A caution is when the race gets slowed down because of something on track. “Total cautions” just means how many times they had to slow the race during the whole event.
Michigan International Raceway is a famous NASCAR oval track in the U.S. It’s known for fast racing, and how teams handle tires and restarts can decide who wins.
Term
start of the day
This phrase means early in the race, right at the beginning. That’s when drivers are still figuring out track position and how their car is handling.
The “all time win list” is basically a record of who has won the most races in NASCAR history. Tying a legend there means the driver is reaching the very top of the sport’s record books.
“Cleaner area” is basically the part of the track where the air and grip are better—less messy from other cars. That helps the driver go faster more consistently.
Term
consistent apps
They’re talking about how the driver kept turning in similar lap times over and over. That usually means the car was working well and the driver wasn’t getting surprised by the track.
“Next gen era” means the current generation of NASCAR race cars and rules. The host is pointing out that it’s rare to see a driver win convincingly after starting from the back in this modern setup.
Denny Hamlin is a NASCAR race driver. Here, the hosts are saying his win was surprising because he didn’t start up front and had to work his way through trouble and strategy all race.
A jumping-the-start penalty means the driver got going too early. NASCAR treats it as a rules violation, and the penalty usually costs the driver track position so they have to fight their way forward.
In NASCAR, “package” is shorthand for the specific setup/rules combination that affects how the cars drive. Here, they’re saying the cars were harder to pass because of how the package made them handle.
Strategy is how teams decide when to pit and when to push. Here, the idea is that teams have to choose between trying to gain position now or taking tires and managing the risk of tire problems.
Track position just means where you are on the race course compared to other cars. In NASCAR, being in front is a big deal because it can make it easier to control the race and avoid risky passes.
In NASCAR, the left rear tire gets a lot of stress because the cars turn left over and over. If that tire fails, the car can lose control or have to pit, which can completely change the race.
Cole Custer is a NASCAR driver. In this segment, they’re saying he had a standout result—his best of the year—because he capitalized on the chaos and kept finishing near the front of the pack.
Haas Factory team is the racing team behind certain NASCAR cars. The hosts are saying that team has been running well lately and getting good finishes.
JJ Ailey is a NASCAR driver. They’re pointing out that even though he wasn’t running on the lead lap, he still finished well—especially for a smaller team.
NASCAR races are split into stages, and “stage two” is the second segment of the event. Drivers can earn points based on their position at the end of each stage, so running well by stage two often signals strong overall race potential.
A tire differential means the cars aren’t running on tires that behave the same way. If one car’s tires are working better, it can be faster for a while and close (or fall behind) the leaders.
A red flag is when the race is stopped because something dangerous is on the track. Cars have to slow down and wait while officials fix the problem, then the race restarts.
This is the NASCAR race at Michigan that the hosts are talking about. They’re discussing what happened during that specific event, including major crashes.
Christopher Bell is a NASCAR driver. They describe a very hard crash where his car took a big hit, and they later say he’s okay.
Term
saf(er) barra era
They’re talking about how safety has improved over time—both the barriers and the cars. The point is that a crash like that would have been much more dangerous before today’s safety standards.
That “foam” is part of the crash barrier system. After a big crash, it can get crushed or damaged, so they replace it so the wall can absorb energy again next time.
“Safety improvements” in NASCAR typically means updates to car safety systems and trackside impact protection (like barrier design). The host is arguing that these changes have reduced the severity of crashes and helped drivers survive.
Darlington Raceway is a well-known NASCAR track in South Carolina. It’s famous for being oddly shaped and challenging, so it’s a common comparison point when drivers talk about how a race feels.
Eric Jones is a NASCAR driver. In this segment, they’re talking about how he had a strong race at Michigan—starting near the front of the pack and finishing near the top.
Pocono is a well-known NASCAR track in Pennsylvania. Some drivers are especially good there because the track is shaped a little differently than most ovals.
A “Cup car” is the car used in NASCAR’s top series. When they say someone isn’t ready for a full-time Cup car, they mean they may not be ready for the top-level schedule yet.
Corey Day is mentioned as a possible alternative to Brent Cruz for a Cup Series role. The hosts compare his readiness and experience against Cruz, implying that Cruz has more stock-car experience for a full-time Cup seat.
A “fill-in driver” is the temporary replacement who drives the car if the usual driver can’t race. The hosts are wondering who might step in if there’s an injury.
