A rain delay is when NASCAR stops the race because the weather is too bad. When it happens, teams have to adjust their plans because the track and car conditions can change.
NASCAR races are split into stages, and stage two is the second part. Points are earned at the end of stages, so if the race stops before stage two finishes, it can change the strategy.
“Fords” means the Ford-branded race cars/teams in NASCAR. The speaker is saying Ford has been doing well lately and this race was another example.
Concept
car behind him to help push
That’s NASCAR “drafting” where one car helps another go faster by running close behind. The host is saying Blaney got himself in the right spot so someone behind him could help push him to the finish.
Concept
strategy was aggressive
In NASCAR, an “aggressive” strategy usually means taking bolder risks—pushing for track position, making earlier/later pit calls, or driving harder to force opportunities. The host is tying this to how Blaney commanded the race.
The “front row” is where the two cars start at the very front of the starting lineup. It’s usually a good spot, but they’re saying the winner didn’t come from those two cars.
“Damage” means the car got hit and something got bent or knocked out of place. That can make the car handle differently and can even change how it stays stable at speed.
A “bad vibration” means the car is shaking or vibrating more than it should. That can come from a problem with parts or how things are mounted, but they’re saying the driver still managed to drive well.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is a pickup truck that runs on electricity instead of gas. It’s designed to keep the usefulness of a truck, but with electric power, so it can be part of conversations about driving and capability.
The “nose” is the front of the car. If it gets destabilized or damaged, the car can start behaving unpredictably, especially when other cars are close.
“Back bumper touching” means one car’s rear bumper is hitting another car. That can shove the other car around and make it harder to control, especially in tight racing.
Term
shoved Blaney up in the fence
They’re describing how the contact pushed Blaney toward the wall. Once the car gets hit and starts sliding, it can end up pinned into the fence.
Blocking is when a driver deliberately places their car so another driver can’t pass. It’s a common tactic in NASCAR, especially on tracks where cars run close together.
Track position just means where you are in the running order on the track. In NASCAR, being ahead can be a big advantage because it’s harder to pass than it looks.
NASCAR has a painted yellow line on the track. If a driver goes below that line and then improves their position, NASCAR can call it against the rules and penalize them.
Super speedways are NASCAR’s large, high-speed oval tracks where cars often race in tightly packed drafts. Because speeds are high and airflow effects are strong, rules about lane boundaries (like the yellow line) and passing/advancing are especially enforced.
Christopher Bell is a NASCAR race driver. In this segment, they’re talking about how he’s still running well even with an injury and how close he is to staying in the points race.
Ryan Blaney is a NASCAR driver. Here, they’re talking about his win and crediting another driver, Christopher Bell, for helping set up the kind of performance that matters in NASCAR.
A road course is a type of race track with lots of turns and braking, not just left turns on an oval. Drivers can be better or worse on road courses depending on their car setup and driving style.
The cut line is the points “border” that separates drivers who are still in the playoff chase from those who are not. Being above or below it tells you how close someone is to making it.
Daytona is a famous NASCAR track where cars run very fast and often race in tight groups. How well you manage drafting and timing can make a big difference.
Raw speed is basically how fast the car is at its core. If a team has raw speed, it usually means they can run near the front even without perfect circumstances.
This is a NASCAR race track in Loudon, New Hampshire. Some drivers and teams are especially good at it because they can set up their cars to handle its turns and speed consistently.
A “setup” is how the team adjusts the car for a specific track. Small changes can make the car turn better, grip more, and wear tires in a predictable way.
Tires are a huge deal in NASCAR because they wear out and grip changes over time. Teams try to understand how the tires will behave so they can adjust the car and plan pit stops accordingly.
Qualifying is when cars run to determine where they start the race. The speaker is saying some teams care more about being fast during the race than being fastest in qualifying.
This means the NASCAR teams using Toyota race cars. The comment is about how they set up the car to be good in the race, not just to be quick in qualifying.
NASCAR races are broken into segments called stages. Stage 1 is the first part of the race, and if something goes wrong there—like a flat tire—it can hurt the rest of the day because you lose time and position early.
A flat tire is when a tire goes low on air or fails. It makes the car hard to control and usually forces the driver to pit, which can cost a lot of positions—especially if it happens early.
A “feud brewing” means two drivers are getting into a bigger and bigger rivalry. It often shows up as them racing aggressively against each other and taking things personally after earlier incidents.
Term
wreck himself
“Wreck” just means crash. Saying “wreck himself” means the driver ended up crashing—usually because of how he drove or what happened during the fight on track.
Concept
push him across
“Push him across” is about helping a car get up to speed using close racing (drafting). It’s basically teamwork on track, and it can get tense if other drivers don’t want to help.
The “start/finish line” is the track’s official line where laps are counted and races are scored. In NASCAR, pushing or positioning a car near that line can be decisive in the final outcome.
A fender is the metal/plastic panel that covers the wheel. If it gets knocked off in a race, it can hurt the car’s handling and can lead to more damage.
SVG is shorthand for Shane van Gisbergen, a race driver. They’re talking about his rivalry and how past results between him and Austin Hill could influence what happens next.
A “Cup win” means winning a NASCAR race in the top series. It’s the biggest level of NASCAR, so a Cup win is usually more impressive than winning in the lower series.
A “truck championship” refers to winning the NASCAR Truck Series season title. It’s a different national series than the Cup Series, often seen as a stepping stone for drivers moving up.
Rudy Fugel is the crew chief for the No. 24 team here. He’s the person making setup calls, and when he argues with the driver on the radio, it usually means the car isn’t behaving the way they want.
“Points” are how NASCAR ranks teams and drivers across the season. If someone is “12th in the points,” it means they’re currently 12th overall in the standings.
The “Chase” is NASCAR’s playoff stretch that decides the championship. When the hosts say it’s starting soon, they mean teams don’t have much time left to fix problems and be ready.
The Subaru Uncharted is a Subaru model name used for an adventure-themed version. It’s connected to the idea of trying something new, especially for outdoor or off-road style driving.
Term
pressure driving
This means the driver and team feel a lot of stress to keep winning or stay in the championship race. That pressure can change how they drive and how fast the team tries to fix problems.
Hendrick Motorsports is a top NASCAR racing team. The discussion is about how being on a team with a history of winning creates extra pressure to keep results strong.
Tony Stewart is a famous NASCAR champion. The host is basically saying that winning a championship sometimes takes an exceptional, almost unlikely stretch of results—like Stewart was able to do.
“Victory lane” is what NASCAR calls the place where the winner goes right after the race. If a driver hasn’t been to victory lane, it means they haven’t won races lately.
They’re talking about a driver briefly not being fully locked in—like a momentary mistake. In NASCAR, because cars are racing so close, those small mistakes can cause crashes.
They mean mistakes that seem out of character—errors that don’t look like a normal pattern. The concern is that if the errors are unpredictable, it’s harder for the team to fix them.
The “wind column” is basically the win total—how many races someone has won. A “goose egg” there means they have zero wins.
Term
upper hand
“Upper hand” just means who seems to have the advantage right now—like the cars are working better and the strategy is paying off. It’s basically who’s most likely to control the race.
A “drafting track” is where following another car helps you go faster with less effort. Because of that, the race can change quickly when cars form packs.
Talladega is a super-fast NASCAR track where cars often run in big packs. That makes it easier for the race to flip late, so a win can come from timing and drafting more than just season-long dominance.
Darlington Raceway is one of NASCAR’s most famous tracks. It’s known for being tough to race on, so teams have to set up their cars carefully and manage tires well.
Denny Hamlin is a well-known NASCAR driver. Here, the host is saying he’s been performing at an extremely high level this season and will be hard to beat at Darlington.
Lime Rock Park is a road course track (not an oval) that NASCAR trucks have raced on. It tests how well the cars handle turns and how drivers manage speed through corners.
The Craftsman Truck Series is NASCAR’s series where the race cars are based on pickup trucks. It’s a big league within NASCAR and often features drivers working their way up.
A winless streak means a driver hasn’t won any races for a while. It’s a common sports storyline because it adds pressure to finally get a victory.
Place
Kern Raceway
Kern Raceway is mentioned as an important early location for the truck series. The host brings it up to support the idea of racing trucks on more short tracks.
