Hamlin Dominates the Monster Mile + Verstappen Suffers Nürburgring Heartbreak
SPEED with Harvick and Buxton
Hamlin Dominates the Monster Mile + Verstappen Suffers Nürburgring Heartbreak
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Term
Pit Road
Pit Road is the special area where teams stop to service the race car. Cars have to rejoin the track carefully, and if something goes wrong you can spin or crash.
Concept
pit stop competition
This is a special part of the event where pit stops are a big focus. The segment says it got chaotic, with cars getting into trouble near the pit area.
Term
spinning out
“Spinning out” means the car loses grip and starts rotating instead of driving straight. It often happens when tires don’t have traction or when a car re-enters the track at the wrong time.
Term
qualifying lap
A qualifying lap is a fast lap used to decide where drivers start the race. The faster and cleaner the lap, the better your starting position.
Concept
banking
Banking is when the track is tilted in a turn. It helps cars go through the corner faster and more safely, but if something goes wrong, it can still lead to a pile-up.
Term
spun out
“Spun out” means the car loses traction and starts rotating instead of driving straight. In a race, that can quickly cause other cars to hit it or avoid it, leading to more crashes.
Topic
All-Star race
The “All-Star race” is NASCAR’s special race for top drivers, and it has a different format than a regular race. Here, they’re discussing how the event rules/lineup impacted who actually got to race for the big prize.
Topic
MotoGP
MotoGP is a top-level motorcycle racing series. They mention it because the discussion is about rider safety and organizing riders’ voices.
Topic
IndyCar
IndyCar is a big American open-wheel racing series. They’re mentioning it because they’re talking about driver safety and giving drivers a stronger collective voice.
Topic
O'Reilly series
The “O’Reilly series” is a racing series name tied to sponsorship. They’re bringing it up to point out that dangerous crashes can happen in multiple events.
Term
three wide move
A “three wide move” is when three cars try to pass at the same time, running next to each other. It’s risky because there’s less space for everyone to avoid mistakes.
Topic
Dover Speedway
Dover Speedway is a race track used for stock-car racing. They mention it because the action they’re describing happened there.
Term
groove
A “groove” is the best racing line on the track—the part where the car grips and goes fastest. As the race progresses, that line can change based on how the track rubber gets laid down.
Topic
EcoSafe 200
The “EcoSafe 200” is the name of a specific Truck Series race. The “200” indicates the race distance, and they’re using it to say Kyle Busch won that event.
Term
loose right rear wheel
A “loose wheel” means the wheel isn’t firmly attached. In a race, that’s very dangerous and can cause the wheel to come off or break the parts that hold it on.
Term
wheel studs
Wheel studs are the metal bolts that hold the wheel onto the car. If they break, the wheel can get loose and become unsafe or impossible to put back on.
Concept
radio messages
During a race, drivers can talk to their team over the radio. The team uses it to give instructions and updates, and here the host says Decker’s radio communications were controversial.
Concept
lap traffic
Lap traffic is when you’re trying to race past cars that are slower and may be on different laps. It can make it harder to keep your pace and can change how you time your moves.
Term
drive shaft failure
A drive shaft is a key part that sends power from the gearbox to the wheels. If it fails, the car can’t transmit power properly and the race can be over fast.
Concept
onboards
“Onboards” are videos filmed from inside the race car. You get to see what the driver sees—like where they brake and how they steer—especially during passes.
Car
Ford Crown Victoria
The Ford Crown Victoria is a large sedan made by Ford, designed for everyday driving with rear-wheel drive. In some racing events, people use this model because it’s a familiar, straightforward car to race. That’s why you might hear about special Crown Victoria races at tracks like Stafford Speedway.
Concept
Monster Mile
The 'Monster Mile' is a nickname for a one-mile oval race track. It’s called that because it’s tough and fast, so drivers and cars have to be set up carefully.
Term
trash compactor
They’re using a dramatic phrase to say the car is wrecked badly—so badly it’s basically not usable anymore.
Concept
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a well-known race track in Indiana. It’s home to the Indianapolis 500, a huge and historic race.
Concept
backup car
A backup car is like a spare race car. If the main one gets wrecked, the team can switch to the spare and try to keep racing.
Concept
front row
The front row is where the first two cars line up at the start. It’s generally an advantage because you’re ahead of most other cars.
Concept
driver of the week
This is a weekly fan poll where people vote for the driver they think stood out most. It doesn’t have to be the person who won the race.
Concept
cup winner
A 'Cup winner' means the driver who won a NASCAR Cup Series race. They’re saying fans usually pick that winner, but this time the vote went differently.
Concept
Nürburgring Heartbreak
It’s a nickname for a painful or unlucky moment at the Nürburgring race track. The idea is that something went wrong and it was heartbreaking for the driver.
Topic
Cross-over between F1 and NASCAR road-course racing
They’re talking about F1 drivers trying NASCAR, and specifically how road courses would be a fun crossover. The idea is that different racing backgrounds could make for interesting matchups.
Term
cup car
A “Cup car” is the kind of stock-car used in NASCAR’s top series. It drives and handles differently than open-wheel cars, so testing one is a big deal for drivers coming from other disciplines.
Term
fuel
In NASCAR, “fuel” strategy is a key part of racing because teams must time when to pit to avoid running out while still maintaining track position. The transcript’s example—refusing to pit when called in for fuel—highlights how drivers sometimes push for extra laps when conditions allow.
Term
indy 500
The Indy 500 is a famous open-wheel race in the U.S. Drivers who can do well there are usually very adaptable to different racing styles.
Topic
Favorite female driver: Danica Patrick
A caller asks who the favorite female driver is, and the answer is Danica Patrick. They also mention knowing her personally as a teammate and seeing how good she was.
LIVE
I've never experienced another race where it is literally win or nothing.
There is no other race like it on earth.
That is it. You said it right there.
Our buddy, Clint Boyer.
I said, man, you're an idiot.