Ty Gibbs is a NASCAR driver who has filled in for another driver before. The hosts are using his past substitute appearance as an example for what might happen again.
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a major NASCAR venue in Michigan, known for high-speed racing and large grandstands. The segment closes by tying the discussion to the track where the Michigan race happened.
LIVE
I
11 total cautions, 23 total lead changes. And at the end of the day, it was deja vu
all over again. As Danny Hamlin once again goes from the back to the front and wins by
an astonishing 11.11 seconds, a whole lot of 11s in today's intro at Michigan International
Raceway. I am Eric Schneck here for front stretch.com here for another episode of the
stock car scoop. Joining me this week is one half of the turn two Terribles podcast, Mr.
Jimmy Barr. Jimmy, what did you think of the Fire Keepers Casino 400 at Michigan International
Raceway? I thought this one was great. A lot of chaos at times. But man, they raced really well.
And Danny Hamlin, man, I mean, that's the story. I wrote down in my notes, I'm like, oh,
struggling, then he had one struggling early on because he had to start combat, struggling
early on in 30 years. Because he was running like, I think the whole first stage, he was back in
30th. Yeah. And I'm like, LOL, never mind. Just find his way to the front. And then that was it.
At one, I believe at the start of the day, there was six drivers going to the rear.
Hamlin, Bell, Byron, Cedric, Jones. And I think Josh Berry, you know, he was already
starting dead last. And at one point, three of them were second, third and fourth, I think it was
Byron Bell and Hamlin just absolutely amazing. Also, major storyline for the day, Danny Hamlin
ties Kyle Busch on the all time win list. What I think 63 is it 63 wins 63 total wins, which is
Yeah, ninth all time. And it kind of shows that we're getting old. I think we both remember
Danny Hamlin like entering the sport. His rookie year, right. And now he has 63 wins. And he's on
the the ninth on the all time wins list, which is to age myself. I graduated the weekend that
Danny got his first cup series win. I graduated that year, like right around that weekend.
What year was that? 2006. I was 2005. So I was one year behind it. Yeah, that's just
Oh, Lord, absolutely just insane. Fantastic run by Danny Hamlin today. We have a lot to talk about
this race, but we're going to do that in the second half of this podcast and just focus on Danny in
the beginning started dead last due to unimproved changes from yesterday's practice and qualifying
session. And really was nothing to write home about in the beginning of the race. And then
all of a sudden he just sort of appeared out of nowhere. And as soon as he got to the front,
he was gone. The first the first stage didn't have many long runs. There's a lot of couple
cautions. Connors was two of them. We'll talk about that. But he was just back there mired in
traffic and like back in 30th. And I'm like, that's why I wrote down the note. I'm like, man,
he's really struggling because the other guys were playing the EC Jones, like they were all
making their way through. Once they started getting in the long runs, he was able to start
picking off cars. And once he got up to cleaner area, he just got faster and faster. And man,
that run at the end was so impressive. You know, just him winning by 11 seconds, like he's just
gap in the field and nobody was saving fuel there at that point. He was just that much faster.
What was really impressive is we did not see domination like that at all throughout the day.
Like there was like 23 second leads for sure. 11 seconds. Absolutely. And at one point,
they were like, they meaning Amazon Prime commentary, Dale Jr. and the boys. They're like,
yeah, like host of ours like, like like 10th of a second faster. Yeah, that's like, oh,
like we're gonna get a hometown storyline here. And no, then he just turned the jets on and was
gone. Anyway, go ahead. It was awesome. He was also run. They were also making a note about how he
was running consistent apps, like, you know, just like running the same lap over and
and these other guys, especially, you know, they're bad, but they're not running as consistent.
They're two tenths quicker, two tenths slower, three tenths quicker, three tenths like,
then he was just running the same lap over and over and just was able to gap them all.
