LIVE From Daytona With Cleetus McFarland & Travis Pastrana

This episode is brought to you by Indeed.

Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate.

Instead, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast.

It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate to see.

According to Indeed data, Sponsored Jobs have four times more applicants than non-sponsored jobs.

So go build your dream team today with Indeed.

Get a $75 Sponsored Job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply.

What a race! California's Kevin Harvick coming!

What a great crowd here with us. Absolutely.

This is awesome. Thank you so much for being with us.

Before we get this thing going, we got some guests that we need to bring out.

We sure do.

First off, driver 199, Travis...

Travis...

Travis Pustrada!

Obviously right here, Travis.

What's up?

Oh, you can't have a party in Daytona without this guy.

This is true.

The bald eagle himself.

Giving for Cleetus McFarlane!

Oh, yeah.

Cleetus had to bring his own seat here for the whole thing.

Here we go. We needed to get him a folding chair, guys.

It's only fitting that you see that folding chair.

And give it up for Squirrel McNutt!

Is he coming?

Where'd that, George?

Oh, boy.

There he is!

Here we go.

We need another chair for him.

I'm so thankful for this opportunity.

I gotta get an autograph.

Get him. Get him. Kevin, he wants your autograph.

Right there. Lower back.

I need you to sign my tattoo.

Oh, okay.

Lower back. Right there.

This is already going total haywire here on Happy Hour.

I love it.

Yeah, I got it.

I got it.

All right, you're good.

There you go.

Hang on. I gotta...

Wow.

Kevin, remember that story you told everybody last year

about Watkins Glen?

Oh, yes.

With a lady that needed her special autograph.

Well, yeah.

You know, I think...

We went to Watkins Glen to an appearance,

and let's just say the First Lady in line

was very enthusiastic to show her tattoo,

and Keelan was standing right beside me,

and somehow, some way, her whole shirt came off.

Oh, really?

Yeah, that was awkward.

Was it windy?

Huh?

Was it windy?

It was...

I don't think it was a win.

It was not a win at all.

It was not a win.

Poor Keelan.

Yeah, poor Keelan.

Guys, thanks so much for being here.

This is awesome to have you both.

Yeah, and tell us about how much you enjoy

joining this NASCAR side of things.

Obviously, you're not new to it, but welcome back.

It was good to be here.

Hang on.

Well, I'll go while they fix your mic.

We're honored to be here.

And fired up.

I mean, it doesn't even feel real that

I'm not only hanging out with you guys,

but we're here to race.

It's one thing for us to show up,

but we're like...

I mean, I think I speak for both of us

when it's surreal that we get to race

this weekend and have a lot of fun.

And be with you guys.

Fans are fired up for you guys.

Yeah, and I think for Travis, you've been here.

I mean, this guy's finished 11th in the Daytona.

Oh, yeah.

So, you know, to be able to experience this again

and do all the things that you're getting to go through,

and we were talking backstage,

it's a stacked freaking truck field.

It is awesome.

It smokes back.

We got Stan Houses on our team.

These motorsports were awesome.

We won the 2.4 hours of the mullets.

Yeah, we got him on our team.

Yeah, but I just want to take a step back.

I mean, last week I'm racing rally cars up in the snow,

getting to come down here to Florida to Daytona.

And everyone's like, what are you guys expecting?

Why are you here? Why are you back?

And it's so cool because everybody wants to be a part of this.

So we got Brunt Boots, Blue Collar.

They've been down helping us build ramps,

do all kinds of stuff.

And they're like, we want to go back to NASCAR.

I'm like, I'll go with you.

Like, would you drive?

I'm like, threaten me with a good time.

So I'm done bragging.

I'm like, hey, I mean, this is pretty cool.

Freedom Factory is awesome.

I'm running Daytona.

He's like, well, I want to run Daytona.

And we're kind of looking around.

And we had one of the owners of Black Rifle.

He's like, I'll support you.

And he goes, we're going to come down because Al Nice,

Nice Motorsports, is actually was a veteran.

And he's, you know, past military.

And he said, hey, let's make it worth everything

for all the fans, for everyone that's coming out.

Let's bring in some veterans and let's put $100,000

donate to the boot campaign.

And that's, it's not because they expect us to do well.

I mean, obviously we want to win,

but it's because this sport is awesome.

Because every, all of you fans want to come down here

because everyone wants to be a part of it.

So sorry for the long wind.

Oh, I love that.

Applause.

Yeah, no doubt.

Kevin, it's been so interesting having Cletus, right?

Be a part of this whole thing.

Did you expect your fan base to really like

embrace all of this so much?

And you've brought a lot of new fans.

I got to say the support has been incredible

from all you guys.

I can't appreciate it enough.

And, you know, I think without the Biff,

you know, like coming on to my channel

and really just teaching all of us who didn't know.

I know a lot of you guys are fans of NASCAR way before me,

but for all my viewers who didn't watch NASCAR at all,

I like the shirt.

Biff kind of helped introduce them all to it

and make, you know, helped make them love it

as much as I already do.

And one year later, I cannot believe

the opportunities that I've been able to get from it.

And I'm just, it still doesn't feel real

that I'm here and running two races.

Well, I got to ask you this.

You've run the ARCA race.

You guys had one of the most famous interviews ever.

And when you come back this year, though,

you're going to feel experienced

when you get into the ARCA car.

Are you nervous about the truck?

I'm just going to tell you.

I talked to Smoke last night

and he's pretty nervous about the truck.

I'm always slightly nervous about the truck

because, you know, of all the talk

of the trucks getting light in the back.

And everyone's like, oh, yeah, if he's on your tail,

you know, he punches you on the left side.

Oh, he didn't even have to touch you.

Did he just get closer?