Landon Lewis is a driver in the NASCAR Truck Series. The host says he was right behind Grant Enfinger at the end and managed the situation without wrecking him.
“Dumped” here means one car got shoved or hit in a way that sent the other car out of control. It usually describes aggressive contact that can lead to a wreck.
The Lucid Air is a fully electric car, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. When people talk about taking it on longer trips, they’re usually talking about how far it can go before it needs charging and how easy charging is along the way.
Topic
modified tour
The “modified tour” is a regional stock-car series featuring modified-style race cars, typically with rules that differ from NASCAR’s national series. Here it’s mentioned as part of a plan to blend local regional racing with NASCAR’s truck series to boost attendance and visibility.
Topic
cars tour west
“Cars tour west” refers to a regional stock-car touring series operating in the western U.S. The speaker is proposing combining regional series racing with NASCAR’s truck series schedule to bring more national attention to local events.
Place
Luxboro
Luxboro is a race location the hosts are talking about. They’re saying it tends to attract different kinds of NASCAR drivers, which helps bring more fans to the event. The discussion is about how that kind of attention energizes local tracks.
“Cup guys” means NASCAR’s top-level drivers and teams. The host is saying you’ll see big-name NASCAR people at this local event. That kind of crossover can help draw more fans to the stands.
“Truck guys” means NASCAR drivers who race in the Truck Series. Instead of cars, that series uses pickup trucks. The host is saying those drivers, along with top Cup drivers, will be at the event—helping it draw a crowd.
Flemington, New Jersey is one of the places the hosts say they used to go for races. They’re using it as an example of how different regions can get excited when racing comes to town. The discussion is about keeping more fans in the stands by spreading events out.
Louisville, Kentucky is another city they mention from the past racing schedule. They’re saying that when races visit different places, local fans show up and the whole scene gets more energy. It’s part of their point about spreading events out.
Evergreen, Washington is one more example of a place the hosts say they used to race in. They’re using it to show that different regions can get a lot of local support when events come through. The bigger theme is keeping more fans engaged by not ignoring regions.
Portland, Oregon is one of the cities they mention as a place they used to go for races. They’re pointing out that when racing shows up in different areas, it tends to draw crowds. This is part of their argument about spreading events out more.
Tucson, Arizona is another city they bring up from the past racing schedule. The hosts are using it to show that races used to travel more widely, which helped local fans get excited. They’re saying that’s become harder because of money and TV deals.
The Idaho 200 is a big race weekend in Idaho. The hosts are going there because it’s one of the biggest events for that region and it draws a lot of attention. It’s the kind of race that helps local tracks and local fans get excited.
“Pro late model” refers to a class of race cars used in short-track racing. It’s a competitive, organized level of racing where teams build cars specifically for that series. Here, it’s the type of race Keelan and the hosts are doing.
“Summer showdown” is referenced as a major event in Washington and described as the biggest event for that region. The host uses it to emphasize how certain weekends become the focal point for local racing attention. It’s a scheduling/market discussion rather than a technical racing topic.
North Wilkesboro is a NASCAR race track in North Carolina. It’s the kind of track where cars are close together, so traffic and strategy matter a lot. He’s saying this race should feel more like a normal full-field NASCAR race than what they’ve recently seen.
“Lapping cars” is when one car goes around and passes another car that’s behind by a full lap. In NASCAR, that can make it harder to drive your best line because you’re dealing with slower cars in your way.
“Lapped traffic” means you’re dealing with slower cars that are behind you by a lap (or you’re dealing with cars that are about to be lapped). It can mess with your driving because you can’t take your ideal line every time.
Jeff Gordon is one of NASCAR’s most famous drivers. In this segment, they mention him because he won the last points race at North Wilkesboro back in 1996.
Martinsville is another NASCAR short track, and it’s famous for cars running close together. He’s saying if your car isn’t handling well there, it can feel really rough because the faster cars get to you fast.
Term
pick the 11
“Pick the 11” is a NASCAR-show game where the host names a set of drivers to watch or predict. It’s not a car part—more like a weekly prediction challenge.
Term
championship possibility to make the chase
NASCAR has a postseason where only certain drivers qualify based on points. When they say someone is still in the chase, it means they still have a real chance to make the playoffs.
Term
race in the trunk
That phrase means “start near the back” and spend the race working your way forward. It’s harder to win from back there because you’re stuck in traffic.
“Shifting” is changing gears while driving. The host is basically asking whether the race will require a lot of gear changes or if it’ll be mostly steady.
NASCAR has a playoff system. The “bubble” is the point in the season where some teams are right on the edge of qualifying, and a couple races can make or break their chances.
California Speedway was a NASCAR venue in Fontana, California, known for hosting major stock-car races during its run. The host calls it “old ass” and argues it should return to avoid ongoing schedule debates about California.
When they say “Kansas,” they mean the Kansas race on the NASCAR schedule. The host thinks it doesn’t get as packed as it used to, so he questions why it’s run twice.
Road America is a well-known race track in the Midwest with lots of turns and elevation changes. The host wants it added to NASCAR to give the Midwest more representation.
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Kevin just said he wrecked his own cars to win races before.
He won't wreck the kid because he said,
I don't want to pay for that.
I knocked him out of the way too.
Yeah, but he didn't wreck him.
Not yet.
Yeah, not yet.
Do I need to dim my roof?
No.
You don't.
You need you to have a crashed dummy helmet, maybe.
That's not nice.
Ha ha ha.
California's Kevin Harvick coming.
Kevin Harvick's happy hour presented by NASCAR on Fox.
I'm Kevin Harvick, Caitlin Vinci and Sleepy Mumbo.
Sleepy Mumbo.
Sleepy Mumbo.
Fresh off of his arrival from Atlanta.
Right?
Yeah, fresh.
Brightly this morning.
Bright item, Busy Dale.
That's you.
I was really surprised when our group tech started firing up
and you responded at 8 AM.
I was too.
Wow.
I know.
I thought he's either on the way to the airport or I don't know what.
I had landed at 8 and I was in the taxi to my house.
Taxi.
He's got a taxi service.
Taxi.
No, no, no.
You walk out the door and there's taxis there.
Oh, okay.
So you're not an Uber guy.
You just jump in a taxi.
No, because honestly from Charlotte Airport to my house, it's cheaper to do the taxi.
There you go.
Than the Uber.
Yeah.
On average.
Would it take you longer to drive home or than it would have to drive to the airport
and fly?
Would it take me?
Oh, because you would have been home at 6.
If I would have just left 30.
It would have been pretty close.
Yeah.
Well, hang on.
It would have been pretty close.
I got to the air.
I got to my hotel at like two.
Yeah.
And so we're like, you know, three hours.
Yeah.
It took me longer to go back to the hotel.
You would have been home two and a half hours.
I slept for an hour.
So I took a nap.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it was a late one.
NASCAR after dark.
Oh, was it?
Yeah.
That's what we are calling this.
There's plenty to talk about.
But here you see it.
There was a big over three hour rain delay that took place out at Atlanta.
Only got to partially through stage two before this storm rolled in.
So we have a lot to talk about leaving Atlanta Motor Speedway.
We're of course going to preview North Wilkesboro coming up next.
And Mamba social sips is so strong that everyone's going to be hammered by the end
of it.
Yeah.
I don't even know if our guy could make it through a segment that that's that is that
long.
I don't know.
We're going to find out.
This is the longest section in history.
Sleepy.
Sleepy.
Mamba might struggle.
I'm proud to find out.
But guys, this was a very intriguing race, I thought.
There was a lot of storylines throughout the entire course of the race.
We kind of said it last week that we felt like this was going to be a very entertaining
event.
Did you get what you wanted to see from Atlanta?
Well, my guy that I picked won.
So that really.
That really, that really makes me happy.
So if you want to know who's going to win the race, just ask me.
But you know, it's it Ryan Blaney that they showed up.
And I think that the Fords have been strong here the last several years and this time
they showed up and we're strong again.
You know, mostly, mostly Blaney, he started in the front, stayed managed
the race really well and was able to put himself in a position right here to have a car behind
him to help push him to the start, finish line and win the race.