Just an absolute fantastic performance. I don't remember. Now, it kind of sucks because it's
not in the history books this way. But I don't remember any scenario in my history of watching
NASCAR where a driver has won the poll, has gotten a penalty before the race and or directly at the
start of said race to put them in the back of the field and then had to drive all the way through
the field to win both races convincingly, especially in this era. This whole next gen era has been
it's hard to pass. It's a parody. And now we are like four years into it. So the parody isn't so
much. But still, to be that dominant in this car in a year where we've seen Tyler Reddick win five
races, absolutely just amazing stuff for Denny Hamlin. Yeah, I mean, we kind of know the
two orders have been the cream of the field right now. So it makes sense. And then once
Reddick went out, you know, what was the next Toyota that was going to step up? Well, maybe it
was Christopher Bowden was so it him. But, you know, Denny, he was just that fast. And he's been
that fast all year. And he's closing in on that points gap. Going to make it really interesting
here soon. Let's go ahead and head track side to our French stretch.com reporters, Caleb Barnes
and Landon Queensbury. They have been tackling the beat so to speak this weekend at Michigan
International Speedway. Boys, take it away with your thoughts from Michigan. Hey, Eric, we're at
the track. I'm Caleb Barnes. This is Landon Quisenberry. And we just watched Denny Hamlin take
back to back wins at Michigan, just got out of the press conference as well. And we'll start with
this Denny's 63rd win. He tied Kyle Bush. And Landon, I wanted to ask you just in his post race
comments and the tribute and everything, what stood up the most to you about how Denny honored
Kyle with his win today? I just think that it stood out to me just how much that really meant
to him. I mean, he's been so open about what Kyle was meant to him as a teammate, as a person,
as a competitor. Like Denny has owed a lot to just all the skills that he's gotten to
come out and be so dominant towards the end of his career to Kyle Bush. And I just, I think
that's the biggest thing that stood out to me is just you could tell how much that meant to him to
score that win. And when I asked him that, I asked him, where does this rank amongst all of his wins
and personal significance? And he said, it's definitely up there for him. And he, he talked
about how nervous he was thinking about getting this done, you know, so recent to the events of
what happened. And I just, I just think that's just a testament to Denny himself. And, you know,
like that's just how much it meant to him. The fact that Denny Hamlin of all people was getting
nervous about getting up there and getting a win. I think that just speaks a lot to how much that
meant to him. Now, I want to say it's not your typical Denny Hamlin win, but we did see something
a lot like this just last week where he had to go to the back and then came back to the front,
a bit of a different situation. That was that jumping the start penalty last week. This week
Denny had some damage and had to start from the back. And then it kind of took him a little longer.
He was mired back there for a while. And then just the race today was super chaotic. I believe the
most cautions we've ever had at Michigan and a ton of carnage. Just what did you take away from
today's race? Denny won. It wasn't maybe the dominant car, but there's just a lot that happened.
What were your takeaways? Just how surprising it is that just the whole field, you can tell the
urgency was there on making these passes with the way that the package is. I mean, it looked
difficult to pass. You said Denny took a while to get back up to the front. And it was like that
all day. We saw a lot of up and down strategy for people trying to get track positions and get up
there versus, you know, taking tires and hoping they don't blow a left rear tire, which was another
issue that we saw last year here was the tires. And it kind of reared its head again this weekend.
So just overall, just a ton of chaos. And you got to look at some of the guys that capitalized
off of that. Cole Custer's been on a good run, but he scored his best finish of the year and 12th.
I got to talk to him. He seemed pretty stoked about where Haas Factory team is. They've had a good
run. This is the third time in the last or third time in the last four races that he scored a top
20 finish. So they look pretty strong. And then JJ Ailey was a lap down, but he scored a great
finish in 21st for such a small organization. So you just that's just the big thing for me is just
how chaotic it was and all those underdogs that were able to capitalize today, including some
that we've seen up at the front, like the Spire Motorsports guys of Carson Osovar and Daniel
Suarez. Yeah, Landon was quick to remind me that he picked the winner, Denny Hamlin, yesterday.
My pick was Osovar. He gave it a shot. It was so cool to see. Like, I wish you all could have
seen the fans jump up whenever he led the first lap. And then I was out taking pictures in turn
one whenever he passed Bubba for the lead. And the fans again, just like got on their feet, made
some noise, went crazy. That was awesome. Now, you're going to talk a little bit about the Spire
guys, at least two of the Spire guys, Michael McDowell, DNF, but host of our and Suarez were
up there all day. What did you make of their runs today? I mean, they're just fantastic, right?
Carson Osovar was pretty much on par with what he did last year at this race track. He looked super
strong and he qualified up at the front, stayed up there, stayed in the mix most of the day.
