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Las Vegas Playoff Recap: Denny Hamlin Advances to Championship 4, Byron and Blaney Struggle, NASCAR 750 HP News
Las Vegas Playoff Recap: Denny Hamlin Advances to Championship 4, Byron and Blaney Struggle, NASCAR 750 HP News
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About this episode
The podcast dives into a detailed recap of the Las Vegas NASCAR playoff race, highlighting Denny Hamlin's impressive advancement to the Championship 4 and his emotional 60th win amid personal challenges. The hosts discuss struggles faced by William Byron and Ryan Blaney, including Byron's pit road incident and Blaney's early exit. They analyze race strategies, especially the two-tire call by Chase Briscoe's team, and preview the upcoming Talladega race with insights on super speedway dynamics and brand performance. Additionally, NASCAR's planned horsepower increase for 2026 is debated, with Kyle Larson's perspective included. The episode wraps with nostalgic gaming talk and a tease of a special guest joining for an ARCA race discussion.
Topics:
denny hamlin playoff performance
william byron pit incident
ryan blaney playoff struggles
chase briscoe two-tire strategy
talladega race preview
nascar horsepower increase 2026
super speedway racing dynamics
nascar video games
arca racing plans
nascar playoff points battle
It was a monumental weekend in Las Vegas! Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith recap Denny Hamlin’s emotional victory, which not only secured his spot in the Championship 4, but also marked his 60th career Cup win, tying him with Harvick on the all-time list. The crew breaks down what this win means for Joe Gibbs Racing, and how it shakes up the Round of 8. Then, the team reacts to NASCAR’s massive horsepower announcement, increasing output to 750 horsepower on select tracks next season. Harvick and Kaitlyn share why they’ve been pushing for this change — but explain why they’re skeptical it will make a huge difference right away. Plus, Mamba brings the week’s best social media moments in Social Sips, and in Last Call, the crew grades Hamlin’s burnout and makes their Talladega predictions.
LINK TO SUBMIT PICKS FOR TALLADEGA: https://forms.gle/Jw4H6P12RD4Qcjgd9
0:00 - Intro
5:36 - Las Vegas Recap
28:17 - Talladega Preview
35:46 - NASCAR To Boost Horsepower In 2026
43:06 - Mamba’s Social Sips
55:47 - Last Call!
1:00:06 - Submit Picks For Talladega
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Oldsmobile Intrigue
"All right guys. So this race, the ending had some intrigue with differing strategies."
- Intro
- Las Vegas Recap
- Talladega Preview
- NASCAR To Boost Horsepower In 2026
- Mamba’s Social Sips
- Last Call!
- Submit Picks For Talladega
Select text to request an explanation
This episode is brought to you by Workday.
Workday is the next-gen ERP powered by AI that actually knows your business.
It helps you handle the have-to-dos so you can focus on the can't-wait-to-dos.
It's a new Workday.
The thing I love about Denny Hamlin is his willingness to keep learning.
Driver of the 11 is very determined right now.
Those are the breaks in sports.
Sometimes it just isn't meant to be, and that's one of those situations.
He said Kevin Harvick came up to me and said,
In your position, you should be the most hated person.
Kudos to them for giving the cars more horsepower.
I don't think anybody will notice.
Welcome to Kevin Harvick's happy hour presented by NASCAR on Fox.
I'm Kevin Harvick.
This is Caitlin Benzzi and our one and only Mama Smith.
One and only.
Welcome back.
Already dressed for Phoenix, I see.
Listen, you got to get there.
I had a fan this weekend at the race track.
You need to tell Slappy to bring it.
You're now being referred to as Slappy by the fans.
Slappy, Slapstick, whatever you want to refer to him as.
Some of the fans do it in an endearing way,
and some of them in other places not so endearing.
So do you get Slappy or Slapstick?
Somebody on Twitter called me Slapstick,
and I said, I appreciate your closer because that means you want.
The only way that you call me Slapstick is if you listen.
Please, it's not Slapstick.
Yeah, it could be Slapstick.
That would be way worse.
That would be bad.
Babyface Slapstick today.
Look at that.
Clean shaven.
Oh, he's so cute.
You can go from looking 42 to 22.
Because he was in Mexico.
Oh.
In the Mamacitas.
Was it hot down there?
It was raining.
No, it didn't rain.
Rainy season did not hit us at all.
It didn't rain.
No kidding.
Was it a bachelor party in case people aren't following along?
Yeah, it was at a bachelor party.
That's fun.
It was 25 of us.
Wow.
Did you guys all fly on the same plane?
No, we all got in at different times,
but those 25 of us had a great time.
I've never been a part of a party like that.
So you're in the wedding if you're at the batch.
No.
You were just there for fun.
They called me because they know.
You're the chief hype officer.
I'm the chief hype officer.
So you know what?
You got to call the guy.
It was fun.
I had a good time.
Did you drink any beer?
Yeah, I did.
Because the way that they pour the liquor there is not great.
Because we had an all inclusive resort.
Okay.
So I'm pretty sure they cut the liquor.
Did you get the whistle and the head shake and the tequila shot?
Yeah, dude.
We went to Coco Bongo.
It's like this club slash Vegas-type show.
And they're with the whistles.
A whistle.
Dude, they hit me in the face, throw a shot in my mouth,
shake my head and bang it off this girl's chest.
I was like, this happens.
Very impressive.
That's a little much.
Yeah, it's a lot.
You didn't want the shot, did you?
I didn't want the shot.
It burned the whole way down.
You got it, though.
I got the shot and it hurt.
So did you eat the worm?
No, there was no worm in that.
I wouldn't eat the worm.
I got you.
Did you ever eat the scorpion?
No.
Heck no.
I love how different our lives are.
Because I was at a pumpkin patch with my kids.
Yeah.
Kevin was in Vegas, but he was competing.
So how was that?
He finally beat Keelan.
He did.
I did.
Yeah, Keelan wrecked.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was a wet, rainy Friday night and Thursday night.
Yeah.
It was a monsoon and luckily we got it in about 1.
1.30 in the morning.
Oh, wow.
When it ended.
Yeah, it was late.
So killed the crowd, but it was a great event.
Had a good turn out of cars and archer race was good.
So we had good races, but I raced for the lead.
And I passed the leader twice.
I moved him the first time.
First time he got high, got under him, caution came out.
Second time I moved him, got by him, caution came out.
And third time I didn't get to him.
He was a chase.
Jace hell was a little bit, he won the race, but he was a
little bit better than I was.
And I knew that I had to get to his back bumper before
before he got through turns one and two.
Third time.
I didn't get there.
He knew the move.
Top five though.
Yeah.
Should have finished second.
Got, it got a little dicey at the end and wound up third.
That place is cool.
Yeah.
And you have quite a bit of racing coming up.
I do.
Yeah.
This weekend, this weekend we're racing the cars tour
finale at North Wilkesboro.
So we're going to go into Keele and I are going to run
the pro-late model this weekend.
And so that's the last race of the, of the cars tour
season out here on the East coast.
And then we go to run the super late model next week
at, at Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California.
And then the finale for the, the West pro-late models is
next month.
I think it's the 15th, 14th, 15th, whatever that weekend
is in the pro-late model.
So three more.
Would you ever, would you like to bring the cars
tour West to Phoenix?
Cause I know when you race late models out there,
that was a thing.
Yeah.
I think, I think the tracks a little bit too big for,
for those cars.