So and ultimately Carson Hosevar doesn't have any friends and there was not a soul pushing
him across the start, finish line.
It was so evident as to who was going to push who and they were not going to push him.
Yeah, that is true.
And so Ryan Blaney, obviously victorious career win number 19, 750 wins for Ford.
By the way, we've been talking on the show about some of the struggles for Team Penske
and this is obviously a huge moment for Ryan Blaney.
He's been good, decent, but just not maybe how we've seen him in the past.
Well, I mean, he's he's jumped into the points lead here for the regular season points.
So our YRB is he's just a dog.
I mean, we've known that for a long time.
He's a champion, obviously.
I think if you ask certain people that he's the best driver in the field right now,
at least, you know, tit for tat for whoever you think is up top.
The way that they commanded the race, that car was on a massive fire.
It was a strategy was aggressive.
Oh, man, it had a lot.
It had the way he drove it, too.
It's like kind of like Dale Jr. from back in the day at Dayton and Talladee.
Just like Pied Piper in the field and staying up front, slicing it.
And then when he came back, when he had to go back after the second stage,
he was still able to make his way through methodically.
It reminded me, Kevin, a little bit of like a Daytona race from like the 90s
with the way they got strung out.
And Saturday was like that, too.
And we didn't think that it was going to be like that.
But at the end of that thing, I was sitting with Marty Smith and Jamie Mac
and Jeff Burton, and I said, look, you're going to see this.
Whoever's going to win this won't be from the front row, because no one's pushing
the 77. And so, yeah, he had damage.
Oh, well, yeah, him and Bubba with Bubba and he was radioing to the team.
He had a bad vibration and was still able to drive well.
The car was.
Kev, is that a late, late block?
Is that a race and deal?
What's your, I've, you know, what?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I think at this point of the season, knowing everything that's
happening, I think Bubba is doing everything that he can do to try to keep
the lead. And, and, you know, in the end, he shoved lightning in the fence
and as easy as the noses are to lose on these cars.
I think right there, you know, the nose kind of taken off in the front
and back bumper touching and it just shoved Blaney up in the fence.
But luckily for, for Ryan, it didn't do any more damage than, than what you
thought. And actually it doesn't even look like they touched right there.
It's just when you've shoved that air up in front of those cars at Atlanta,
you're so on the edge of shoving the nose at any given time that those cars
will, I think it just took off right there and Blaney got in the fence.
But I don't, don't think that that's anything on Bubba.
I think he's doing everything he can do to try to keep the track position to,
to win the race and blocking part of the game. And, you know, as, as you saw
earlier in the race, when Bubba blocked and, and Ty was going quite a bit
faster than he was, it, it turned Bubba around. So that is just a chance that
you take when you, when you block and, and 23 got away with that one and
didn't get away with the one earlier in the race. But it's, you know, it's
definitely part of the, part of the game at Atlanta as much as anywhere
because you have all these runs that are, that are coming and going.
And, um, you know, it's sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.
Bubba Wallace was Mamba's pick and he obviously was penalized for attempting
to advance his position by going below the yellow line. Do you feel like this
is obviously fair or any room for interpretation on what was decided?
Uh, is this the same rule that we've had at all the super speedways forever?
That if you go below the yellow line and then you advance your position after
that point, like, I understand what Bubba is saying when he's like talking
about, I didn't advance my position. And I think you're below the line right
there.
We can make that. Yeah. Like I, I, I picked over the win. That's one of my boys,
obviously, like I want that not to be the call, but I, for my whole life, I
feel like that's been the same thing. And I'm like, yeah, I hate it, but it is
what it is.
Well, and, and he went below the line and came back up beside the cars on the
front row. So he advanced his position. And so it's a really simple call.
Yeah. You can see the tire marks. Like he really yanked the wheel down to get
below Carson. Don't think you need it to though. But yeah, I think I'm a whole
laying down. Yeah. And Carson was like, you are way out there. So I'm not going
to go and kind of left him out there. Cause he didn't even try to block really.
So yeah, but just sucks.
So Ryan Blaney said one of the reasons that he was able to win was giving credit
to Christopher Bell. Shout out to him. And I want to say for him, he has had
three consecutive performances in the top five reminder. He's still obviously
racing with an injury. And when I spoke to Christopher, I think he just wanted
to get through the road courses and he felt like with these other tracks, it
wouldn't be quite as much of an uphill battle. But he is still trying to not be
denied his points. He's currently ninth plus one 13 to the cut line. What are you
seeing from Bell?
Well, they've done a good job in minimizing the damage with, with the
injury. And, and as you, as you look at the points and, you know, he's, he's
sitting ninth. So still a possibility probably to get to seventh. If he, if he
has a, you know, some, some good runs here at the end of the last races of the,
of the regular season, but look, Bell has the speed. They have the speed that
they need to, to compete. And, and I think that you've got Daytona and
Talladega, no road courses the rest of the year. So, you know, they did great.
He usually does great at Atlanta and put himself in position to have a chance
to win again at Atlanta. And I think as, as you start to get these races that
are in their wheelhouse, I think when you look at Loudon and, and you know, some
of the places that, that they have to go, I still think that I think he wins
before they get to the playoffs. I think that they're just, they finally kind of
hit their stride. I believe they had a ton of bad luck. They made a ton of
mistakes. And then you add the injury on, on top of that to go with that and
still sitting ninth in a point. So I think he wins before the playoffs or
for the chase starts. And I think that they contend throughout the last 10
weeks of the season, just because they have, they have raw speed. Yeah.
You agree? Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think they, yeah, I think they circle
New Hampshire motor speedway for sure. He's been the guy to beat there over
the last, what, like three years, four years. And then you, that race last
night was like a carbon copy of the spring race. Like the, if you looked at
who was in the front, it was the 12, the 20, 23, 77. And it was like, again, it
was the 12, the same guys. And I'm like, this is impressive. It makes me think
that everyone's starting to get a handle on what they're really good at and
where they're really good. And you can start like as analysts, you can start
being like, no, like they're going to be good here because they've been good
here. Now it's not so much of a kind of a random shot in the dark. Like
everyone's starting to figure out the car, the tire, their setups, what they
need. Yeah. The Toyotas are pretty adamant to they are set up to race, not
qualify. Cause I know that to you. So next up was Carson Hosevar, who ended up
third on the day, even though he was able to battle back through the field
from a flat tire going down in stage one. But I want to talk about some of the
things surrounding Carson outside of just the race finish this week. Yeah. Yes. So
they had their meeting, obviously with, with NASCAR with interesting
situation. Zane Smith. So Zane, just pretty adamantly saying, I don't like
him as a human where Carson seems to not even know that this, why this is
happening, right? That he didn't realize there was a feud brewing between the
two of them. And you can't really cite many examples on track between them where
you can with SVG and Austin Hill. So what do you think about this whole
exchange and the differing opinions on, is it a feud? I don't even, can we call
it that? Cause one person doesn't seem to know it is. What do you think?
It has to be a feud. I mean, we saw Zane Smith drive through him last week and
wreck himself that he wanted to wreck him so bad. So look, there's nothing new
with, with Carson, right? Like he's, he's made a lot of people mad, apparently
everybody, because nobody that was around him at the end of that race even
wanted to get in the same line that he was in to push him across the start
finish line to win, but he owns it, right? Like he's fast. He owns it. And he's
just, he's living and dying on the sword, right? And, and I think that eventually
it's just going to keep going to the point where he either wins a bunch of
races or he has to, he has to say, well, I'm going to have to do something
different because everybody around here doesn't want me to do anything. And it
costs him a chance at winning this race this weekend because nobody would,
nobody would help him. But as that list gets bigger, he doesn't, he doesn't
seem to mind, which is great for all of us. I love watching it.
the, the confrontations. I love watching the chatter. I like the way he drives
too. And, but you're going to piss a lot of people off with, with the moves and
things that you're making. But when you have the speed like he does to, to
back it up and you own it, it's not like he's making up some BS that, that,
that makes you think that, oh, I'm a nice guy or, oh, I didn't do this or I
feel sorry for him. He's just right to it. Honest. And I'd rather have it that
way than some BS to go along with trying to justify it.
