Rajah Caruth: Racing Two Cars, Jesse Love Run-Ins & the Playoff Push |Stacking Pennies
Stacking Pennies with Corey LaJoie
Rajah Caruth: Racing Two Cars, Jesse Love Run-Ins & the Playoff Push |Stacking Pennies
Stacking Pennies with Corey LaJoie · Jul 6, 2026
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Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a sporty car made for fast driving and strong acceleration. In racing, it’s one of the cars teams use to compete during the season. It may be mentioned when people talk about how many cars are entered and which drivers are involved.
Term
plate races
“Plate races” are NASCAR races where the rules limit engine power so cars run closer together. That makes the racing more crowded, so crashes and spins happen more often.
Term
road courses
“Road courses” are tracks with lots of corners, like a road-racing track, not a simple oval. Cars and drivers have to brake and turn differently, so mistakes can show up fast.
Term
pit road
Pit road is the special lane where race teams pull in to work on the car. Drivers have to slow down there, and the crew can change tires and make adjustments during the race.
Term
high percentage move
A “high percentage move” is a racing decision the driver thinks is likely to work out. A “low percentage move” is more of a gamble where things could go wrong.
Term
sneak right rears
“Sneak right rears” means trying to pass by getting right next to the other car’s back tires. It’s like squeezing through a small gap—if the other driver blocks you, contact or a bad outcome can happen fast.
Place
Atlanta
“Atlanta” is shorthand for the race track in Atlanta where these stock cars race. It’s a track where passing can be possible, but risky moves can get you in trouble quickly.
Term
plug me in the fence
“Plug me in the fence” is a harsh way of saying someone will hit you into the wall if you try that move. It’s basically a warning that the other driver might retaliate instead of giving you room.
Term
downforce
Downforce is the “squish” force that pushes a race car down onto the road. It helps the tires grip better, especially when turning fast.
Term
mechanical grip
Mechanical grip is how well the tires stick to the track because of the car’s setup and the tires themselves. It’s different from downforce, which is the car being pushed down by the air.
Term
engines
An “engine” is the part that makes the car’s power. In racing, different engine setups can feel different and can change how the team tunes the car to go fast.
Term
set up
“Set up” means how the race team adjusts the car. They change things to make the car work better for the track and the engine they’re running.
Term
rules
“Rules” are the official limits and guidelines for the racing series. If the rules change, teams often have to change how they build and tune their cars.
Term
more skew out the cars
They’re talking about changing the car’s balance so it drives in a certain way. The goal is usually to make handling more consistent and easier to control.
Term
trucks and cup
They’re comparing how these cars drive to other NASCAR series, like the Truck Series and the Cup Series. The idea is that the rules are steering the cars toward a similar feel.
Concept
progress support
This is basically saying they’re focused on getting better, not judging everything yet. It’s like saying the season is still in the learning stage.
Person
Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe is a NASCAR race car driver. Corey is talking about how Briscoe got a better opportunity and then started winning more consistently.
Company
Haas
Haas is the name of a NASCAR racing team. Corey is basically saying Briscoe did well even when the team wasn’t the very best, and then he improved when he moved to a stronger situation.
Concept
make the playoffs
In NASCAR, “making the playoffs” means qualifying for the postseason races. Corey is saying Briscoe felt pressure to get in and then perform well enough to keep moving forward.
Person
Zane Smith
Zane Smith is a NASCAR driver. Corey is talking about a moment where Smith spun and it led to trouble for other cars.
Term
in car camera
It’s a camera mounted inside the race car so you can see what the driver sees. Fans and teams use it to understand how the driver handled the track and where things went wrong.
Term
neutral wheel
This means the driver’s steering is basically straight/centered. It’s the point where the car is trying to settle down instead of being actively steered through the problem.
Term
spinning the tires
It’s when the tires lose grip and just spin instead of pushing the car forward. That’s common on slippery surfaces or when the driver applies too much power for the traction.
Term
tow truck
A tow truck is the vehicle used to recover a disabled race car from the track. In racing, it’s often needed when a car goes off and gets stuck in a way that makes it unsafe or impossible to drive back to the pits.
Term
DVP
DVP is a short-hand name for a specific place at the track. Here, it sounds like it’s where the teams took the cars so they could get to the pit area.
Term
diffuser
A diffuser is a part under the race car that helps the air flow smoothly underneath. Better airflow can make the car stick to the track more and feel more stable.
Term
restart
A restart is when the race starts moving again after a caution. The first laps back are tricky because the tires and grip may not be at their best yet.
Term
jump the cushion
“Jump the cushion” means the car gets up onto the track’s high, banked edge and then doesn’t stay on the best racing line. That can make the car lose grip and mess up the corner.
Term
crud
“Crud” is the dirt/debris and worn rubber that builds up on the track. If you hit it, the tires don’t grip as well and the car can slide or miss the turn.
Term
clean air
“Clean air” is when a race car isn’t stuck in the messy air behind another car. With cleaner air, the car tends to handle better and go faster, because the airflow around the tires is more consistent.
Term
top 16
“Top 16” is the standings cutoff for who gets into the next round of the playoffs. If you’re outside that group, you usually can’t keep chasing the championship.
Term
points handicap
A “points handicap” is a points adjustment that tries to make the competition more even. Instead of everyone starting from the same place, the system gives some drivers a different points situation to balance things out.
Place
Daytona
Daytona is a major NASCAR race track in Florida. Because it draws huge crowds, getting cars and people into the track can be a challenge, especially during busy holiday weekends.
Topic
traffic flow situation
They’re talking about how hard it was to get people and vehicles into the race track. If traffic isn’t managed well, people can miss getting in before the race starts.
Term
reset button
During the race, teams get a limited number of “reset” opportunities. When they hit the reset button in the pit area, it triggers an immediate tire change so the car can go back out right away.
Term
pit box
A pit box is the team’s designated spot in the pit lane. That’s where the crew works on the car and where the driver pulls in for things like tire changes.
Term
brake pedal
The brake pedal is what you press to make the car slow down. Here, something came loose inside the pedal area, so the driver basically couldn’t get normal braking pressure and had to deal with it immediately.
Part
nylon stack
The “nylon stack” is a small plastic set-up inside the brake pedal. If it comes loose, the pedal can feel dead or not work the way it should, because it’s no longer supporting the pedal properly.
Term
dead stick
“Dead stick” means the control isn’t responding like it should. Here, the brake pedal wasn’t giving him normal braking action.
Car
GMC Yukon
The GMC Yukon is a large SUV designed to carry people and gear comfortably. It’s commonly used for everyday driving, road trips, and towing. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because someone is connected to it, such as through sponsorship or promotion.
Place
Lime Rock Park
Lime Rock Park is a well-known race track in Connecticut. It’s the kind of track with lots of turns and heavy braking, so drivers have to be precise.
Person
Colin Braun
Colin Braun is a professional race driver. They’re saying he’ll be Raj’s teammate for this race weekend.
Place
IRP
“IRP” is a race track abbreviation. In this context, they’re talking about going to a track they haven’t visited before.
Person
Connor daily
Connor Daily is a race driver. They’re bringing him on as a guest and mentioning what he’ll be driving.
Car
Toyota Cam
LIVE
Hey, friends.
Coral of the Joy here alongside Ryan Flores and longtime friend, longtime friend of the
show.
You guys know who this fella is sitting to my left.
Please help me welcome Rajah Kirby-Keruth into the Nonsense Garage.
Stacking them deep, selling them cheap.
What's up, buddy?
Buenos dias.
Hey, pal.
Good, man.
We're always trying to talk to some people that we like hearing status of life, status
of racing.
You've got a great perspective on things and you've got a very unique year going on.
We talked about, we talked with you before the season started, right?
We're splitting the year.
Some of the best opportunity in the 88 cars that HendrickCars.com, Camaro, splitting the
year also in that Jordan Anderson 32.
Fresh off of Chicago land, not the best, but you've had some awesome runs.