And I'm like, damn, the ARCA car does not do that.

The ARCA cars are so planted.

At least mine is.

So I'm a little nervous, but, you know,

worst case, just going to have to drive it.

That's right.

I'm just going to turn the left.

What kind of interview are we going to do this year?

Well, here's what I'm hoping our interview looks like.

Oh boy.

Not at the infield care center one.

True.

Two at the Winter Circle.

Three with Pastrana with me.

Oh, there you go.

I like the sound of that.

I have to say this whole shake and bake.

If I'm behind Cletus and it's the last lap,

whatever lane, even if it's lane four

that we have to go to, I'm not lifting.

So you better hold that thing together.

I've seen him drive some stuff.

We've already agreed that when there's three to go,

we're going to put our pedals to the ground and not let off.

Whatever's in front of us is going to have to move

or go with us.

It's move or be moved.

Oh, there you go.

I like that.

Listen, Travis, I remember when Travis showed up

in the NASCAR circuit with K&N Racing,

which is now the ARCA series, and we were at Iowa.

And you want to talk about someone who doesn't

lift out of throttle.

He's in qualify.

Has it pinned coming out or two?

Does a 720, like Jimmy Johnson at Dover,

all the way down the backstretch and does not hit anything.

And everyone on Pit Road lost their mind.

Well, it was two laps.

That was actually really funny because I did the spin

and was still able to do the second lap.

I was a little loose.

Tires were a little hot.

But that was actually throwback.

That was Chase Elliott's first win.

I'm like 28.

Chase Elliott was, I think, 15 or 16.

And he beat me.

Speaking of throwbacks, hey, OK, I got something

I want to show Travis.

I think we got a picture of a throwback.

Look at that.

That's me and Travis right here in Daytona

at the rookie seminar in like 2013.

So I thought it was so cool.

What was the hardest thing for you

when you tried to make the transition the first time

to NASCAR?

What was the hardest thing on track for you

to have to adjust to to figure out?

Most of us have done this our whole life.

In these cars, you came from many different forms

of racing and all the things that you did.

What was the hardest thing for you to get used to?

Probably the arrow, to be perfectly honest,

in that I got yelled at the first race

because I was on someone's door on the outside.

And they're like, you cleaned them out.

I'm like, I didn't even touch them.

So there's just learning a little bit about that

and how you can slow cars up and that kind of stuff.

But I think the most challenging part was that,

I didn't come in with really any expectations.

I was actually talking to Jimmy Johnson.

So I won four straight US rally championships

and he won four straight cup championships.

And I was looking into either going over to WRC

and doing world rally.

Or I was like, Jimmy, I want to race the Daytona 500.

Kind of like you talked to Biff said, I want to race.

And Jimmy's like, you can't just get in and do this.

Here's the step series.

And he goes, he looked me in the eye and said,

by the time you're capable of doing a cup series race

of the Daytona 500, you're going to be so engorged

in this sport that you're going to believe

that you can win or you can't.

You're going to go at it 100%.

And I got, man, it was one of the most challenging things

I've ever done in the amount of driving and seat time.

Because everyone says, oh, a NASCAR,

you just turned left or whatever.

Not you guys, but like from the outside.

I'm sorry.

No, from the outside.

And I look at guys, Juan Montoya was like,

coming in from F1, coming in from Indy,

coming in from Dirt Track and all this other stuff.

And nobody holds a candle to NASCAR drivers

on a NASCAR course.

Yeah, I like that.

Oh, yeah.

So we're here at Daytona.

Obviously it's an iconic venue.

I want you both to respond to this.

What do you think of the culture of Daytona

and this race and this racetrack

and what you've seen?

You're already smiling.

I mean, I love Daytona.

All right?

Sleeves off, Florida sun.

I just don't think there's anything better.

I love it.

I absolutely love Daytona coming over here.

It's one of the most exciting feelings.

Like, no, and I'm going to be inside Daytona's beadway

for a few days.

Nothing like it couldn't be happier.

I was pissed at you a few weeks ago.

Really?

Oh, I was mad.

I'm sitting at home.

It's ice, snow, cold.

And my man's video pops up on Instagram

or wherever I was looking.

And he's like, yep, it's cold down here in Florida.

Don't come to Florida.

It's a miserable place to be outside with the palm trees.

And so I was a little frustrated with North Carolina

at that point.

And then we go to the class a couple of weeks later.

Oh boy.

Literally.

Then you were really frustrated.

For days.

Yeah.

Did you bring that family out?

Like a bus and all that?

Didn't you bring that last time?

You brought your whole family?

No, last time they drove the motor homes down.

Sorry about the motor homes in Talladega.

I sold them, unfortunately.

Oh, OK.

That's all right.

Did they make it home?

Well, actually, you know, the Dega-Bega,

the one we took the video in front of,

the guy who bought it broke down just 15 minutes

outside of Talladega.

So you drove it just long enough.

Well, I think it might have been the rev limiter

in the tunnel on the way in.

Loosened up the valve train on it a little bit.

You'll have that.

Just she gave up right outside of Dega.

What do you like about Daytona, this whole place?

So when I was 16 years old,

I got my first ever Supercross win right on that grass there.

Nice.

So this was really cool for me to be a part of that.

I got to meet Evil Knievel here.

He was judging a Hawaiian Tropic contest.

Oh.

Yeah.

I mean, it was everything that I expected from Daytona.

My first visit at 16,

and it's only gotten better since then.

That's really cool.

Well, I think when you talk about Daytona

and you talk about the Arca series,

you talk about the Truck series,

the O'Reilly series, Cup series,

you've got all these different things going on this week.

And it's a very limited amount of practice.

What's the plan for Team Nice today

when we go out to practice?