I just think that the way that it's evolved with the
straight frame rails, they used to be perimeter cars.
So I felt like they're, you know, could crash a little bit
harder, but I just don't think that you want to take them
to a track that big.
No.
The straight rails kind of fold up pretty hard.
Yeah.
There's just nothing over there on that right side.
Speaking of straight rails, gotta give a shout out to
Ty Majeski.
He won the Winchester 400.
He did.
Yeah.
I like when he's one of those guys that whenever he
can, especially with the truck schedule, you have
more time.
Flexibility.
More flexibility.
And I like that he goes and does that.
I think it keeps him sharp in the truck too.
Good for Ty.
He'll be ready for Talladega.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Welcome in everybody to episode 72 here on happy hour.
Plenty to talk about leaving Las Vegas on the cup
series side.
Talladega is next.
We have some good sips.
Yeah.
A special guest on the sip.
Oh, we got a guest.
Yeah.
We got a guest.
Really?
Kind of cool.
Yeah.
All right guys.
So this race, the ending had some intrigue with
differing strategies.
Two tires versus four.
A lot of aggression out of a certain driver at the
end to try and make something happen.
And it was Denny Hamlin.
What was the most about what you saw out of Denny?
Well, we asked the question several weeks ago when he had
to run in with Ty Gibbs, was that going to be the
downfall of, of Denny Hamlin's championship run?
And that is not the case.
It has just steamrolled right on.
And we saw in qualifying the Gibbs cars were super
fast again.
And we got to the race kind of started and you're like,
I don't know.
Chase Briscoe was fast.
And by the end of the race though, and Denny Hamlin,
you see the pass for the lead right here on Chase Briscoe,
who was on two tires.
He got into the wall a little bit earlier.
The 19 did and lost a little bit of pace in his car,
but they rolled the dice and wound up with a,
with a decent finish for the 19 car.
But that 11 was on rails at the end and driver of the
11 is very determined right now to do all the
things that he's doing.
A lot of emotion after the race with everything
going on in Denny's life.
And you saw how important it was to get that
60th win.
His dad's been ill.
Got the lawsuit going on.
You got all the pressure of the championship and,
and you could just see all of it just hit him,
hit him all at once.
But those guys are on a mission right now for sure.
He tied you was 16.
He did.
He sure did.
And I want to give credit to his crew chief Chris Gale
because he, he made a comment after the race saying how
he got the car exactly how he needed.
And people probably forgot like this came together
in December last year.
I don't think Denny or Gale knew they were going
to be together.
It was kind of last minute decision.
And Chris Gale is never even advanced out of the
first round of the playoffs.
Now he's going to the championship four.
Yeah.
I mean Chris Gale is, he's had usually young
drivers.
He talked about that a lot at the beginning of the
year.
And now he's able to flex the muscle and all the
knowledge that he's learned with somebody who
knows exactly what they need and what they want
in their car and maybe are a step even in
front.
And then Chris can work on something else.
Well, Denny's working on this part, right?
Obviously is working six wins.
That's a huge total.
It is.
They should be very proud of what they've
accomplished this year.
Denny hasn't been to the final four in a while.
So having a shot at championship is, is huge
for that group.
And I mean, we've said it before, we said it
last year.
He's a walk-in Hall of Famer.
Yep.
Like he's going, he's going in the driver
that he is is absolutely incredible.
What he can do with a race car on track
and putting people in compromising situations
and even when he was racing with Larson,
you could kind of see like Kyle was doing a
little bit of the same moves, but maybe not as
close and still gave him a lane and he got,
took the top.
And then once he ran down the 19, it was like,
Chase was a same guy.
It was like, okay, let's go ahead.
The thing I love about Denny Hamlin at this
point in his career is his willingness to
keep learning.
And you hear him talk about that and you
hear his crew chief talk about that.
And, and, and when Denny talks about,
I'm always learning something.
There's nothing more true.
And I think that if you're open and willing
to be critiqued and learn and listen
and take the things and apply the things
that work for you, that ever look,
I used to always, you guys have heard me say
before, evolve or die, right?
And if you don't evolve with the
situation, our sport is, it evolves
constantly as to what's good, what's
bad, what works, what doesn't work.
They change the tires, they change the
horsepower, whatever it is, you have
to constantly change what you're doing
as to what works and what doesn't
work.
And I think that his commitment to the
simulator and the SIM and his team,
I think that, you know, Chris Gales
had a lot of young guys, but I don't
think he's had the experience and the
guidance and the leadership that you
get from a Denny Hamlin type.
You know, I look at Denny Hamlin
and Joey Logano as maybe the only
two guys that can do it at the
level that they are able to
guide their team with what they need
in the car and the commitment that
it takes.
You know, committed, I think
William Byron is committed, but they
haven't seen as much and you can't
make up for that time in the seat
with a team, with different teams,
different people as to the way that
things work.
So, experience and commitment
and just being a badass driver
is hard to overcome that and
especially right now when those
Gibbs cars are as fast as they
are.
Definitely a testament to his
dedication, I think they said he
spent seven hours in the SIM and
it was a lot of questions for Chris
Gale going in about this race in
particular.
So, it paid off.
How advantageous, too, for the
team, they're locked in.
They have the next couple of weeks
to prepare for Phoenix.
Well, you look at everything
that they did for this race.
I can't imagine how much time
that they will put in for Phoenix.
I don't think that, you know,
they have the strength in the
cars that the Fords and things
do for Talladega.
I think that's almost a
difference.
I think that the Chevrolets and
Fords have better, faster cars
for Talladega than what the
Toyota's have.
But I think when you look at
Martin'sville, you know,
Blaney's going to be good.
I think that Denny Hamlin is
always really good at
Martin'sville and it just seems
like that they have more pace
at all the places except for
Talladega.
So, it'll be interesting.
I think if Bel can get himself
in, you know, I think that those
cars have the most speed right
now.
But the five in the 24 showed up
this weekend with speed that we
haven't seen out of those cars
in a while.
Kyle Larson leading a bunch of
laps, putting himself in
contention to win the race
there at the end.
William Byron obviously had the
mistake, but he had speed all
day.
So, I don't know if those guys,
it seems like since St.
Louis, those guys have found a
way back into that speed
conversation.
I'll be interested to see how
Denny decides to
try to control the playoffs
now.
Right?
Because he's in the situation
where he can.
And like if there's one guy that
you don't want to be able to have
all the control other than
Joey Logano in the 22 is
probably the 11 and because
he's fast and he knows how to
put you in compromising situations.
He knows how to help somebody
to make moves over the next two
weeks will be interesting.
I'm really, I'm very happy for
him from the standpoint of
his dad.
Because, you know, like
he talked about in his post
trace in the conference room
there.
He's talking about how his dad
sacrificed so much.
Oh, yeah.
And that's how he was able to
get there.
And when I think about my
parents and what it meant for
my dad to be at just one
archer race, let alone having
your dad able to watch you go
to the NASCAR Hall of Fame or
like it just means a lot.
So I really, I'm really happy
for that.
Because I think people forget
because Denny's been such a huge
star in the sport for years of
his humble beginnings.
And I remember interviewing him
at Langley where he started a
lot of his career saying how his
dad had to take out all these
extra lines of credit and
mortgage and all these
different things to help him
race.
And like I'm sure you can
relate to what it's like to
come up the hard way and really
earn it the tough way.