This time he just didn't have the terrible luck that he had last year. I mean, he just hit his
stride so far in this season for him. And we've always expected that out of him, but he really is
coming into his own as a superstar. And it shows with all the fan support he's had, just how popular
is. I know it's his home state, but I mean, that was a great reaction for the crowd all day. And,
you know, he's backing them very heavy to come out with the state flag on his back and driver
intros. And then Suarez, man, the guy just is on a roll right now. It can't be denied. He's talked
about how he feels better at Spire Motorsports and how strong they've been. But putting together
results is just the biggest thing, right? And they got that win at the Coke 600 on strategy. He got
himself up front again, and then they just have fast race cars. And he's showing exactly why that
he deserves to be in the Cup Series, you know? And because there was a lot of debate about that when
he was at Trackhouse. And now he's coming out and showing that with Spire Motorsports with good
race cars. So just really incredible to see both of those guys coming into their own and being up front.
Well, another guy that was up front throughout the race, another Michigan native as well,
Eric Jones. He had some media availability yesterday at a press conference and talked to us about
just where the team's at. And he's been hinting at that a little bit, that he feels like the team
is right there, so close to taking the next step. And I felt like they did today. They had
really good speed there. I believe it was the end of stage two. They ran down. They were running
down the leaders. Now, that might have been a little bit of a tire differential as well. But
he still finished. I mean, he was running. That was second at the end of stage two. Like I said,
I think that was it. And then he just was right there, drove up through the field at the end to
get to the second at the finish as well. Now, it would have been really hard for him to catch
Denny. Denny had such a huge lead. But Eric was a little bit, he said it was a little bit bitter,
sweet, like you're so close to winning at home. But at the same time, that team is showing just
what they have. It's the best finish that he's had since he won at Darlington back in 2022. So
great speed for Legacy Motor Club. I think that's going to do it. You can see the sun's
setting behind us. That red flag and all these crashes really kind of lengthened our day today
here at Michigan. So I'll send it back to you, Eric. And we're back. Thank you, Caleb, and land
and much appreciated. And as always, safe travels back from Michigan. A few other storylines to
thread throughout this podcast. It wouldn't be a stock car scoop, especially about this
Firekeeper's Casino 400 if we did not talk about the accident between Chase Elliott and Christopher
Bell. Now, granted, there were 11 cautions, which was a total for Michigan, which is kind of wild.
But by far the hardest hit of the day was for Christopher Bell, who took a
absolute smash into the wall. Chase Elliott, I think just kind of lost it.
Got loose, got into Bell and Bell just hit the wall a ton. Major damage to the wall.
The passenger side window blew out of Bell's car smashed like Larson's camera on his car.
Yeah. Just a absolute tremendous hit. It would be a hit where if it happened in a
non safer barra, a safer barra era, that was difficult to say. It would be a they're going
to the hospital and or worse type of accident. Oh, absolutely. Happy to report that both Chase
Elliott and Christopher Bell are OK. Chase Elliott did talk to the media afterwards.
And he's it was seen speaking to Bell, you know, very nothing, you know, heated very like
my fat guy thing right now. See Bell did not speak to the media.
Kind of can't blame him if I took it that hard. I wouldn't want to talk to anybody either.
Thoughts on C Bell, Chase Elliott and or any other of the hard hits we saw today.
I don't think it gets much harder than that. I mean, I never see I've seen them,
you know, I've seen Rex where it cracked the wall behind it, the concrete wall behind it.
You know, this one, they had to put new foam in behind it. And it was, I mean, it was still
a huge debt in it. They're like, they're like welding it. I'm like, I don't know what you're
doing. Like, I don't know. You're not going to bend that out there trying to get it out.
I guess to at least get home behind it to finish the race. That whole section is going to have
to be replaced. They might have to do some construction to the wall behind it because
it was that hard of it. It was bad. Yeah, I am very it was and shout out to this car.
Yeah. And NASCAR for all the safety improvements over the years that they were both able to get
out and kind of give each other a pat on the back and be like, Hey, we're okay. Like the fact
that they were able to do that is just goes to show us that the safety is and because that was
hard. They had to be doing 170 at that point. And it was just such a, you know, you see Chase get
real loose underneath them. And it just that kind of instance, right. It was just it was gone.
Even within the four years of next gen Lord Kurt backed into the wall of Pocono career done, right?