Let's hear the driver reaction and what they had to say concerning the situation.
Good thing that fans, you know, are passionate about, you know, I don't
have seen any of it. You know, if they're insulting anything other than just
anything on a racetrack, um, yeah, I don't obviously condone that. You know, we
all look and sound and are different. Yeah, I mean, I look goofy. So, um, yeah,
that's not cool. But I don't know. I mean, I mean, if people are going to be
sensitive about it, just, you know, just telling them to comment on my stuff, I
want to see it. I think it's funny. So, you know, I surely get it. And I love it.
I think it's good. I think that's what drives sports is, um, passion and, um,
clashing. It's good. Okay. So what do you think hearing his reaction? He's
very unbothered. Just doesn't seem to be phased by, I would assume he wants the
respect of the other competitors, but he, he doesn't have a lot of friends.
Here's the thing. Cost him a win. This is, this is the thing. You can be like
that and it's fun. It's fun for us to watch. It's fun for us to engage with.
It's fun for the fans. Like his sponsors love it. Like, but at some point,
you're running for a championship and you can't necessarily be like that. We
had Joey Logano in this chair the other week talking about what cost him a
championship and it was running, handling a situation with another driver.
Poorly felt like he cost himself and being a four-time champion is a lot
different than being a three-time champion. And Carson Holst of our being
a multi-time winner is a lot different than being a one-time winner. Now, I
think Carson will find ways to win. They're just going to be harder because
even if it's not a super speedway, your competitors can cut you breaks or not.
Right. They can help you or not. They're having a bad day and you're having a
good one. And now all of a sudden, now this guy's in your way.
Yeah. Oops, the fender got knocked off. Oh, my dad, my dad, was it going
bad anyway? I'm in the fence. I got like, so you got to, you got to really
think about it, but he seems to not care. I think it's an interesting dichotomy
at what point does the caring start? Because the chase is right around the
corner and, you know, you guys are trying to do something that this company's
never done before. So, um, but again, it's fun to watch. I, I, I have enjoyed
watching. I enjoy all the commentary, but he doesn't, he doesn't seem to care.
And he called the guys out on pre-race this week. He said, if, if anyone wants
to throw down, I'm here for it. And then Corey Heim responded to that on
Twitter and said, crying emojis and just wrote son. And I'm like, all right,
bro, like, here we go. I think this could rear its head. I don't, I don't really
envision him as being like a really good fighter either. You just better pick
the, you bet the right guy is the right guy. He's going to knock your teeth out.
If the right guy, if you get into the right guy on the right day, like a Ricky
Stenhouse, right? Oh boy. Yeah, we know he likes to eat. Daniel Suarez, Daniel Suarez,
Michael, you're luckily, you know, Michael McDowell, Michael McDowell and Daniel
on your team right now, but that's right now. Yeah. Yeah. So this, this feud is
interesting to see how this will play out. So too is the SVG, Austin Hill. And like I
said, they obviously had to meet with NASCAR and it's like the light weights and the
heavy weights. Yeah. It is a bit that way. Interesting. Um, dynamic. So it seems
like SVG kind of just wants this to be done, but he was saying that they've,
they have a history of not racing well against each other. So this one's easier to kind of
pinpoint the incidents that have occurred between the two, but he has points to protect.
And so I think he's thinking in his mind, right? Like, I don't want this to come in between my
chase hopes. He needs to diffuse it and he needs every point that he can get for the next
six weeks because he's right on the edge of, of, of being on the outside looking in and 15th. So
he's got, he's plus 31. So we're going to a lot of places that are not road courses.
And Shane has done a good job at a lot of ovals, but it's the weeks that don't go good.
That's the problem, right? Like he winds up having the good weeks on ovals and then
they wind up laying an egg at places and wind up with a 25th to 30th place finish. And that's
what he can't have right now. And the last thing that Shane needs is Austin Hill out there
who could give two shits less about anything that's happening on the racetrack, on the cup side
right now, because he's not racing for a championship. He's there making labs, learning
and just winging it. And you know, that's, that's the danger when, when you're racing for something
and the other guy is not, and you know, I think for, for both of these guys having a conversation
with your team owners, drivers, and the NASCAR brass up in the trailer, I don't feel like this
has been as common over the last several years. When's the last time you've seen it happen? But
now it, now we have these great rivalries and, and these guys are going at it verbally and on
the racetrack. And, and that's what, that's what makes NASCAR racing great. And, and, but at some
point it's a detriment. Like you have to put, squash it and you have to diffuse it
and you have to be able to, to move forward. So we'll see if, if the politics of, of being able
to do that are being played well on, and either of these battles to be able to diffuse it or
move on, because you have one side that's kind of like, screw it, let's, let's do it. You know,
the host of our approach and I would assume Austin Hill is probably the same way, just a little quieter.
Yeah. But I think that either way, for Shane, it's worst case scenario, because the other
guy has nothing to lose. Right. So we've been talking about SVG. Let's hear what he had to say
over the weekend about this topic. What was your big takeaway from the meeting,
Austin had a big smirk. How about you? I mean, was it just to kind of slap on the wrist?
No, I guess it was a serious talk. I don't know how much I meant to talk about it, but
I'm still, you know, I've been here long enough to know how it works, I guess, but also still,
still learning as well. That's my first time in the hall. One person seemed more remorseful and
he got to move on than the other. Yeah, it's hard. I don't know how much to say, but yeah,
I come happy, but obviously I got the most to lose and he doesn't. So.
So SVG, obviously the one more remorseful, because I think maybe Bob Pockers asked who was the one
with more remorse than it was him. Yeah, I, it's, look, man, it's just fun. Like this is really,
really fun to watch and witness. And, but to Kevin's point, I hope the guys behind the wheel
know when to do this and when not to do this. And I don't quite know if these guys specifically
know exactly when. And then on the whole Sephora side, it's, you know, percolating with the whole
field. So like that's a whole nother thing. It's not just, it's one thing where it's one on one,
but everyone is just waiting for their, their pound of flesh. You know what I mean? So you
got to pick your moments because everyone has stuff on the line. And you know, we've seen
rivalries like Kevin hated guys for forever. And every time they were next to each other,
you think they were going to wreck each other. They didn't, they just raced each other really,
really hard. And that's my point of, of how to manage it, right? Like you can't wreck somebody
every time you're around them. Right. Like at some point you have to, you have to be able to race
around that guy and, you know, when, when the moment's right, then, then you, you fire it back
up, but at some point you have to diffuse it and you have to wait for, for the right moment.
And you have to play the politics in the trailer, right? And you have to say the right things to
the NASCAR folks. And you have to say the right thing to your competitor. And then,
you know, if you need to, then you just flare it back up, but you got to know how to diffuse it
at the right time. Corey Heim waited four years to bring it back up. Corey Heim waited four years
to get back for a championship. And I don't think his get back is done yet. Cause a championship
over a win is like, that's a lot. You know what I mean? And when he's racing full time in cup.
I don't know. I'd take a, I'd take a cup win over a truck championship.
Well, that's easy. I don't know. Well, Corey Heim now has to do that.
I would be in a champion. I love that. Kevin, speaking of diffusing, one team that we heard
pretty spicy on the radio, who we typically do not was the 24 William Byron and Rudy Fugel,
exchanging some heated comments about the car. And it honestly didn't really sound like either
one of them. But do you think this is just a byproduct of this point in the year where they're
at? Haven't won tensions flaring. I'm worried because this is not normal. Rudy Fugel and
William Byron on the radio. And I would assume that we might have some milk and cookies conversations
coming to the Hendrick Motorsports, because that is, you can tell they're out of character. And
when you're, when you're not running good and things are not going good and the communication
is not good and drivers complaining and crew chief snapping, there's that, that's when things are
not right. Yeah. In, in the shop at the hauler on the racetrack. And, and I think it's been,
it's been a, it's been a frustrating year and, and William Byron's all the way back to 12th
in the, in the points. And honestly, that's about, that's better than I thought it would be
based upon their year and the way that they've been so up and down. I can only think of one or
two weeks that it's been like, oh, 24 is running good this week. It's kind of recently too. And,
and I think that that frustration is, is setting in. And I think that William is being vocal. And,
and when they get, when it gets to that point of vocal on the radio, you can fix that a couple
times because William Byron's just not, I mean, he's not like that on the radio. Rudy's not that
like that back. Yeah. And, and I think that it definitely shows signs of problems. Yeah. I've
listened to those guys for a lot of years when they were in trucks and now cup, like he said,
very uncharacteristic behavior, but time is ticking. There's only six weeks now remaining
until the chase begins. So it could just be coming to a head. Well, the 24 group is a really tight
knit group. They're, they're a band of brothers. Like they are connect, like connected. And they,
you're talking about a group that wins like four to six races. They're connected while they were
winning. This is the first, they haven't had breaks people down. They haven't had, they haven't had
that adversity like this since before Rudy took over the helm, right? This is the first time with
this group. So I think it's a new uncharted territory and they expect to be running for a
championship and they probably know the way that they are right now. They are not going to be
anywhere in the conversation come Miami. So the pressure is on to get these cars faster
and to get William what he needs and Williams needs to focus on what he needs to focus on,
but pressure for everybody. Yeah. Right. Well, we're going to test it's tested in their character.
