daga.
Welcome to Speed with Harvick and Buxton, fueled by Poet.
Let's talk racing, Will.
Let's do that, my friend.
Great weekend for you in Texas.
Last weekend for me at home before the madness of May.
And of course, to start the show off, as always,
it's time to get you up to speed with everything
that's been happening across the racing world.
It is time for Hot Topics.
Yeah, and let's just start right off the bat
with the Cup Series race.
Chase Elliott winning his second race of the year
at Texas Motor Speedway.
I think that we all had a lot of questions about where
the Chevrolets were, where was Hendrick Motorsports,
how would they wind up showing up to Texas?
All of them, for the most part, had speed.
Kyle Arson was probably the one that was the farthest off.
But Chase Elliott, from the time
that he got control of this race over Denny Hamlin,
had plenty of speed to keep that nine car out front
and wound up finishing the deal off on a late restart.
So great weekend for Chase Elliott.
The controversy at the end of the race, though,
with Kyle Busch and John Hunter Niemachek.
This one, Kyle had a great day.
They switched crew chiefs this week, qualified up front,
ran in the top 10 all day.
And then at the end, just had a little bit of a meltdown.
John Hunter Niemachek on the outside of him.
He cleared himself to come up.
Looked like John Hunter was a little further away from the wall
than he might have expected, based upon all of his tweets
and everything trying to defend himself.
But overall, whether his car was in the right spot or not,
Kyle drove over the front of the 42 car of Niemachek,
went into the next corner, didn't like it, and wrecked him.
So a lot of, let's see.
What's the best way to put this, Will?
A lot of frustration in the driver's compartments
this weekend at Texas.
From your perspective, mate,
why don't you take us under the hood
into the whole Busch and Niemachek scuffle?
How did you see it?
And then how do you see the aftermath
and what's going on on social media at the moment?
Well, I think that the worst part about this scenario
is Kyle Busch is finished.
Because when you bring in a new crew chief like that
and you have everything seemingly on a way better path
to start the weekend qualifying well,
doing all the things that you need to do during the race.
And it came down to a late restart,
got shuffled back a little bit with the sequence
and the pit stops.
And he's making his way back up through the pack
with a couple laps to go.
And then has the run-in with Niemachek.
And then seemingly kind of just made some mistakes.
And that's my opinion.
As you look at the video and the SMT data
that he put up, yeah, Niemachek was a little bit further
from the wall than he probably expected.
But just because his car is in the wrong spot
doesn't mean that it gives you the right way
to do the things that he did.
So I hate it for him and his team
because I felt like that was a firm step of momentum.
And I think Kyle's a big part of the responsibility
of what happens going forward at RCR with his experience,
his talent behind the wheel.
I just, I hate that they finished it like this
because it was, in my opinion,
could have been prevented from Kyle's part
as he got to the end of the race.
Whether you finished where you ran all day or not,
I still think if they just make it to the start finish line
without all this drama, he's in a much better spot
as we head to Watkins Glen this week
with his team and the performance of the car.
And it's not just, I guess, the situation within the team,
as you say, the changes that have taken place there.
But with the championship being different this year,
with the fact that it's the chase,
the fact that every race, every point score counts,
you can't afford to be losing a ton of positions,
to be throwing away a race like this.
Is that an element of where this frustration
is coming from as well?
Yeah, I think there's a lot of frustration there.
I mean, they qualified on the pole at the Daytona 500
and really hadn't done anything to this point.
And then make the crew chief change,
find the speed in the car, do all the things
that they need to do.
But right now, Cobbush has no shot to win the championship.
Really, they're trying to put themselves
in a position to get the ship righted,
to get the performance of the RCR cars
back where they want them to be by making this change
and trying to shake things up within the organization
to get the speed back in the car,
to get the car to just run in the top 10,
which they did most of the race.
And I think if they can do that
and try to put themselves in a spot
towards the end of the year to win,
but he has no chance to win the championship
and it's really just about the performance
of everything with the car
and trying to get back to Victor Lane.
And it's a contract here for Kyle Busch.
And I believe that this is probably realistically
maybe the only spot that he has to still have a seat
in the sport.
And I think he needs to do everything that he can do
to try to protect that.
And I think that this was definitely not the way
that it needed to end at the end of this race.
Are you saying potentially he's out of a ride?
I would say that the eight car
is the potential only spot for Kyle Busch as you look forward.
Now there may be something that I'm overlooking.
There's a lot of things that could shake up down the road.
But I believe that the eight car,
if not the only spot is probably the best spot
for Kyle Busch.