Um, shout out to all of designing engineering and does this car provide the greatest racing
at all times? No. Is it keeping drivers safe? Yeah, absolutely. So shout out to everybody
involved in designing that thing. And the safer barriers, etc. Because
um, the fact that see bell walked away from that is absolutely insane. Now for some good
fantastic day for Eric Jones. He must have woke up and assumed he was at Darlington and then it
was like, Oh, I am at Michigan. Fantastic day for Jones started 10th. But however, as I mentioned
earlier, went to the rear drove through the field, finished second. A nice string of runs for that
Jones boy. Um, who truthfully, I, I don't know the Eric Jones contract situation.
What if you would have told me four or five weeks ago, like, yeah, he's probably not going to be
legacy next year. I'd be like, Oh, okay, like that makes sense. Yeah. Impressive, impressive
judge races. Really hope it continues thoughts on Eric Jones. I think that whole legacy motor sports
program is really starting to get rolling now. You're starting to see some of the improvements
from the investments that they've been getting. Um, Eric Jones is he's definitely,
I don't know how else to say it. He's more talented than the car. I think he is very,
very good. And they're going to want to build around him. But you see John Ironema check run
pretty well. And he had a good run up until he didn't out the big rush. Um, but, um, you know,
that whole legacy motor sports team has been steadily improving, steadily improving. And I
think the thing is that they're trying to find consistency. And I think the past few weeks,
I think you're starting to see that with their jobs and great run for him that a good way to get
some momentum going forward. He's all right at poking out. So hopefully he can keep this momentum,
maybe get another top 10 and continue to get himself more into this chase conversation.
Last weekend at Nashville, legacy had hoodie, aka Darius Rucker in the pits performing a little
pre-race concert. Maybe next weekend at poke, no, they'll have some big band polka playing
for all of us central Pennsylvania and northeastern Pennsylvania folk.
The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season has continued for one Connor Zillich,
as he not only he got into one, but two solo spins very early. The first one it was like,
okay, like he got into the wall, like he continued on. I was actually outside at that moment playing
with my son in his water thing. And I had his scanner on just because that all I hear was
Connor Zillich say, Oh my God, not again. What happened? And then I look at the discord and
it's like easy smashed again. I asked this because he has finished now dead last in the last three
races. I asked this with complete and honest sincerity. Is this the worst rookie season we
have seen in the cup series, especially with the amount of hype he had coming into the series?
I would say with the hype. Yeah, I don't know. It's the worst statistically ever. I don't I
don't know. But in terms of hype, this has been a huge let down so far. All the track house has
been a big let down. I'll give Ross Chastain a shout out. He had a really good run today. But
and SVG, you know, we've seen in the past couple weeks, but like it doesn't seem like all three
of those teams can put it together each week. And Connor's definitely struggling. He's definitely
a rookie. You know, a man, this is a pretty awful rookie season so far. And, you know,
there's more talent there. He's down on himself. You could tell, you know, the interviews after
today, just both of those on him. Just just losing the car and, you know, not feeling comfortable.
And, you know, if it's time, I'm not, you know, not throwing the BB out of that water here. But
it is definitely a very, very bad rookie season for him. But it's a rookie season. It's a season
to learn. It's definitely a whole nother level. We obviously we see them dominate other levels,
but right cup series is the cup series for a reason. And that's what people say about the
cards and all that. These guys are really good. So Connor will get there though here. Here's how
now I don't want to say this negatively about the driver who I'm going to say this next sentence
about, but here's how bad track house has been this year. One Bob Hocker is just throughout
the points for this year. And you have Connor Zillich 34th in points. He is the only drivers
below him are one Cody Ware, Casey Mears, Catherine and Catherine leg. That's all that who is below
him on spreadsheet. Ross Chastain in 24th and the flag bearer of track house. Like we all assumed
to go into the season is of course, Shane Van Gisburg and because we all assumed he would start
doing top 10s on ovals this season, he is he's 14th in points. So the transplant from New Zealand
who is still figuring out ovals and get super excited when he finishes in the top 10 at any oval
is the flag bearer for track house with 14th in points. So I think if Connor Z does not have a
good Sears point, I'm not going to call it Sonoma. If he does not have a good Sears point,
and if he does not have a good San Diego, San Diego is everyone's assuming that's just going to be
Shane Van Gisburg and its playground. And it probably is going to be. But there's no reason why
Zillich does not have a good day in either of those two races. And by good day, finish the damn
thing, right? Like finish it and like, like top 10. Great, right? Like that's that's your skill set.