Are we just going to go out there

by ourselves or are we going to learn anything?

Every time he starts to talk,

I get nervous about what he's about to say.

Because he makes his face before he starts.

My crew chief's telling me I got to take it easy.

Oh.

What does that mean?

Yeah, I was going to say.

I mean, I think he wants me to run solo.

Okay.

Now, I did hit the fence in the rookie test.

At Rockingham.

Just slightly.

If the wall was one foot to the right,

I would have been fine.

But so he wants me to just relax a little bit.

Crews.

And then, I guess, we'll go from there.

I want to say that he got the only full adult human sized

Nice truck.

There's a lot of jockeys that raised us.

I mean, you're tall, but trucks are tight.

But my truck that I normally run,

they're like, well, hey, look, he's taller.

So he gets that.

So I'm like Donkey Kong and Mario Parks.

I'm like, how big a wheel can I run

if I still fit in this truck?

It's going to be fun.

I'm definitely looking forward to it.

And Stenhouse actually said, hey, meet us here.

We're supposed to be meeting Stenhouse right now,

but we couldn't turn down coming to talk to you.

We appreciate that.

Well, you got a good coach.

So Stenhouse is one of the best of these places.

Yeah, it's supposed to be.

But now we're talking to you.

Oh, you'll be fine.

You'll be fine.

Now, what tips do you have for us?

The tips that I would have for you is don't crash.

There you go.

Hold on.

I got to write this down.

If you don't crash, you'll finish in the top 10.

That's actually fair.

Really?

I mean, you're going to be on a racetrack.

And I told Tony the exact same thing last night

because he was a little nervous about things.

I said, Tony, I said, you're going to be on a racetrack

with 35 maniacs.

And they're going to be hammered down.

That's the thing I love about truck racing

is they're hammered down from the time that they start

until the time that they finish.

I would take my time, get used to the distance on the truck,

the distance from the apron, how much the trucks pull up,

and not worry about where you're running in the beginning

of the race because at some point you'll be in it.

I got a dollar on him missing his whole pit stop at one point.

Yeah, because at 50 miles an hour feels like you're not moving.

Everyone told me I was going to do it.

And I laughed.

I pulled all the way in.

I was like, my crew was like stepping back.

50 feels like you're walking.

And then you hit the brake and you realize you're still

in the end as concrete.

Just a dollar on that.

What do you think about Tony Stewart

skipping the rookie truck meeting?

Oh, that happened.

I would definitely make him start in the back.

That's what I was thinking.

I can't wait because he's going to be so frustrated

by the time everything that happens in the truck race

is totally against everything that Tony Stewart likes to do.

Yeah.

It is aggressive from start to finish.

He is definitely could be the grandpa to 90% of the field.

Yeah.

So he is definitely, I'm really excited about talking to him

after the race.

So what lap, our bet in the booth is what lap

will Tony Stewart cuss out his first competitor?

12.

I'm scared it's going to be me.

3, 2, 3.

Lap 1 they're saying.

Lap 1.

Yeah.

I haven't seen any, no one had put both hands up.

So it's all single digits.

Single digits.

Yep.

We've been trying to.

I think Tony's turning a new leaf.

I don't know.

I don't think so.

You don't know him very well.

He's going to be excited.

We've been championing for Kevin to get back in a truck.

We're trying to get that going.

See?

I knew it.

See what I did there?

I like that.

Yeah.

What do you think?

Naledega.

I've been getting my ass kicked by a 12 year old.

So I don't know.

He's 13 now.

Oh, 13.

That's right.

That's a little better.

You're still getting your ass kicked by a teenager.

Yeah.

We want this to happen though.

Yeah.

At some point.

Well, I think it would be fun.

I'd do it.

He seems to enjoy coming back.

That was a yes.

I think that was a yes.

That's a definite yes.

I'm not saying no.

I'm saying no.

Never a cup car again.

Because I just don't believe in the.

I'm retired and then I un-retired and come back and drive cup.

That was a great ride.

Everything's about fun now.

Now I get to go to the racetrack and be like, you guys,

you're showing up for the event.

And I'm not going to say, I don't care about the result anymore.

If I, if I win or lose, it doesn't matter because I'm out doing what I love to do.

I forgot why I raced until I went and raced late models again and how much I enjoyed

the sport.

So it's been fun.

Closers.

Y'all going to show up if Kevin Harvick brings it back out for a truck race?

Yeah.

People have spoken.

I thought maybe you're putting a lot of pressure on me.

I know.

That'd be cool.

Yeah.

That's what we do here.

We do a lot of hard about Cletus and I feel like so many NASCAR drivers.

I mean, Bowman came and jumped in.

You got a host of her.

You got obviously Biffle and definitely with Smoke coming in.

And everyone's having fun.

Even for me, someone that like, I've made a career on just having as much fun as

I possibly can.

Now obviously winning is more fun than losing.

So you always want to do the best that you possibly can.

But so many times like you get frustrated.

You're not doing how you want to do the team, the car, yourself, your performance.

And then you go down to the Freedom 500 and you realize why you started driving

again and you realize just how much fun everyone's having.

Everyone stays after the race.

Everyone's signing autographs.

Everyone's talking to the fans.

Everybody's a part of it.

And I want to thank Cletus for kind of bringing that fun back to.

Good job, Cletus.

To the sport to me personally, it's just so many drivers.

That deserves a round of applause.

I am honestly curious.

Thank you.

Why you decided to come to NASCAR?

Like what started the whole thing?

You know, I was just talking to Biff one night and I was like,

I want to race for the Daytona 500.

How many people were you?

No, I was none.

He was like, well, it's going to be a process, but we can start it.

And I was like, let's start it.