Formula one got back to racing ways at the weekend
after a month off and the regulation changes put in place
seemed to give us an unusually exciting Miami Grand Prix,
which for the record tends to be something
of a slightly turgid affair.
It wasn't, it was very exciting.
And Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli made history.
He won the Grand Prix,
which marks his third consecutive race win
from his third consecutive pole position.
And the reason that this is a record
is because all of those three have happened as his first three.
First three poles, first three wins,
both come as a consequence of the other.
Lano Norris pressured the lead late
at a slightly slow pit stop
after a little bit long in pit lane.
But ultimately he finished second
while Max Verstappen secured driver of the day
and fifth place following a chaotic opening lap
in which he spun, full 360, carried on going,
had to go on an alternate strategy and really made it work.
Antonelli now has a commanding lead in the driver's standings
as the season heads to Canada.
Yes, Canada is the next one.
Now he reminds me of other young phenomenons
that we've seen in sports,
like a young Rafa Nadal or like a young Tiger Woods
or even an F1 like a young Max Verstappen.
Bedded himself in for a year.
Now he's got the car at his disposal and is showing up
and putting his more experienced teammate George Russell
in the shade every single weekend.
I've been super impressed with Kimmy Antonelli.
And he now stands in, you know, rarefied air mate.
Can you think of some cup drivers maybe from history
who have done, you know, this well, this early
as a teenager or in their first, second season,
somebody who's just absolutely rewritten the rulebook?
Yeah, and I think for me,
it's got a little Jeff Gordon written on it,
just with the way that Jeff ran the first year
in contention to win, had some moments of brilliance
and victory laying the first year
and then come out the second year
and just, you know, do everything that Antonelli is doing.
And the part that I like about what Kimmy did this weekend,
Will, was going through the new regulations
and all the rule changes over the off time
that they had and then coming to, you know, Miami
and being able to put all that together
and fend off, you know, the guys
that have so much more experience.
But I just, I love the way that, you know,
his attitude is and how fun and he's so young,
but he's so naive to so many things.
But when he gets in the race car, kids are stunned.
Yeah, there's a beautiful innocence and a naivety to him,
which makes him very, very easy to like.
By the way, when we talk about those records, mate,
I want to go back.
There are two drivers in history before Kimmy Antonelli
that took their first three pole positions consecutively.
They were Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.
There were two drivers in history before Kimmy Antonelli
that had won their first three races in Formula One consecutively.
They were Damon Hill and Micka Hakenan.
But only Kimmy Antonelli has taken his first three pole positions
and converted them all into his first three race victories.
That is Kimmy Antonelli.
So exalted company to find himself in
and to set himself apart from with that kind of a run.
Deeply, deeply impressive.
Yeah, and I think that it's not going to stop here.
I think you're probably on board with,
he's going to have more success
as they go through the season.
Mercedes is in a great spot right now,
just from a performance side and where they're at with the cars.
And he's going to take advantage of them.
But like you said, all you have to compare to is your teammate
and you're looking at George Russell and the things that he's doing
compared to Antonelli, you're going to put a lot of pressure.
And Mercedes haven't even brought their big upgrades yet.
So most of the teams brought big upgrade package to Miami,
having had the month off.
Mercedes bring their upgrade package to Canada.
So they look set to extend that momentum
and that advantage into the next race.
Kevin, take us back to Texas.
Well, as you go back to the O'Reilly series
and we got to the end of this race,
and I truly feel like we saw Justin Allgaier and Kyle Larson
kind of banging doors under the caution there,
fighting for track space.
Don't forget their teammates.
Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson driving for Junior Motorsports
in the O'Reilly series this weekend.
But combined, they led 147 laps of this race.
I felt like Justin Allgaier had the dominant car.
Kyle Larson put on a master class at the end of this event
in blocking and doing the things that he did to put
Allgaier in a spot where he just never could capitalize
to put himself in position to win.
Rookie Brent Cruz finished fourth,
won $100,000 bonus for the dash for cash.
Larson Cruz-Zillich survived a three-wide battle
that was pretty epic.
Brent Larson and Zillich kind of got tangled up right there
and Brent Cruz dove into the bottom three wide,
slid up the racetrack and all of them banged doors there
at the late part of that race.
So it's funny, we talk about Antonelli,
we talk about Zillich, we talk about Brent Cruz.
This class of kids that's raced against each other
all over the world, one's in Formula One,
Zillich and Cup, Cruz in the O'Reilly series.
We've got a great crop of young kids
coming up all over the world.
Yeah, I love that, mate.
Wasn't just O'Reilly trucks as well.
Yeah, Carson Hosevar, he carried that momentum
from the Cup series last weekend with that epic win
at Talladega Super Speedway and he led a bunch of this race
and wound up putting himself in a great spot at the end
to capitalize on those guys racing behind him
on a late restart.