It's been fun for you to watch you progress.
How was Rajah feeling now we're sitting here in July, bouncing back and forth?
I'm sure that's been a challenge, but how do you feel like it's been going so far?
Yeah.
It's been fun.
We talk about schedules, right?
I had trucked race the last three years.
The six, doing 16 weeks straight was crazy to start the season.
I can't imagine doing that.
I shouldn't say I can't imagine, but I can see how grueling the cup schedule is doing
that every week of whether the race weekend goes good or bad and still having to get up
Monday morning and be in sleepy and showing up to go work out and go do your meetings
and do your sim and rinse and repeat.
It was 2.30 AM or last night.
Took off.
We took off out of Chicago.
Hey, we're going to have to go back.
We got a maintenance issue turned around.
How long were you on the tarmac?
They fixed it fairly quickly.
He said, good news is we got the maintenance guy on the plane.
Okay, that's good.
I feel pretty good about that.
You didn't have to wait on it.
But yeah, and then you go.
Maybe he should have been out of the plane working on it before you got to go.
We were talking about it off camera.
When you get in a couple of weeks of like the ADA car is right now and it's like, oh
my God, like you're living in hell.
Connor Zillich is like, he's just so he's got to be so beat down.
And like, but the gift and the curse about the Cup Series and the start of your Rival
Series is you get the next week.
You get the next right.
So you can look at it as that's the last place I want to go to the racetrack or I got to
get back to the racetrack and fix this.
We'll talk about Cup race in here because like turn one off of two that you say the
camera was pan on the 60 how you got turned out 47.
But it started earlier.
Yeah.
So yeah, 47 hit the fence 60 check.
That thing was to maybe spun.
No, somebody spun him out 43 43 spun him out and then Connor had nowhere to go.
Hung a left and lost traction and you could kind of see like a glimpse of the 88 going
off camera.
But the camera stayed on the 60.
I'm like, Oh, no, Connor's going to hit the fence.
And sure enough, next thing you know, nose and hood blown off of the 88.
I'm like, Oh my God, my heart literally was broken again for Connor Zillich.
Holy cow.
But you've you've gotten your own hand.
You're almost keeping his seat warm.
If you will in the 88 car from last year, there was a ton of success with that.
So was that a little bit of pressure coming into that?
Yeah, but not in the way that you would think.
I think for me, that definitely with the start of the year, like it started off pretty well
with with how the plate races win.
And then got my teeth in pretty kicked in pretty good at the road courses.
And I mean, I kind of knew that's where I needed to work on.
And that was that was tough, really, this whole year so far.
But it was pressure in the way of that I put on myself of like, Hey, I got to go
and capitalize on these opportunities.
And that's where I made a lot of mistakes at the start of the year.
I think about, you know, speeding at Talladega where I mean, we set it was set
on a platter of like getting to lead right before the green flag stops and coming
out the cycle right behind Corey and in between with a double zero and taking us
out of a position to win.
And then obviously dover there racing for the lead and taking us out of a chance to win.
That was a heartbreak for sure.
But yeah, I think that's that's where I put pressure that I didn't need to have.
Like, Hey, I'll I can just chill and and have a good result and that'll take care of itself.
And I think in the early parts of the year, I was more like pressing in the sense of, Hey,
I got to go and maximize this day where just chilling on executing the next thing would
be maximizing the day, not pressing at certain points of the day.
One that also felt like Ryan has changed.
I changed tires on the 88 for Raja.
Digging.
Went there to retire and change from tires from a buddy Raja.
Now I'm changing tires in all three series was with cool.
It was with Carson the last eight weeks and then do that.
Spire truck.
But nonetheless, one that felt like it might have gotten away a little bit from us as well.
Was Atlanta.
You're dude, you were so much fun.
I mean, I was sitting in the pit box.
Taylor was sitting in the box.
He's like, look at him.
He's going to do it.
He's going to do it like fired up.
And we were just excited to watch it.
And it kind of got in a weird position with Sammy and the fence.
Yeah.
Things unraveled.
You got to be excited to go back to Atlanta this week.
What are the lessons, though, that you learn from a Dover from a Talbega?
Where you go?
Okay.
Learn that lesson the hard way.
This is the safeguards I put in to be better the next time.
Yeah, I think to talk about Atlanta, I think the first two stages were great.
And then there was things I needed to do better with, you know, Pit road and just
making sure I was was covered and not lose track position at the start of the third stage.
And then, um, yeah, just knowing when the time is to push the button to, to make a
move or make a decision.
Uh, Dale and I have had some great talks and he's been, been in my corner and it's
been awesome to be able to lean on him of, of knowing when it is okay to push and
when it's like I have to live for the next lap.
Right.
I don't give a chance for the car to work for me for you guys to work for me on
pit road.
I take myself out of that chance by rolling the dice on something that's not a
high percentage move or, uh, not even a high percentage move or low percentage move,
but, uh, chance that I can take up, taking us out of it.
And Atlanta, you mentioned trying to sneak right rears, which it works, but it's
risky because the guy could just say, you can close it off and say screw you.
I'm plugging in the fence and that's, that's what happened.
So, um, even if I just waited and not try to make that move in that, that situation,
I mean, the car was so fast and you saw what the moves we were able to make that
day that, um, even if I didn't take that risk, that lap, who's to say I can't do
with the next lap?
I feel like you know that you're now, because you're a couple of races into the
O'Reilly series and then you were who those guys are that you can sneak right
around who you can't.
Yeah.
I don't want to get in trouble here.
No, no, no, no.
There's definitely guys that it's like, yeah, this person is probably going to
plug me in the fence if I try to, uh, go for this move.
And then there's some people where I know it's fair of like, Hey, like I earned, I
got that position.
I earned that.
They're not going to just, yeah.
You know, and I'm not saying like expecting people to roll over by the same point of
like, Hey, this person got this position and I'm the same way.
Like if somebody like got that position and earned it, I'm not going to like, I'm
not going to compromise both of us, you know, cause we're trying to all progress
forward.
There's, there's a lot of lessons too.
You're talking about learning on the racetrack.
It's always fascinating to me just being in different meeting rooms around
different people to see how they talk about Dale Jr.
Talk about how he conducts himself and how he views the sports.
Everybody views on track incidents or their processes uniquely.
Right.
You've sat in all the competition means, whether you drive for Jordan Anderson
or you're driving the 88 and you've got to hear from Kyle Larson and Chase
Ellie and all these guys be brief.
How are you growing as a race car driver in those processes and just a person of
seeing how those pros conduct themselves?
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think it's, it's a great Rolodex to be able to see what the cup guys, how
they operate and how the different organizations, organizations operate where
we have our co-means in the more net JRM on Mondays and have our Simma later on in
the week and there's this was what we need to do better.
This one, right.
This one didn't just didn't go right.
Um, and take that accountability as a whole.
And then this, the same in the 32, right?
Where, um, obviously there's, there's less resources and the people are different
at, at Jordan Anderson's and, um, they're all trying to pull to make better or make
it better.
And, uh, I mean, you'll have the crew chief mark doing things on the car that,
you know, Marty wouldn't be doing at JRM, right?
And it's not that anything's worse or, or anything.
It's just different, right?
There's less people and, uh, Jordan's doing great things with, uh, the
organization that they're building, right?
He's got another building, uh, doing their own bodies and stuff.
And doing, doing, dude, I grew up.
Slow grind, man.
Dude, talk about it.
First race car I built when I moved to North Carolina was a legend car for Jordan
Anderson.
It was Chase Pistone.
Yeah.
That was so Jordan Anderson, man, doesn't get the credit he deserves to build the
organization.
He has literally off stacking pennies from the ground up on the ground up.
Like he has almost reached the ceiling underneath the OEM factory teams, right?
What, cause he's in the same category.
Another friend of the show, another friend of ours, dear friend, Sam hunt, right?