And when you see, that's why I'm saying that you're starting to see it break down
when you hear that, that communication and you either rapidly fix it and you get everybody's
attention and likely that's what the Hendrick group will do. Imagine so. But look, you got,
you got the pressure driving for Hendrick Motorsports. You got the pressure of being a winner in the
past. You got the pressure of driving the 24 car. You got the pressure of knowing that you're soon
to be out of the championship hunt because you're too far behind and your performance is not good
enough. So you're going to make the chase, but you're not really a contender. And I think the
I mean, think about that. That's a lot of pressure on these guys that they're not used to dealing with
and, and usually you have the performance to fall back on. So, oh, well, we can put it together.
Our cars are running pretty good and they haven't consistently had that this year and they can't
figure it out. Yeah. They're going to have to, I mean, whether if you go in like that, I mean,
obviously we heard about the models and like it's really hard to win a championship outside of like
seventh, right? You have to win a bunch of races in 10, right? Like you have to do something spectacular,
which is something they haven't done all year. You're going to have to do right. You're going to
have to pull a Tony Stewart out of the hat and only Tony Stewart has been able to do that. And
they, like no one else has been able to do what he did to win that championship. So it's tough.
While we're in the Hendrick Motorsports stable, let's talk about Kyle Larson for a minute. Still
on a 42 race win streak involved in two different incidents, slides through the infield grass while
running eighth and then wasn't clear, has contact with Denny Hamlin. What, what do you think is
the missing piece for this team right now? Well, it's really confusing because if I look at the
points and I would tell you that, I mean, Kyle Larson is sixth and would any of you believe
that he scored the most stage points? No, that's rather six. Yeah. He scored 169. The next guy is
Ryan Blaney at 157. So as much as we want to talk about Kyle Larson being off, which he's off,
he hasn't been to victory lane in 30 some races. I think that, you know, this, this accident right
here is just a checkup, not of his doing, but the other accident where he just kind of cleared
himself and wrecked himself. We've seen that a few times over the last little bit. And that's
the part that concerns me is when you just have those lapses and concentration and just
make a bad move, because you don't have the moments where you're able to just go out and
win a couple more races to make up for the mistakes that you had made. And so I don't know. I think
that Kyle Larson is still great. I think that Cliff Daniels is still great. I think Hendrick
Motorsports is still great, but they just, they've been off a little bit this year compared to the
bar that we've set for them. And, you know, when you're talking about a year's worth of losses
for Larson not being to victory lane, I don't think, I mean, does that surprise me? Yes. Is
would I say, Oh, it's career ending? No. And because it happens, I mean, it's happened to
myself. It's happened to Tony. I mean, it's just part of what you go through in NASCAR racing.
And I, and I, the only part that worries me about Larson is just those random, weird kind of mistakes
that shouldn't happen at this point, you know, with, with where he's at. So I don't know whether
to take that, the mistake this weekend with the block as, Hey, he's desperate, trying to make a
move or a lapse in concentration and made a mistake. Yeah. So, you know, that's, that's the
confusing part because you look at the stats and they're not that bad and scoring the most stage
points, but it's the goose egg in the wind column. That is, that is the heart, the part that's hard
to believe. Yeah. Cause we expect Kyle Larson to be back to his winning ways, but prior to this,
he had four straight finishes in the top five, but this obviously is, is not the outcome they
would have hoped for in Atlanta. No, of course not. But I don't know, man. Like Kevin was talking
about the points where he's at, like they've made the most stage points. Like it's, it's not that
they're not there. They're just not dominating. And what is, they set the bar for themselves
because they were so, have been so good for so long. And so when you do that, and then you come
under the bar, cause it's not only the five team. It's the 24 19, it's 48. The whole,
the whole company has just not been there, but they're still running well. They're just not
dominating. So when you talk about championship aspirations, it's like, where does that leave
you? It's kind of, it's honestly, it's more intriguing going as a chase. It's closer because
you would say the same thing about Ryan Blaney and the 12 team. You wouldn't say that they've been
dominating. This was a dominating performance, but they've been right there in the top three
and points almost all year. You know what I mean? So it's like, who really has an upper hand?
And like we were just on a drafting track. So you kind of throw the Toyotas into a different
jumble. Is it Tyler Reddick? Is it Denny Hamlin? Or is it somebody? I don't know. It's kind of,
it's interesting. We're not going back to that track. Yeah. We're not going back there. So they
like, like, what does that mean? So it means kind of like nothing. You know what I mean? It means
everybody else only has one chance in the, in the last 10 races and that's Talladega,
but it's only for a win. Right. It's not for the championship. And I think that the upper hand has
to be in the Toyota camp with Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs and, and Chase
Briscoe because of all the racetracks that are left. You know, nine of the 10 are in their wheel
house. I haven't seen them close the gap enough on the other ones, but they keep hanging around.
And if you let people hang around that you should smash out early, I mean, we'll find out early
as we get into the, as we get into the chase, you'll see if anybody had anything left in the tank.
And if, if you go to Darlington, if Darlington's tough, like if you can set yours, you can have a
mad, if you have a massive setback at Darlington, that's, that's 10 races digging out of holes.
Yeah. You're going to go to Darlington with Denny Hamlin having, having the, you know,
one of the best years of his career, you're going to go to Darlington. If not his best track,
one of you got to fight it. You got to fight him off. Good luck. I mean, it's going to be,
it's going to be a challenge right from the get go to, to not lose ground. Yeah.
No shortage of storylines in the cup series, but so too in the other series as well. The
Craftsman truck series were at Lime Rock Park for the second time in the series history. Grant
Enfinger, who has had a season full of ups and downs, finally ended at winless streak, was able
to capitalize with the win. Do you like seeing the trucks at Lime Rock? Look, I think the truck
should be on more short tracks. And I look, I'd love to see him in the season at Kern. I mean,
trucks, Kern Raceway was the origination of, of the truck series. That's where,
that's where we had the truck series. I love seeing them on a standalone weekend like this at
Lime Rock. I want to see them at, at, at the, at these places that we don't go to because
we need to go to Daytona. We need to go to some of these places with the rest of the series,
but I want to see them in other places because we have so many fans. We talk about it on here all
the time that live in these little pockets of the country that want NASCAR and the truck series is,
I mean, look at all the people sitting all over the place. The crowd was awesome. They have the,
they have, they have these markets all around the country that we could take the truck series and
put on great shows. Well, that can have great crowds and people to, to, to attend the races.
But I, I love when that, when they go do this, we had a, we had a great finish here at the end
with, with Grant Infinger, winning the race and Landon Lewis chasing him to the, to the finish
one and didn't wreck him. Could have ran through him. Didn't do it. He's been extremely impressive.
He's done a good job, but I think that the, we had our top two guys in the points run into each
other. We keep talking about these rivalries in, in, in other series. And then, you know,
Kate and honey cut just smashes his teammate. I wonder how that's going to go over because he
just absolutely dumped. Yeah. So Kate and honey cut not making many friends either on the racetrack,
but we, we, between O'Reilly and the trucks, I mean, we had six red flags. I don't know how many,
it was just the weekend of carnage for, for O'Reilly carnage and delays.