Racing is something that either you're good at or you're not.
I'm in the zero sympathy category.
You nasty car boys peeing in your suit.
I never could pee on myself.
That's getting slipped up in these ones so far.
Yeah.
1000%.
Welcome to Speed with Harvick and Buxton, fueled by Poet.
Let's talk racing, Will.
Do that, man.
I'm here in Indianapolis.
You're over there in Charlotte,
and we're going to get you up to speed with everything that's been happening
across the racing world.
It is time for Hot Topics.
Well, let's just start right with the Cup Series,
and Denny Hamlin absolutely dominated the All-Star Race.
Always a guy that is so good at Dover Speedway,
and this weekend proved no different.
And he led 103 laps to claim his second All-Star win.
He passed his teammate to do that.
Chase Briscoe laid in the race.
Those guys kind of traded back and forth.
But this race right off the bat, lap two,
we had an absolutely massive wreck.
Ryan Priest came down and got into the right front fender of Todd Gilland.
And it triggered a massive wreck that took some of our contenders.
Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, out of the race early.
They actually came back.
Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson came back later in the race
to actually run the final segment.
But we had another wreck in segment two.
Chase Elliott crashed again, took out Ross Chastain.
And that eliminated pretty much half the field
for the final segment of the race.
Bubba Wallace and Tyler Redick won the first two segments of the race.
And I really thought that they were contenders.
But in the end, it didn't matter because Tyler Redick broke down
with a power steering issue towards the end of the race.
So wound up being a lot of tore up race cars, Will.
Yeah, it sounds like it tore up race cars.
But we cannot without controversy.
Obviously, there were the early crashes,
but there was a new all star format and a new home.
How much did that impact the race?
Because from what I can see online, it wasn't necessarily all positive.
Yeah, I think when you when we put Dover and as the all star race
to to make that our last event on Fox, everybody was like, huh,
that's a that's a pretty interesting choice of race tracks.
Dover is a great racetrack, always well attended from from a fan standpoint.
And none of that change this weekend.
Fans showed up, had a great crowd, actually had a great event
until we got to to the final segment on Saturday during the pit stop
competition and qualifying.
It was absolute chaos there as well.
We had cars spinning out coming to Pit Road.
We had cars spinning out coming back up onto the racetrack.
Danny Hamlin actually spun out going out of the pits, trying to get up to speed
on on his qualifying lap before he was even making his pit stop
and full speed on the exit of Pit Road.
But I think when you look at the format, the thing that happened here,
we wrecked the cars in the first segment.
We wrecked the cars in the second segment.
And I think a lot of people were frustrated that their driver didn't show up
in the final segment of the All-Star race.
A lot of people wanted to see Kyle Larson race.
He actually was on the racetrack.
They repaired his car, got it back on the racetrack.
No chance to win.
Ryan Blaney, same scenario, tore up his car.
No chance to win. Chase Elliott didn't race at all in the final segment.
And I think the racetrack itself
lended itself to putting on a great race.
I think that the final segment was too long.
I think 200 laps for the final segment of what's supposed to be an exhibition
race, All-Star event, quick and easy, get in, get out.
I think I think that part definitely needs to be looked at.
But I think that Dover in general, the way that the racetrack race,
the way that the groove spread out, the way that the the qualifying
and pit stop competition went, I think all that that went well.
And I think that the biggest thing that happened was the fact that
a lot of the All-Stars had to race through all segments
where we used to have a qualifying race to get into the All-Star race.
We had 19 cars that were eligible for the All-Star event,
and they should have been locked in to the end to make sure that those cars
were there for those fans to see.
You're never going to guarantee, right,
that your favorite driver is going to make the end of the race
or your favorite driver is going to be in contention.
That's just racing, right?
And crashes happen, drivers get knocked out.
Did the track sort of make that more likely?
Or was it just just, you know, circumstances and the sort of,
you know, impossibility of being able to predict what what happens in racing?
Well, Dover is unpredictable and when you look back at Dover races,
when one car crashes, it's usually not a single car crash
with the way that the banking is there, how narrow the straightaways are.
Really, really easy when you have, you know,
somebody get spun out for it to collect multiple cars.
And look, this is this is really no different than what we've seen at Charlotte in the past.
We I remember in 2001 at the All-Star race, we went into turn one and it started raining.
We wrecked the entire field, but two cars.
And I've been in All-Star races where we've wrecked 8, 10, 12 cars on the front straightaways.
So that part to me is not abnormal.
The abnormal part is the fact that our All-Stars were not in the All-Star race
when the money was on the line.
So that I don't I don't think that the the wrecks or the racing or anything
is a question here.
I think the big bulls or the big black eye on the whole situation is
some of the All-Stars didn't get to race in the All-Star portion when the money was on the line.
How did we get into that scenario, though?
How did the organizers manage to organize an event termed the All-Star
and you're you're not creating a scenario in which the All-Stars are guaranteed to be there?
Well, that's a great question.
And I think everybody is just trying to create something that is exciting for the fans.
We've gone through multiple generations of what the All-Star race looks like.
You know, we went back when we had the the COT car when we first introduced it for the clash.
And that's an exhibition race as well that we that we have at the beginning of the year.
That particular race and I think it was 2010 or 11 somewhere around there.
Maybe 2009.
I don't remember.
I'm old.
But it's we had the whole the whole field in that race and that race is really meant
for the poll sitters that that exhibition race was designed to have the poll sitters.
But when you get less cars on a super speedway and you don't have the whole field on there,
sometimes it can get a little bit stale.
So they've tried to create this balance of being able to have more cars on the racetrack,
lock your All-Stars in and you know, in this particular format, it kind of kind of bit them
in a butt right here because you didn't have your stars in the final segment of the race.
I never thought I would be comparing NASCAR to cricket.
And yet we have five day test matches in cricket.
But then you also have T20 and the 100, which are very sort of short condensed versions of the game
similar in length to a baseball match.