Well, I mean you just, you
have so much respect for
the achievements that you have.
And I think that, you know,
there's a lot of things that
lined up for the emotion of
what we saw at a Denny Hamlin
this week.
But I think the passion that
he has for the sport, you see
it, you know, whether it's the
respect that his dad gave
and the things that he gave
for that situation or it's the
respect for always trying to
make the sport better.
Sure, he does it in his own
unique way.
But I think after the race
you really saw all that
emotion thanking the fans,
not trying to instigate the
fans.
I mean there was just a number
of things that were very
different when we saw and
cheers.
A lot of cheers.
A lot of cheers after the
race.
So, you know, I think that
that balance of podcast
controversy, lawsuits, and
then you have the other side
of the performance on the
racetrack.
I mean you can't deny what
he does in the race car.
And so, you know, I think
that was, you know, pretty
awesome moment for Denny to
get that 60th win to put
himself in the playoffs.
And, you know, right now
he's the guy to beat when you
get to Phoenix.
Yes, he is.
So, things came together for
Denny.
You referenced William Byron.
I want to go to him next
because it was interesting at
Kansas.
They kind of limped through
that race, mile and half
race.
But they came to play when
it came to Las Vegas.
Very good car.
Bizarre incident happened to
him, though, with Ty
Dillon who was coming to
Pit Road.
But no one seemed to know
how to communicate.
How frustrating is this for a
driver?
See, this is why the one race
to the championship thing
sucks.
Because what if this was
Phoenix and you're leading
something like this happens
to prevent you from having
a good result?
Well, there's a number of
things that could have gone
a lot better here.
You know, when they go
back, you know, the 10 car
of Ty Dillon never put his
hand out the window.
Like when I was coming to
Pit Road, I always would
kind of weave my car, put
my hand out the window to
make sure that the guy
behind me knew I was
coming.
Now, the 10 spotters says
that he told the 24
spotter and the 24 driver
says the spotter never told
him.
So there were a number of
things that could have gone
better right here in this
situation.
But, you know, the line was
locked down to the bottom
of the racetrack for the
most part.
And I think from William
Byron's standpoint, he
looked and saw the 10 car,
two car links off the
white line, which was
pretty normal for Pit
entrance this weekend.
I don't know about a
car that's multiple laps
down.
He was out of the pit cycle
of everybody else by 15
or so laps when he was
pitting.
So I don't think William
didn't know he was pitting.
And he said that in his
interview.
William didn't think he was
pitting because of where
they were at from the cycle
thinking it was done.
And then all of a sudden,
you know, all that just
compiled into a bad situation
right there in a massive,
massive wreck.
Yeah.
No, that's probably the
worst way to lose a race.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
And like people like, well,
William could have,
why didn't he just move
right?
Well, like, let me tell you,
when the cars all loaded up
and you're fully in the
throttle, if you go right,
there's no bringing it back
left before you hit the
wall.
So like there was,
there was nothing he
could really do.
It was too far into the
situation to abort.
Yeah.
To abort that.
I absolutely, I hate that.
And you know, this is the,
those are the breaks in
sports.
That's you can do
everything right.
They did everything right.
They brought a fast car.
They executed well.
He was doing what he was
supposed to do.
Good stops.
And sometimes it just
isn't meant to be.
And that's one of those
situations.
But because of the
situation, they have two
more races to make sure
they lock in.
They're only 15
points out.
So they legitimately can
point their way in
or win their way in
and they could win
either one of them.
And I think for,
for me, the thing that
really caught my attention
when he was doing his
post-race interview or is
at the medical center was
just, I mean, it knocked
him to his knees.
Yeah.
He was devastated.
Said it.
Right.
Yeah.
He did.
And it's just that time
a year when,
when the implications
of something like that
happening.
And I think he feels
like whether he knew
or didn't know it was
his responsibility to,
to not hit that car.
Yeah.
And, you know,
that's a,
that's a tough one
to,
tough one to swallow
there as,
as you,
as you get into that
scenario.
So they'll rebound
and be able to
be ready for
a second.
Those are the situations
that set someone up to
go a minor step back
and then it really
locked somebody in
because you like,
I feel like that was
taken from us.
Yeah.
So go take one back.
And you heard him
talk about it as well
in his post-race interview,
but you know,
he had just made a
mistake, got loose
and lost the lead.
So he lost control
of the race.
So it was to
back to back.
Two heirs,
however you,
however you want to
categorize them
and who to blame
them on.
I don't know,
so William Byron is 15
points below the
cut line.
Further down from him
is another playoff contender,
obviously Ryan Blaney
who had an early exit
in the first stage
after a left for your
tire blew.
And your pick.
Those are both our
picks, right Byron?
Didn't you pick Byron?
No, no.
Oh, you did.
Oh, you were brisk.
I knew it was a B.
Okay.
So how much panic
mode do you think
Ryan Blaney needs
to be in?
Does he?
Well, I mean,
I think both of those
Pinsky cars are in a
whole points wise
and there's only
six to eight.
We expect the Fords
to be the,
you know,
the fastest cars
when it comes to
speed at Talladega
and being able to
push and the Pinsky
lineup.
So, yeah,
it definitely,
the good news for Blaney,
I feel like he can
win at Talladega
and I feel like he
could win it
at Martinsville.
So they have the
capability to go out
and win.
It's going to be
difficult to make
up all those
points.
Yeah.
But not too long ago,
it was death taxes
and Ryan Blaney
winning at Talladega
fall race.
So they're going to
have to reach back into
that bag of tricks
and waiting for the fall.
The bag's been gone
for a couple of years.
But it's not like
they haven't, to your point,
Kevin, it's not like
they haven't been
running up front.
Like a lot of times
when Ryan wrecks out
at a super speedway,
they're running up
front and running well
and it's like a mid
race or like before
the end.
So I think for them,
it kind of,
it kind of makes
the path very clear,
right?
Sometimes it makes it
easier.
It makes it easier.
Mentally, it makes it
easier because of the fact
that you only have
one thing to worry about.
One option.
Yeah.
I mean,
typically with the way
that they qualify
and the speed that
they have,
they're going to score
some stage points
and there's going to
be a couple of these
guys that probably
don't score points
in the playoffs
in those stages.
So I look for them
to probably go after
the points like
they normally do
in those first
two stages,
which, you know,
half of it out.
If it at least gives you
a better option
for the end of the race
first,
but at least gives you
some sort of better
option as you go
to Martinsville.
If you can,
if you can cut that,
that that point gap
from 30,
31,
like 15.
Yeah.
If you can go to
Martinsville with 15
points down,
you're,
because you know
you should run good
at both of those
racers and as good
as they were at
Loudon,
you would expect them
to go and run
if it was me,
I would go into this week
and be like,
because it's really
something to the driver
and the spotter
at Talladega, right?
Like it's those two guys
that have to really
get it done.
So I'd be like boys,
be aggressive,
go get it done.
Like go, go get it done.
Which they always are.
Right.
The Fords are always
very organized.
They're good pushers.
We know they will
be strong.
And like you mentioned,
I'm sure Ryan feels
the same way Byron does.
Like one got taken
from him.
And the hardest part
the hardest part about
is the fact that there's
so many different agendas.
So many agendas.
And everybody
and everyone
feels like they can win.
Right?
And they can.
And they can.
And you got like a Brad
Kazowski.
If I'm Brad,
I feel like I should
have won Atlanta.