Those guys are literally bootstrapping these things, trying to, for sure, big bar
and steel.
And whether you look at Sam hunts or whether you look at Jordan Anderson,
those guys are doing it seven days a week.
All you can do to get to the racetrack in addition to try to find speed, right?
A little bit of body build, a little bit of downforce, a little bit of mechanical grip and
and doing it the right way.
Of course, level their game up.
They're not just trying to get to the racetrack to make money.
Yeah.
And I think those guys are in the same category of like doing the most with, I don't
want to say little, but doing the most of what they've built from the ground up and
those businesses too are pretty impressive.
But what are some of the differences just by driving a race car, getting out of the
junior motorsports car into the 32 back and forth?
Or do they drive the same?
They go faster, they go slower?
Yeah, I think that that's actually, I like that question because it really taught me a
lot this year of really, I don't have to do anything.
I'm not doing anything different no matter what car I'm driving.
It just the I'll finish based off of what I'm sitting in.
And I found myself early in the year, like I mentioned, of pressing in the 88.
Whereas when I just chilled and ran my race and was just under the radar and
I would have my best finishes and it'd be in both cars.
And that's the biggest thing I've learned so far is that
no matter what car I've driven in, the result will be the result based off of
how well I execute and then overall the potential of the vehicle and pit road and
restarts and other circumstances.
But I think with the difference, right, you've got different engines with the
Hendrick engines at JRM and RCR engines at Jordan Anderson's and
the differences and set up a little bit and whatnot.
But it's kind of interesting how the rally cars have been very similar for, I mean,
the last seven years probably.
There's been little minute changes to the rules, whether it's been,
they've been obviously trying to get more skew out the cars and trying to get them more straight
up like trucks and cup.
And yeah, there's been differences, I would say, not to get in all the weeds,
but differences in cars.
But it's been fun learning back and forth and going back and forth and
having character build in days because I know the rest of the year and the 88,
you know, I'll be able to continue to shake some heads and have some fun.
15, 16 races in.
17, maybe.
17.
What are you winning a race?
What would you give yourself?
We're winning a race together this year.
Maybe this weekend.
Because we're not, it's not the report card just yet.
We're a progress support.
What grade are you of yourself currently?
I'd give myself probably a B or B minus right now.
I would say just of, and you mentioned it, skip of like making mistakes that you know better
and I'll bring up Dover again because I mean, I knew better.
And I had a moments like that where I just could have just waited a lap or
Live to find another corner.
Live to find another corner and didn't give myself that chance.
And it's crazy because I had those same moments in the truck series where
I made those mistakes and then I didn't make them again.
And it's tough because I knew better a lot of times this year and I still made those errors.
But I give myself a B minus because I think I've had some very respectable runs in the 32 and
you know, the road courses were a struggle for me and that's an area that I'll continue to
work at and I'm looking at traveling in the winter to continue to work on that.
Where are you going?
I'm trying to go to Australia.
And do what?
Go to Brisbane.
There's a driving school out there.
Really?
Yeah, I'm going to go in the winter time and...
V8 Supercar?
You?
Just me.
No, like a Ute.
A Ute?
What's that?
It's like an El Camino.
Yeah.
Sure, whatever.
Whatever they tell me to drive, I'm going.
Well, whatever they're drinking down there seems to be a damn good at getting better road courses.
Yeah, I mean, whatever it takes.
I don't drink all that false.
Whatever it takes.
Well, parallels.
Hang on, before we shift gears to Chicago, I want to talk about that.
Well, I was going to talk...
Well, it kind of ties in because SVG, Australian, wrecked an RCR guy, but you have had your
run-ins with Jesse Love this year, right?
It feels like we had a magnet there.
And I don't want to glance over it, but one thing that I was super impressed with,
especially after Martinsville, was your guys' maturity and ability to see things clearly,
talk about what happened.
The Chevrolet program seems to be working and turning out young guys that are super
mature and ready for the next opportunities.
How has that been navigating that, kind of in the scrum with Jesse and having to see him?
And all that stuff you went through, because I know it was hard on you and both of you.
Because you guys turn around after an instance like Martinsville, for example,
you got to come in there Monday and work out with them, right?
You see them.
Yeah, for context for the fans, Chevrolet has a program that all the young drivers
are working out with Josh Wise.
Yeah.
So you guys race against each other on Saturdays, but in the same meetings and stuff with Josh
Wise's program working out, kind of what's SIM, all that stuff you guys do together.
So you're pseudo teammates in a way.
Yeah, I think, yeah, you hit the nail on the head.
I think it was maybe a little bit awkward because you mentioned Martinsville, right?
And agree to disagree, right?
Like tough racing and you move forward, right?
And then everything else was just mistakes of me pressing hard.
And that guy happened to be the victim where if it was any other person,
it doesn't compound as much as it did, right?
And at the end of the day, it just was having to deal with the consequences of it.
But in terms of on a weekly basis, like Jesse being year three in the rally series,
this is year one for me, right?
Like as he's a super proficient, works hard.
And I have a lot of respect for what he does off the racetrack to be as good as he is on
Saturdays.
And obviously he has earned that cup ride.
And I mean, yeah, I'm chasing him.
I'm chasing Connor, Sheldon, Austin Hill, like the guys I'm competing against.
So it's kind of a blessing to be able to be in that program because I can chase their ghost cars.
I can go and compete against them in workouts and on the Irish in Riggs and things like that.
And it's a balance of knowing like, hey, it's not like a personal thing.
It's more just we're all trying to be as good as we can.
And sometimes you smash into each other.
Yeah.
I mean, it's you made a good point.
It's guys all young trying to make a name for themselves.
And there's going to be contact no matter what.
It was definitely tough, I think, on my end, because I think from a perception standpoint,
not him and I, but Big Picture, it kind of seemed like it made it seem like, hey, I was
honing in on the one guy and it was literally just happenstance.
It could have been whoever.
Two guys racing hard.
Two guys racing hard.
Well, how many is it?
If it's race 17, there's four left.
Before the four left in the rally series, you're counting on your fingers.
Iowa, Atlanta, Daytona, and before chase.
Well, you're two out of the chase, bro.
We got to get on with it.
Well, what do we got?
We got three and 88 coming up.
Three and 88 coming up.
We got to catch a dub.
We got to catch a dub.
It would be a great weekend this weekend, wouldn't it?
I'm going to be a great one.
Yes.
Yeah.
So you are your four points behind William Swalch.
He's on the outside looking in as well.
You're sitting 14th.
It takes 12, correct?
12.
We got to try to sneak up here and get somebody.
It's coming.
Because then the rest of chase, you're in the 88.
So I need to get up in there.
Well, here's the deal.
Here's the deal.
You don't have to over stretch anything.
Right?
You just got to go there and be you.
And lean on, like, the only race that you're not in the 88, the rest of the year is
Indy.
Chase Elliott's in the card, Indy.
And then it's you the rest of the year.
So the mentality of having to reach or get something, you don't need that.
You let the car and the speed take care of yourself and make good decisions.
And you'll end up 10 spots better than you were just because of the car and the resources.
And let them change some tires on that.
Pick crew's getting you spots every week.
Yeah, it's good.
I mean, the best in class out of the Gibbs cars this week.
How's Chicago this weekend?
Track was actually super fun.
I was surprised how dirty it would get on every restart, though.
Even like the top lane, like it would just be dirty.
And I don't know if it was because of fireworks because there were I mean,
you saw how foggy it was.
So I think that may have had something to do with it.
But like the track was pretty racy.
And if we raced in the daytime, I think it would have been maybe a little bit better.
But I mean, the race was still looking back on it from a fan standpoint.
It looked like it was fun.
It was a good finish.
Every lane was usable and tracks like that are a lot of fun.
Well, let's let's take a quick break before we dive into some cup stuff because we'll do cup
breakdown, do a little bit of a ride breakdown and some memes with our boy Rajah Kirby-Crooth
here. More stacking pennies coming up right after this.