Finish it. Last thing that we want to touch on here this weekend on this car scoop is looking
ahead to next weekend at Pocono as we are both Pocono enthusiasts. And both of us, you will be
at Pocono for an entire weekend. I think I'm only making an appearance on Saturday. My main question
going into the weekend, and I think we probably both have the same answer on this, is will
Denny Hamlin not only three P next weekend at Pocono and for the fun of it, will he also be
sent to the rear? And well, obviously he passed Kyle Busch on the all times wins list wins list.
I think so. He's really good at Pocono. He's always a threat there. I mean, he's a threat
everywhere at this point. But that's where he got it. It would be very poetic. Yeah, got his first
win there at Pocono in his career. He would be past Kyle Busch if it wasn't for a little extra
layer of rap a couple years ago when we saw him win. They both got the squad. Right. So they both
would be one or the other would have been ahead of the other. But if it wasn't for that. So I think
so. I think he's on a mission right now. I think they're the best team right now. You know, obviously
between him and Tyler Redick, but both Toyota's just and just that veteran leadership that he has
right now behind the wheel is what's getting them these great finishes and getting these wins.
Yeah, I'd be hard pressed to bet against any Hamlin next week. It's in my opinion,
it's either Hamlin, it's either Bell or it's either Briscoe. And I'll throw I'll throw a Larson in
there too, just because it's Larson, but they haven't done Hendrick Larson things all season.
And I'm not going to assume that's going to start next weekend at Pocono.
So I'm sorry. Watch the Pocono is Ryan Blake. Yes, his first win there as well a couple years
ago. That was great. Well, I mean, it's almost 10 years ago now. But where did he finish today?
He got into the top 10 towards the under AC struggle a lot of the day,
especially for track that's really been great to the forts. Yeah.
But he ended up coming with the top 10, I believe, eight or so. Am I wrong there?
But he's been believing I think in your second or third last year at Pocono,
he's always strong there. He's definitely a guy I'm going to be watching as well.
It looks like we have some let's see here.
Some breaking news. A couple breaking news. One, Joe Gibb, racing team owner Joe Gibbs
mentioned that Christopher Bell's wrist and ankle will need to be looked at further when he
returns to North Carolina. He did not offer much other details about Bell
and one tweet from one Jordan Bianchi. Denny Hamlin confirms what the athletic reported
last summer that Brent Cruz is considered his likely hair apparent at Joe Gibbs racing.
A lot can change, but that is the plan. Wow. So that's some pretty big news right there.
Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't surprise me with Brent Cruz being his replacement,
but the question is going to be when I don't think Brent's ready to go up to cup next year.
So no, no, no. If Denny wins the championship.
I would have thought it would have been Corey Hine, then maybe. I don't know.
If Denny wins the championship, does he come back? You think probably not.
I think he walks away at that. I mean, right. Like why come back and not win it again?
Go out with the win. I agree with you, though. Brent Cruz is great, but I wouldn't.
I think he's still two or three years away at least.
I wouldn't put Corey Day in a full-time cup car right now as much as I wouldn't put
Brent Cruz or Brent Cruz is way more experienced than Corey Day in a stock car.
So that's surprising. And thank goodness. The only thing for C. Bell is a wrist and an ankle
in the 90s. Like I said, he would not be. Yeah.
Yeah. That engine would have been in his lap if that was in the 90s.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That would be like lost media.
That's definitely going to be something to keep an eye on, though, as you go through the week
here because, you know, see how well we rest, how serious is the injury. Does he need a fill-in
driver? You know, that type of thing. This is not on the pre-show thing I posted.
We, as Pocono enthusiasts, know that we saw Ty Gibbs, first cup star at Pocono,
taking over for one Kurt Busch. Could we potentially see Brent Cruz first cup star
take over for an injured C. Bell? That is wild speculation. That is so. Go ahead.
I've seen Ty Gibbs. I was there that weekend when Ty Gibbs stepped in for Kurt Busch. I was
also there. It was also the same, I believe it's the same weekend where Bubba Wallace got his first
start in the 43 car. I was there for that one, too, because that was his first start.
So it was a place for people to make their debuts, it seems like, in the mid-season.
I said it last week. I will say it again this week. Pocono is slept on by so many people.