But three fantastic races at Texas Motor Speedway
this weekend and Hosevar with that momentum,
took that momentum and qualified on the pole
the next day for the Cup race.
He's done that two years in a row now,
had a solid day on Sunday as well.
So you can't beat momentum, my friend.
There is nothing better than momentum
because that just goes straight into the brain
and the confidence goes straight into your foot.
Absolutely.
Hosevar also talking in the week
about wanting to run the Indy 500
and like the sound of that.
And though at six foot four,
do we think he'd fit in the car?
I hope so.
Yeah, well, I don't know if he'll fit
but I can tell you that he sure will try.
I interviewed Hosevar this weekend
and very interesting kid.
I think that the interview gave us a shed a lot of light
on just to how his brain works.
But when he talks about being in the Indy car
and at the Indy 500, I'm here for it.
I want to see it because I heard him when he said
he sits in the midget that his knees actually sit
against the bar in the front of the midget.
His head is about flush with the top of the roll cage.
So he'll make it work.
I'm here for it.
I'm here for it as well.
And of course, a TWG driver already,
TWG through Andretti, have three entries.
They were going to put a fourth on this year for Colton Hertha,
who now can't do the race because he's racing Canada with F2.
But I like the potential for the crossover.
Could be very, very cool.
Meanwhile, though, when we talk speed, we talk NHRA
and we talk this week, Sean Langdon,
who set a new record at the Southern Nationals' clocking.
Get this, if you don't already know,
a top speed of 345 miles an hour.
The fastest top fuel pass in history.
Astonishing.
High limit racing.
No, mate, that's it.
That's unreal.
That's it.
I know, right? 345.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
I can't even imagine.
No, I don't imagine what the world looks like at 345.
What would our face look like at 345?
Well, it is May the 4th, so it's officially Star Wars Day.
So I guess it's like the jump to light speed
and everything just hurtling past you at 345 miles an hour.
Madness.
Absolute madness.
High limit racing.
Also resumed on Saturday at the Texas Motor Speedway,
where Aaron Reuzel led all 30 laps from the pole,
earning his third high-limit victory this year.
Meanwhile, Carl Larsen won Thursday's event
and finished seventh on Saturday.
Over in Supercross, Hunter Lawrence dominated in Denver
to take the win, but Ken Roxton's second place
was enough to keep him at the top of the standings.
It all comes down to Salt Lake City next week,
with Roxton holding onto the championship lead.
Get this, as they head into the final round
by a single point.
I love that.
Also over the weekend, Taylor Mayhew won his second
Cars Tour West Superlake Model Race
of the season Saturday night
at Colorado National Speedway,
charging late to take the builder's warehouse 150.
A massive upset at Laguna Seca in Imsa,
as Lauren Heinrich snatched a last-lap victory
for the JDC Miller Privateer Porsche.
It really was an incredible drive and a sensational win.
If you haven't seen the pass, go online, find it, look it up.
It was utterly, utterly brilliant.
And richly deserved.
The weekend's toughest break went to friend of the show,
Robert Wickens, whose team was forced to withdraw
after a transporter fire destroyed their car
on the way to the track.
Cleetus McFarlane has confirmed that he is working
on building a pro late model car to run in the Cars Tour
pro late model division.
Cleetus expects it to be ready in just a few weeks.
News out of IndyCar now, and it's a pretty simple one.
Four-time champion Alex Palau has signed
a multi-year contract extension at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Honestly, what's he done to deserve that?
The momentum continues for all in
as the fourth installment is now out.
And, gotta say, it's probably the best episode yet.
This week we go inside the Long Beach Grand Prix
with IndyCar's Aro McLaren team
to witness the massive pressure on young Nolan Siegel
as he steps into the spotlight.
It is a trial by fire on the streets of SoCal,
stepped against the backdrop of a $20 million
Alex Palau contract fallout.
Catch it right now on the IndyCar on Fox YouTube channel.
Finally, when we talk of Chip Ganassi Racing,
we think of that amazing team.
We think of their amazing past,
and we cannot think of Chip Ganassi Racing
without thinking of the legend that was.
And it's tragic to say was
Alex Zanardi, who passed away at the age of 59.
A two-time car champion, an F1 veteran.
Zanardi, of course, became a global symbol of resilience
after losing both legs in a horrific accident in 2001.
He defied the odds to return not only to the cockpit,
but also to Paralympic competition.
Get this, he won 12 world championship golds.
He won six Paralympic medals, four of them gold.
Alex was the best of the best,
genuinely one of the nicest human beings.