And that's designed to kind of get new fans in, get them excited about cricket, get them watching.
And that the way that you're describing this kind of feels like like that.
You know, a 200 lap race maybe isn't the best way to engage and provide an exhibition
where, as you say, the 75 lap portions are way better at doing that.
Yeah, I agree.
And I think for the All-Star race, that's, you know, somewhat as to how it has been in the past.
And when you look at 350 laps total at Dover, Delaware, that's a long race.
Typically a race is 400 laps there.
So, you know, I think that, you know, maybe we bring in some entertainment.
The thing that we want to make sure that the All-Star event is, event being the key word.
You want this to be an event.
It doesn't need to look like a race.
We need to have the race cars on the racetrack.
It needs to be something so different than what we normally see that the event in itself is spectacular,
short, and gets to the point.
And the All-Stars are guaranteed to be in the race when you're racing for the money.
Like the Weenie 500.
Yeah.
I jest.
And yet that brings us nicely back to Indianapolis, mate, because that's where I am this week.
And, well, last week as well.
And last week was all about practice and qualifying for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.
We had a rain out on Saturday.
And so the normal two-day qualifying procedure had to be condensed into one super Sunday.
It was absolutely thrilling.
Normally on Saturday you get the 33 drivers go out, have their one guaranteed run,
and then they get to go out and try again and try to improve their time.
None of that in 2026.
Instead, on Sunday morning, everybody got one guaranteed run.
That was it.
No do-overs, no second chances.
You make a mistake, you get a bubble.
That's it.
That's your time.
You're done.
And so we had then the field of 33, positions 13 to 33 locked in.
The top 12 fought out for the right to be in the Firestone Fast 6.
And then those six went for pole.
Absolutely thrilling.
Alexander Rossi looked like he'd done enough for his first ever pole at Indianapolis,
10 years on from when he arrived here as a rookie and won on debut.
But he was pipped at the last by who else?
Alex Pillow, who is just a god.
The champ, that's who.
A god in Indica.
The champ, the defending race winner, he just is so sublime.
Really did a stunning job to put that car on the pole.
When you consider he was 11th in the sort of coming into the top 12.
11th fastest overall.
Very nearly didn't make that top 12 shootout.
So did incredibly well to even make it through into that.
But Rossi did brilliantly.
David Maluchus for Penske starts on the front row as well.
And in fact, all three drivers on the front row,
it's their best ever starting positions at the Indy 500.
For Pillow it's his second pole, so he equals his best.
But for Rossi's second, Maluchus third, their best ever qualifying results.
Some other drivers, Conor Daly, Santino Verucci,
their best ever qualifying results well up inside the top 10.
A great day.
Really, really enjoyed it.
We've just had practice again this morning.
And we actually had a really clean week of practice and qualifying.
Only one driver, Takuma Sato, went high enough to glance the wall.
Nobody else had any incidents all the way through until this morning.
The drivers out doing race prep.
Alexander Rossi, a massive, a massive crash at turn two.
And coming through just behind him, a couple of cars behind.
Patoa Ward, who'd qualified in the top six,
spun behind him and collected him sideways.
So those two massive damage to their race cars,
Romain Grosjean caught up in it as well.
We've heard from Grosjean.
We've heard from a ward.
They were released from the care center.
My pocket is is buzzing.
And actually, I've just had another update.
Alexander Rossi is being transferred to a local hospital
for further evaluation.
So that's the latest on that.
I'm sure by the time that this goes live,
there will be a further update on Alexander Rossi.
We saw him get out of the car under his own steam,
sort of hobbling away from the car.
And obviously, our best wishes are with Alexander.
So for those of you watching online,
please pop online for the latest updates on Alexander.
But unlike in other championships,
mate, yes, they've locked in and no,
they won't lose their grid position.
So if Alex and Patoa and Romain are all OK to race,
they will take their qualified positions on the grid,
even if they have to revert to a backup car
or change their engine or anything like that,
their grid position is locked in.
Well, that's good.
And I think that, you know, obviously, like you said,
you just hope that those three guys are OK.
And when you look at Palo, I mean,
what an unbelievable drive from him
to be able to put that car in position to get that pull.
But what I want to know, Will, is you got to experience
the Indy 500 last year.
You've been able to experience this before.
And I've heard you say this and just explain
to the people watching and listening to this show
why you think the Indy 500 is the greatest race in the world.
It's easy to say, right?
I think the Indy 500 is the greatest race in the world
because I'm going to be calling it this weekend.
So you might automatically assume that I'm just saying that
because my paymasters would expect me to say that.
But listen, mate, I've done Le Mans.
I've done the Monaco Grand Prix
and the whole Formula One World Championship.
I've been to World Rally.
I've been to NASCAR Cup with you guys.
There is nothing I have experienced on this earth
that levels up to what the Indianapolis 500 is
because it is so much more than just a race.
You have your 25 regular drivers and teams competing in it.
You have your one-off entries
and their sole focus for the entire year is this race.
Everything that they do is focused on this one 500-mile race,
these two weeks in May.
Practice, qualifying, carb day, race day itself.
And race day itself is the single largest sporting event on earth.
350,000 people plus,
they estimate one in every 1,000 Americans is here at the Speedway.
On race day.
That is a ridiculous number of people.
You don't see that at the Super Bowl.
You don't see that at the World Cup final.
You don't see that anywhere.
And I think the thing that really resonated with me last year,
experiencing this for the first time,
was that I kind of understood what the 500 meant
in terms of its history and its importance
and the fact that drivers and the teams placed this
above even winning the championship in their list of priorities.
But what I didn't understand was what it truly means deep inside
for the drivers and for their teams and their crews
and their families and their sponsors.
And I only got it on Monday when I went to the celebratory dinner
in which you all turn up and you celebrate the winner,
the 1,500 champion.
Because there were 32 drivers there that night
who weren't just annoyed or upset that they've missed out on the win.
They were utterly devastated.