I believe it is already considered a sell-out next weekend. If it's not a sell-out on Sunday,
it's pretty close to it. Yeah, camping has been sold out for months now, and I pretty
sure the grandstand is pretty close to sold out. This will be the third, I think, consecutive
sell-out in a row for NASCAR. I think Michigan was considered a sell-out today, and Nashville
was considered a sell-out last weekend, and now Pocono this weekend. I ain't saying NASCAR is back
for the heyday of the 90s, but three sell-outs in a row? That's pretty badass. Are you going to do
is get tweets and people showing you pictures of how many more grandstands are used? It's not
the same as it used to be. You've got to get over it. Do you remember when they had all the grandstands
at Dover High? I remember when they had all the grandstands at Dover High. And here's the thing
with Pocono, too, like, yeah, first of all, Pocono hasn't removed any grandstands, and they
have added camping. So then going from two to one date has really benefited. They're attractive.
Their tennis has gone up over the years. Yeah. Over 100,000 people there on Sunday.
Yeah, literally, the best thing they did was go to one date, and Lord, NASCAR don't take it away,
because we in the Northeast, it should be in the playoffs. It's the closest race track to the New
York media market. And they do such a great job. It's such a great time there all weekend. I'm going
up first thing Thursday morning. All of it's great. I'll be there for four days, and I look forward
to this weekend every year. I'm so hyped. Our plan is to take my son, who's almost two to his first
ever experience on Saturday. Will we get through the whole thing? Absolutely not. But do they have
like a play area and stuff and like our real nice one? They do. Like, I have seen Pocono go from,
like, and this is a compliment when I say this, to like, where their one benefit was like the
world's largest urinal. That was like, it was like, like, you know what, we're never gonna have to
wait to take a Pia Pocono. Now it's like, everything is nice. Like every like the fan area, it's
expanded all the time. They have like like a dog park there. The infield has fantastic, like it's
look, I know we're Pennsylvania folks, but like, if you haven't had a chance to go to Pocono yet,
and especially camp in the infield, I can understand if you go to Pocono for your first
time and you sit like row one, it might not be the greatest experience in the world. But if you
can get tickets up high and or camp for a weekend, you're gonna fall in love with it. It is awesome.
It's awesome. Any final words from you, good sir, on Pocono, on Michigan, on Danny, on anything?
Just a really great tribute by Danny there at the end. Yes. It was very nice old school Polish
victory lap with the Kyle Busch Black as he ties him. Hopefully, I'm kind of rooting for him.
I'd love to see him break that next week as much as, you know, it would be kind of bittersweet,
obviously with everything Kyle Busch and everything. And I know people, you know,
the Denny haters would hate it. But I think it would be, I think it would be awesome if you could
break in that week, especially just kind of poetic. How poetic was it today? You said 23
cautions, 2311, 11 second lead, 11 and like, or I'm sorry, 20, I'm sorry, 11 cautions of 23
new changes. Look, and like, I'm not big into like that kind of stuff. But like,
Ned Jarrett passed away, he ran the 11, like, Oh, yeah, come on, man. There's a lot there.
A lot of 11s today. A lot of 11s today. Any plugs for you, good sir.
First of all, thank you for having me on. I always love to be here.
Turn Two Terribles, though. We are live every Monday. If you're in the Sprick car racing,
we cover it every Monday night, 8 p.m. over on Facebook, on YouTube and on X,
TurnTwoTerribles.com. If you need to go find us on Spotify, Apple, anywhere that like that,
Turn Two Terribles, 8 p.m. Eastern every Monday. And on your Tuesday nights, join us here on the
Front Stretch YouTube channel for the happy hour live at 7 30 p.m. So do your Mondays with Turn
Two Terribles and your Tuesdays with the Front Stretch and the happy hour and you will be one
happy motorsports fan. All right, so let's go ahead and wrap this baby up here. Thank you,
Caleb Barnes and Landon Queensbury in or rather Trekside at Michigan International Speedway. We
appreciate all of your efforts this weekend. Thank you very much, Jimmy Barr for joining me on this
episode of the stock car scoop. And thank you, the fans for listening to another episode of
the stock car scoop. We'll see you next week.
About this episode
Fire Keepers Casino 400 at Michigan gets a full recap, with hosts highlighting “11 total cautions, 23 total lead changes” and Denny Hamlin’s back-to-front surge—“wins by an astonishing 11.11 seconds.” They dig into why the comeback worked, pointing to long-run pace, cleaner track position, and repeatable lap speed. Safety and chaos also take center stage, including a major Bell crash and barrier repairs. The conversation then pivots to Pocono: sellout buzz, Hamlin’s threat level, and injury/driver replacement updates.