And if it's between
me winning Talladega
or pushing a Ford
to advance in the playoffs,
I don't know
if I'm not just
going to win for me.
I think I'm going to
win for me first.
They need to win
because they need one.
And really I think
this is the only
opportunity that the
six car will have.
A bunch of those guys
in that category.
This is the only race
at the end of the year
here that you have
a chance left to win.
The rest of them,
the other two,
the other three are going
to be our two more
are going to be one by
one of these playoff guys.
Yeah.
Kevin may be given
a little precursor
on his pick there.
Drop some subtle hints
perhaps.
You never know.
You never know.
So let's talk
about Chase Elliott
for a moment
because this team
just basic errors
unfortunately for them
throughout the day.
Well, first
the pit box,
which kind of threw off
the choreography.
Easy there though.
This is just one of those
places where the pit boxes
are super slick
and slid all the way
through that pit stall
and kind of got everything
out of sync right there
on this pitstop.
So it's
it's
we saw a few mistakes
on pit road,
but you know,
I think that the last
one that that the nine
had on pit road
with the tire
getting away from them
and putting them
a lap down
and putting them
behind and
they never really recovered
never, never recovered
for that.
So it's
just something
so small
can take you out of
out of contention,
but they had speed as well.
They had speed
in like middle of the race.
I'm like, dang,
Chase and Alan
and that group,
they have really
turned a qualified
good again,
qualifying,
good running mid race.
I'm like,
y'all might y'all
might have a little
something if you can
get to Phoenix,
but but now
now they get
into Phoenix is
kind of well
and another guy
that's going to be
I would say
that he'll be a contender
this week.
I would think you
I would think you
want to control the race
or do you think
this if you're a guy
that needs to
if your team that needs
to win,
I would think you want
to be upfront trying
to control the race
rather than way
and a lot of that's
going to start
and qualifying though
and then it's going
to come down to
you know,
what the how the
stages break up
from a few mileage
standpoint and
you know,
but I think
you got to take the
stage points and then
see where all that
falls before you
worry about
the rest of it.
You know,
you got to take the points
and then figure out
how to get back to the front.
Yes, Chase Elliott
currently 23 points
below the cut line
heading to Talladega.
We should talk about
his pick finally.
Chase Briscoe,
James Small,
crew chief made a
gutsy call
with the two tires
there at the end.
What did you think
about the race
the 19 put together?
I thought they
put together.
I mean he let
a bunch of laps
go out.
Whether it was
front or back,
I don't know.
But the car
lost a little bit of
speed.
They fell back
six or seven there
on that run.
And so it was a great call.
It wound up
gaining them some
finishing spots.
They already had
capitalized on the
on the stages
beforehand and
there were several
opportunities there
where the 11 and the
five could have
could have wiped each
other out.
It was a game of
inches.
And I think that
they gave themselves
that wasn't the fastest
car at the
end by getting that
track position.
And James Small said
that.
He said, look, this
we might work
might not.
But that's what happens
when you're in a
position where you've
had a good first two
stages and you're in
this playoff position
with a car that's
not capable of winning
at that point.
You might steal one.
We saw Joey
Legano do it last
year.
And Legano
stole some spots
at the end of that
race with the
exact same call
of two tires.
He just didn't
get the first two stages
like Brisco did.
But they
those are the days that
you got to have
when it's not all going
right.
And you don't have a car
capable of winning.
Sometimes you can
steal one.
I like that, though.
And James Small,
I feel like is really
starting to come into
his own.
Also this pairing
we talked about Chris
Gail and Denny, but
these two seem to
to be the right
match as well.
They definitely have
a they definitely
that team
has a different
type of energy
around it.
Yeah, a different
type of energy.
And I think
it's a
a different
type of energy
that you
that injects that
and like wants to
you know, again,
we don't need to
talk about it too much,
but Martin was
on his retirement
and like he was
ending his career.
So the energy
is different.
This is very
right.
You're doing
you're looking at
things different.
You want to win
and all the things,
but it's just
different with
how you're going
about it.
How Chase is trying
to get their
lightning fast.
They've starting to figure
out how to put
races together
and lightning fast.
When the playoffs
started, I said
they are the most
dangerous team
in the playoffs
because
they have been
just so quick
raw speed
and they've made
I think up until
like this part
of the playoffs,
I think they have
like the top
one of the top
three most
points game.
So they have
been strolling
through this thing
and that
two tire move
in really it was
a work to be better
than they were
and the way it worked
out, they crashed
right off the bat.
So they burned
six or seven more
laps of maybe
more laps than that
on the lap count
to get to the end.
So you never know.
I mean, I've been
there before
and seen a couple
crashes at the end
and then it winds up
being three or
four laps is all
you got to run.
If the five
and the 11
like if the
guys behind them
could have caught them
and made it more
of a battle
with like eight to go.
Yeah.
So it wasn't that much
more that he needed
and it almost worked
out completely to where
they stole the win.
So all the dice worked
out.
Mentioned a big crash
at the end.
I did want to give
some props to Mr.
SVG.
I know he had a
handle in the
that last big
incident there,
but we've talked about
his improvements
on the ovals
and Justin
Marks was saying
he feels like
he's made a ton of
gains and SVG
when I interviewed him
when you couldn't
last week,
he ran in the top
and qualified well
ran in the top 10
I qualified as teammate
all day.
And you know,
I think that that
that's definitely an
improvement.
And you know,
I think that that
comfort level,
but that's another guy
that's like Denny Hamlin
and Joey Logano
that we haven't seen
a lot because he
hasn't raced here,
but he has a work
ethic and an ability
to look at the
data and study
and watch and
learn and apply it.
You know,
and I think
right here,
he just,
he wasn't clear
right there.
And ultimately
cause this cause this wreck,
but I don't know
that you can blame
that on anybody.
It's just one of those
late race restarts there
where everybody's going
for it and
race and deal.
Yeah,
just a race and deal
there.
But not only SVG,
I think you got to give
credit to the 48 car.
They were,
they were super fast
all day.
Had had a good run.
Ty Gibbs had a
had a great run
all day
and ultimately got
caught up in this
wreck at the end.
So the
Tyler Reddick
they,
they ran well
this weekend
for,
for being out of the playoffs,
but a few of those guys
that,
that weren't in the playoffs
looking for that late
season win.
We're in contention there
to,
to have a chance
better late than never.
That's right.
They say,
yes.
Okay.
So Las Vegas
definitely gave us
plenty to talk about.
Now we're moving on guys
as we mentioned
to Talladega
the super speedway
do races remaining
in this round.
Martinsville will be
on track
unpredictability
what it presents
for drivers
as far as the challenges
go.
Yeah.
I like,
you know,
for me
the,
the riding around
strategy is gone.
You can't
ride around anymore.
You've got to
be able to race
as hard as you can
to put yourself
as far forward
as possible.
The wrecks
usually start
at the front
lately.
Yeah.
With
you push,
push,
push until it's
either too far
or it works out
in a positive way
for you.
So
I just think
that you have to
just go for it.
No matter
what your points
position is,
you have to put yourself
in a position to score
stage points.
You've got to be
a good pusher.
You've got to control
your spacing.
See a lot of guys
that get themselves,
they'll catch them
at the end of the
straightaway
and they get the timing
of the corner off.
There's some guys
that are really good
at it.
So,
but you've got to be
able to push and shove
and have a car
that's stable enough
to drive.