Like they just lost a world championship on the last corner
of the last lap race of the season.
Destroyed.
And yet they all turned up with grace and humility
and gave the champion their plaudits
and the credit that they deserved.
I've never experienced another race where it is literally win or nothing.
Absolute total devastation.
And that just cemented for me what this means to all of them.
And it's incredible.
There is no other race like it on Earth.
The fact that you can qualify 33rd and last on the grid
and you can have a great day and a great race and still win.
Joseph Newgarden last year, right?
He was running to be the first driver in history
to win 3 and 500s in a row.
His car fail technical was thrown to the back of the grid.
He started on the last row of the grid.
And his strategy and his driving excellence that day had him online
to be fighting for the win in the last 10 laps of the race.
Ultimately he had a DNF had a technical mechanical issue
with the car and fell out.
Had that not happened, he would have been right there
and fighting for the win.
From the last row of the grid, it's this wonderful sense of never say never.
It's this kind of almost mythical, mystical element to this race that it chooses you.
And if it decides it's not your time or it's not your year, then you don't win it.
There's something almost organic about this place.
Like it's got its own soul and personality that it picks and wins.
Sorry, I could like...
That is it.
I could just talk about this place forever.
But that is it.
It's just incredible.
That is it.
You said it right there.
That place has a soul like no other place in the world.
I was very fortunate to experience Indianapolis from my NASCAR days at full capacity.
From 2001 to 2009 before we had the tire debacle and made everybody mad.
And so when you go to Indianapolis and see some of those Indianapolis 500 traditions over
like the PA announcer and you go to qualifying day and you come in the pits and
the crowd is absolutely cheering because you broke the track record and you get out of the car
and you hear it's a new track record.
Echo through the stadium.
It's just iconic and the soul and the knowledge that the fans have in the Indianapolis area
is unlike anywhere else that you go.
And I'm so happy that I got to experience that from my standpoint.
And in 03 when we won the race and they still did the ride arounds,
there were so many people there that knew that that ride around was coming after the race to
celebrate the car owner, the winner, the wife and the crew chief.
They knew that that was going to happen.
And when you see just how educated they are in the traditions that go along with the Indy 500
and have been able to experience a full house at Indy and celebrate those traditions,
everything from the PA announcer to the cars parked in the front yard and the houses around the
race track and everything that all the pageantry that comes with the Indy 500 at a different level
at a NASCAR race, the soul and the knowledge of the Indianapolis fans is second to none.
It really is and that's part and parcel of this.
The fans make this place what it is.
The track may pick the winner but the fans anoint their hero.
And they'll pick who they love and who they cheer for and you can hear it.
And the hairs stand up on the back of your arms when Conor Daly is undoubtedly one of the crowd
favourites here along with the likes of a Pato or Ward and any time they are up the front
and any time they take the lead, this place just erupts and you know the kind of noise it takes
to drown out 33 Indy cars and you can't hear the cars for the noise of the fans.
That's how raucous they are. They love this, they live it, they breathe it, they camp here in their
RVs and their tents, they're at the track at the crack of dawn on Sunday when that cannon blasts
and the fireworks go off as the first light kind of breaks over the grandstands.
There is nothing like it and then with all of the pre-race pageantry and they sing you know
back home again in Indiana and they play taps and I come from a military family.
My dad was forces and so I was always brought up with a huge amount of respect for the armed
forces and for the freedom that they provide for all of us and when taps played last year
and 350,000 people go completely silent. I'm just thinking about it now. I'm getting all
like I'm getting misty because it was one of the most emotional things I have ever experienced.
It's just mate it's it's unlike anything else on earth. It is and you talk about those fans. I
can remember it like I was in the car yesterday when I took the white flag and you go around that
racetrack and you can look ahead of you and you can see the grandstands start to rise and they all
start to take their hats off and start to wave and clap and cheer and all the way around the racetrack
they're all standing up and as you come all the way back to the checkered flag all you can see
are hats and arms and hands and and the whole place is is standing up. There's there's very
few things like it that you'll ever experience as a winning race driver. It's it's really special
man. It's really special. I can't wait for Sunday. Can't wait. May 24th live on Fox. Don't miss it.
110th running of the Indianapolis 500. Right time to get on with more of the news and sadly
very scary times at the Catalan Grand Prix as we saw two separate violent wrecks which brought out
the red flags. Alex Marquez was rushed to hospital after slamming into the back of Pedro Acosta's
bike. He suffered fractures to his neck and collarbone and after the restart there was another
horrible incident down at turn one as Johann Zarco triggered a three bike pile up got trapped
by the leg as the bikes tumbled through the the gravel down there at turn one. As for their
current status Marquez underwent surgery to stabilize his collarbone. He's still in the
hospital recovering and Zarco has returned home after being treated for torn knee ligaments and
an ankle fracture. Absolutely horrible scenes. VR46 rider Fabio Dejanantonium who quite incredibly
was struck by debris in that first incident of the day and was actually still wearing the scuffed
leathers from being hit by that debris wrote the most incredible race to take a seemingly
impossible victory nursing an injured hand that he'd had during that incident right in the middle
of the race an unbelievable result but the nature of the race incidents once again has rallied
calls for a rider's union to be formed and that is something that we spoke about last week in
relation to IndyCar it's something that we've spoken about before in relation to MotoGP but
sickening incidents and our heartfelt hopes that the drivers involved returned to full health
the same. Yeah well it's it's always good to have the driver's voices and and hopefully they
all of those guys make a make a full recovery because some scary accidents as we've seen in
the O'Reilly series we had at Dover Dover Speedway again this weekend Corey Day one his second career
race passing Justin Allgaier with just four laps to go in a three wide move and found an
incredible groove at the top of the racetrack. I thought Allgaier was going to drive off into
the sunset he got track position wound up being at the front of the pack late in the race and all
of a sudden here comes Corey Day he found a groove right up against the fence and was able to start
passing cars and wound up getting to Justin Allgaier to make the move at the end of the race