And he literally built me the road to Daytona kind of and just got me

connected with some of the right people.

And here we are.

That's awesome.

We're so glad you're here.

Yeah.

And I think when you talk about when you talk about Greg and everything

that he helped you do and the process that you went through.

When you guys were laying this map out to do the things that you're

doing today, was there anything in between the Crown Vix and

ARCA, like any late models or anything?

I mean, you do have your own racetrack.

Do you practice at your track?

I've driven like modified and sport compacts.

And I drove double airplanes.

Yeah.

A couple helicopters.

Yeah.

Sprint boats.

Go-karts for sure.

Go-karts.

A couple Honda Civics.

Yeah.

So yeah, I've been kind of rounding myself out for this opportunity.

I got you.

So are we going to be a super speedway specialist?

I mean, I like the sound of that.

Yeah.

I don't know if I'm like what type of specialist I am.

You had a little bit of practice delivering some sandwiches

at one point, right?

That was kind of like what you're going to deal with today.

I used to deliver Jimmy John sandwiches.

That's pretty much where I became a wheel man.

That's right.

Yeah.

You're going to deliver food on time.

You've got to, especially in the Jimmy John's model,

you're going to have to get there on time.

That was all about.

I probably have some company records.

Yeah.

Not going to lie.

Who thinks Kevin and his son should come race a Crown Vic race

at the Freedom Pack?

I think that would be awesome.

I think that would be good.

Yes.

Let's do it.

I'm going to text you some dates.

Let's do it.

I'm in.

I'm way more in for that than committed.

That's really easy.

Yeah, really easy.

All right guys.

What do you want to go here?

How do I do with my cut off?

Am I all right?

You look good.

Yeah, solid good.

Pull it off.

This is even in grades.

You look good.

Yeah, I got to cut.

I just ripped your sleeves off.

Get the sleeves off.

I got to get a new shirt.

Everything we're doing, he's ripped my sleeves off.

It's off a half hour ago.

He's got them back.

That's unbelievable.

I didn't even notice.

He's getting critiqued for his attire.

You two need to work on it a little bit.

Yeah, I'm a little uptight today.

I have to go from this interview to Rick Hendrick,

Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Larson.

All right, you're good.

That's fair, I think.

That's fair.

Guys, this has been awesome.

Thank you so much for coming.

Thank you guys.

Round of applause for Trav.

Good luck.

Yes.

Thank you guys.

Appreciate it.

That's fun.

Yes.

Good luck to you.

There you go.

Got to sign a Bush Light.

That's necessary, you know?

Just going to keep rolling.

That's awesome, guys.

Yeah, well, wait.

I know.

Well, this is so nice of them to find.

We're going to go from here, Kalen.

We started with the stars,

and now we're stuck with Mamba.

Hey, I heard the fans out here, though.

The clothes were giving me some love.

I'm pretty sure they were more popular than Harvard.

I mean, if you're going to cut your sleeves off,

you better go to the gym a little bit.

I mean, what?

Okay.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Appreciate it so much.

Good luck.

See you for our interview.

Yeah.

Hang on.

We're not done yet.

Thanks, guys.

You got to go talk to Stenhouse.

Yeah, I guess they got it.

We got to get them.

We got to get them dialed in.

All right, guys.

Okay.

We're here at Daytona.

Thank you again to all of the fans who have joined us today.

This is so awesome to have our first live audience.

So thank you to all of you.

Yes, thank you.

And let's talk about this race, Kevin,

because we've talked about it earlier in the week,

the significance of it.

Winning a Daytona 500, what it means.

Well, in our sport, there is no bigger race to win

than the Daytona 500.

So being able to luckily accomplish that

and get to Victory Lane,

put your name on that Harley J. Earl trophy

is something that, you know,

you look at the names on that trophy

and it's the who's who of NASCAR racing.

But you also add in that element of

anybody can win it.

There are a lot of surprise winners

that we see with this race.

But, man, I just, I get the feeling,

I get the feeling that those past champs

are going to be, one of those guys

could be in Victory Lane after this race.

I like this.

Daytona, especially coming from the northeast,

when you come down here and you get into race country,

this is it.

And when you walk into this place,

it's absolutely insane.

You can just feel the energy, the fans,

everyone that stays in the infield,

the infield is a time.

I can't wait to get in there

and share some bush lattes with y'all.

Yes.

They're ready for that.

But the racing and the fan and the atmosphere here

is no better way to start the season off.

And I talked to William Byron this past week

and he's like, man, the second one

was more unexpected than the first one,

but the third one would be the sweetest.

So if he could 3-P, that'd be something crazy.

Odds are against him.

Huh?

Odds are against him.

Oh, yeah.

I would say so.

Yeah.

You talk about winning two,

but man, that is quite an accomplishment

to win two Daytona 500s in a row

and you can talk about it being lucky.

You can talk about this,

but when you do it twice, two years in a row,

it's pretty hard to call that lucky.

You're doing something right if you do it twice.

You're putting yourself in position.

And that is really the most important thing here.

Just keep yourself in a position

to stay in the front of the pack.

Don't make mistakes on pit road.

Do all the small things right.

And every year that the William Byrons,

the Ryan Blanies, those guys get one more year of experience

with their crew chief, with their team in situations.

They just become more dangerous.

Yes, they do.

So one story I want to talk about

that I'm sure there's some fans of this driver

in the audience is Kyle Busch

last night he was able to get the pole

for the great American race.

We've been talking about Kyle a lot on Happy Hour,

whether we're going to see a resurgence of him.

Certainly this is things moving in the right direction.

Yeah, well I'm happy for Kyle.

I think that Kyle Busch being competitive

and winning races is really important to our sport

and he deserves that.

But I'm more happy for Richard Childress.