It was lime rock was neat though. Obviously I was there for the ARCA and truck series.
The community really rallies around NASCAR being there. The track facility itself is,
why are you laughing? Mike Joy on pit road. Mike Joy was there. He loves him.
Racing up in that part of the country. They do have a lot of passionate fans there and it's cool
because they don't sit in seats. They're just sitting on the hillside. There are no seats.
Yeah. So it has a totally different kind of vibe to it, but the place has done a really nice job.
Yeah. Yeah. I, okay. I got texts. I got a lot of texts all, all weekend long from my boy Josh Sims.
I just didn't let my folks at lime rock know I was not there. in lime rock this weekend.
So if you said hi to me, that was Josh. I don't like that this is happening. So fans,
make sure you know who you're talking to. We have Josh Sims and we have Mamba Smith.
We're both too good looking, too good looking. No, here's the problem. What you should,
what you guys should do is separate your look because that means you guys are just copying
each other. We do though. He has a hat on a bunch of dorks. I wear my button at the time. I got,
you know, I look for the dork. If you know, we want to know the difference between Josh Sims
and Mamba. Look for the dork with his button all the way, but nothing is chains on. Yeah.
You don't see a chain. It's not mumbo. That is 1000%. But no, I'm glad we go to lime rock.
I think we've talked about it here. Can you guys imagine like a five during the summer,
five weeks, we take the truck series out the Pacific Northwest, we take them to the New England
Air. You find a region, you take them there. They're there for four or five weeks. We used to.
Right. Let's do that and then incorporate the local racing, whether it's the cars tour west or
whatever is the modified tour, whatever it is in that region and just combine that and then you,
it elevates the truck series. It gives those regions some big national NASCAR stuff and they'll
pack it out. They'll pack it out and maybe we'll see some truck guys run down with the local guys
and some local guys. Look at Luxboro this weekend. I mean, you got truck guys and cup guys all over
the car store field. We need it. And I feel like makes it, that's what brings the fans
to, to recognize, but we used to go to Flemington, New Jersey. We used to go to Louisville, Kentucky,
Evergreen, Washington, Portland, Oregon. I mean, we would go all over the place, Tucson, Arizona.
And the place would be packed. And it just, you know, it really energizes the local racing market
to get some recognition for the race tracks. But, you know, now it's just, it's hard because of the
TV contracts and the money that comes with these races that the tracks just want to keep having
races. But I really feel like you could take the trucks and go do some of that at other places and
put more people in the grandstands than a lot of places that we go on Friday.
They only have 23 races? Is it 23? 22, 23. So like if you add a couple more, right, I understand
it's a money, it's about money, right? This is a money thing. Let's, as an industry, the person
needs to go up in general, as an industry, let's get together and kind of work on this collectively
to fix it. Cause there is a lot of meat being left on the bone and other regions that we don't get to.
Just totally ignoring regions. Speaking of that, you're headed to Idaho this week.
I am too. We're excited for this. I've never been there and he's spoken very highly of this
racetrack and everything that it has to offer. That'll be cool. It is. It's a, it's a great part
of the country. It probably won't be as cool as it was the last time we're out there, but
we're going back for the Idaho 200 for the cars tour northwest pro late model race this week.
And Keelan's racing in North Wilkesboro in a pro late model with the, with the cup. So we're
going to be split up this week. I won the road to the 200. So I might as well go back. So you
Well, I killed him there last time. Don't kid yourself. You know, you know,
but, uh, you know, it's, it's fun to go to these different parts of the country to be able to,
to see their big events, right? The Idaho 200 is that area's big event in, in Idaho and Montana
200 was, was last week. And we'll go to the summer showdown in Washington, which is probably
their biggest event. So it's, it's fun to, to see these, these big events for, for the first time,
but great. I mean, we got to Jackson Hole, Wyoming a couple of weeks ago and high was 48
degrees at his eye. I don't think that's for me. No, it's for you because the next day it was 70.
That's a little more tolerable. Yeah. It's better than 98 98.
I don't know. I'm, I'm, my people are tropical people. We kind of like that.
Tropical folks tropical people. Um, uh, well, we look forward to seeing what Idaho has to offer.
We also look forward to North Wilkesboro, which is next on the schedule. Haven't had a points
pain race at that racetrack since 1996. So how do you think that is going to play a factor to
change things? We're going to find out what kind of racetrack North Wilkesboro is. And I believe
it's going to be way better than what we've seen at the all star race. When you put all
the cars on the racetrack and not just 20 of them, it's going to be very, very different with the
strategy. All the cars on the racetrack in the middle of the summer, it's going to be,
I think it's going to be a great race. And I think you're going to see the cars move around
the racetrack and you're going to have to get rough. Uh, when, when you start lapping cars and,
and all the traffic and, and things that are going to come with it, it's not short runs. You're
going to have, you know, the, the strategy and things that, that come with a real race. And,
and that's what we're going to see for the first time at North Wilkesboro is a real race.
That's exciting for the fans and for us. You know, I mean, Jeff Gordon won the last
points pain race there. If you, if you're a race car, isn't handling well,
like you're going to, it's going to be a long day. It's going to be like miserable,
like Martinsville miserable because the, the, well, yeah, that, but just like the,
the fast guys are going to be on top of you so, so quickly that you won't be able to
adjust your car at all to work on it, to get it fast. Right. And then, you know,
like Kevin said, with all the, all the cars on track, it's going to be, be
a lot of shitting and getting too, because this, this is people that are really upset with each
other. Yeah. There was like some real, like I, so I got to interview a C bell, Christopher Bell,
like pre race. And I asked him about retaliation, how he thought about it. He's like, you know,
I think, you know, you got to pick your spots. It's needed. It should be self policing.
And he's like, I got some guys on my list. Well, this is, I was like, I didn't ask. I just wanted
to wait and see if I could figure out who was rewind, go back and watch some races. This is,
I mean, this is going to be a track where if you, if you're having a bad day, this is a good
place to get some, get some payback. So who do you think will be the guys who are the ones that
are going to tame this new challenge? I can't do that. He's always do this every week in the
segment. Don't leave me hanging. He's going to pick the 11. I don't know. You don't have to give
a pick. Do you think you're going to rise to the occasion? Yeah. Well, look, I'm going to look
at this point sheet. I'm going to tell you who needs the ride is the occasion. Okay. Well,
let's go. And that's Ross Chastain, Brad Kosolowski, Ryan Priest, Joey Lagana, Eric Jones, and
Shane Van Gisburg. Those are all the guys, in my opinion, that are still in the, the, the
championship possibility to make the chase. And I think that Eric Jones, they're, they're super
hit or miss, right? He's, he's consistent and kind of carries the car some weeks to get a better
finish out of it than it probably ran. Some weeks the car just hauls ass. So you don't really know
what's going to show up with, with the, with that bunch on the 43 SVG, same type of deal. You know,
he finishes six at Atlanta. We've seen him at Charlotte run really well, but for him, it's
all going to come down to qualifying. You got to qualify good. If SVG can qualify good, he can
race in the front, but if he qualifies in the trunk, he's going to race in the trunk. So they,
they, they got to qualify good. Austin Cendrick, I still think he's, he's right on the cusp of,
he's actually one more that's right on the cusp of being in the question of, of whether he,
whether he makes it or not. So can the Ford show up? Blaney's going to show up. Can, can Joey Lagana
and Austin Cendrick and the other Fords of Ryan Priest and Brad Kosolowski show up.
How much shifting is going on at this, at this one, Kevin?
I don't think any none. I don't think so. Okay. I'm not, this, it gets super slow.
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I think it's, it'll be interesting. And I think that the whole
chase bubble is super interesting. Okay. It's go time for these teams. Like we said,
six to go in the regular season before the chase begins. Time now to take a look at our mailbag
and the questions that were submitted from you, the fans starting with one from Alex Donovan.
This is a great fan. He, he messages frequently about the show. If you could bring back one track
that's not currently on the cup schedule, which track would you bring back and which would you
take out and its place? Kevin, you can go first. I mean, I can just bring anywhere back.