pretty awesome race to the end for his Hendrick Motorsport Chevy just three weeks after he won
his first race in Talladega. Justin Allgaier led 71 laps to finish second and his performance has
given him a hundred and 75 point lead over Sheldon Creed so he has put together
quite the season so far and this stat I didn't believe it I had to go back and look at it but
junior motorsports has had 71 consecutive top 10 finishes with their cars what unbelievable
that's that's over two years that's an incredible stat that's unreal yeah and
on Friday Kyle Busch you know we talked so much about Kyle Busch but he won his 69th
truck series race on Friday in Dover in the EcoSafe 200 one-bow stages led 147
of the 200 laps in Inspire Motorsports Chevy so our buddy Clint Boyer made his
truck series debut for the year I guess it was it was a one-off race I have been giving Clint
so much grief but he did an absolutely wonderful job in that ram truck and was on pace to probably
finish 10th to 12th he walked into booth the next day couldn't move his neck he didn't spend a whole
lot of time getting his seat right couldn't hardly move his neck the next day his head rest was
about four inches too low but he wound up having a loose wheel he drove that thing around with a
loose right rear wheel so long wheel that the the wheel studs broke off and they couldn't put the
tire back on that's how that's how loose that wheel as I said man you're an idiot um but anyway
speaking of studs yeah that is our friend yeah what a stud that is that is Clint Boyer and you
know and you know running running running top 10 that puts him on that similar par with with
Hinchcliffe and and Frank Keady I think we need to get our three colleagues together in a race
and have those three battle it out you know for uh for the top 10 positions because that's uh
that's great that would be fun that'd be awesome if we could get all those guys in a race together
so I'm not sure Clint shows back up in another truck race I think uh the one thing I will tell you
he did tell me afterwards because we had a lot of fun with it on the broadcast and and all the
things that we did but we um that he talked about it on Sunday morning he said you know Kevin I
walked through that gate on the back straightaway on Friday morning and I looked around and I knew
I wasn't very prepared but when I walked around the racetrack I knew exactly what I needed to do
Clint was always so good at Dover and and he was all of a sudden it's like it all clicked back for
him and you know how it is when those drivers they get to a point where they're like hey
I don't know if I can still do this and then all of a sudden that light switch goes off and you're
like yeah I remember how to do this hey look talking about quitting um something that made
its way onto social media and was was replayed a lot and reposted a lot was Natalie Decker
and her radio messages and I don't know about you I found them quite difficult to listen to
but it seemed to kind of split people down the middle there's there's a bunch of folks who've
got sympathy with her and her position and then on the flip side a bunch of folks who have absolutely
zero sympathy for her at all and don't think she should be anywhere near a race car where do you
sit on that fence I'm in the zero sympathy category you know I think that racing is is
something that either you're good at or you're not and and I don't like to see a mockery made out of
what our sport is and and we have so many great up and coming female drivers and and you look at
what Danica Patrick did and you look at Catherine leg and and you know a lot of the the females
that have done such a great job and and I hate to see all the work for a Jade Avedesian that
is coming up through the ranks Isabella Robusto all the females that are that are trying to do
it the right way by being good at their craft and and seeing the rage quit that she went through
this weekend I have I have zero sympathy for throwing a temper tantrum and blaming it on a
series director and all the things that that you know that she said over the radio and all the
things that have happened before this I don't I don't have a lot of sympathy for this one
I don't have I don't think enough knowledge of her or her background to really have an
opinion one way or another has she been rushed into this by sort of a desire to have a woman in
a prominent position in a seat is it a case of her being moved up before she's she's fully capable
of being here and if so you know does that does that not fall on on her or is it is it solely
down to her and her responsibility to not move into something until she's until she's ready
because it's like listening to her completely melt down and sounds because the thing to me that came
over on that radio message was she sounded scared and that's not somebody that you want in a race car
at that time but if she has the love for it and has any semblance of talent that could be nurtured
and put to good use if it was properly nurtured and allowed to flourish how awful would
it be if she was moved up before she was ready and then it's all it's all laid to waste I as I say
I don't know enough about her or her past to know you know if she's been rushed in or not but
she sounded terrified yes I would agree and and I think when you're terrified you do not need to
be on the racetrack and and I think it's both you know I think that she's a it sounded terrified
and I think you know unprepared to to be at the level of racing that you need to be at there
there are no shortcuts in this male or female you have to go go through the process to do it right
and and that's the part that I don't like the fact that you can get to where you want
to be because of male or female right and and I think that when you look at the female side of
things it's so touchy but we have so many good ones that are coming up through the ranks putting in
a time trying to make sure that they are prepared when they get to the level that they need to be
you go back and you look at it's it's not easy you could you could go back and look at Hayley
Deegan right like she is on the path to getting to where she need to be makes a couple of missteps
and gets in the wrong situation and then you know you're going to Andy next and you're going to
do the things that are differently now she's basically starting over on the on the NASCAR side
on the west coast to try to get back into that progression of the steps that you have to take
to properly be competitive if you're going to do this at a high level a low level a mid level
whatever that is you have to take the proper steps to be competitive a so you're not scared
to death and b so you're competitive in order to run fast enough on the racetrack to not be a hindrance
and and b somebody who is dangerous for the other competitors to be around so you know i i just i
think you have to at some point you have to take responsibility for yourself in order to be what you
need to be at the level that you're racing and i i just i hate what this does um you know to the
women who are trying to do this correctly and get the experience and present themselves properly
to the rest of the world and and and we'll be able to do it just like Danica Patrick did that's
yeah that's that's a that's a brilliant point and our guys are telling me to move on but i don't
want to just yet because i think we need to to conclude this properly um as you say those who