All right, let's break down a little bit of cup racing.
The Toyota Cup Series delivered another barn burner of a finish between the 19 and the 20.
Shout out Chase.
Chase Briscoe, man.
He's been knocking on the door.
They had a real slow start to the year.
Finally, that James Small led group punches their ticket.
Chicago lane, Victory lane.
That was cool to watch.
I'm partial to Chase Briscoe because he's just one of my favorite people.
I mean, perfect example of a guy led it like he did fine a Haas, right?
Wasn't superstar by any means.
Now he goes in the 19 team, good team, fast car.
And it's he's winning races.
Right. He didn't change overnight.
So that's a great example.
I'm stoked for Chase because he's doing when he can't he came here and sat right in your seat
when he got that ride.
And you could tell that there was a little bit of like, oh, shit.
Yeah.
Like I'm I better win.
I better make the playoffs and I better win.
It was a one year deal.
And he's delivering.
That's awesome.
Love to see it.
What do you where were you watching?
I was at home every time the cup races on I'll have my having on TV.
I'll have a Max in car camera on my phone and then I'll have the SMT on my iPad.
So I'm like full like nerd and out watching every cup race.
I didn't get to see anything because I was on pit road.
Why did Zane Smith spin spin us out?
I saw I was tired for hosting her yesterday.
Why does Zane Smith?
Everybody felt like there's a little history to cash their cash or cookies.
I guess there's something that happened a couple of laps before.
Is it just it's been a couple of weeks brewing?
That was like from Nashville, I believe I talked to Zane and he was like, dude,
he runs me all over the racetrack.
I show my nose and he chops it.
But like when the opportunity comes, I'm going to, you know,
Zane Smith, I grew up, I grew up working for a guy named Jimmy Bluett.
I heard of that guy.
Yeah.
So a little bit some parallels behind the wheel where he just pisses you off and
you're like, I'm junking this guy.
And then you go in there to wreck him and you end up wrecking worse than him.
Yeah.
Because he's ready for it.
And that but like host of R was like, are you just wrecked us?
All right.
All right.
I think I'm good.
Like that was it.
Like he didn't have an emotional reaction and he's like the guy and Jimmy was the same way.
Like you're going to try to get him.
You're going to fail.
He's going to remember and he's going to get you back later.
Even worse.
And like I'm telling you, host of R is just that guy right now.
I mean, it's smart because when you have a, I mean, I think about it like basketball
players that are like in the NBA that can know how to get under people's skin and get them off
their game because they know if they can get you off your game, then they've won and they know how
to overall win.
Well, I was riding along with Zane because I saw him going back and forth.
So I scrubbed back a couple of laps and there wasn't really indication before the like even
leading up to it.
There might have been a couple where he mirrored drove them up a couple lanes, but there wasn't
anything egregious and the 38 had to run off the top off of Ford on the front straightaway
and kind of did like a late peak in the 77 because they showed his in-car camera.
They had a great shot.
He's right out of the camera and he's like the corners going this way.
I was windshield and he's like this left down the down the hill.
That's what nine.
That's what a lot of the guys do though.
Not just that's how you that's how everybody.
And but also Tyler Green who you've been hearing for lots of weeks.
I think he's one of the best on the roof.
Like he essentially counted down coming one hat expect it expect it.
And then, you know, he just cranks it right and gasses it up, tries to say out of the fence
and the 38 wiped the room.
The room is day.
The room is day.
The room is day.
See, like people will get on me about host far.
Here's the thing when you're on a team.
Whenever whoever's team you're on.
I'm on your team.
You could go around the racetrack backwards and wreck the field.
I got your back.
Right.
That's how you have to be.
Yeah.
Well, that's that's how I'm telling you.
But that's how as a picker guy, it's like, all right.
Yes, my God, dude, let's go like this.
I'm here with him.
Right.
So I feel like yes, I was on the 38 last year when you're not with him.
Brigenti went down there and yelled at Zane at a host far.
Brigenti is a creature 30 and I was like, I don't know.
Their tire guy came down here and yelled at me or something.
Like he just knows that little stuff to say that we like this mother trucker.
Yeah, he is good.
And then soon as that was rewrapped.
So let's rewind the context on the 97 so and the 33 the 33 was three wide bottom of
a polka-no off of three.
Remember that ran up the 90 years off the bottom.
The 21 was top of three.
The 97 was in the middle.
33 blended like there was nobody out there.
Question.
Smash, smash, smash.
So what is the line between somebody trying like to run their best corner and make a mistake
and using somebody up or somebody going in and saying, hey, I'm going to use you up.
Like where does that go?
I'm like, hey, I need to get this guy back because there's a difference.
Not a definitive line.
But when you fought fast forward the following week to San Diego and he wipes Mrs. Turn 1
and wipes you out in the process.
33 did wiped out the 88 the 97 all those guys.
And then it comes around a couple weeks later and you've been stewing on it.
The line has now moved.
I'm over the line.
Rewind.
Shane also did burnouts around him at Sonoma.
They've been beefing since the O'Reilly series since the Xfinity step.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So this was his opportunity like I'm done with this guy.
And when you say back in the fence, bro, that thing, I haven't seen the next gen car that short.
Did you see the on the rear window?
Did you see the clip after when they after they wrecked and the 33 took a smoke at him?
And he goes, that fellow just hit my left front.
I saw Jeff Gluck tweet.
He said they asked him, you know, SVG about Austin Hill, which of course.
And he goes, yeah, I probably talked to him, but he just grunts.
Well, tough look for Derek.
I'm a big Derek Neal and Van, but he's like Van.
He's in time.
I'm like, brother, you better put some respect on that guy.
You know how to say his name now.
Yeah, you better say his name.
Yeah.
You call him.
Say that guy's name right.
Did Derek Neal and run a late mall?
Yeah, I believe he ran Oxford.
Yep.
I don't know how he did, but he's from up there.
He puts the work in like I do on the short track stuff.
He does a good job.
He's dedicated to the game.
So then the last run of the day, it became a it looked like it was the 24th day.
The 24 had control of the race.
The five was kind of in the mix.
He was leading and then it seemed like I thought the five was as good before they spun.
What happened?
He just busted his ass off for now.
Is it was it just light there?
It like it that second lane, it was pretty sketchy.
Like if you weren't weren't planning for it, like you had to either be like on the line on the bottom or
turning down across the bone.
Like if you were just like running like following the radius of the corner in lane two below that new patch,
it would be easy to get crossed up.
So it was like that in a rally car.
It's probably 10 X on a cup car with the stops.
Well, you are you.
Spring and they saw his in car camera.
He kind of gets a neutral wheel that he does like two of these and that was it.
It was it.
So he slides and as soon as he went in the grass, I'm like, Oh, he's done.
Like you're gonna be stuck.
Oh, you're on the rocker boxes, spinning the tires.
Then they got to get, you know, old John Boy out with the tow truck and hooking them.
Hook me up.
I love listening to Joe.
To our Joey or even Ryan Priest.
You could hear him in the in car camera screaming.
Is there a not the DVP?
I'm reaching the DVP.
These guys are bringing like they drove them to DVP where they just wanted to go to the pit box.
Anyways, then they're the only car in the field.
Apparently it doesn't run like the shock.
I was going to ask, is there a performance loss to not run in that air jack?
Or like if you run it, I thought that I'm sure if there if it was worse,
Cliff wouldn't run it, right?
But I'm sure it's going to go back to the table anytime to run it now.
But I always thought and had heard that if you run the system, it's like another three or four thou of travel.
Nothing rise for free, brother.
Ain't nothing rise for free.
But you lose weight.
Yeah.
No, I heard that the system was better.
But then there's weight, right?
There's the canister and then this and the hoses and the that.
So I'm not sure what teams preference is.
How many teams are running the system?
When you are it's like insurance.
You don't need to be the five car.
You're not going there worried about wrecking.
You're going there.