And Richard Childress is somebody

who has meant so much to this sport

and the Daytona 500 with Austin, myself, Dale Earnhardt.

He just has such a legacy in this sport

and I know how hard he works to be able to

make those cars fast, how much he cares about this sport.

So I'm really excited for Richard.

They needed something good to happen.

I know Austin went to Victory Lane last year

but it's a contract year for Kyle Busch

and I believe that he can still get it done

and I think it's something that Kyle has

to be able to be comfortable

and get what he wants underneath that car.

But the first thing they have to have is speed.

Well guess what?

We showed up at the Daytona 500 with speed

and I think that's dangerous for the rest of the field.

Yeah, it's not like Kyle Busch has forgot

how to drive a race car.

No.

We're talking about one of the best guys

to strap into a race car in the entire world all time.

So I'm happy for him because

when you start out the year,

the way they ended it, which is like without the speed,

that's tough, right?

You just feel like it's another year of oh man,

here we go again.

So starting out on the right foot.

I think on the flip side of that,

you have to not spin out, you have to not wreck

and when that wasn't happening,

they were making mistakes on pit roads.

So they have a lot to clean up.

Yeah, it's not one thing.

But what happens is you get in those positions

to where you're somewhat desperate

and you know the day is going good

and you want to make it better

and you push that much too hard

and you wind up spun around backwards

or wrecking the car into the wall.

So I think he just has to take a deep breath.

He's got to take a deep breath

and not try to do too much.

That ability that Kyle has with the old car

to be able to drive the car sideways,

hang the car out, slide it,

it's a different style now.

You can't manhandle the cars like you used to.

You have to have that finesse and be on the edge

but when you cross it, these things spin out

and you find yourself backwards into the fence

faster than you even know what happened.

So Kyle Bush obviously things looking promising

for him from qualifying.

Who kind of concerned you last night

when you watched that?

I was really concerned with the 2311 cars

of Tyler Redick and Bubba Wallace.

The fans are not.

Yeah, I think that last year

I think we gave them a mulligan

with everything that they had going on

with the lawsuit internally.

But the expectation is for those cars to win.

They spend the money, they have the resources,

they have the tide of Joe Gibbs.

Tyler Redick is expected to be a championship contender.

Bubba Wallace got to victory lane

at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

but Tyler Redick's got to win.

I think that we talk contracts

and all the things that are up,

there are a lot of driver contracts that are up

and those cars aren't performing.

A caliber driver of Tyler Redick

isn't going to sit around

and wait for you to figure your cars out.

He wants to be able to have what he needs

to go to victory lane and has done that.

So, is that Cletus?

Probably. Might have been.

I thought he said he was going back.

Never know.

You know who I was pleasantly surprised with

was the 99, the fourth entry for RFK.

I think that's a big deal for them

because they felt like Ryan Priest felt like

if he had more forward help

in previous super speedway races

that he could have won one or two already

and I think that the fact that their fourth car

that they don't really do much

had that kind of speed and you got Corala Joyce

someone in there that you can trust

to help get you to victory lane.

I think that's a big deal for RFK.

The other caveat to this

is the fact that you have guys

that have gone purely for speed

and trying to keep the speed

and the race car to be able to drive that.

Tonight, we'll find out

whose cars are driving okay

and be able to...

are the Trackhouse cars of Ross Chastain

and Shane Van Gisburg in slow.

Daniel Suarez was extremely slow

in qualifying trims.

So, are those cars...

do they have a little more drag

and downforce built into the car

to be able to try to make them

be able to be pushed well, to push well?

All the things that go with racing well.

That story's getting ready to be told this evening.

Yeah. Justin Algar made it in.

It's a big weekend for the Bernhardt family.

Great to see that once again

out of that team.

And I talked to Dale yesterday

and you could tell he was pretty confident.

He felt like, you know, his cars...

the car was better than it was

in practice last year

and the effort that they had made

was in a little better place

than where he felt they were last year.

But, you know, it's...

I really want to see that junior motorsports team

full-time on the cup side.

I think that it means so much to the sport

to have Dale and Kelly on pit road.

And I know there's a lot of things

that go into that.

But the more races that 40 cars shows up

at the racetrack, the better it is

for our sport. Yeah, for sure.

Kevin, I wanted to kind of look at the duels.

You kind of were talking about it a little bit

with, you'll find out tonight

whose car is kind of handling right

and who went for the speed.

Tonight, I just heard a...

a crack back there.

You're going to be excited with that

push line right there. I heard it.

Go ahead.

Cheers.

How difficult

is it running the duels at night?

We start the race kind of the day.

We're going through a lot of different transitions.

How do you know how good your car really is

and what you need to do for the 500?

Well, you have to definitely...

I think you can lean a little more towards the speed.

There's no hint that your car is

not handling well tonight.

You're in big trouble on Sunday.

And you got to remember tonight's pack

is half the size of

what it's going to be on Sunday.

So that momentum of the pack

and that energy of the pack is going to be

a lot different than what you see tonight.

But you got to be able to cue off

of the things that you feel.

Do you have enough speed in the car?

A lot of times you get done with this race

and if your car is not handling bad,

go the opposite way.

And you start to try to figure out,

okay guys, what can we do to this car

to put a little more speed in the car,

whether it's move a mirror

or make some adjustments on the ride heights

or anything that they can do.

There's still some things that they can do

to the race cars to make those types of adjustments

to either put a little more grip in

or take a little bit of grip out.

And you got to make good decisions.

And that's what the Joey Logano's,

the Denny Hamlins of the world,

are doing their teams make the right decisions

based upon their experience

and the things that have happened

for them in the past.

So that's where those guys gain that advantage.