are doing it properly and and and we we are on such delicate ground at the moment that you want to
see women succeed in this sport and we all want to see women be able to compete at that same level
as as as men are but as you say if you if you are rushing somebody through who's not ready primarily
on the basis that they are a woman and we need to promote them how much does that undo the good
work that is being done in in bringing through those who are ready and can compete and have put
the work in and that's the the most you talk about the danger of it there is a physical danger of
somebody being on track who is unprepared and is scared and is out of their depth but then there
is also the danger of what it does to the the cause of promoting women within motorsport that
somebody immediately becomes the poster girl of well why are you even bothering to
do this women clearly clearly can't race because because you know look look at her she's she's
out of her depth and they just take the one to represent the whole and that's not that's not fair
on everybody else it is not fair to everybody else and it is definitely definitely a delicate
conversation that that I think is is one that needs to be had honestly in fairness to all those
ladies that are out there trying to do it correctly but in other news out west agreed my guy uh
keithan harvick won the military appreciation night mission bank 125 for a second cars tour southwest
pro late model win of the season at kevin harvick's kern raceway on saturday night led 79 of 125 laps
holding off jaren giani uh through lap traffic late in in the race so that was pretty cool to watch
from my hotel room in dover and i love the fact that they got you to read that out
incredibly fitting uh meanwhile heartbreak for max Verstappen at the nürburgring 24 hours a lot
of which we watched during our rain delay here in indianapolis he dominated the field made his way
up into the lead and built a commanding lead until a late drive shaft failure with just three hours
left shattered his team's dreams of a debut victory the misades of maro engel lucas dolts
fabian schiller and maxie martin claimed the overall victory and got to say an unbelievable
turnout at the norge life over 300 000 people turning out to watch that race so yeah max Verstappen
wherever he goes whatever he does people come yeah and he does it he's doing the exact same thing
in that car that he does in all the other cars he's exciting to watch no matter what he's driving
isn't he just isn't he do you see the onboards absolutely wonderful yes absolutely wonderful i
saw a video actually of somebody and they were being passed by max and they started singing the
max Verstappen song Max Verstappen just like even the competitors were loving having him on track
brilliant stuff brilliant stuff uh onto modified and history was made at the legendary bowman
gray stadium on saturday night slate meyers started on the pole and led every single lap
to an uncontested victory with the win he becomes the youngest driver and the fourth generation
of the meyers family to find victory lane at the madhouse cletus mcfarlane has convinced 80-year-old
legendary team owner who we know very well on this show richard children's to come out of a four
decade racing retirement uh he raced before becoming a championship winning owner and he
will compete in one of mcfarlane's signature crown victoria races at stafford speedway this
july and that is your latest from across the racing world but as always there's far more
to come here on speed including our drivers and riders of the week hey speed fans this show
is fueled by poet poet zero carbon bioethanol gives nascar drivers the octane they need
with zero carbon intensity when it comes to performance you can't beat zero learn more at
poet.com okay now it's time for kevin and i to pick the driver or rider who stood out most across
the racing world uh kevin who's your pick this week well i mean i'm gonna give you two i'll give
you know you know i'm gonna pick denny hamlin because that i mean he just absolutely went he
went to dover did exactly what we expected him to do dominated and took home a million bucks
pretty simple there say no more look i think for me there were a couple that i could have chosen
this week originally i had quarry day because i thought he just ran a brilliant race and originally
i was going to go for him then jan antonio winning the moto gp having been hit earlier in the race
with the debris in that in in that horrible smash and coming through for the win i probably should
have picked him and i'm kind of kicking myself that i didn't but i was on such a high on sunday
night after qualifying here at the motor speedway that i went not for alex polo but i went for alex
under rossi because you expect it out of polo right you expect him to to be rapid and to to pull
out pole positions but rossi my god he had to pedal that thing he drove that ecr car so hard
and so fast and he was right on the limit he did everything right to get that close to taking his
first ever pole at the speedway for me head and shoulders and i could have picked a santino
ferrucci i could have picked a conna daily you know who both drove in that style but rossi's run
for me was absolutely magic and i'm just so gutted because i spoke to him this morning and i said
my god you got a hell of a race car and he said oh you bet i do and now that race car is
in a million pieces uh in a trash compactor somewhere out the back of the indianapolis
motor speedway so i just hope the team can rebuild that imagine he takes the backup car
to the you know starts it on the front row and wins the 500 in the backup car that would be
that would be something but um yeah i thought rossi was amazing um but as i said it could have been
could have been anyone of the number of drivers or riders this week and i'm kind of kicking myself
one jet i'm telling you yeah yeah what you're not gonna win if you keep picking the second place
guy will i'm telling you hey it's driver of the week not winner of the week uh we look we've had
our say as we always do but this is in your hands at home folks uh because each and every week you
can vote oh see it's not a winner this week he didn't even finish the damn race blew us all out of
the water the power the power of max Verstappen the power of max Verstappen well that's actually
that's a very interesting experiment there isn't it because you know cup winner usually
smashes this thing 60 70 percent uh but when you put the cup winner up against max Verstappen
he brings it through with a 41 victory so in the end and look at that rossi and hamlin
equal on 23 percent cori day down on 13 max Verstappen 41 percent very interesting i did not
expect the voting to go that way that's absolutely fascinating keep voting that's what we need
keep this interesting people we need you to keep voting and keeping it interesting
keep us on our toes i think that's the most interesting one we've had so far that's fascinating
well there we go max Verstappen is your driver of the week i love it love that folks uh now not
only can you vote for driver of the week but you can also be part of the show every week as always
you can reach us at speed on fox across social media leave us a voicemail at 2135347107
and when you do as always let us know your name and where you're tuning in from so let's have our