That's what it sounds like. This is a nice hypothetical situation for you. Okay. Well,
I'm going to, I'm going to bring back California Speedway. Yeah. It's old ass. Let's bring it back
so we don't keep having these debates about being in California. It's just there. And
I think that that, that racetrack had just got to the point where it was so racy,
had one race a year, had great crowds and then poof gone. Yeah. Okay. What would I replace?
Yeah. Who'd you take out? I mean, you don't need, cause I mean, well, lucky,
cause there's some places we go to twice. So that's where I'd start. I'd start with the list of
racetracks that we go to twice. I think Kansas would be the first one that I would put on that
list because of the fact that the crowds are both mediocre. It's never like slammed like it used
to be. And I think one race would be slammed. Yeah. And the timing when we go there is a lot
of times right in the football season with the cheese being so good, like it, it all honestly
collapses a lot. But there's just, that's the, that's the easy part to just sit here and say
that's what I would do. There's so many other political dynamics with everything. There's a
casino sitting on the back of that one. I mean, there's just, there's so many other things that
happen within the, the, the politics of, of all this as to why we raise places and why we don't
and why we race at some twice when we don't really look like we should. And that's one of them.
A lot of layers to the system. I might get some pushback for this, but I wrote down road America.
I like that part of the country. It would get a, you know, a stronger Midwest footprint.
I know there's been some criticism with the long caution periods on the long circuit,
but I still always felt like that to me was a great racetrack and a good part of the country
to go to. Like you said, one of the ones we're going to twice, you know, because we've,
we've documented on the show that if you have one event, it makes it a commodity and you usually
have a better result as, as we've seen. Um, you say the cautions are too long.
I'm saying like the, I was talking to Bob about the
long caution period. I went, I went this week. I think I made dinner. I went back into the
pantry and got a bunch of stuff and sat down and started eating and took my plate and put it back
in the sink. And I still don't think the race had started, but you know what I'm saying? They've
been criticized for that. I thought, right? Why does it take so long? I don't know. I honestly
don't know. I think it's a couple of different reasons. Yeah. Like in between stages,
I was like, yeah, what is happening? Yeah. I don't know why it does feel like when I was watching
live time, I'm like, it feels like we're taking for eternity, but maybe it's, I don't know. I
think that's the solution. I don't think, I don't think that I don't know how well we'd be at a
race. I don't know how many passing zones this place would really have, but Laguna Seca, I feel
like through the court that over the hill through the court screw would be just cool. It would just
be so sick, but I don't know about like actual, like how good the race would be there, but it'd
have more passing zones than Lyme Rock. Yeah. Probably more than Chicago street course. Almost
Laguna Seca. I think you could obviously pass into one, and then you got that straight away
off of three into four and five. I mean, there's a couple. There's probably three or four in the
last corner. Okay. So let's go there. And it's in a really kick-ass. It's just a kick-ass. Everyone
else goes there. Let's just try it one time. We might be too loud to go there. The neighbors. The
neighbors would be pissed. Are they uppity? Yeah. They're people. Northern California. Northern
California. Okay. Thanks, Alex, Donovan, for the question. Next one we got is from Chris in
Oklahoma City while watching the Chicagoland race. I had began to think about how weird it is
that Denny Hamlin could own a team and race for another. I was wondering your thoughts,
because he gets all the information from both teams and knows reddit strategy
while racing him for the championship. So how does this dynamic work, Kevin? He did it all the time.
That's why I'm asking him, how does it work? It's good business. And I think it's also hard.
Right? That's a huge commitment from Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan to be able to put that car on
the racetrack. And let's not forget that Denny Hamlin does a really good job at his full-time job
with what he's doing and puts in more effort, probably, if not more, just as much as anybody
else on the circuit as far as time and work ethic. And then he goes over and does that
on it for his side gig to be able to put those cars on the racetrack. But the one thing I can
tell you, and for me, unless there was a problem at the racetrack with those vehicles, once I got
there and I was putting the fire suit on, like, I didn't really care about you. Unless there was
something that was going to be detrimental to the race team or they were off in right field,
I was doing my own thing. I've wrecked my own cars to win races before.
I just want to point something out to everybody. Kevin just said he wrecked his own cars to win
races before. But I can guarantee you that was coming out of Delaney's pocket because he won't
wreck the kid because he said, I don't want to pay for that. I knocked him out of the way too.
Yeah, but you didn't wreck him. You Not yet. Yeah, nice. Not yet.
That one you're going to have to pay for is different. No, but I think you ran, when you won
one of the Bush series or Riley series championships, you ran both like the 21 car and the 33. So he
ran for both K and six and RCR and like, you know, like what do you do? Listen, if, if Denny
Hamlin did not drive for Joe Gibbs racing and cut the deal that he cut with Joe Gibbs racing,
2311 would be legacy. Yeah. There you go. Because they, he has the relationships that
can make both sides work. I had the relationship at RCR that I could make KHI and RCR naturally.
Even if they didn't want to work together, they were going to work together because I knew all
the information and everything that went with it. But if, if Denny Hamlin didn't drive at Joe Gibbs
racing, 2311 would not be what it is. Right. And it's mutually beneficial for both parties.
Sure seems to be. And you know, it's, it's beneficial from information. It's beneficial
financially. It's just, we'll see if it's beneficial in the chase because these guys are
starting to get a little testy. Yeah. Well, Alex and Chris, thanks for the questions. We
appreciate the mailbag submissions and now I am winded. So it's your turn to take over on the
show. It's mom of social sips. Look at that. It's Sleepy Mumbo. Sleepy Mumbo. That's his name.
But I'm awake for this one. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your favorite part of the show.
Mamba social sips. And I'll be honest with you. I am so thrilled to say that the fans
every week that I've been out of the racetrack, which has been a lot this year,
have just pulled up and like told it told me so much how much you guys love the show,
especially this part. I get tired of hearing that. Now they just tell me that to actually
well, you know, they are fans of the show, which is great. Yeah. Yeah. The fans of this part of
the show, but I don't want them to like your segment. That's okay. They love, they don't like
it. They love it. And that's okay. So let's get it going. So last week we had an eye racer
come on and he was he was singing courtesy of red, white, blue, right? I told you, Keith. Well,
here's a message for Kevin because he came to NASCAR Sundays. Yo, NASCAR Sundays. Mamba, thanks
for shouting me out. I'm Kevin Harvitz. Happy hour. Had to check it out. Yes, Kevin Harvitz is
still at things. NASCAR Sundays. Come check it out. out, Kevin. There you go.
Why? Why not? Be the most of people. I had my own NASCAR Sunday. Where's your NASCAR Sunday?
Mine was on the lake in my boat. Yeah, he said he spent some time in the water.
Let me tell you something. Let's talk about this. Okay. Since this seven o'clock start went to
2.30 in the morning, I had, uh, I slept in too late. I went to the grocery store. I got my boat
uncovered. I got my boat out. I ate dinner and told everybody, everybody goodbye. And then the
race started. Yeah. Full day before it even began. Yeah. Why, why do we start at seven? All right.
This man, you're the top dog. You're asking me, I'm low man totem pole. I'm just happy to be here.
You need to start asking questions. I just, I'm just happy to be here. Um, I, I prefer one a one,
one PM. Yeah. Well, I'm not one. I am one PM. One PM. Most people agree. Uh, something that cool
that we did this weekend. I found some fans, um, when I was doing my interviews inside the
racetrack, big time Kyle Busch fans, uh, Dalton here. Um, he's probably one of the biggest
Kyle Busch fans that might be out there ever. Um, and him and a group of guys got tattoos
all together. They had eight tattoos. I really look at the group of guys.
Oh, look at you in the middle. Yeah. I'm just happy. I don't even know where
they got this. I have no idea where this picture came from, to be honest. I don't know who got it,
but it was a good time. And that's at Nashville, right? Uh-huh. Where is it? No, this is this
weekend yesterday. Oh, I thought that, I thought you were asking where it was. I guess this is
weekend. Get your glasses fixed. That's cool though. We, I like that, uh, point when you
interviewed them on air, let them share their Kyle Busch stories. Yeah. I just noticed that
like a lot of fans are like missing kind of, I don't know if we're not doing it the same as
we were before, but maybe like the lap eight and stuff. So I was like, we need to make sure that
we remember Kyle and we're not just moving on too quickly. So I want to make sure we did that.