And what I mentioned earlier with William Byron,

Ryan Blaney having more experience

another year under their belt,

those are the decisions that they have

to get better at and are able

to get better at, especially when

they don't change anything on their team.

So the duels are tonight.

What is the intensity like for drivers

in your stressful situation?

I'd be miserable.

But the duels used to be like that.

You used to come down here and

the duels were,

you had seven provisionals

and the rest of the field was lined up

by those duels and you could very easily

miss the race. So the duels were very stressful

but that's the stress that these guys

are under that have to make this race.

I think Corey LaJoy's in a good position

with the speed of his car

and then you've got, you know,

and BJ McLeod and those guys

that have to get their

self in on speed or on race

their way in on position, not on speed.

They didn't have the speed last night

qualifying to put themselves in position.

So very stressful

but it could make the

make the team's year.

You look at the top teams, they're all racing

to try to get themselves in position

to win races and make the championship.

Well, that's the same thing that these teams are feeling.

To make the Daytona 500

is their championship

for the year, just to make the race.

Wow, all right!

Welcome to Daytona!

We couldn't have skirted that any better.

I forgot. That's my favorite part

about Daytona. I forgot.

That never gets old all week long.

That's going on.

Kevin, last year, got to ride in it.

I mean,

what did you say the pucker factor was on that last year?

Well, last year,

I rode

and

we took off down the runway

and the first thing we did was go 90 degrees

straight up in the air

and then we did a barrel roll

and I'm like, oh man, what have I got myself into?

But you're nervous. You're like, am I going to pass out

puke?

I didn't pass out and I didn't puke

and I got to fly the plane

and I got to do everything that we were supposed to do

and I did join

the 9G club.

And I can tell you

my vision got to be about that

that wide.

I was sunk down in the seat like this

saying I'm not going to quit

and it's a good thing I didn't quit because

I couldn't talk because I couldn't breathe

and I couldn't see

and then the pilot was like, well, you did it!

I'm like, oh thank God because I couldn't say anything.

I got to be honest, I'd rather do that

than ride with a cleatess.

That was perfectly timed.

We set that up just for happy.

Yeah, we planned that earlier.

They were a little late, but...

But I mean, that's part of all the

pre-race pomp and circumstance

if you will of the 500, which makes it so special.

I'm going to be pissed if we aren't in the booth

by the time the flyover happens.

So we're going to have to talk to our pre-race producer

because when you're standing in the booth

and you see the flyover

making its way towards you

and those planes and you can see them

before everybody else because we're so high

and all of a sudden

they get here and you realize how fast they're going

how far away they actually were just a second ago

and they fly over the first time

and you get comfortable

and you're all getting settled in

and they always sneak back up on you.

So remember that.

Be ready for the reverse flyover

because it's going to happen

because they really enjoy scaring the crap out of us.

They were flying out here earlier today, did you hear them?

They went out a lot earlier.

At the end of the ride

you do the flyover.

You go directly over the racetrack like they do the flyover.

Then you do the reverse flyover.

But if you notice, they make laps.

They made two laps around the racetrack

and I felt like

we might hit a light pole last year.

They took a Zillich

and JH

Zillich and JH went today.

Kevin, you were talking about

making someone's year just to make it

into this race

about scared you would be

if you had to race your way in.

Not scared.

Just a lot of anxiety.

Better word.

The crews that are already in,

the teams that are already in,

that anxiety is still there

because if you have to fix your race car

by getting in someone else's mess

that's a lot of work.

And I'd say they're less worried about wrecking

than they are sucking

and being slow

It's a long few days if your car doesn't

have any speed and it's a handling good

and you don't really know what else to do to it.

But look

this is the race that

you see the most prepared cars from

every team. They've had all winner to work

on their cars. They know how important

this race is to whiz.

Is to win.

We're going to whiz all over it.

They know how important

this race is to the race team.

They know how much money it pays.

They know the significance of putting your name on

that trophy. So it's

the race where it's the most competitive

and it is the most competitive that

I have seen it in a long time when you look

at the manufacturers split up through

that qualifying run down last night.

It's all over the place. It's not Ford

stacked at the top or Chevy stacked at the top.

It's split up really well

as far as being competitive. So

excited.

You mentioned the manufacturers. This race

is all about working together. The Chevy's have a new nose.

How do you think that's all going to play out?

We're going to find out how good

they push. They specifically

redesigned that car to be better

pushers and being

able to be pushed on these super

speedways. Now

this car is super finicky.

Does it affect the handling?

It's going to affect the balance

and you do everything that you can do

and

to get your car where you think it needs to be

but you just don't know until you get on that big

black asphalt out there.

Hang on one second, Kev.

Wow.

All right. The fans love it.

Last year

at Homestead Miami Speedway

I was doing driver intros.

They do the flyover after intros.

After all that

I had no idea. They did it right in the middle of intros.

I about my pants.

It rattled the whole stadium

really cool man.

There's no sport that

supports our military

better than NASCAR.

That's right.

We have a great

relationship with the military

and support our military

as everyone should.

I think when you see

these types of things happening

and you see the troops

in the stands, in the pits

and every team goes out of the way

to make sure that those guys

and gals get the respect that they deserve

for what they do for our country.

I know we got some closers out of military

if you guys are out here, I appreciate y'all.

Yes, very much so. Thank you.

Thank you for your service.

So we're talking about Daytona.

I feel like everyone remembers the first time they came here.

Do you remember what you thought

the first time you saw this place?

Yeah. I came here

Jeff Gordon won.

It was like the early 2000s.

I didn't even know you were born yet.

That's because Black don't crack, Kevin.

I just look like a baby.

Yeah, and it was amazing.

Me and my dad came

and we always went to New Hampshire Motor Speedway

and that's our home track.