I've ever met the kind of person who when you met them,
you felt like you were the whole world.
The only focus that Alex had when he was talking to you
was you.
And people will talk about the incredible achievements,
the two champ car, Indy car titles, the Paralympic medals,
everything that he achieved in his racing career,
everything that he achieved in overcoming
the almost insurmountable odds that were thrown
in his direction after his horrible accident.
And yet for me, the thing that will always remain
is him as a man and him as a person
because he was inspirational to those who never met him
and to those who did genuinely one of the very best
human beings it has ever been my distinct honor
and pleasure to have met.
He was just a beautiful soul.
Our thoughts are of course with Daniela, with Nicolo,
with everyone in his family and all of his closest friends.
He was the best, man.
He was just the best.
And that's your racing news from around the world this week.
Right, Kevin, as always, time to pick our driver
or rider of the week, the driver or rider who stood out
most across the racing world.
And once again, second week in a row,
consternation amongst the fans.
And I will tell you why because we missed
Lauren Heinrich off the list.
I inquired about this and apparently someone got
trigger happy and sent the social media thingy out
before the IMSA race had even finished.
That individual has been fired into the sun
never to come back.
Kevin, who's your pick?
Well, you know, Will, I'm sticking with what I see
on the weekend.
Yeah, I'm gonna stick with Chase Elliott this week.
You know, I gotta go with what I'm doing at work right now.
So my guy was Chase Elliott, they did a great job.
And first time in his career that he's won two races
this early in the season, I think that is,
says a lot about where this nine team is at.
So they're doing a great job right now
and making themselves a real part of the championship
conversation, being able to put that car in victory,
laying on a mile and a half race track
where these cars have been a little bit off this year,
but solid weekend for Chase Elliott.
Play to the crowd, Kev, play to the crowd.
I love it. That's right.
Never in doubt.
I thought I would play to the crowd this week as well,
a little bit, but you know, look,
we've talked about his record setting weekend in Miami.
How could I not pick Kimmy Antonelli?
Absolutely sensational weekend.
The big thing for me is how he handled the pressure
because the car wasn't perfect through the Grand Prix.
He had issues with his gear changes.
And also, look, McLaren brought massive upgrades
to the race weekend.
Ferrari and Red Bull were back on form
and had, Red Bull in particular,
had a real swing back to competitiveness.
And when you have the most competitive car,
you have to make the best use of it,
something his teammate George Russell wasn't able to do.
Kimmy was, and he's still so young.
As the championship leader,
imagine all the pressure that comes along with that.
He rode that wave magnificently
and has set this astonishing new record.
So for me, Kimmy Antonelli, my driver of the week.
We have hard assay.
I know on the socials, a lot of you having your say,
particularly when it comes to the missed IMSA.
Oh, it was close.
You know what, it doesn't even matter, does it?
It was close.
Okay, what are the percentages?
I can't see on my screen.
40, 48, 41.
Oh man, I'm 7% off.
Hey look, last week I was 70% off.
So I've got better since last week.
Dang it, that was close.
Yeah, it was close.
And Antonelli moves the needle.
And I think that that's a real battle
because you take Antonelli against arguably
our most popular driver and right there with him.
So both of them had a solid weekend.
We'll say that for sure.
Not me, I'm 0 for 9, 10.
How many episodes are we in now?
It's okay, you're gonna be fine.
But that's a really good point.
As you say, look, if that's up against
the most popular cup driver, then I think
that signals just how meritorious Antonelli's weekend is,
that that's the closest it's been all season
between two drivers for our driver of the week.
So we'll take that.
So how long before it puts George Restill in a bad spot?
I think he already is, mate.
Okay, yeah, doesn't take long over in Formula One.
Already in a bad spot.
I mean, you look at it, you know, from the start,
the season everyone knew Mercedes had the best car.
Great.
Okay, George, this is your time to shine.
With four races into the season, Kimmys won three of them.
And George, in his entire career so far,
and you think about how long he's been with Mercedes
and okay, they haven't been the Mercedes of old,
but George in his career has had a maximum
of two race victories in a season.
Kimmys already got three and with four races into the year.
Like George has got to step up his game.
He absolutely has to step up.
He has to punch back in Canada.
If Kimmys wins again in Canada,
like that's just, that's beating a guy when he's down
and it's gonna take a lot for George
to bounce back from that.
But this is where we will learn.
Does George have what it takes?
Can he bounce back?
Because if he can't, then the question's answered.
So if he doesn't beat Antonelli,
is he just, you think he's pushed out?