That's the problem
that the Toyotas
and the Chevy's have.
They don't push well
because of the way
that their nose is shaped.
The Toyotas aren't
as fast as the
other two brands.
I don't think
the Chevy's quite
as fast,
not as big a deficit
as the Toyotas
have to the
Fords.
But I feel like
once that
it gets mixed up
and you have
that wreck that
wipes out
two or three
nicks,
it's going to happen.
I mean, it's inevitable.
There's too many
different agendas
at Talladega.
You've got the
Ricky Stenhouses
and guys that are
impositioned,
Brad Kozlowski,
that are impositioned
to know that this
is the one race
that they have left to win
and this could
make or break their season,
to put their
team in victory lane.
So,
but everybody in the
field thinks that.
Everybody's got
the same mindset.
Those guys have done it
and I think
are capable of
those two guys
are capable of
doing that.
But so is
Michael McDowell,
guys,
Todd Dillon,
Ryan Prease.
I mean,
they're all,
everybody's got a
shot.
So,
it's a matter of
how you position yourself
and who misses the
wrecks.
Do you think,
do you guys think
that we'll see
a race more like
we saw
at
fall
Daytona?
I hope so.
Because when the
green flag dropped
at Daytona
under the lights,
it was
shitting and getting.
But the unique part
about Daytona
is it's a hundred miles
less.
And the way that those
stages split up
are a little bit
different.
I still think you're
going to have to
save some fuel at
certain points
during this race.
But,
you know,
it depends on
what those guys
are doing that
want to push the pace
to keep themselves
in position to
score those stage
points, right?
I think you've got
to race the first
two stages
and then figure
out how to run that
all of a sudden
pop up
and be in position
to win the race
that don't really
care about stage points.
Why would
Kosolowski care
about stage points, right?
Right.
You know,
but the thing that
we can't forget
are there are guys
that are still
racing for points.
All 16 of those
guys can still
finish fifth
into points.
The money
the money
change from
16.
What it does
for your
charter average
and how you get
this is probably the first
time it's really brought up
all year long.
Everyone's like,
well, it doesn't matter
if you don't, you know,
if you don't make it to Phoenix.
No, it definitely matters.
It definitely matters.
Because you're still racing
for money
and you're still racing
for points position.
You're still racing
for your charter slot
and all that stuff
matters because there's
an average that you get
and it puts you
in a different tier
and all these things.
It's a three-year average
of where you've
finished in the points
over the last three seasons
of as to what
your charters worth
basically.
And so, you know,
any time that we would get
knocked out of the playoffs
the focus immediately
became, okay,
we got to get fifth in the
points because A,
I want to make more money
and B, the team's going
to make more money.
And so, you know,
you can instantly
motivate yourself
with the difference
of fifth and 16th
when you look at the
payout.
It's not hard.
It matters.
It matters a lot.
Plus I don't want to be
16th.
Who wants to be 16?
Who wants to be 16?
Nobody does.
This race though,
it's like you can have
every plan in the world,
right?
You want to go out the window.
Usually once the green
flag drops,
the plans are gone.
The plans are gone.
I've always found it
interesting though how
the Fords just seem to
always have a little bit
better of a plan
in place for some reason.
It's easier to
push with a Ford.
It's easier to
get pushed by a Ford.
Okay.
Now, when you get
pushed by a Chevy
or a Toyota,
it's not the same
as being pushed by
a Ford.
It's squirrelier.
Cars move around
more with the way
that their cars are
shaped.
It's very difficult
to push a Toyota
out from a Ford guy's
standpoint.
When you're pushing
another Ford,
you can be really aggressive
in how you push that car
compared to
when you're pushing
a Toyota,
you got to think about
what you're doing.
I wrecked
Tyler Redick one year
at Dayton
or Talladega
and not even,
I mean,
just breathing on
the back bumper,
spun him out
and that's typically
what you're doing
with a Ford.
You're pushing
another Ford
and you're pushing
another Ford.
You're pushing
another Ford.
And that's typically
the case with
a lot of the
a lot of the
Toyotas
and not as bad
with the Chevrolets,
but
much harder
for any brand
to push those two brands
and any of the
other two brands
pushing a Ford
is even
not as effective
because you just can't
be as aggressive.
I'm really going to be
looking at
how to your point
that extra 100 miles
because if that is
a big change
in how they race,
then I think that
we should look at
adjusting the
whatever it is,
either the mileage
or the stage brakes.
Because I want
what we got in Daytona
because that was
exactly what we want.
So if that is
a major factor,
then we need to
look at just
adjusting that
a little bit
and maybe we can get
to that.
And you can tell
when they're going
and not going.
When it's two lanes,
they're going.
When it's four lanes,
they're not going.
There's somebody
that's saving gas
and stirring things up
to slow things down.
So it's very
you can
I mean,
when they're all
dicing
all over the place,
you're going to see them
three and four wide
briefly.
But the bottom two lanes
are still going to be
the dominant lanes
when they're when they're
all lined up pushing
100 percent.
I think it takes
like eight guys.
Eight cars need to
feel like they want to
go and be trying to
dice it up because
that drags the rest
of the people
along with them.
If there's only
like four guys,
they're just kind
of mixing up
between themselves
and it's not
as effective as like
eight cars
and being in the front
and in position.
I think that'll
and it's the same thing.
Control what you can control.
Don't beat yourself.
Don't beat yourself.
Don't speed on pit roads.
Don't have a pit roads
penalty.
All those.
Don't go below the yellow
line.
Whatever it is,
just don't beat yourself.
Can not
speed on pit road
here,
especially,
especially on the
green flag because
you are
that is it.
Like you might as well
just pack up and get ready
for Martin's role.
OK, we'll have to see
how it all transpires
out there in Talladega.
You mentioned adjustments.
There's been an adjustment
made.
NASCAR competition
officials announced
that the target horsepower
for Cup Series events
at road courses
and oval tracks less than
1.5 and length
will increase
to 750
in the 2026 season,
which I thought Kyle
Larson's comments
about this were interesting
because he said,
don't over promote it.
It's likely not
going to fix everything.
He said he did a test
and no one told him
that he had higher
horsepower and he didn't
even realize it.
So what do you think
about all this?
I think that
I'm happy that they did it.
Yeah, there you go.
I think that they
it's at least a step
in the right direction.
I think that
listening to the feedback
from the drivers,
they don't notice
the difference
in the power,
which, you know,
it's 80 horsepower
on paper.
Right.
So 80 horsepower
and I think that says
a lot about
the amount of increase
that it actually needs.
Now,
there's some,
there's a
counter argument
to the
how much it would cost
for everybody to
go more horsepower
than this.
So my hope is
they're looking
to go more horsepower
down the road
as they look
at how things
evolve.
But I don't think
we'll,
I don't think we'll
I'm happy that they did it.
Kudos to them
for giving the cars
more horsepower.
I don't want to knock it,
but I don't think
anybody will notice.
Okay.
That's kind of
a huge noticeable
difference.
No.
And like
I talked to
Richard Childress
about this
at Homestead
early on in the year
when this was a
really big topic,
he was like,
brother,
let me tell you
that it is expensive.
Like the money
to do it
is
a lot.
It's millions of
dollars in R&D.
And that's what
the man said.
So I'm not going to
I'm not going to
say that
I'm not going to
discredit that.
So if,
if that's the
where we're at
where it's like
how much
we need to decide
when,
when we're going to
get more
like how,
how are we doing?
And Steve O'Donnell
was on
with Dale Jr.
And they kind of
got into this
a little bit where it's
like, and you could
you could kind of
read the tea leaves
a little bit.
I felt like he was
saying, well, you know,
we got a new brand
coming in with Dodge
is looking at coming in
at the couple of
levels.
What it sounded
like he was saying,
he also made mention
of Honda.
So he was basically
like, well,
the Williams wanted
different engine package
in three years.
Then we just cost
everybody a
dumb amount of money
for no reason.
I'm like, OK, if that
if you're telling me
that we have a path,
like,
that was
that interview.
I felt like it was
one of the more
transparent
path leading out
once because
now we're not guessing.
At least like you
told us and we
feel like,
OK, we see where you're
going.
We'll see what
kind of how I wish
they would.
I wish they would be
more open like that
because I know
did a good job
on Dale Junior's
podcast.
It's a good listen.
If you haven't listened
to it, you should go
listen to the conversation
between he and Dale
because it was
very informative.
But I think that
if they want to be
like this,
they need to be like
this all the time
and it needs to be
sometimes it's
I know this is a
situation where
it would cost the teams
a lot of money,
but sometimes you just
got to say, screw it,
you're going to do it.
This is what
we're going to do
about money.
What point do we
get back on track
to say, OK,
here's a path to where
we want to be?
What is that?
But I think if we
could if we had a
Dana White,
that was just, you know,
don't care, don't care
about this, don't care
about that.
Yep, let's do this.
That was great.
Good job.
Bad job.
You suck.
Whatever it is.
Why did you put it in
there?
Because you're
last.
I'm walking him down
right now.
I think that
being in front
of people trying to be
so secretive
and all the things
that it seems like
they've done in the past,
that openness
and honesty,
you don't have to think
about what you said
or what you did.
Just say, oh,
that was good.
That was bad.
Whatever it is,
be more open like that.
People love it
and people like it.
They are informed.
Tell us where we're
going.
What are we doing?
How are we fixing it?
You know,
I think that the
horsepower is great,
but it's not going
to fix it.
No, we got to keep
making moves
and there's aero stuff
that you got to work on.
The tire thing,
we just barely feel
like we're starting
to understand.
So when you make
these adjustments
with horsepower and aero,
how's that going to
affect the tire?
Like Kansas was
a fantastic race.
And this was
the upgraded construction
change with this tire.
It wasn't like Kansas.
It was a great ending.
Right.
And the race
was great at the end
and it was exciting,
which is what we want.
So I just think that
different tracks,
they've taken the
tire codes and made
less of them to try to
make them work at a lot
of different tracks.
I feel like the reason
that we got to so many
different tire codes
in the past was
because all the tracks
are different.
They have a lot of
characteristics that
the other one,
like Kansas and Vegas,
they don't mirror each other.
Right.
Like it's just,
there's some differences
there that might
require some change.
They're basically
qualifying through one and two,
had to lift a little bit
in three and four this weekend.
So they're still,
they're still too slow.
You get a hard,
what you get a hard win
out of some of these places
that change that.
No one solution fits all,
but they are making
what?
No, did you hear,
did you hear what Od said
about Kevin?
No, about the show.
No, no, no.
No, he said,
he said,
he said Kevin Harvick
one time came up to me
and said,
look, man,
if you should be
in your position,
you should be the most hated person
in the industry.
Yeah.
And he said,
that's a hard thing.
That's a hard thing
as a human being,
but he like gave credit to like,
yeah,
because you're making
all the hard decisions.
Yeah.
Somebody's got to make them.
And when you're,
when you're publicly open
about those hard decisions,
like he was
in this particular instance
about all the things
that he addressed,
what are people going to say?
And people respect that.
Yeah.
I mean,
don't hide
and don't hide
and Steve's been around
the sport long enough
that he can talk
knowledgeably about it.
He has a lot of conversations,
has been around the sport
a long time.
It's just sometimes,
you know,
you go back to the
Brian France piece of it
and all those things where,
you know,
he would get up there
and talk about some of the stuff
and you're like,
what in the hell is he saying?
I have no idea
what you're talking about.
That is the dumbest thing
I've ever heard.
And I,
I think that
Steve O'Donnell has that
credibility
and even Phelps kind of struggled
with that credibility from
from the racers,
from the competition side
as far as what was
what was going on,
what was not going on,
because he wasn't in the middle
of it all the time
like O'Donnell has been.
So I just feel like,
you know,
that was a good,
the horsepower thing
is a good step.
I don't think it should
be the end of it.
I don't think it's going to,
you know,
I don't think it's going to fix
it all.
It's definitely not going to hurt.
But I love the way
that they approached
all of the topics
that they were,
that he was handed.
Yes.
Dale threw it at him.
Things are changing.
Yeah.
He didn't back down.
Yeah.
Very good.
Okay.
So that's all the serious stuff.
Time now for the non-serious.
This is when my partner
takes over.
Oh.
Oh.
Hello world.
Wlappy Sips.
Welcome to Mamba's
Social Sips,
your favorite part
of the program.
What Kevin?
Well,
I just had this
old guy flashback.
I just,
and I don't know
where the world is
at with this person,
but I had this
Arsenial Hall
moment right there.
Where,
I don't know.
I just looked over and I'm
like, oh man,
hello world.
Hello world.
Good.
I'm glad I could do that
for you.
Listen,
friends,
family,
closers from
Australia,
New Zealand.
What about Mexico?
Mexico.
New friends in Mexico?
New fans over there.
I thought you did.
Yeah,
I made new friends
in Mexico City
and then I
made friends all over the place.
Listen,
welcome to the,
welcome to my segment,
Mamba's Social Sips.
And to start it off,
guys,
we have a video game
that is dropping.
NASCAR 25
is coming out.
I think it's out
right now,
actually.
And our great people
at Fox Sports
are doing a little
article about your top,
your favorite,
what are the best
racing games ever made?
Yeah.
Okay.
Kevin,
did you ever play a game?
Do you ever play
much of the racing games?
I spent so much money
when I was a kid,
they were not as cool
as they are now
with NASCAR 25
and hot racing
and all the things
that are the premier racing games
in today's world
are not like
Super Sprint
and Ivan Stewart's Off-Road
and I grew up with
an Intellivision.
Most of you listening
probably don't even know
what that is.
Have you ever heard of that?
Have you heard
of an Intellivision game system?
No.
It was like in the TV?
No.
Okay.
No.
You said in television, right?
In the TV,
I mean the TV
and I grew up.
Yeah.
So what is it?
Explain what that is.
Well, an Intellivision is
like an Atari
or an Nintendo.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
So it had
like this little round
pad on it
and then it had like
numbers,
like a telephone.
Oh, I saw that before.
Yeah.
It's like an antique now.
Yeah.
So my game
growing up
when I first started
playing video games
on the Intellivision
was Astrosmash.
Astrosmash.
Oh, no.
I do remember that game.
You don't.
The Rocks.
You're shooting it.
You're shooting the Rocks.
Yeah, but it's a different name,
the one you're thinking of.
Probably not on the Intellivision.
Okay.
That's close.
So I played a lot of video games
when I was a kid.
Mario Kart,
we would miss school.
We would skip school.
Our parents would go to work
and we'd act
like we were going to school
and then we'd just
bail out of school
and we'd sit
and play Mario Kart all day.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
We'd be on a senior trip
and skip in school for video games.
Kevin went to Mexico
for a senior trip.
I've had a lot of
video games.
I had,
in my KHI shop,
we had Ivan Stewart's Off-Road.
We had
four Daytona USA machines.
Yup, that was a great game.
Super Sprint.
Yup.
I spent a lot of money
on Super Sprint.
And to this day,
I still have a Super Sprint machine.
So
RC Pro Am.
That was a good one on Nintendo.
Okay.
And Excitebike.
It was hard to get Excitebike.
Excitebike.
Is that the one you had
at your house
that Katelyn want my ass on?
No.
Excitebike was like
on Nintendo.
It was like a motorcycle game.
Yeah.
And you could make your own tracks.
That's actually kind of cool.
And they would overheat.
So the
games that are on the list
are Mario Kart 8.
Cruisin' 8.
There's a lot of Mario Kart.
This is like
the list of their games.
Yeah.
The list of
greatest racing games
that they think.
That they have.
Yeah, that they have.
So mine didn't make the list
because they weren't born.
Well, yeah.
Cruisin' USA.
Need for Speed.
Gran Turismo.
F-Zero.
Outrun.
Daytona.
Daytona USA.
Pole Position.
Ivan.
Iron Man.
Stewards.
Super Off-Road.
Off-Road.
And R4.
Ridge Racer.
Type 4.
I think that two that
Katelyn that need to be in
there is Dirt to Daytona.
And Chase.
For the cup.
2005.
That our guy.
Look at that smile.
I got a couple covers.
I got a couple covers.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Two.
What year?
Yeah.
I think the first one was EA Sports.
Yeah, it was EA.
And it was the EA Sports cover jinx.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh five.
That was a tough.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I will say though that game so much fun.
The story mode was great.
Yeah.
I think they used Kevin because you guys had KHI
and you guys were like one of those groups that were
like going from driver to owner and you had like
modified.
You could run.
You know who's getting who knows who's on that
game.
Matthew Martin.
Mark Martin's.
Really?
Yeah.
Mark Martin was in that.
Yeah.
It's a good game.
So anyway.
So what's your what I mean?
What do you think the best game is?
Oh man.
My.
And is this NASCAR 25 is probably going to blow
him out of the water.
NASCAR 25.
I was I saw the beta.
Like I played it a little bit.
The AI.
The experiences.
It's pretty cool.
Crazy part.
So it's evolved into iRacing.
Yes.
So when all this first started.
Sierra was the name of the game.
What was the name of the gaming company?
I believe.
And they would send us all these,
these discs for the computers to put them in and
you play them on your, on your PC with this
like little mini steering wheel from your,
from your game.
And so we used to always get the updated
games.
But think about that was in the late 90s when
when all that started, when we first started
getting the video games late 90s, early
2000s, right in there, whatever that time
period was.
Compared to where it was.
Compared to where it is.
It's pretty unbelievable.
Insane.
Insane.
How it's progressed.
I, I, I might think my favorite is that 05
game of the total team control aspect and
the storyline of building up from nothing
and owning teams.
I always thought that that was really cool.
Yeah.
Do you still play video games?
Yeah.
I haven't played a racing game for real in a
while.
When, when Forza brought NASCAR back into
their, into their like fold in their fold.
I started playing that again.
But I play a lot of NCA.
Yeah.
I mean like year 2000 and like 39.
So you're not up to, you're not, you don't
play any of the new video games like the
Fortnite or anything like that.
No, no, I don't play Fortnite.
I got you.
No.
I'm an old school.
I'm a traditional guy.
Traditional.
So make sure, make sure you go check out
foxports.com and you can check out that
article and they got the breakdown and
you guys can decide if they're right.
What's the game for you?
I hadn't heard of half of those games.
Out of that list, I remember like the
Daytona USA one was always really fun.
Yeah.
But like the Ridgeline and the, what did you
say?
F zero.
No, I think that sounds like an F one
game.
Okay.
They have like the P zero.
The F one games were always pretty good
on.
They were pretty good.
I need to start playing games.
That's what I've learned from this
entire conversation.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Take your kids to Chuck E cheese
and go play some arcade.
Chuck E cheese.
Yeah.
You can fill in full adjourn.
Okay.
Davin Bussers.
Go to Davin Bussers.
Yeah.
After Davin Bussers is way better.
I remember using that one.
The other reason I got rid of my Ivan
Stewart off-road games is because you
couldn't get parts for him anymore.
I had full size arcade machines.
Oh, wow.
But I do have all the original
Nintendo's.
Now they come in a little, a little
make believe Nintendo with a chip
inside of it that has all the games.
So you can play all the original
Nintendo games.
Yeah.
So if you ever want to come over
and play games.
Sounds like a good time.
Yeah.
I just invited you over.
Yeah.
Contrary to popular belief, Kevin
loves me.
Okay.
Kevin loves me.
All right.
Come on, slap it.
Moving along.
Speed it up.
We got a guest, guys.
Oh, really?
That I'd like to bring in to the
show right now.
Let's roll it with our new guest
here.
Yo, Mamba Smith.
I heard we're teammates at Fox
Sports and you're the chief
Vibes officer for NASCAR.
What's this I hear about a
games with names Daytona car
rap?
Let's make this happen, Bubs.
I love that he called you
Bob.
What's he talking about?
Listen.
So this year.
This year I didn't.
Who was that first?
That was Julian Edelman.
Okay.
Patriots Hall of Famer.
Okay.
Super Bowl MVP.
Multi-time Super Bowl champ.
And my guy.
And obviously one of our
teammates at Fox.
Fox Analyst.
Fox Analyst on the NFL.
So he, I invited a friend to
Phoenix and he wanted to bring
a couple of his friends.
A couple of his friends
happened to work on the
games.
Games with names podcast with
Julian.
And I showed them a rap design
that I had made a while ago
like in 2015 or 16.
That I was trying to run it
loud and it was a Patriots
and American Cancer Society
combination.
And it just kind of fell
through.
But I showed it to him
because I had the 11 on him
like, Hey, if you guys
would ever want to like do
something at the racetrack
and be on a car like let
me know.
I didn't race this past
year.
That really bothers me.
And so I've been wanting
to run Daytona in the
arca car for a while.
So I pitched Julian
on running the
arca race at Daytona.
We are looking for some
partners.
Oh, so you're going to
actually try to do this.
I'm going to, yeah.
No, no, no.
We're we're going to go run.
So we're going to see that
pain scheme.
We're going to not that
scheme.
It'll probably be something
different if I had to
guess.
But who knows?
But yeah, games with names.
I mean, I've seen a few
of them.
I've seen a few of them
give it a whirl.
I think you'd be okay.
Thanks.
It can't be harder than IRP
in the middle of the summer.
I think your biggest issue
would probably just be
getting tired.
Probably.
Yeah.
But I'm not going to get
more tired than I did.
Not tired from driving,
just hot.
Then you get tired.
No, no.
Hydrated.
We got the cool suits now,
though.
I used my first cool suit
at Daytona in the
road course race
when I drove this
Miata.
That was game changer.
Oh, yeah.
I was like a brand new
person all over again.
This sounds like
something that will need
to be a whole feature
on the outside.
That arc of race is usually
on big Fox.
On big Fox.
We could have a whole thing
with the two of you on this.
So, and you know,
we had a little call.
Kevin out there coaching you.
I think that'd be awesome.
We had a little call
and they don't want me to
spot.
I'll interview you.
They have another
podcast called,
it's like called
Dude with Dude
or something.
It's him and Grunk.
Grunk has been to
the racetrack a bunch.
He's a monster.
Yeah, yeah.
He's a monster energy
athlete.
He was in Victory Land
when Kurt won the 500.
Look at him just
there.
There you go.
Hey, Kevin said
he was going to support it.
There you go.
Did he say that?
Driver coach.
Driver coach.
Yeah.
And bush lights after the race.
Yeah.
Does that mean that we're
going to work on your
physical fitness routine
leading up to the race?
Yeah.
I'm down.
Can you help me out?
Yeah.
I mean,
you think you can run
more than two minutes?
Yeah.
We're going to,
we need to,
we need to film
like a Rocky episode
leading up to this.
Yeah.
All right.
Moving right along.
We got,
you guys know that popular
driver votes coming on.
Yes.
Right.
Most popular driver
for all the series.
Connor Zillich, Jesse Love,
Homies,
they are so funny together.
They have this little
back and forth going on.
So essentially,
I think Jesse asked Connor
if he was going to vote for
him.
And he said,
absolutely not.
Like he wasn't going to
like help support him.
And then Jesse
made this little AI
skit of Connor.
Oh, I thought he
used a filter or something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Whatever it was.
Okay.
And it's kind of,
it kind of freaks me out
a little bit.
Did you see the one
that the guy did
with Taylor Swift the other
day?
No.
Oh yeah.
He's,
he's talking in the
background and he's showing
what,
I mean,
he's making all the
motions and everything.
And it looks just like
her with all of his
stuff.
And I think
that's the one that Jesse
made.
Hey guys,
vote for Jesse
Love in most popular
driver award.
Hey guys,
vote for Jesse
Love in most popular
driver award.
Sounds like Lee Diffie.
It's so creepy.
But you know,
I guess Connor says
vote for Jesse Love.
There you go.
So there you go.
I actually won that one
year.
How?
The most popular driver.
What series?
In the Bush series.
Okay.
2001.
I know it wasn't cup.
Yeah.
Chase Elliott.
That is it.
That's pretty much it.
That's the list.
Yeah.
All right, guys.
Leave a voicemail.
805-317-4175.
If you want to mail back
question,
HarvardCabaret4
at gmail.com.
We appreciate you.
Welcome to
Mama's social
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Welcome.
It's ending now.
All right.
We're moving on to the last
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So, Kevin,
before we get into our
picks for this week,
let's take a look at the
best bet of the weekend
because you have
DraftKings.
Pretty good one this week.
Plus 450 with
key strolling right now.
That was a pretty good
pick.
So, if you bet on
Denny Hamlin,
you won some money.
Take the check or flag
with DraftKings Sports Book.
Download the DraftKings
Sports Book app
and use code
Harvick.
That's code Harvick
for new customers
to get $300 in bonus bets
when you bet just
five bucks
and win your first bet.
Only on DraftKings,
the crown is yours.
Where is it?
There you go.
Sorry.
We have a crown today.
Oh, wow.
Sorry, guys.
Take it.
Charlotte FC.
There you go.
Okay.
Very nice.
Got it.
From the other week.
All right.
It's time to blow that up
yourself.
You're full of hot air.
Full of hot air.
Speaking of that,
let's grade the burnout guys
for Denny Hamlin
in Las Vegas
because he did two of them
technically.
Oh, I think this is a
top three burnout.
Really?
It's got to be.
I think that
I have never seen this
before somebody doing
a burnout in their pit
stall.
That to me,
my friends,
is what you need
creativity.
Yes.
Creativity is as much
a part of the burnout,
but the burnout was really
good as well.
I don't think it's quite.
SVG.
I don't think it's quite
Bowman Gray or SVG,
but it was the
creativity was high.
Yeah.
And I love that the guys
got to be right a part of it.
It added to the emotion.
And then this part,
there was three phases to it.
Yeah.
There was a lot going on
and then when he did it
in the victory lane.
Um,
okay, this
this is my only thing
about this.
My eardrums would have been.
I've died.
I was there when Riley Herps,
um,
one in the Xfinity race
and went to victory lane
and, and
just the revving of the engines
inside of there.
I feel like I can't hear
as well to this day.
It is so loud
in that little area
where the,
where victory lane is
in Las Vegas
with all the
fan zone right there.
It is so loud
when you do that,
but looks cool.
Looks cool.
High marks for Denny Hamlin.
We know he's probably
paying attention to the show
and listening.
What's the grade?
Um,
I don't know.
What were you putting him?
Top three.
I think it's,
I think it's third.
Okay.
I think that,
that one's third.
Okay.
Just,
just because of the,
the burnout was really good.
We've seen a lot of good
burnouts,
but I think in the pit box,
I've never seen anybody do
that before.
Yeah.
I don't know that
NASCAR would love that,
but if that continues.
You only could do it
like right there.
Okay.
So he's third.
It was different.
It was different.
I'm the last.
I'm the last.
Mama 43 and I'm 27.
Zero points for me picking Blaney.
He picked Briscoe.
Kevin picked Belle.
So picking up more points
with the two of them.
Now it's time to make our
selections for Taladega.
You're last.
You go first.
I go first.
Okay.
I want to go with a Ford
and I just want to pick
Blaney again
because I'm hoping he has
some sort of redemption
for himself.
Yeah.
And I think he's
a solid choice there.
But I thought that last week
too.
We saw what happens.
He's finished in the
30s the last two times,
but go ahead.
You had the best finish
last week.
You're second in the points.
Okay.
You each picked up six.
So go ahead.
Yeah.
So Ryan Priest.
I like it.
There you go.
Congrats on him on the baby,
by the way.
I'm going to go with
William Byron.
Very good.
Okay.
See, he didn't
pick it up.
Yeah.
I tried to misguide you guys.
He took the bait.
I didn't.
He took the bait.
It wasn't bait.
It wasn't bait
because you know,
Ryan's been really close
and I think that their
group is really locked
in to the super speedway
and winning.
I think a
Kizlowski rush car
is going to win.
I think.
That'd be awesome.
14% of fans picked
any Hamlin this week.
We encourage the fans
to keep joining us
with their picks.
Scan the QR code on
the screen or go to
link in the description
of the podcast.
So we'll see what happens
in Talladega.
So you mentioned
Arka earlier.
You have special guests.
I do.
This is going to be fun.
I have Bill
E. Venturini.
Love that.
And they recently
sold their
40-some-year team
to Nitro Motorsports
and Nick Tucker
and his group.
But, you know,
they ran the
West race last weekend
and that was their
last race.
And I just thought
it would be fun
to hear their stories
and just
how it all feels
now that they're done
after this is all
they've done for
their lives.
I mean, it's your
livelihood.
I'm looking forward
to that conversation.
Yes, we all are.
Stoked.
I got to drive
for that team
at Toledo a couple years ago.
It was
top
because, you know,
if you wanted to race,
you want to be good,
you had to go through
Venerinis at some point.
That's everyone did it
and to be able to drive
their stuff was cool.
And real quick,
shout out to my parents.
It's their
46th anniversary.
Nice.
So, love you, mom and dad.
Very nice.
All right, guys.
That does it
for this episode of
Happy Hour.
Make sure you subscribe
and send some mail to Mamba.
We'll see everybody
after Talladega.
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