first voicemail of the week hi my name is rob i am calling from bustle new york after watching
walkins glenn and seeing svg dominate and in his comeback i remembered some of the f1 drivers
racing there like kimmy rike and jenison button i think did are there any current f1 drivers that
you would love to see race on the road circuits in the NASCAR series absolutely i love this one
and and since i you know everybody's voting for max Verstappen and we have a great red
bowl relationship with uh justin marx and and every and everybody look they have the red
bowl relationship at track house let's get the project 91 car back out and let's let's bring
that thing to a road course he's driving a car with fenders on it right now i think he can i
think he can make it happen let's do it i would love to see that and i think with what max is doing
and going and racing other things i think i think max to cup is far more likely than max to indy car
and i would love to see him do a road race wherever wherever it ended up being i'd love to see max
jump in let's not forget lewis hamilton has actually tested a cup car tony stewart's cup car
back in the mid late 2000s at whatkins glenn that's right and loved it so much he refused to come in
when they called him in for fuel he was like no just one more lap
he loved it um yeah i mean look two of the all-time greats get finando in it as well have three of
the all-time greats any one of them you know legendary status i'd love to see them put it on
the line and finando is already you know we've seen finando put it on the line go race at limon
go you know contest the indy 500 why not go and do cup i'd love to see any one of those three try it
out i tell you the other one that would be fun just because he's a huge fan of the sport of the
sport is daniel ricardo i just i think it would bring a ton of enthusiasm just with his pass and
his you know his passion for the for the number three and and and just i think that one would be fun
that would be great right voice mail number two hi this is Laura from
san amonica california with the news that custom leg will be racing in the indy 500 it has me
wondering who's your favorite female driver of all time i love danica baby oh yeah well i was
teammates with yeah i i was teammates with danica so i you know i i know how passionate and how good
she was and and watched her do things that that were just normal race car driver stuff it wasn't
male female it was just here comes danica she's she thinks this she thinks that she was your teammate
and that part was fun i think the best uh young prospect currently um on the
nascar side is probably jade ebidizian um so you know she's she's uh running some super late models
and i believe she ran some arca races so she's on her way uh completing that path to be properly
prepared question was of all time yeah well i i said danica so who's your favorite female
okay danica i'm playing golf with danica tomorrow morning uh i love danica and i think she gets an
unfair amount of crap from the fan base because she was quality behind the wheel and i have to
say as a broadcaster for us on indy car when she comes here to the 500 she knows her stuff and she
asked some great questions and i got a lot of love for danica um i think she's great
and she's mean on the golf course as well she's gonna kick my butt tomorrow morning uh for me all
time greatest female driver michelle newton no no two ways about it like she was at an age
and in an era where rallying was probably at its peak in terms of raw power and the skill that you
needed to control those things she was the queen uh we have a fan question from dylan on x who says
do you guys have any pre-show rituals you do before going live on race day uh i don't know
about you mate uh my rituals used to be an espresso about three twinkies and a packet of
twizzlers but i've had to kick the twinkies and twizzlers to the curb this year to try and
and lose some weight yeah well lately lately for me it's it's been a cross a strawberry crustable
and a sprite i've only just learned about crustables i don't like peanut butter as you learned the
other week so uh so they're out for me um uh towns and james and i uh we have a a football we have a
pigskin and we uh we play catch before every morning warm-up show on a sunday so we we always
do that and we probably pretty much do it up in the booth as well so we like to have a game of
like to have a game of catch and i just kind of limbers us up and loosens us up before we before
we go on air so uh that's great and last year before the 500 we're doing it in pit lane and who
shows up because he was getting the two-seater ride tom brady and so towns and got to live
his absolute dream and play catch with tom brady and i gotta say towns and spiral is pretty damn
impressive when you're comparing it back to back with brady towns and's got a hell of an arm on him
i wasn't too fussed about playing catch with brady because i'm a seahawks fan brady didn't show up in
that that Gucci leather outfit that he had on walking down the catwalk the other day did he
ah man he was in race over us they would have thrown it they would have thrown him out of the
racetrack yeah they would keep those questions coming uh at speed on fox on social
media give us a call as always leave us a point now uh 21353471
oh seven and when you do uh let us know your name and where you're from who's the winner this week
kevin i i like i quite like the the go ahead go on to see if you're lying
i was going to say the the the female racing driver question because uh you said you learned
something so i i quite like that one i'm good with that i like it sounds like a winner okay
okay well thank you to laura from Santa Monica for your question the bubble heads will be on their
way to you um i think a great one for this week uh right buckle up folks it is time for replay
review where kevin and i dive into the biggest highlights and the most chaotic moments uh
from the racing week uh so let's get you caught up on everything kind of sideways in racing
where are we starting this week oh i was here for this the monster truck uh so as i understand
it they designed the aero on this sort of inspired by indica uh although i've got to admit when the
nose pitched up uh when they leathered it down the back straight here at indy i thought they
probably could have you know designed it so it was a bit lower still hit over a hundred miles an
hour that thing is a beast but the funniest part of it that is awesome putting it back in the truck
and they um to get it back in the truck they have to take the big wheels off and they put it on these
tiny little normal roads yes car wheels and it looks like the stupid i've actually i've actually
gotten to drive one of those before we had a kid we had kid rock it was a monster truck and they
got to drive it and we waited for delayna's aunt to go to lunch she had this old piece of crap 1988
bonneville so i said hey go go take everything out of that and when let me know when they're
coming back around the corner because i i'm going to smash her car so i smashed her car
as they came around from the corner of lunch and she's thought thought i'd just run her car over
but i went and bought her a new one so that was my monster truck experience that is majestic yeah
majestic uh right number two what are we looking at here uh karsten hosebar oh he was up in the um
he was up in the booth didn't he oh he had to go pee yeah he had to go pee so yeah segment two and
three had to go pee so uh it took a while to get through those first two segments so apparently
his uh his timing of pee breaks was uh was a little too short for the extended period of time
that they had to be in the car excellent do you nascar boys pee in your suits during the race
i never have ever done thing because open wheel drivers do it all the time yeah everybody pretty
much does it i i just it i never could pee on myself it just there's something about
intentionally peeing on yourself that just seems wrong so i'd rather be died over in pain than pee
on myself couldn't do it that's getting clipped up and used on social yeah thousand percent yeah
number three um austin hartman uh and zack down upside down in the closing laps at plemer
oh man these sprint cars they're definitely gonna be good for several clips during the week but
this one actually wasn't that bad just a little slow lazy tip over got that big wing on top to
in the blow so still wouldn't want to do it just a tickle just a tick right that's it from your
greek play review uh so next up as always is what you're gonna need to have on your radar this week
and into the weekend on the final lap and let's start with the biggest race in the world the
greatest spectacle in racing the 110th running of the indianapolis 500 which takes over memorial day
weekend uh defending winner alex polo will lead the 33 car field from the poll you can
watch it all on fox 12 30 eastern uh and don't forget carb day as well on friday with the weenie
500 that is 2 p.m uh eastern live on fox i wouldn't want you missing the weenie 500 uh
oh that's i didn't think we had that in the uh in the running order but we did it's right there
so that's great there you go the weenie 500 two laps of the indianapolis motor speedway
so that will be fun now i can't believe that's become a tradition absolutely mega
nascar takes on its toughest test of endurance with the coca cola 600 at charlotte 600 grueling
miles under the lights means a shifting track surface in zero room for error it is the crown
jewel showdown it starts sunday at 6 p.m eastern and catherine leg is attempting to do the double
not only is the first woman to ever attempt it but the oldest race driver in history to ever attempt
to do the indy 500 and the coca cola 600 uh on saturday nascar races on the high banks of the
charlotte motor speedway for the o'reilly showdown uh championship round number 15 playoff picture
is starting to come into focus and formula one gets back to racing ways with the canadian
grand prix at the circuit gilville nerve in montréal uh infamous for heavy braking zones
and of course the wall of champions kevin what are you most looking forward to this week well i'm
gonna watch it all will i don't have any plans for for my sunday or my friday uh saturday i'll
probably at thursday and saturday i'll probably go watch the asa super late model race one at
hickory one at tricounty so i'm pretty much just going to be a race fan this weekend and
lay around and eat twinkies great well you can watch some you know you can watch some hot dogs
go racing on the friday the weenie 500 start your day off dude it's just amazing i'm so excited
about that uh and then you know start your sunday off with the indy 500 then what the
does the f1 race start before this the the coke 600 it does yeah it'll be on it should be right it
should be right in between should be right in right in between the two races indy 500
canadian grand prix coke 600 because we used to used to start with monaco and then be indy
and then be the coke 600 and i we used to call it the um super monaco coca-cola nappalus and that
was a great day of racing but now it should be uh co can co canada nappalus doesn't work
yeah just just put monaco back on the same day and bring back super monaco coca-cola nappalus and
just you know rolls off the top next year well it'll come back next year when we go a week later
maybe yeah let's do that yeah we're just making stuff up at this point and that is
i mean and they and they're shouting at us because we're out of time that is all we've
got time for on this episode um but there's plenty as you know to come this week if you're
enjoying the show do us a favor hit that subscribe button and follow us on social media jump into
the comments let us know what you like what do you want to see more of and we will see you next
week our thanks as always to our friends at poet poet produces high octane bio ethanol delivering
maximum performance with zero carbon intensity it can't be zero for kevin harvick i've been
more bucks than thank you so much for watching speed with harvick and buxton fueled by poet now
as every week let's send you out with the best wrecks of the week you have to get to the front
oh look out we got one round priest marcin's in the wall hard there's a champion i was worried
about this custer suarez when something happens at this particular racetrack it happens in a hurry
looking down to the three-year you see he's already sideways looking into alfredo there
96
oh trouble brad keselowski was chastain and maybe
oh we got a red herps is here riley herps that he gets slammed into for both ends this is what
happened get accidents like that
About this episode
Denny Hamlin’s dominance at Dover kicks things off, with the hosts noting he led 103 laps to claim his second All-Star win. The conversation then turns to a chaotic NASCAR weekend near pit road, including spins and a late power steering failure that ended Tyler Reddick’s chances. They debate whether Dover’s format and groove evolution made crashes more likely, before shifting to Indy 500 qualifying changes after rain and a late Nürburgring heartbreak for Verstappen.
Original notes
Dover Motor Speedway completely lived up to its "Monster Mile" reputation this week, and Kevin Harvick and Will Buxton are here to break down every single piece of flying debris. In this episode of Speed with Harvick and Buxton, fueled by POET, the guys dive into Denny Hamlin’s commanding All-Star victory and the terrifying, fiery 9-car frontstretch pile-up that shook the field. Kevin goes "Under the Hood" to analyze how the high-stakes format pushed drivers past the absolute limit.Meanwhile, the racing world stood still as reigning champ Alex Palou secured the Indy 500 pole. Will uses "Buxton's Breakdown" to explain why this historic race remains the absolute peak of global motorsport. The guys also unpack a medical emergency and subsequent miracle victory in MotoGP, Corey Day's spectacular 3-wide pass in the Xfinity Series, and a massive proud-dad moment as Keelan Harvick takes the checkered flag at Kern Raceway. Plus, Max Verstappen suffers brutal 24 Hours of Nürburgring heartbreak, fans vote for their Driver of the Week, and a preview of the Indy 500.
Chapters:0:00 Intro0:45 Hot Topics1:00 Denny Hamlin Wins All-Star Race2:15 Under The Hood: Wrecks in All-Star Race10:15 Alex Palou Takes Indy 500 Pole11:30 Alexander Rossi Crash In Indy 500 Practice13:30 Buxton's Breakdown: Why The Indy 500 Is The Greatest Race Of All22:00 MotoGP: Scary Wrecks at Catalan Grand Prix24:00 Corey Day Wins At Dover25:11 Kyle Busch Wins Truck Series27:23 Natalie Decker Quits33:42 Keelan Harvick Wins at Kern Raceway34:19 Max Verstappen At Nürburgring35:15 Rest of Hot Topics36:40 Driver of the Week40:40 The Racing Line47:00 Replay Review50:15 Final Lap54:02 Wrecks of the Week
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