You do everything you can to win the race.
Yes.
And if we spin out and wreck our days, but you're you're not factoring in.
Well, if we spin out, how are we going to get out of the mud?
That's not in the.
That's not a playbook.
That's not in the playbook.
So over the time of him dragging the the strikes off the diffuser comes in,
but for tires on it, you probably wore three quarters of an inch.
I'm done.
You're done.
You're days over.
So it was a toss up at that point in time between the 19 started
to come on strong when the shade came in.
The 24 was still in the mix, the 20 and the 11.
And the 11, what he just jumped the cushion essentially got into the asphalt.
Yeah.
And that was easy to do, especially.
Um, I don't know what the cup race was like for because the pace picked up.
So I'd imagine that everybody just started gravitating lower, but even on
restarts on Saturday night, like if you got too high too early in the run,
it would just would be just dirty.
And I think maybe it's because of maybe the fireworks again or whatnot, but
it'd be easy to jump the cushion, so to speak, and just get in the in the crud and
not finish the corner.
The 11 got in the schmutz and his day.
I don't worry to end up finishing.
Fourth, maybe not some performance out of the car.
He wasn't in the mix for the end at the end.
Like looking at all the information and stuff in lap times, like I thought
the 11 and 23 like waited to to pit to hope they get on the right side of tires
at the end of the race.
And it was looking all right.
And then the 11 had that moment.
But I really felt like like watching it.
It was a race of like who was going to be first to start the cycle, which was the 19.
Yeah.
And they got the cleaner and even the 20 was faster, but got there.
And the 19, which I think that he does like such a good job of, of just like having that
lazy turn off the wall and then you can like just cover.
Yeah, defend because if you're like, pull it off the wall aggressively and then trying to cover,
like you pretty much set your trajectory to go one place.
And then if the person you're trying to cover commits to the other lane and they
got clean air, you're you're cooked.
There's nothing you could do.
Yeah.
So I think also it helped pass in that lap car at Bay's.
Y'all are going to go into one perfect spot to where they let the 20 couldn't wrap the bottom
and kind of generate anything.
So 19 catches the dub.
He puts himself sitting here looking at racing insights, eighth in points.
He's within.
It's going to be tough to get the sixth.
That's kind of like the line in which there's a cut line, obviously for top 16 to make the chase.
But then through the 10,000 simulations that racing insights did when they
formulated the points handicap to start the chase.
Unless you have a Tony Stewart, 20 11, 20 11 championship run, you can't win the championship
outside of seventh.
So they always guys have a little bit of work ahead of them because I think it's like 20 points.
Five.
I don't know what it is.
But anyways, sitting in that spot, Colarson, Colarson, sixth, Chris, Bush or seventh,
Chase, Briscoe, Josef, our Chris Bell cut lines getting tight, though.
Right here, Austin, Cinderick.
And the 43.
27.
The 43 is on the top.
He's 16th.
Ryan Priest on the outside looking in.
They're getting better.
43.
The legacy is getting better.
They are.
They are Joey Lugano, three time cup champ, 16.
16 points outside the cut line.
We've got two champions, 18th and 20th and Brad Kay and Joey Lugano.
Those guys, they got four or five shots at it.
They need to get there.
Who do you think has the better chance of getting in?
Priest Lugano, A. Jamin Dinger, Kislausen.
Look at speed.
Priest has been faster.
If you look at craftiness, Joey Lugano, you just don't.
Harder without the sixth car, though, with the plate races coming up, too.
Brad is in contention in Atlanta.
And the good thing about Brad, the good thing,
this is a host for our quote as well.
If you cause the wrecks, usually not in them.
Brad likes to cause.
That's right.
Right.
So that's right.
So and Joey, though, he's he could, I'm sure his odds, he'd be the odds.
He's in the top two or three going to Atlanta.
I put my money on him this weekend.
They got to have it.
They got to have it.
I think Joey has the best.
Nobody performs under pressure better than Joe Lugano.
No, I know it's in a bad spot and they haven't had the speed and call it 31st this week.
But when their backs are against the wall, nobody rises to the occasion more than those guys.
They have shown it time and time again.
What else we got?
Oh, I guess selfishly real quick, Chevrolets are closing the closing the gap on the on the Toyota.
So that's good.
Ford still got some work to do.
But 4th July, great to be back in Chicago land.
Now that there's not a way to get in and we don't have this final race, dramatics,
move 4th July back to Daytona.
O.D.
Do it.
Listen, I'll just text you, but July 4th, firecracker 400.
Let's do it, guys.
The reason we moved it was to have an exciting final finale for the season.
Right.
Go into the playoffs.
And it delivered for what it was.
It absolutely delivered.
We should also be a Friday, Saturday night weekend.
Not a Saturday, Saturday night weekend.
If I had to.
Or I decide that or I would if I had to pick wherever we go for 4th of July,
we can it would be a Friday night O'Reilly weekend and then Saturday night.
I've got a real dumb idea.
How about this?
Whatever day of the week to last 4th falls on, that's when we race.
Tuesday.
Could be a Wednesday.
Tuesday.
We're racing it.
It's next next year.
It's on a Sunday.
I looked it up already.
So that's what it should be.
So I don't know.
I think but the other thing is you could race it on Saturday and have your 4th
of July on the beach at Daytona.
That'd be fun.
Pretty awesome.
O.D.
There's how many years.
I'm sure the schedules are getting done.
And that's going to do that for a thousand.
All of them.
Yeah.
A thousand.
I mean, it was 4th of July and Daytona every year until the last two.
Yeah, it was special.
Don't get me wrong.
What we did it, the reason that this sport
moved the finale to Daytona, I get it.
It was great.
It definitely delivered.
But it's over.
Moving back.
Things are going.
Things are getting back right one step at a time.
And that's the one thing we can make right is Daytona.
July 4th weekend.
The other thing you need to make right is I saw yesterday
they had cars still trying to get into the racetrack while the race was.
Yeah, I think that there was some construction though on the interstate
that was nearby.
So I think that was like an anomaly.
But it was tough.
Like the reason it sucked is you weren't in the sport in Kentucky
when we raced the first time.
It was a lot.
I remember watching it though.
And they had like so many people who couldn't even get into the race to start it.
Didn't guys from the industry had to park and walk?
Well, that's like even a poke in the other show.
They had to do that.
But they we got police escorts in back then.
But that's the one thing is I'm like, man,
SMI does a great job bringing us these tracks.
But they got to get this traffic flow situation figured out.
Infrastructure, yeah.
Because you know, this week was that's NASCAR track.
Is it?
Yep.
Yeah, I thought that was a smart track.
Yeah, don't throw shade.
Catching straight.
Damn.
I guess at what point is that the the owners of the racetrack?
And then what point is it the local county in terms of like the infrastructure?
I think they were like a lockstep.
That's where like the guy from Pocono, the mayor of Pennsylvania was like,
this race brings in $75 million for Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania, I'm like, that's awesome.
Paid the pay of a second.
I can get nine long pound because it's brutal.
Yeah, paid the 75 million.
Yeah, that's what he said.
75 million is the revenue.
Yeah.
Here we go.
We got some penny for thoughts questions coming up.
We're going to take a quick break.
Talk to you all right after this.
This Friday, the ocean shows you to save us all.
The stories are true.
The story has just begun.
Oh,
from Disney, Moana, a mutton.
Daughter of the chief.
Let's save the world.
Ready?
It's Maui time.
I'm going to eat whatever that is.
His name is Hay Hay.
Boatsman.
Disney's Moana in theaters Friday rated PG.
For rental guidance suggested, get tickets now.
All right, guys, we're back for some penny for thoughts questions.
Make that a little bigger, man.
I'm old.
I can read it.
Give us the honest version.
How's 2026 actually going?
That's a hot topic.
It's going great.
You already heard it for an hour.
What's what is a win this year that the fans would never notice?
That's a good question.
I think a win for me this year.
Besides a win.
Besides whenever that happens, which hopefully is this weekend.
I'd say weekends like Bristol was in the 32 car.
Like Watkins Glen was Sonoma, maybe not.
I mean, I finished 14th at Sonoma,
but like the just solid like chipping away each lap of just
keeping the nose clean, being smart and taking what it gives
and being aggressive when it's necessary.
I'd say that those are the days that I've been looking for this year
because there will be times where it's, you know,
I'll be in position to win, but that's not every week,
especially with going between the two teams.
So I'd say, you know, days like Bristol and that 32 car
kind of wins for the year.
Who are three or four people in your circle?
Friends.
Yeah, we talk about a lot, you know,
the people that are around you holding your accountable
that you're able to talk to.
I'd say a lot of my sim racing buddies.
I mean, we race all the time.
So I'd say those people.
What about real life?
Real life.
Not in the metaverse.
Not some of them live here in North Carolina,
but Garrison Hogan, Malik Gray.
I'd say probably my lady, Darius Rush.
He plays for Washington.
I thought he was going for Darius.
Darius Rucker there.
Isn't there...
He's had the racetrack with us a lot.
He comes a lot.
Yeah, he's great.
Isn't there some beef going on in the E NASCAR series right now?
Something about Dover, some guys wrecking somebody's attention.
Oh, yeah.
The leaders wreck each other.
And I get it because the two people involved,
like one guy just kept using them up the whole race,
and then the other guy, as soon as he got a chance,
the thing is, it got the whole field.
It didn't just get the guy, anyone the race.
But I get it.
I totally get it.
I'll tell you, there's nothing that pisses you off more
than putting the work in and practicing
for some sort of eye racing race and you get wrecked.
I've never been more mad in my life.
Oh, you lived that reality during the COVID race.
Oh, buddy.
We had it.
We had it gamed one quick thing.
I don't want to spend too much time talking about eye racing.
God, God love it.
We get this.
I had this rig at the house.
It was sweet.
I had nice pedals.
I cut.
I used an old late model chassis,
put a seat in there, the whole thing.
And that was when it was COVID.
I thought that we were going to be professional eye racers
the rest of my career.
That's what I was going to be doing.
So they did this race at Wilkesboro.
I came in like third or fourth.
I remember this.
Oh, this is my crew chief.
He was my crew chief.
I was crew chief in Spod.
So I worked literally hours a day for a week.
And I finally figured it out, right?
It's like all the cues are different.
Simracing is challenging of itself.
I figure out how to get some speed.
So he figured out, Ryan did, that you get one reset or two.
You get one reset per race, right?
Well, we saved our reset.
So when you come in, you just hit literally hit the reset button
in the pit box and it changes your tires instantly.
You know, if the pit stops.
So we came in like six.
You gained like 10 seconds on the pit stop.
Yeah.
So we came in like six, hit the reset, come out leading.
With like 15 to go.
I'm like, oh, that's good.
Crew chief.
That's a great.
Let's get this where come out.
Come out lead in my.
I know I wrecked you might know my toe hung on the backside
of the pedals and it was like this pressure thing
where it was like a washer and this.
Oh, so we hung it.
My entire nylon stack of my brake pedal fell off.
So I had nothing pushing up against the brake
and it was just a dead stick.
So I just pulled off and like all of my pedals
were like an erector set underneath my feet.
I'm like, I hate to hear that.
I hate this is exactly why I hate simulator racing.
Well, just change the topic on my circle of friends.
Yeah, yeah, I'd say, yeah, Darius, Russian,
then probably Dauntrey and Sydney.
They both work at 20 through 11.
I'd say I don't have any family in North Carolina.
They're probably the closest I've got to that here.
What's the biggest difference between a truck?
How's the truck drives in a rally car?
The trucks are outside of like the etiquette and stuff.
I'd say like just overall like downforce,
like there's easier and they're fun on restarts
at the mile and a half where you've got different lane options.
But they can get pretty annoying,
especially with the engine rules and the splinters
and all that stuff.
Draggy.
Draggy and stuff.
And the rally cars like even driving,
even if you're in 25th, you're still willing that thing.
And you can make up in most cases,
make up for the car a little bit.
Whereas in trucks, I feel like you can be limited
with the rules and everything.
What do you learn from watching other series?
Like what do you steal from watching guys
when you watch your HBO Max and watch the truck series
or even watch your track stuff?
Like what do you steal from watching other races?
Yeah, there's always something I can learn,
even if it's like a decision that somebody made
or a reminder of, hey, not to put yourself on a bad spot.
Like I think Tyler Reif did a great job at the San Diego race
and I hated that finish for him.
But outside of like the chicane,
like that last restart was like money to a T,
like where he put himself.
So I think I'm just looking for really what not to do
and reminders of that.
Because everybody's so good at this,
at even the top three levels of NASCAR.
Like everybody's good for the most parts.
I've gotten to those certain points.
So it's a matter of putting yourself in position
to not make mistakes.
And I think that I'm always looking for what not to do.
And obviously on Sundays, right,
you look for not necessarily the flashy moves
but like what is putting somebody in a position
to go and win.
Penny for that.
We got a penny stacker this week.
Dude, apparently where the parking lots as bad
is what was made to be out.
Yeah, yeah.
Where they just moans.
I saw them, yeah.
I'm being honest with you.
We were, it was terrible.
And we had walked to our car.
And we had walked to our car.
These guys, they were helping push people out.
Yes.
Wow.
And got the JRM.
This guy, this guy, let's give him a shout out.
Matt Shownbrod at Nastalikin.
Nastalkin.
Nastalkin.
You say Nastalikin?
That's the username.
Yeah, Nastalkin.
These guys are the real ones.
The real MVPs.
Got a Conner Zillett shirt.
These guys are covered in mud.
Shout out Ryan Williams design.
Oh yeah.
So, bro.
So if that fella helped somebody out of the mud,
Penny Staggers.
So we're standing at our car.
The 17 had a problem with their pit box.
We're standing at our car.
It's like one o'clock in the morning.
Standing there.
He has some of two of my guys.
Parking lot is a minefield of mud puddles and soft dirt.
And we had carefully gotten to our car.
We're good.
Here comes Patrick Starpole with a fan.
Hey guys.
Would you mind helping push this guy out?
Because he's stuck.
I'm like, brother, I just walked here.
Like, I can't say no.
So I'm like, all right.
I said, hey buddy, listen.
Did your car front wheel drive?
He said, yeah.
I said, you keep the wheels straight.
If you turn the wheels, I'll spray with mud.
I'm coming in there.
And we pushed him out.
But my shoes were destroyed.
How did Patrick find himself with this particular?
I have no idea.
Okay.
He was the one that walked over and then Patrick comes to.
I like Patrick.
Drives a pit stop car, right?
He's like, I'm like, I like you, Patrick.
It's not time to be good Samaritan.
No, it's not.
I gotta wear these shoes in the racetrack tomorrow.
This is after the race was over?
It was one o'clock in the morning Saturday.
Yeah.
No, there's just there's certain.
There's were I felt good helping the guy,
but I felt bad with athletes foot today for sure.
Listen, and this bird, we all got stuff to do places to be people to see.
Oh, quick shout out to our dogs the week.
Can't wait.
I also got a shout out Pat, Donovan, Cody, like both of beef,
like our 88 crew that were in the monsoon.
I was there this week.
I lived you.
Like you guys were well.
Yeah.
They're pit.
The storm was coming.
Yeah.
Like biblical storms this week.
And Marty was like, we need to pull that pit box down.
And we're like, I think we're gonna be in worse shape.
We pull the same thing now because we had everything out.
Well, we got it like three quarters.
No.
Down and it came.
It came as.
Then they all bust in the holler.
They're just like dripping wet.
Mind you, I had that same experience on Friday
because we were at cats getting food and literally like I thought like a wall of water.
God was just wiping the face of the earth.
That's what was funny about when the star polly came up to ask us to push the car.
Donovan Williams, who is just this absolute stud quarterback at Yukon,
he's standing there and just as fireproof underwear as bottoms because his clothes were
all in the van and it was still locked.
So he's just worse fireproof long John's.
He's like, I'm not doing that in these bro.
But yeah, fastest team this week.
So on a Riley's race Gibbs cars are just out of this world.
18 team and 20 team were 18, 20, 54.
We were four.
So we're kind of best in class, but the Gibbs cars are leaps and bounds ahead.
So shout out to them.
And then Cup race 24 team just continues to kill it.
So 24 team dogs the week.
I think they had like three of the 10 fastest stops at one point.
They were just crushing everybody had pretty good days.
I about got killed by Todd Gilliland on pit road.
Oh, when he got spun out buddy.
It was close.
Me and Cody, but you almost had a new team.
I was like, man, that was almost a set of the check right there.
That was almost bad.
I'm glad you're all right.
Yeah.
It was one of those deals.
I guess so the 20 was like two stalls behind us 34 was right in front of us.
20 was pulling out clip Todd Gilliland spun him out and I pulled the tire.
I looked over and the car was just like three feet from me facing me.
I was like, okay.
And I was doing it was funny because I was doing a shock adjustment.
So I rolled the tire and I like forgot to do the shock adjustment because that
call mask.
Oh crap.
Went in there and turned it.
Um, 20 car had a backup tire changer this week.
Blake Houston normal tire changer was out.
They were good.
They're top top 10 on the day.
Put themselves in position in the race.
That's all you can.
That's all you can do.
And then base it.
I did see a little bit of a woe from the 11 maybe a rejack.
I didn't see much else on pit road because I was in the fire yesterday.
But 2014 continues just not stand them up knock down.
So they're crushing it.
Shout out to all the guys on that.
Shout out.
Bach was on my first truck.
Yeah.
Shout out.
Alan Holman.
Yep.
Alan Holman, Ryan Patton been around a long time.
Yeah.
Ozawaaski and Landon.
There's guys are just yeah.
Those guys are just awesome.
And shout out to you listeners each and every week,
Turner and Stacking pennies.
Raj, I appreciate you buddy.
Good luck this weekend Atlanta pull for him in that 8800 cars.com.
Where are we going?
We're going to Lime Rock Park this weekend.
Got Colin Braun.
Is the teammate.
Nice.
For that home race for the LaJoy family.
That is.
I think I sent think grandpa's coming up there.
Hans uncles.
So I'm excited to see them.
First time to Lime Rock Park.
First time to IRP here in a couple of weeks.
We'll have Connor daily join us as a guest.
He's driving 24 25.
Some fun ones first timers.
So it's all new to me.
Some excited about that.
I don't even know where park man.
Kind of nervous.
Like a bridge you walk across.
All right.
I'll figure that out.
I have a text you just sent me your notes on the place.
I appreciate that.
Appreciate you.
Keep tuning in.
Stack of pennies whether you're on YouTube or serious XM channel 90
or wherever you find your podcast.
Same place.
Same time next week.
Have a fantastic week.
Go to YouTube for more meme reactions.
More fun stuff.
Stack of pennies performance.
That's all I got man.
Have a great day.
Goodbye.
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All right.
Here we go.
First up we got old school was a nostalgia cup car.
Yeah.
La Ma.
I think we all saw the video Kurt Busch flying down the back
straightaway to 100.
196
Oh.
Digging.
There are some cool ones right there is the Kurt Busch Miller
light dodge.
Is that a Brad keselowski car.
See I thought La Ma was public roads.
But no.
Apparently it's closed down.
Holy cow.
That's their move.
That's Nuremberg.
No.
See they got Brian Patty set up.
Well there.
And that's Joe Nima checking the cow not in.
Car right there.
Toyota Cam.
That thing is a foot lower than everybody else.
I was watching that yesterday.
I'm like they got.
It's like a super late model perimeter.
Dude I could see.
I mean cup cars look good out there.
Let's bring an exhibition race out there.
What do you think the spec difference is between.
Although like there is no specs.
There's no specs.
No bro.
Not much wrong hope you brought enough.
Yeah when you see Kurt Busch's car going 40 miles an hour faster
everybody else on the back stretch he's got no specs.
Yeah.
No specs.
Next one up here we go.
Okay this is this Lance Stroll in practice.
So this is I've got a theory about this.
Let's run the tape.
Oh this is over the tire.
Watch this.
Big turn here.
And right there see.
I've got a theory that that F1 drivers do is like.
Because they know that people are always looking at their data
and they always know that there's a camera on them.
I think F1 guys make the cars look like they drive worse than they actually do.
Because this is a perfect example.
There is no reason to do that.
The corner is already done.
That's exactly why he's doing it.
The corner is already done.
What are we doing.
If anything that'll make it plow worse.
Right.
But that's that is why he's doing it to make it look like look how bad this car is.
Right.
And remember the narrative to start the year with the Aston Martin's like.
These things are vibrating me so bad I'm going to die.
They couldn't finish the race.
I think that they the driver builds up how bad the car is worse than it actually is to make it look like it's not his fault to an extent.
They do.
They actually have a very very exceptional way of doing that to make it look kind of tactful.
Yeah.
That's a perfect example.
That car is every car you could look at Kimmy Antonelli's.
He could do that with his car.
But he chooses not to because it's not creating tire heat.
It's not productive.
It's not productive.
But as Timmy Antonelli's dad also doesn't own the race he was driving before.
Yeah.
I'll do that scrub on iracing to get the tires worked in but not.
That's it.
You're not going to do it in real life.
All right.
Here we go.
What we got Stafford.
That's K race.
What do we got here.
Oh is this one where.
SK race flip over SK modifies.
Oh.
Oh no.
We got a couple of them up side down.
Oh my god.
That was an iracing Rick.
Dude.
You ever been to Stafford Raj.
No.
I've run SK's at Stafford.
One thing you need they run two barrels.
So you are on the fuel off of four right there.
Might as well.
And like it you run out of room quick and you're kind of you can't see anything
because everybody's stacked up in front of you.
Yeah.
So once somebody wrecks their off of four you don't you're just along for the ride.
That's why these guys just keep piling in and you're on the gas.
I want to be in the wreck too.
Because it's a two barrel.
Jesus.
And it was like the perfect combination of tires sitting each other like don't.
Yeah.
Not often do you see one hit one like a Lego car and just flip it over.
Yeah.
I've never driven a modified but I've always been scared like will it break your thumb if you hop
wheels.
Yeah.
Like a legend car kind of worse because the racks are so good now.
Holy cow.
Yeah nothing breaks.
Why don't you come drive mine.
Sure you should.
Yeah.
Not a boom gray go drive very drive anything.
Boaming gray is fun.
That looks like a fun track.
I'll tell you boom and gray by yourselves one of the most fun places in practice.
Everything is great.
The race.
Yeah.
It's not.
I love it.
Yeah.
Sure.
World Cup.
Dude I'm a big fan.
Who's this Harry Kane.
Oh I don't want to look.
Oh I don't.
I just fell.
He got an injury and a yellow card and he was not even.
Oh he hurt his tough day for homeboy.
No he just slipped and fell.
And he landed on his hand.
I saw that.
Yeah but you don't you don't.
Oh okay I didn't see it till just now his forearm is crunched in half.
Strong legs for soccer guys not great forearms.
I did that to my elbow in like fifth grade so I get squinted every time I see somebody.
The elbow is long way from the heart.
Talking of roll.
Oh good news is you don't have to use your arms to put a cast on each go.
True.
What's this.
The speed meme.
No uh oh you've been SVG.
Now people are now people are digging through clips here of when SVG spins people out.
Buddy.
Yeah dude.
A fan sent me a qualifying lap from SVG.
Oh gosh Shane.
Now it's personal.
See no here's the thing these are all out of context.
I guarantee you in 90% of this it was warranted that this was not the first.
Roger I'm gonna tell you this if you ever think it's more to run me over coming to the pit box.
No I'm that's why I said 90% except for that.
Oh no somebody sent me a video we have a lot of fans and shout out to Shannon who I met from Australia on pit road this weekend.
We have a lot of Australian people that listen to the show it's great and people from Australia New Zealand.
Somebody sent me a video of Shane qualifying and he was working these two levers next to him.
The one was red one was green.
It's different roll bars.
Roll bars.
Yeah.
Every corner and then working his brake as well.
Like brake lever front and rear anti roll bar.
Dude it was so sick.
A lot going on.
We got another one here so Legos put they made Lego like Segway cars look like for Silverstone this weekend and then
this is a typical driver thing.
One guy gets an idea like oh I'm gonna short cut the course here.
Everybody does it.
They didn't anticipate the gravel trap.
So this is hilarious.
But okay this isn't the other clip.
So there was another corner they all decided to cut and they drove it through the gravel trap and all of them got stuck and beached.
And it was a race to see who can get their cars out.
That's funny.
I love it.
What do we got here.
Starling's a little slow today.
Our mid white.
Do we have audio for this.
So got contraceptive toe shoes.
Running a show.
Oh ugly.
So these are all the things you should do to do not to have kids.
Yeah all of these.
First control.
Basically these are birth control.
I have none of those things.
This is what you want.
I have four kids man.
I don't have toe shoes.
I don't have my hydration vest.
Oh my god.
I love kids.
Yeah.
And I don't I don't love wearing any of this stuff.
You can't go socks and sand and flats man.
Can't go socks and sandals.
Can you go socks and sandals Raj?
Socks and sandals.
No.
Yeah you can't do it.
No.
That's weird.
What's one what's one fashion risk that you take.
There's no risks.
It's all calculated.
Okay.
Emotion.
Okay.
What do we got here.
Reminding.
That's a fashion.
Charles leaving the car from the trunk.
Others pretending that he is.
Stretching after.
Would you wear those boots.
They got to be color coordinated.
It's not matching the top.
Yeah.
If you're Charles a Claire man you can kind of pull off.
I guess it was not color coordinated.
I'm a big color coordinated guy.
That would be my tip.
I'm a big color coordinated.
Same.
Got to got to match.
Or compliment.
Oh.
Oh this was that.
Literally blind drivers.
This must be in Canada.
Because there's some nice haulers there.
This is in Canada dirt track NASCAR.
Do they tape up the visors.
Nor are they literally like legally blind.
Yeah.
They got a lot of context on this one.
That guy's beached.
Yeah.
Show us.
Just got to give us some.
Legalities.
You can't do this in America.
Oh my gosh.
Do you not have a spotter.
I mean no I think that's the thing.
They're like they they probably put.
Look at somebody sitting next to them and then they
blind they put a blindfold on.
Oh maybe because there's two people.
Yeah.
I would do that only if I could drive and say we could navigate.
I would love to.
That'd be fun.
Who would be your co-pilot.
If you were blindfolded driving and somebody had to navigate.
Josh Williams.
Yeah.
Actually yeah I would be a terrible navigator.
I'd say either Josh Williams or Brandon Wilkinson.
You gotta be a spotter because those guys talk and
and they'll certainly get you where you want to go.
How about this thing right here.
Talk about an American flyover.
A lot of cool stuff.
Oh these hatches.
Yeah.
That is close to the water.
Where is this you know.
It says Charleston on the map.
It says Charleston.
Okay.
I saw this video from like 2009 of these F-18s doing a fly
over over game and they got too low and they got fired.
Is that real.
They got fired.
They like got grounded.
Can never fly again.
Yeah.
It was like a crazy like they were like 25 feet over the state.
Yeah.
Like gear down like flaps fully out just like you could touch them if you're.
Look cool but you could never fly again.
I'd say I never felt more American this weekend.
There was a lot of cool stuff to take in celebrate in America's 250th birthday.
The only thing more American than this weekend is the Coke 600.
That pre-race for that.
Pre-race.
It's special.
Not the ill in NASCAR I mean.
Yeah.
Well it just in the world.
I'd say in the world Coke 600 is takes the cake.
Trying to think of all the things that are out there.
All right.
And Joey and Joey Chestnut's friend of the show.
Hey big dub 18.
Yeah that was on Saturday right.
Yeah.
It was on I remember it was in the hallway.
Hey did he have to choke somebody out again.
No.
Or is that that was recirculating.
Did you see the video of and I can send it to you.
Let's react to this.
Wait you mean literally choke somebody out.
A couple years ago somebody run up on stage and try to and he choked them.
Tossed him to the ground and won the still won.
Shout out to bro.
What's your Instagram.
Or what do you want me to send it to.
I want I want a blind reaction all this.
Who do I send it to.
No.
No.
That's a two years old.
The lemonade.
The post lemonade.
Damn it.
Yes.
I have no clue what you're talking about.
Did more come out then went just watch.
I wanted to catch him by surprise.
There's so many.
It wasn't a taste.
So many.
I limit the lemonade chunk.
That's two pouches.
One bro drink 23
Oh no is he going to.
Oh God please.
No no no this is go back to the beginning of it.
Go back to the beginning.
Oh no.
Yeah dude get off the stage.
Yeah that's.
This is the beginning of it.
It goes on for a while.
And they don't like home.
Finally he's like I'm trying to celebrate.
You got to go.
Yeah like hey man.
Oh man.
Like take this show somewhere else.
I'm so sorry.
They got the main event coming up.
You're gonna puke lemonade all over the table.
Jesus.
I would puke.
That guy drank a gallon of lemonade in like 22 seconds.
I got that one.
The big dude there.
A gallon.
Gallon.
Of all the things in the world to do why would you choose to do that.
Why would you choose to do anything.
Why would you choose to eat hot dogs 72 of them in 10 minutes.
Why would you choose to drive in circles and have everybody tell us we suck every week.
Yeah well it's a chance to win a trophy or two a year.
Fair point.
Right.
I think we're idiots too.
Why do you do it.
It's okay.
Yeah.
Joey Chestnut man that's what he's ever seen a jaw on that guy.
What else is he supposed to do.
Nothing looks maxing is what he does.
If he's selling you insurance he's wasting a great opportunity.
He was made to eat hot dogs.
That's it.
It's the glizzy champion 18 years runner.
There it is.
All right ladies and gentlemen that's Stag and Penny's.
Thanks for joining us.
Hope you had some fun.
I had some fun always time to get the chance to talk to Raj.
I'm checking in with him.
How was your day.
10 out of 10 times better.
Hey amen.
Amen to that.
Y'all have a fantastic week.
Keep Stag and Penny's.
That's all we got.
Goodbye.
About this episode
Rajah Caruth talks through a grueling NASCAR season split across rides, bouncing between the HendrickCars.com Camaro and Jordan Anderson’s No. 32 after a tough stretch that included Chicago travel delays and on-track heartbreak. He breaks down mistakes and lessons from Talladega, Dover, and Atlanta—especially when to push versus protect track position—plus what he’s learned from working with Dale Jr. and observing Cup-level routines. Caruth also reflects on how driving different teams (and resources) changes execution, not his mindset, and praises Jordan Anderson’s bootstrapped organization-building.
Original notes
Rajah Caruth joins Corey and Ryan fresh off Chicagoland to talk about his first full O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season — splitting the year between the JR Motorsports No. 88 and the Jordan Anderson Racing No. 32. He gets honest about the grind of the split schedule after three years in trucks, navigating his run-ins with Jesse Love while training alongside him in the Chevy program, and what it'll take to point his way into the playoffs.
Then the guys dive into the Cup side: the SVG drama and the unwritten rules of retaliation, a tightening playoff cut line with two champions on the outside, and the case for moving the 4th of July race back to Daytona. They close it out with fan questions and reactions to some of the internet's finest racing clips.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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