Yeah, exactly.

But we came down here and it was different.

Cold as hell.

It was just different.

I don't know. It was so cool.

I can't really put into words.

I think Ward Burton flipped down

the Tri-Oval that year

and Jeff won and I was mad as hell

because I was a Stuart guy

and a little bit of a Kevin guy, not that much.

What year was this?

I think it was like 03.

Okay, 5.

There you go. Look at that fan with this.

Appreciate you.

That's what I love about you guys.

You always keep our facts straight.

That's exactly what we love about it.

Somebody's got to keep our facts straight

because I can't remember what I did yesterday.

I came here as a fan

for this night right here.

It was daytime races at that point.

1995.

I sat in the grandstands going into turn one

and watched both qualifying races.

So that was the only time

that I had been here

when I came back in 2000

for the first time with the Bush Series car.

So it's a special place

and there's nothing like

the first race of the year being your biggest race of the year.

The hype, the enthusiasm

and excitement that goes with this

is you can't match it anywhere else.

And I think that

the things that NASCAR has done this year

to put us in a better position to be who we are

as a sport,

promote us as a sport

of just being badass.

That is what

NASCAR racing is all about.

We don't need to be like everybody else.

No, we want to be our own selves.

You mentioned a badass and this weekend also

is about Dale Earnhardt

25 years. Since his passing

we have a special documentary on FS1

that's coming up tonight after the duels.

Just tell your reflections.

It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years

and obviously I live that situation

pretty closely

getting in the car the next week

and I think back

to just the time of that period

of when the accident happened

to the unknown.

We were actually at Mike Dillon's house

in the kitchen. They called and said

you need to come over

and that's when I knew that something

was not right.

You're sitting there waiting

trying to understand what's going on

and then it's all the questions.

What's going to happen with RCR?

Who's going to drive the car?

How's the sport going to go on?

25 years later

the sport is still going on

but it's just missing a big

piece of

what was so important to NASCAR racing

and he had such a massive influence

on everything that

happened, the image

of who we were

and such a strong

leader of the sport.

It was

a pretty crazy time

to be able to adapt

to what was going on

get in the car to drive.

You think back to those press conferences

with the press conference

the next week at Rockingham

and for me personally

that was the biggest press conference

that I ever did. It was the most people

the most pressure, the most everything

that I ever had to experience

but

our sport has evolved

because of that accident

from a safety standpoint, NASCAR

immediately started

the safety aspect

of trying to get ahead of things

and keep up with things

and do things in a better way

all the way up until today

they're constantly looking at every wreck

every piece of equipment that the driver

has on

the racetracks, the soft walls

you think about the impact that that one

accident had on the safety of this sport

and it'll never be matched

and NASCAR has done a great job

of continuing that

right into this moment. I saw a quote

that I think was from Ricky Crave

and he said, I think he said this in

2001 around that time

20, 25 years we'll look back

and we'll be like they were insane

for racing with concrete walls

and like I'm so thankful

for the hits that we have seen

over the last 10 years

of the show, especially that we have

those safer barriers for the drivers

and then obviously if you guys

have never been here, this is your first time

there's the Daytona Tours

Wow, that was a whole sleet of...

I never get to go there's the Daytona Tours

building over here and there's a statue

of Dale Earnhardt, I went by it yesterday

and it does something to you every time you kind of do that

It truly does, yeah and we look forward

to that documentary tonight, a lot of different perspectives

we'll be talking about their reflections

and what that time was like. Okay, so we're here

in Daytona, we got to do some Daytona

500 predictions on who we believe

is going to win this big race

and Kevin, do you want to do the honors

first? No.

This whole big thing is...

Here's the problem, here's the deal

we've seen qualifying but we've not seen

one lap of practice

with everybody together

so I'm just going to say it's a past champion

We don't see that on Monday either for the record though

I'm going to pick

a past champion, I just don't know which one yet

Alright, so you're really

not going to make a selection

because I'll just look dumb

Mamba, you go ahead. I have to go first?

Oh, you're second, I already went

Oh, who'd you pick? I'd pick like eight guys

He's picking eight

That's what I have to deal with y'all

This is the type of stuff I'm going to do

It's my show, I can make the rules

It's Kevin's show, they are saying

Seniority rules

Wait, you can only pick one guy

Real quick though

These are our closures

so they know that we keep points for all year

That means you're down a race

for the points

Because you don't get a pick at anything

Did I not already pick? No

Did we pick on Monday because I was literally just thinking that

We did not pick

I heard that, Tyler

Tyler's in my ear

We didn't pick

I have to pick? Yeah

Well, I can pick for the show, but I'm just

as a

formal disclosure, I might change my pick on Sunday

so don't hold me to it

Okay, well go ahead

I'm going to pick Blaney

That took way too much time

for you to just admit that

I'm just looking for airtime

Alright, do you want to go?

No, you go

That's rude

I'm actually

Similar to Kevin, I'm going to

pick a former champion

We've been talking about him a lot

so far already

His name is Chase Elliott

I think Chase Elliott can get a Daytona 500 win

We all believe this format could be

good for him too, so this could start it off on a good foot

Listen, I

I love that Kyle

I love the way he pushes on the pole

and I don't want to jinx him because I really

I would really like to see him in Victory Lane

but I'm going to go

with Ryan Priest

I'm going with Priest

I think that it's

about time that he finishes one of these ones

with the wheels on the ground

so I'm going with Priest in that 60 car

Oh, you can't beat momentum either

Yeah, that has been on a roll

It matters, the clash won and it's modified this week

so momentum's hard to beat

Here comes the airplanes again

That is unbelievable

Very formal

Are you just going to keep saying

you're not making a choice?