Well, I think it's a, look,
if Max Verstappen is out there
and Toto Wolf starts courting Max Verstappen again,
he's not gonna be getting rid of Kimmys
if Kimmys the world champion.
Yeah, very fair, yeah.
But it's the Peter principle, isn't it?
You reach the level of your own inadequacy
and George is a phenomenal racing driver.
But if Kimmys in a year can turn up, match him, best him,
well, maybe Kim, you know,
the ceiling may be a lot higher for Kimmys
and we're seeing it already.
But it's very, very early to be able to tell that.
As we know in racing,
what George has to do is go away,
regroup, come back and fire back.
And if he can't, well, then Mercedes has its new star.
Yeah, well, it's going to be very interesting
to see it all unfold because they just had four weeks off.
So, you have your teammate winning two races
before you get to Miami
and you don't come back ready to fire.
Might not be able to do it.
This is it, yeah, this is it, this is it.
There was some interesting chatter over the weekend
as well in Miami from FIA president,
Mohammed bin Salayam,
who has pledged a return to simpler, louder V8 engines
by 2031, by 2030, if he has his way,
which effectively ends the very divisive V6 hybrid era
and particularly the current engine regulations
which have received so much consternation from the fans.
It's a massive win for fans who miss the noise.
But is it a high stakes gamble for the manufacturers
who've already invested billions?
There'd been a lot of chat about this,
a lot of chat about the direction that Formula One
would be taking into the 2030s.
And the FIA president coming out and saying this
and saying, we're going to go our own way.
I don't care what the engine manufacturers want.
If they come along with me, we'll get it done by 2030.
If they don't, then they're not going to have a choice in 2031.
I love it.
And there's not a lot about Mohammed bin Salayam's reign
that I can say I like, let alone love.
But I love this.
I love his stance.
And I love that the potential is there
to take Formula One back to a place
of proper, raw, loud, powerful engines.
But what this says to me more than anything,
and we've talked about this before,
is that motorsport, once again,
is going through a period of soul searching
and trying to find out what its future will be.
Because I think we have to now recognize
that the step towards hybridization
does not appeal to the fans.
And it hasn't done for some time.
And we have to be real with this.
We have to be real and we have to be honest.
And we have to give people ultimately what they want.
Now, why this is important to me
is because I believe that IndyCar has an open goal right now.
There is a new car coming online in 2028.
And the plan right now is to stick with a hybrid engine.
They're going to move from 2.2 litre V6 to 2.4 litre V6.
The talk is that with the hybrid,
it'll produce 900 horsepower.
But I don't think that's enough.
I want to see IndyCar return to give us a V8,
give us a V10, give us a thousand horsepower or more,
give us 15,000 RPM or more, make the engines scream,
give the drivers more power than they can handle.
Because right now, the power to weight ratio for an IndyCar
is worse than it was in the 1960s.
IndyCar has an open goal to beat Formula One to the punch
and to give the fans what they want
earlier than Formula One does.
There is an open road here.
And everything that the FIA president said
is exactly what's wrong with racing around the world.
We're fighting it right now in NASCAR.
You knock all the horsepower out of it.
You try to make it so that it fits in your Honda Civic
so that they can build this V6 or a four-cylinder.
Nobody cares about that. Nobody cares.
Nobody cares. It's a race car.
If you want to develop your car, go sports car racing.
IndyCar, NASCAR, and Formula One,
when I go back and I was watching that,
all the Zanardi video stuff this week from Laguna Seca,
and you listen to those Indy cars
and you look at the tires and you just,
you look at just how much rubber
and everything is laid on the racetrack.
It's all because of horsepower.
All the nonsense about knocking power out of the car,
let's make it more economical.
Let's make it so that it's friendlier for the teams.
Every time we try to save money, we cost the teams more money.
Every time we take power out,
one horsepower, two horsepower at a time is harder to find
than it is when you have a more open rulebook.
Screw the manufacturers and all the things that they want to do
to have it apply to their street cars.
The fans want to see things that are out of control.
Go fast and loud, please.
From a pure fan perspective, more power, more noise,
high pitch, make them scream.
Green credentials are already set.
Back to basics and let's forget all of this hybridization nonsense
and just get back to what is raw and pure
and what the fans will love.
And that's what people want to see.
The fans love fast and loud and that's what racing is all about
and who's the bravest.
And we have gotten away from that by trying to save the world
and that's not what racing is.
It's your turn now to be part of the show.
You might have my job next week.
I might not be here.
I might be let go by this time next week.
You can reach us as always at speed on Fox,
across social media or leave us a voicemail at 213-534-7107.
And when you do, let us know your name
and where you're tuning in from.
Right, our first voicemail of the week.
Hey, Kevin and Will, this is Mason Griggs from Indiana.
I love endurance racing and wanted to know
if you could make a multi-class series with any car,
where would it be and what cars?
Well, I love the multi-class.
I love multi-class racing and endurance racing
and the things that they do on that side of the world.
But I don't know that that really works
with any other form of racing
than the sports car world, do you?
I'm not sure.
I don't think so.
So I was thinking about this a lot.
And the one that I really came to mind was like,
have you seen the Euroboss formula,
which is old F1 cars from different kind of eras?
And like historic F1 runs.
And they run a bunch of different cars
from different generations together and they go racing.
And it's kind of cool
because you've got cars going up against each other
that never would have done.
But back in the 1960s,
they actually ran a race at Monza
called the Race of Two Worlds,
where they had the best Indy cars
versus the best F1 cars on the Monza oval.
So I quite like the idea of doing historic Indy car
versus historic Formula One car from different generations.
So it's kind of that multiple type of car from,
yeah, it'd be a vintage race,
but bringing together cars
that have never raced together before.
Sort of inspired by that Race of Two Worlds.
I think that could be kind of cool.
That'd be fun.
Yeah, I think that would be great.
And do it as a transatlantic championship.
So do it in Europe and do it in the States.
I think that could be kind of fun,
bringing the two worlds of Formula One
and Indy car together.
That could be great.
That would be very interesting.
The problem is most of those cars
when they get to be that old,
wind up being worth so much money,
you don't want to wreck them.
And no good races, no good race happens
if you're not on a verge of disaster all the time.
That's fair.
That's very fair.
But it would be awesome to see them all together,
just to see them, hear them,
because there's so many cool cars
that have come through those time periods.
And when you look at the 70s, the 80s, the 90s,
the level of ingenuity that was going on in Indy car,
the level of ingenuity that was going on in Formula One,
you think of some of the beast engines
that you had in Indy car.
You think of some of the aerodynamic
and electronic trickery that was going on in Formula One.
It'd be great to see how that leveled out
against one another.
It'd be really, really interesting, I think.
It'll be fun.
It'll never happen, but we can dream.
We can dream.
Voice mail, number two.
Hey, Will and Kevin.
It's Michael from Sterling, Virginia.
I wanted to get your guys' take
on what car and track combinations
just go together like peanut butter and chocolate.
This one's easy, Will.
Daytona, Daytona 500 and NASCAR, Indy 500 Indy car.
Monaco and Formula One.
I just think that in order to make those,
that peanut butter chocolate comparison,
you have to have the historic piece to go with it
and those types of events,
those three examples of events for me,
I don't, those are hard to beat in my opinion.
I hate peanut butter.
Yeah.
I hate it.
I hate peanut butter.
I've never had a Reese's Cup.
The idea of peanut butter and chocolate together,
it sounds like a nightmare.
It sounds absolutely disgusting to me.
So what goes together like peanut butter and chocolate?
I don't know.
Spanish F3 at Talladega.
No idea.
Something dreadful.
How in the world can you come to America
and never have a Reese's Cup?
Nope.
Nope.
The taste of peanuts makes me want
to vomit all over myself.
It's absolutely the worst thing on earth.
I cannot think.
Peanut butter and jelly.
Like also it's not jelly, it's jam.
But I can't stand it.
Can't, cannot, there are a few things on earth,
the flavor of which I despise more than peanuts
and peanut butter.
So you're not going with,
you're not going with the peanut butter twinkie.
No, not even gonna try it.
Just don't.
Why ruin a good thing?
No, absolutely not.
Absolutely not.
We learn something every day.
And today we learned that Will hates peanut butter.
I can't stand it.
Can't stand it.
Right.
Question from X.
This is one for you, Kevin.
Did you always get more frustrated
if a teammate had contact with you racing
than a non-teammate?
Ooh, that's a tough one.
I think that the expectations from your teammate
are that you're going to get the room,
you're going to be able to not get run into.
So when you did get run into it,
it seemed to flare you up a lot easier
than what it would be with somebody else
because you weren't expecting those moments.
So the teammate conversations
of running into each other are never good.
So it's, I always found that that moment
where you had contact with the teammate
was always a little harder to deal with
than having to deal with somebody from a different team.
But I do have a funny story.
We were in Montreal, we were in Montreal in 2007.
And I was driving, I owned the cars
at Kevin Harvick Incorporated.
So we had Ron Fellows and I don't remember
who was driving the other car in the race in Montreal.
And I was doing my job at RCR.
So I was driving in the O'Reilly series
for Richard Schilder's racing.
And we got to the end of the race
and Marcus Ambrose and Robbie Gordon got together.
They wound up getting black flagged
at the end of the race.
And I kind of threw a Hail Mary at the end of the race
going into turns one and two.
And I think it was Scott Pruitt.
I got into the back of Scott Pruitt,
shoved him into Ron Fellows.
And I think Hornaday, Ron Hornaday was driving our other car.
Wrecked both of my own cars, went on to win the race
after the other two guys got black flag.
And got to Victory Lane.
And my wife and manager, Josh Jones,
who's worked for me for a long time,
I'm like, hey guys, come on over, come to Victory Lane.
And all they did was give me a,
that wouldn't speak to me, didn't speak to me for two hours,
all the way back to Kokono,
because I had wrecked my own cars to win the race.
I love that, mate, brilliant.
I mean, that feels like a bubble head winner for me.
Because if we get you to reminisce on those kinds of things,
that feels like a bubble head winner.
I love it. I'm all in.
Great story. Yeah.
Okay, job done.
That was easy.
Keep the questions coming.
At speed on Fox or social media,
give us a call on the voicemail, 213-534-7107.
And when you do let us know your name
and where you're tuning in from.
Right, bubble heads already decided.
So that means it's time to buckle up for replaying review,
where Kevin and I dive into the biggest highlights
and most chaotic moments from across the map.
Next up, a nasty tumble for Ryan Rosha
in the NARC 410 Sprint car series heat number one.
That's not nice.
This is my favorite part right here.
You know they're okay when they throw the steering wheel
out the side of the car.
That's their sign as, yeah, I'm fine.
Ooh.
Watch the steering wheel.
Frums.
I don't like the look of that.
Yeah, that looked painful.
Yeah, those Sprint car wrecks are always pretty nasty.
So this one, yeah, luckily there's no wall or catch fence
right here and he can just tumble on the dirt
and not get hung up in the fence,
but nasty wreck right there.
Different gravy. Never did that.
Never did that, Will.
Never got braven if the driver's Sprint car.
No, never.
You never drove a Sprint car?
Never drove a Sprint car.
I did not know that.
I just automatically assumed you would have done.
No, I didn't grow up in dirt racing.
I grew up racing go-karts and asphalt ovals.
Yeah, no, I know that, but I thought at some point,
because so many of your peers do,
I just automatically assumed that it's what
you NASCAR drivers do on your days off.
No, for me, I raced some modified stuff
during the summer one year with Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace.
I raced enough dirt to make a fool out of myself
and that was about it.
Brilliant, brilliant.
Right, next up, driver Andrea Rotolo,
doing his Ricky Bobby slash Hosevar impression.
I like this. I love this.
This is pretty great. I love it.
Yeah, and this is the reason that the Carson Hosevar win
and celebration was so important.
People can relate, people like it.
He's doing things differently,
and I believe he will continue to shake the industry up,
but that was at South Boston Speedway right there
from the pace car driver in his Ricky Bobby outfit.
So Carson Hosevar making a lasting impression.
That's brilliant, you know,
to see it being done that quick
that people are jumping on that.
It falls into what you were talking about last week
about Carson having a deeper impact across the board
and the fact that people are copying that celebration now
is mega.
I did hear him say he wants to try and catch a beer
that's being thrown to him in the future,
but he's now worried that everyone's gonna start pelting him
with beer cans after the race
in an attempt that he will find the catch.
That's an easy fix.
Easy fix, just get closer to the catch fence, Carson.
You gotta let the fence block all the beer.
I've had stuff thrown at me before,
so just get closer to the catch fence.
You'll be fine.
Just ask Santino Farucci.
He caught one at Road America last year.
It was absolutely brilliant.
Ran out of fuel, down at turn one, I think it was.
Catches the Miller light, cracks it, drinks it.
Magic. That was great.
But he wasn't driving past, so yeah.
That beer was thrown at him
with the intention of him to catch it.
The beers that are being thrown at Carson
are with the intention to pelt him in the head,
so they have a lot of force behind them.
If you can catch an angry beer and still drink it,
Bravo.
Right, folks.
Here's what you need to have on your radar
for the next week in the final lap.
The month of May kicks off at the Brickyard
where IndyCar hits the road course
for the Soncio Grand Prix.
Catch it live Saturday, 1.30 Eastern on Fox.
That's Saturday, folks.
The race comes on Saturday, not Sunday for the Indy GP.
Then on Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series
heads to the iconic turns of Watkins Glen
for a Mother's Day showdown.
I forget you guys have Mother's Day
on a different day than we do in England.
We've already had Mother's Day in the UK.
That starts at 3pm Eastern on Fox.
The road course doubleheader begins
with the NASCAR O'Reilly Series at the Glen.
You can watch the stars of tomorrow
battle that legendary circuit.
And the heavy hitters of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
take their turn at Watkins Glen as well.
That's Friday afternoon, 4.30 Eastern on FS1.
Across Atlantic Moto GP lands
at the historic Bugatti Circuit.
That's at Le Mans for the Grand Prix de France.
And finally, it all comes down to the AMA Supercross finale.
The champion will be crowned in Salt Lake City.
And I think there's a little bit
of World Endurance Championship this weekend as well.
At Spa-Francorchamps.
Kevin, what will you be watching this week?
Apparently a lot of TV, as a lot.
I know I'm gonna be in Watkins Glen
keeping track of all the NASCAR stuff,
but I'm super interested to see
how this Supercross weekend turns out.
What a points battle we have there.
Dude, that's absolutely mad to think.
Well, two things.
One, that the season's almost over,
but two, how brilliantly exciting it's been
and the fact that it comes down to the last weekend
and there's one point in it.
Absolutely, just mind-bending.
That's gonna be great.
Do not miss that, folks.
Okay, that is all we've got for you on this episode.
It's gone, this one's gone by really quick, actually.
There's still plenty to come this week.
Coming up on Wednesday, we hear from the mayor of Hinchtown,
craftsman, truck series, part-time driver, Mr. Jimmy Hinch.
If you are enjoying the show, do us a favor,
subscribe to the channel, follow us on social media
and jump into the comments to let us know what you thought
and what you want to see next.
Thanks, as always, to our friends at Poet.
Poet produces high-octane bioethanol,
delivering maximum performance from zero carbon intensity.
It can't be zero.
For Kevin Harvick, I'm Will Buxton.
Thank you for watching Speed with Harvick
and Buxton, fueled by Poet.
Now, let's send you out with the best wrecks of the week.
It's the sixth car.
Oh, oh no!
It clipped Bell, Bell's around.
Bell's in the wall, believable.
Yeah, he's done.
Oh no, my gosh.
Rasmus already had contact
and another hard hit into the wall.
Caution number three,
and we've not even reached that 2045 LeBar Scott.
Got a car in the wall and turned four.
Check this out, not happy.
Looked like Kyle just turned over
at the front of the 42 car right here.
Oh!
Stewart Freezin goes around,
and crushes through the infield.
The grass to completely destroy the infinger's truck.
Oh.
Oh no, Austin Green.
Fresh off the top 10 finish at Talladega,
and Mason Maggio in the 91 going around as well.
Oh, Talladega sideways.
20-yard, and here we go, opening lap.
We've got a crash.
Knock it down.
Oh!
About this episode
Chase Elliott’s Texas win and Kyle Busch’s late-race wreck with John Hunter Nemechek set the tone before the conversation widened into a bigger motorsports roundup. The hosts also dig into Kimi Antonelli’s blistering F1 start, noting his record pace, pressure on George Russell, and how he handled imperfect machinery. From there, they argue about Formula One’s engine future and make the case for IndyCar to chase louder, higher-horsepower cars instead of leaning into hybrids.
Join racing icons Kevin Harvick and Will Buxton for a jam-packed episode of SPEED with Harvick and Buxton, fueled by POET.The racing world experienced a seismic weekend, and we’re breaking it all down—from Chase Elliott’s clutch NASCAR victory at Texas Motor Speedway to the historic rise of F1’s new phenom, Kimi Antonelli, who continues his dominant streak in Miami. Kevin takes us "Under the Hood" to dissect the heated Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek scuffle, while Will looks ahead to a future of screaming V8 engines as the FIA pledges to move away from hybrids.We also pay tribute to the legendary Alex Zanardi, celebrate Mitch Evans’ record-breaking Formula E charge from 17th to 1st, and look forward to a massive Mother’s Day weekend at Watkins Glen and the start of the Month of May at Indy. Plus, we answer your fan questions about multi-class racing and teammate rivalries.
Chapters:0:00 Intro0:50 Hot Topics1:00 Chase Elliot Wins2:25 Under The Hood: Kyle Busch Clash6:00 Kimi Antonelli Wins 3rd Straight10:25 O'Reilly: Kyle Larson Wins11:55 Truck Series: Hocevar Wins13:40 Shawn Langdon 345MPH Record14:40 High Limit15:00 Supercross: Lawrence Dominates15:25 Rest of Hot Topics19:25 Driver of the Week23:17 Could Kimi Force Out George Russell?25:00 Buxton Breakdown: Hybrid Era Over?29:52 The Racing Line37:15 Replay Review40:52 Final Lap43:32 Wrecks Of The Week
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