And then Carson Hosevar. Yeah. I actually, I love this. I've seen it like with
other like sports. He, he said he was giving away free t-shirts to the first 77 people that bring
a different active drivers t-shirt to trade for anyone of his started at noon at the March trailer.
And he in fact did so. That is awesome. How many? That's a W that resulted in an M. Yeah.
Yes. Who do you think? Do you think that he got the most Zane shirts or which other competitor?
I love Zane and this is no disrespect, but I don't think there's enough anyone who has a Zane
Smith shirt. They're not trading it in for a Carson Hosevar one. Like I don't think, and I don't
think I just did. No, it wasn't a Zane shirt. Was it? Yeah, it was. Was it actually? Yeah. I'm
saying I wonder who's he got the most of of other people or if it was just a big mixed bag.
Somebody said that they were going to buy, they would buy a Zane Smith shirt just to go over
there and trade it out. I'm sure. I think I got a lot of booze. I felt for him a little bit there.
I mean, it was good for both guys. I'm sure they sold some Zane Smith shirts. I'm sure. Yeah.
To go buy a Carson Hosevar shirt. Yeah. But ultimately, these are the things that pisses
the whole field off that you're going to have to live with when you need to push.
No push for you. No, no push for you. When you know someone's bad and he needs someone to let
you go. It is maybe not so much. I love it. No, I'm here for it. I was really smart, really smart.
I wish other guys would do stuff like that. I started doing this like media thing not that
long ago, but I forgot that I actually started earlier than I remember. So 2019, I think 2018,
2019 was speed 51. I interviewed a one Brent Cruz at Millbridge and he looks exactly the same.
For the most part. I mean, he's obviously gotten taller growing up a little bit, but
someone sent this to me and I was dying laughing. That is great. That's at Millbridge.
Man of many words. Yeah, he was. Yeah, he was few words at that. He was all business. He just turns
around and gets ready to get in the car. Are you going to put that on your demo reel?
That probably. Yeah. I mean, you have a demo. Can you explain to him that some of us have to like,
you know, he knows. I don't think he does. Do I need a demo reel? No, you don't. We need you to have
a crash dummy helmet. Maybe that was not nice. That Anyway, ladies and gentlemen,
that was the sips. Appreciate y'all closers. Keep pulling up and keep sending me stuff.
Cause I like it when you guys engage. All right, her finish. I'm done. All right. Time now for
last call. And this is where we grade the burnout over the weekend. And it did belong, of course,
to Mr. Ryan Blaney. So there was a time when he wouldn't do the burnout. So I'm glad that that
shifted. He is definitely progressed. Turned into a dad and now he does it.
What do we say? And I think when you have a big gap in not winning and you're not consistently
doing it, you're just like, Hey, I might, I might need to celebrate this one. I might get another
one of these this year. And cool paint scheme, by the way. Yeah. It was very cool. The body armor
paint scheme this week was very colorful to say the least, but it was fast too. And I appreciated
that because I could keep track of him the whole time. The whole time. Exactly. When he was in
the field, I could keep track of him no matter where he was, but it's average burnout. There's
an average burnout. Yeah, he was well executed. Yeah, it was a tight doughnuts. And then kind of
a little S and, you know, I don't know why it just seemed like a classy burnout to me. Well,
that's because it's who's doing it. Like, you know, I mean, Wyatt Earp's doing great burnouts.
So what is the grade? The guy that has the big mustache. Isn't that him? Yep. From what?
It's a TV show. Yeah. Yeah. They brought it up on the air last night. So Tombstone.
Tombstone. That's it. Yeah. That was a movie. Yeah. Tombstone. It's a classic western. Yeah.
Anyone is wondering. All right. I'd cut it off though. What? No, hell no. That's all the magic,
all the magic's in there. Anyway, what's the grade? I think it's, I'll give him a C plus.
Really? Oh, blue. Okay. What did you give him? I don't know. Maybe like a B minus. Speaking of
C pluses. I don't know. C plus sounds better than B minus. Yeah, I mean, it's not. Yeah. I'm a B
minus. He's a C plus and you're an A plus when it comes to that's why I told you to hurry up,
because I wanted to talk about whipping your ass. I wanted to talk about how many weeks
have I picked a winner in a row? We do at least three. John Hayes, you need to get a tally to us
on how many times he has picked the winner because he's got to be, it's got to be like
seven or eight. I just don't, I mean, if you're listening to the show, you should be listening
to the show. If you're interested in listening, it might be seven or eight. No, but yeah, it's
fair. It is because I'm a race, but I mean, I've got almost, and you, I took a week off
and I'm still beating you by. Let's take a look at the standings so that we can paint this full
picture. John, can you also get us, can you also get us the time, how many times he's picked the
same person? Cause that does matter. Yeah, but I know when to pivot. I will give him that. I know
when to pivot. I mean, I picked Jase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney the last two weeks. I mean,
you nailed it. I think this whole thing is rigged. But no, here, hang on, hang on real quick.
I just want to point out that he might have seven wins or eight wins. I have five second places.
No, you don't. Yes, I do. Bubba finished 29. He crossed the line second. I picked the actual
second place for sure, which is Christopher Bell. So that puts me at 72 to Mamba 62.
I'm going to pick this week's winner too. Kevin at 107. I'm probably picking the same
one that you're picking to be honest this week. Wow. Okay. So who wants to go first on the
selections for the week? You're the last place. So you get to go first. Take your pick. Please pick
anyone. Man. You know why I don't want to pick this guy? Cause I know he's going to be, okay,
watch this fam. If he picks the same person I'm picking, I'm going to change it because I can't
make up points if I pick the same person. So I'm going with Denny Hamlin. So if you guys pick
the same one, I'm going to change. Where are we going? I got you. You're picking Denny Hamlin too.
That's what I got written right there. Just to prove that I had already done it ahead of time.
Okay. Well, I'm picking Christopher Bell. Okay, cool. He's going to get his first win this weekend.
I almost picked him. That was the other guy in my mind. Yeah. No, I'm not. No, because if we
pick the same, I'm fine. I'm not picking the same as him. Well, the good news is you're going
to still be in last next week. So I love that. Yeah, that's okay. I'm going to get it done as long
as you protect second. Listen, that's all that matters. Listen, I want you to be last. I was
just told that a cup win is better than a championship. So give me another win. Okay.
That's what you just said. A couple wins better than a truck championship. I want to win.
So does Kevin. So all right, well, I've been winning. We'll have to see how all of these picks
fair out in North Wilkesboro this weekend. It's been fun guys. This is a good show. Good vibes
here today. Everyone's having a great time. It's better when you're half asleep. It's better when
we got mumbo with us. All right. We got another seven o'clock start this week. Oh my gosh,
that's right. The late times just drive home. Yeah, I'm gonna have someone drive you home.
Yeah. All right. Well, this has been good guys for Kevin, mama and myself. That does it for us
on this edition of happy hour. We'll see everybody after North Wilkesboro.
About this episode
Ryan Blaney After Dark bounces from light banter to serious race breakdowns, starting with the hosts’ jokes and then getting into Atlanta’s rain-disrupted stages and Blaney’s late-race execution. The conversation turns to pack-racing cause-and-effect—vibration, bumper contact, and why the winner wasn’t coming from the front row—plus a yellow-line penalty debate and what it means when blocking and track position decide outcomes. Between playoff pressure, points math, and rivalry psychology, the show also previews North Wilkesboro’s points return and talks Lime Rock red flags and regional racing growth.
On this episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith break down NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney’s 2nd Cup Series win of the season on a rainy night at Atlanta, Carson Hocevar’s impressive night as he finished 3rd, the feuds brewing in the Cup Series, William Byron’s heated exchange with his crew chief Rudy Fugle, and more. Plus, the crew answer mailbag questions, preview the upcoming race weekend at North Wilkesboro and they react to the latest batch of Mamba’s Social Sips.
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Intro
1:38 - Atlanta Weekend Recap
36:14 - North Wilkesboro Preview
40:04 - Mailbag Questions
47:03 - Mamba’s Social Sips
52:55 - Last Call
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