I already picked

Yeah, I picked Ryan Blaney

I didn't even hear him say it

I'm used to you ignoring me

Oh, that's not true

Blaney, Priest, and Elliott

This is the point of the show that

Closers

Welcome

to your favorite part

of the Kevin Harvick happy hour

podcast

It's mom with social sips

So I'm going to come down and join you guys

Give me one second

Alright, CJ

Alright, hang on, let me get to you

I'm going to get all the way in there

Hang on, I'm running to you

Yeah, that's what he's doing

CJ

Our social expert

Oh, he's mobile

That's the most expert he's done in a month

Sir, you got a mic here

What's your name?

Colton

Alright Colton, what is your

question for the

squad here?

Kevin

What race was better?

2001 Atlanta

or the 2014 championship

Oh

2001

I think that

when you look at everything that was happening

during that time

and it's just like the press conferences

it was my biggest win

in the biggest moment

that you can possibly ever

imagine

and the championship win was really special

and we did that as a group

but it was a different era

in my career with a

different group of people

but there's just nothing that matches

the intensity and the magnitude of those moments

from 2001

So you're saying the stage was really big

and the lights were really bright and you got it done

Yeah, okay, just check it

Lights were bright

I heard that you might have a word of the week suggestion

Serpentine

What's this for?

That's my word

Serpentine

These two that we had on stage were

they could be the serpentine of the truck field

I'm just trying

to get some help from our closers out here

Thank you very much, Colton

Good job

We got another one right here, sir

I got one for Caitlin

Alright, go ahead, what's your name?

Mike

Caitlin, when you worked at Langley Speedway, who was your favorite track announcer?

It was you, Mike Allen

Good to see you, my friend

Nice to have you here

We love Langley Speedway

And Kevin, if you need an announcer for the car store, I'm your man

He's very good

I love that

Hang on, we got one over here, CJ

Where are we going?

Alright, right up front here

Right up front

Where are you from, Rhonda?

North Carolina

The Smoky Mountains

Alright

Who would you like to see crossover from

car to Indy and race at Fingers?

Connor Zillich

I think he's obviously young

I think he's got a lot of

karting experience

He's got a lot of road race experience

But

we saw him do really well on the ovals

last year

in the Xfinity series

So, O'Reilly

Sorry, the O'Reilly series

Yeah, I'll get it

I'm new at this

You know, I think that he's going to have a couple years

of learning the cup series

And I think it would be good to just

see what he can do in the Indy car

while he's young

And I think Kyle Larson did a great job

Kurt Busch did a great job

of being in contention

to be competitive

And I think that it would be good to see somebody

at the beginning of their career

go over there and do that while they're still

trying to figure out everything that's going on here

And he's got the right sponsor

You'll be my man when Lugano retires

Oh, how many more years do you think Joey Lugano

is going to drive?

See the pressure?

We love him, he's such a philanthropist

We love him, he's done so much

Joey has done a great job

with himself

And he is

definitely one of the leaders in this sport

So, good choice

I could feel that one, you could feel that

I could feel that in my chest

That's wild

We did not plan to have that many clients

How'd that feel in your ears?

That one rang my ears a little

Yeah, it did

That was for Joey, she says

Thank you so much to the fans for all their questions

That was very cool

We just have a few minutes left here

And we want to thank you guys again for being a part of this

This has been so cool

I know you're excited

We've done a lot of things

for the first time over the last few years

But there is not one thing that

Caitlin has been more excited for

than this live show

It's because of all of you, I wanted you guys to be a part of it

I think it's important for us to be at the racetracks

doing this

All right, closers

We don't usually get to talk to you guys right away

and know who your picks are

I just want to hear who's some picks that you got

for the Daytona 500

Somebody's holding up a question

This is a four champ

We got a championship Kevin Harvick jacket right here

We do

I'm not racing

But I like it

Catch him in the booth

This has been great

It's been so cool

As a kid that's watched this sport my entire life

and then the speed channel

the race day stuff and being able to

turn the clock back and be a little bit of a piece of that

I couldn't ask for anything more

It doesn't happen if they don't all show up

So there's no people in the crowd

We won't have a show again

So if you guys want to have it, you got to keep showing up

So thank you

Hey, do you guys think we should do this more often or what?

Hey, do us a favor and let them know

on your Twitter and on your Instagram

Let them know

All right, what's next for you?

I know you've got a busy day ahead

I have to go do an interview and then probably just more meetings

We have more meetings

than you can imagine

But we've got three races tonight before the duels

Both races

I'm excited to see some racing

We've seen a lot of the

formalities of the sport

We've had PR day, we've had everybody telling us how great

they're going to do

Let's find out how fast your car really is

What are you doing?

What are you guys going on?

I will be in the pits for the arca race

and I'm sure interviewing Cleetus once again

to see what viral moment he can create

You think we'll have any bald eagles flying this year?

It's highly possible, you never know

It's going to be a fun weekend of racing

Y'all don't forget our handle

Harvard Capipod

Make sure you go to the new YouTube channel

Go subscribe, all of our content

This content, all of you guys are going to be on it

We appreciate so much to make sure

You guys are live, yes

And make sure you don't miss the Daytona 500 coverage

February 15th

It starts on Fox at 12.30

Thank you again so much for being here

I mean so much just have all the closers with us

for our first live show

After Daytona, thank you

Thank you

We love you

LIVE From Daytona With Cleetus McFarland & Travis Pastrana

About this episode

NASCAR

ARCA series

throttle

qualifying

Pit Road

WRC

Daytona 500

Juan Montoya

Daytona International Speedway

rev limiter

valve train

Chrysler Daytona

Honda Civic

super speedways

Jeff Gordon

Request an Explanation

Want to learn more?

Help improve this episode

More from Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX