The Dale Jr. Download brings Amazon Booth guests into a wide-ranging NASCAR chat: free agency and contract dominoes, crew chief and leadership changes, and how charters shape team strategy and spending. The conversation then shifts to schedule updates—Wilkesboro, the All-Star Race, and international/street-course options—plus what fans and teams expect from new venues. Later, they dig into simulation, practice time, and race-week learning, tying it back to upcoming events like the 600 at Charlotte.
In anticipation of his return to the commentator’s booth this weekend at Charlotte, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with his Prime Video co-hosts Adam Alexander and Steve Letarte. The guys dive into the hot topic of the upcoming Cup Series free agency, in which Kyle Busch finds himself in the most-watched position. They also discuss Hendrick Motorsports' dilemma of what to do with Alex Bowman and the rapidly rising Corey Day, who continues to turn heads on a weekly basis in the O’Reilly Series. And let’s not forget Corey Heim, and what that means for Riley Herbst and 23XI Racing.
The conversation also covers the schedule changes we’ve seen this year in NASCAR and what can be on the horizon in the coming years. They preview the highly anticipated San Diego street race and what drivers will need to do to get up to speed on a new circuit. Finally, the guys take a look at the races that will be covered on Prime Video this season, and they make some predictions of who will be taking home the wins each week.
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"But it's a little bit of Spire and Suarez and Trackhouse, the tale of those two teams. And how they're somewhat linked because of the Suarez relationship that the Trackhouse had for years."
Trackhouse is a NASCAR team. Here, they’re talking about how the team’s results have been going and how that connects to Daniel Suarez’s career move.
Trackhouse Racing is a NASCAR team that competes in the Cup Series. In this segment, the hosts discuss how Trackhouse’s performance has changed over the season and how it relates to Daniel Suarez’s move.
"And now he's at Spire and he's running well, better. Suarez has taken his opportunity at Spire and seems to have leveled up a little bit."
Suarez is a NASCAR driver. They’re talking about how his move to a new team seems to have improved his results and changed how the teams are doing.
Daniel Suarez is a NASCAR driver whose team changes can significantly affect a team’s performance. In this segment, the hosts connect Suarez’s move to Spire with the idea that he’s “leveled up,” while Trackhouse has struggled to keep pace.
"But it's a little bit of Spire and Suarez and Trackhouse, the tale of those two teams. And how they're somewhat linked because of the Suarez relationship that the Trackhouse had for years."
Spire is a NASCAR racing team. The hosts are saying Suarez’s time there seems to be helping the team run better.
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series team. The discussion frames Spire’s recent competitiveness as tied to Daniel Suarez’s arrival and improved results.
"Trackhouse has struggled to make pace, make speed. Now they had a good day at Watkins Glen and there's been some moments."
“Make pace” means being fast enough to match the speed of the other cars. They’re saying Trackhouse hasn’t been able to run competitive lap times.
“Make pace” is NASCAR shorthand for being able to run competitive lap times relative to the field. When the hosts say Trackhouse has struggled to “make pace” and “make speed,” they mean the cars haven’t been fast enough to keep up consistently.
Term
make speed
"Trackhouse has struggled to make pace, make speed. Now they had a good day at Watkins Glen and there's been some moments."
“Make speed” means the car is able to go fast enough to compete. Here, they’re saying Trackhouse hasn’t been getting the performance they need.
“Make speed” refers to achieving the car’s target performance—typically measured by lap times and how quickly the car can accelerate and carry momentum. In this context, it’s paired with “make pace,” emphasizing Trackhouse’s difficulty staying competitive.
"Now they had a good day at Watkins Glen and there's been some moments."
Watkins Glen is a track NASCAR races on. It’s a road course, and teams can perform differently there than at oval tracks.
Watkins Glen International is a road course in NASCAR’s schedule. Road courses often highlight differences in braking, cornering grip, and setup balance, which can explain why a team might look better there than on other track types.
"It feels like for someone like that, making the chase at this point would be just a consolation prize because you're not going to get yourself into the top 16 and then get yourself up into the top six or seven, which is where we all universally believe you need to be prior to the reset if you're really going to make a run at a title."
The “Chase” is NASCAR’s playoff part of the season. Drivers aim to be in a strong position in the standings before the rules/points reset so they still have a real shot at winning the championship.
In NASCAR, the “Chase” refers to the playoff-style stretch where drivers fight for the championship. The key idea is that you generally need to be positioned well enough in the standings (like being in the top group) before the reset so you can realistically contend for the title.
"which is where we all universally believe you need to be prior to the reset if you're really going to make a run at a title. So, you know, you and I talked to Jeff Gordon and it was interesting to hear Jeff talk about the chase standings and where they are need to be."
A points reset means NASCAR changes the standings partway through the playoffs. It’s meant to make the championship race closer, so drivers who weren’t leading before still have a chance.
A points reset is when NASCAR’s playoff system changes the points situation partway through the postseason. Instead of simply continuing from the regular-season totals, the reset is designed to tighten the race so more drivers can still contend for the championship.
"We had the playoff format for so long that I never looked, I just didn't need to. Yeah. But now it's back and man, I found like I'm like the kid with the back of the sports section anymore."
The “playoff format” is the way NASCAR runs its championship race. It covers who qualifies and how the points/standings are handled as the season gets closer to crowning a champion.
The “playoff format” is the specific structure NASCAR uses to determine the champion—how drivers qualify, when points are adjusted, and how many positions matter. The speaker contrasts the older format (where they didn’t need to track points as closely) with the current one.
"all the thing you would do is unload your all star cars, run a lap, qualify, maybe pull them out of a bingo."
Qualifying is a timed session before the race where drivers try to set the best lap time. Your lap time determines where you start on the grid.
In racing, “qualify” means setting the starting position by running timed laps before the main race. The fastest cars typically start at the front, which can strongly affect race strategy and track position.
"move the on track better for the 600 and make that 600 feel like the Daytona 500, which is we kick off with a race."
The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s biggest race. It’s a huge deal and often considered a major kickoff event for the season.
The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s most famous race, held at Daytona International Speedway. It’s often treated as the season’s biggest early marquee event, which is why the host compares the “600” to it.
Topic
600
"limit all the on track and then move the on track better for the 600 and make that 600 feel like the Daytona 500, which is we kick off with a race."
In racing talk, “600” is shorthand for a long-distance race. The hosts are comparing it to the Daytona 500 as a big, headline event.
“The 600” here refers to the Indianapolis 500’s common “500” counterpart in NASCAR scheduling talk—typically shorthand for a 600-mile race. In this segment, it’s being compared to the Daytona 500 in terms of making it feel like a kickoff marquee event.
"The Indy 500 and the 600 are like the Memorial Day weekend is the biggest race of the week."
The Indy 500 is one of the biggest races in the U.S. It’s held at the Indianapolis track and is a major event for racing fans.
The Indy 500 is a major American open-wheel race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s often used as a benchmark for how big a racing weekend is in the U.S.
"There's a lot of races there in April and May that are regional, at least on the schedule now. You know, we go to Bristol in the spring, we go to Martinsville in the spring."
Bristol is a well-known NASCAR track. It’s famous for tight racing, and the host is talking about when races happen on the calendar.
Bristol refers to racing at Bristol Motor Speedway, known for its short track and intense, close-quarters racing. The host mentions it as part of the spring schedule, contrasting it with other timing constraints.
"You know, we go to Bristol in the spring, we go to Martinsville in the spring."
Martinsville is a NASCAR race track. The host is mentioning it to explain how the schedule groups races together.
Martinsville refers to racing at Martinsville Speedway, another short-track venue that’s known for heavy braking and frequent position changes. The host uses it to illustrate how the schedule clusters races in spring.
"Bristol in the spring, we go to Martinsville in the spring. Darlington always falls around that same time."
Darlington is another major NASCAR track. The host is talking about how the race dates affect travel and logistics for teams.
Darlington refers to racing at Darlington Raceway, a historic NASCAR track with a distinctive layout. The host points out that Darlington’s timing makes it easier for teams to be in the region already.
"there's a better way to let the all stars go see fans in different markets driving and racing, but maybe not Hendrick Motorsports prepared Chevrolets or Joe Gibbs."
Hendrick Motorsports is a major NASCAR racing team. The host is discussing which teams should be involved in an all-star-style event.
Hendrick Motorsports is a top NASCAR team organization known for fielding multiple competitive cars. In the segment, it’s mentioned in the context of whether “all star” events should feature teams and cars from different organizations.
"but maybe not Hendrick Motorsports prepared Chevrolets or Joe Gibbs."
Joe Gibbs Racing is a well-known NASCAR team. The host is talking about whether an all-star event should include different teams rather than just a couple of big ones.
Joe Gibbs Racing is a prominent NASCAR team organization associated with the Joe Gibbs brand. The host mentions it alongside Hendrick Motorsports to discuss how an all-star event might distribute participation across teams.
"but maybe not Hendrick Motorsports prepared Chevrolets or Joe Gibbs."
“Chevrolets” means race cars associated with the Chevrolet brand. The discussion is about which brands and teams would show up for the event.
“Chevrolets” here refers to NASCAR race cars built around Chevrolet brand platforms. The host is contrasting which manufacturers/teams would be represented in an all-star fan event.
"I think the Toyotas are the competing team right now at these racetracks, the best package in terms of Aero engine and all that."
“Aero” is about how air flows around the car. So this is basically talking about the car’s aerodynamic setup—how it sticks to the track and how much it slows down.
In NASCAR, “aero” refers to aerodynamics—how the car’s shape manages airflow. When someone says “aero engine,” they usually mean the car’s overall aerodynamic package (and related setup) that affects downforce and drag, not the engine itself.
"So it's a high power low downforce. It's less than a mile and a half."
That phrase means the car has less aerodynamic grip from the body, so it leans more on straight-line speed. With less “downforce,” turning can feel less planted.
“High power low downforce” describes a track/setup where the car relies more on engine power and less on aerodynamic grip. Low downforce means the car generates less aerodynamic “push” downward, so it can be harder to keep stable traction in corners.
"[4751.7s] And when I got out there and ran, I think my first run, I was only about two tenths or three tenths off of Jimmy.
[4756.9s] And by, you know, 30 or 45 minutes, I was running the lap times they needed me to run."
“Lap time” is how long it takes to drive around the whole track once. Racers compare lap times to see who is going faster and improving. The speaker is using small lap-time differences to show how close he was to another driver.
“Lap time” is the total time it takes to complete one full circuit around the track. In racing, comparing lap times between drivers is a primary way to judge pace and progress during practice. The speaker uses lap time gaps (like being “two tenths or three tenths off”) to show how quickly simulator-prepared drivers can match the field.
"[4766.7s] I'm like, well, I ran on a SIM all night last night.
[4775.1s] And so the guys that really embrace the SIM... just to learn the track..."
“SIM time” is practice in a computer racing simulator. Drivers use it to learn the track and practice the same driving moves before they go out on the real track. The idea is that the more you practice in the simulator, the quicker you can adapt when you finally drive for real.
“SIM time” means time spent practicing in a racing simulator instead of on-track. In motorsports, it’s used to learn the track layout, braking/turn-in points, and gear selection before real practice sessions. The speaker argues that even limited simulator practice can translate into faster lap times through better preparation and repeatable habits.
"[4769.4s] So when I got here, all the shift points were the same.
[4771.4s] Everything was the same as like deja vu, like I had been there."
“Shift points” are the moments when you decide to change gears while driving. If you shift at the right time, the car pulls harder and feels smoother. The speaker is saying the simulator helped him know when to shift.
“Shift points” are the RPM/vehicle conditions where a driver decides to change gears. Hitting the right shift points matters because it keeps the engine in its power band and helps the car accelerate efficiently out of corners. The speaker says simulator practice made the shift points feel familiar, like they’d already been there.
"[4775.1s] ...just to learn the track and understand what gear to be in,
[4784.1s] when they should be expecting to shift and change gears..."
“Gear to be in” just means choosing the right gear for what the car is doing—like slowing down for a turn or accelerating out of it. The right gear helps the car respond better and move faster. The speaker says simulator practice helps drivers learn those choices quickly.
“Gear to be in” refers to selecting the appropriate transmission gear for a given speed and cornering situation. Correct gear choice affects acceleration, engine response, and how smoothly the car transitions between braking, turning, and throttle. The speaker frames this as something simulator practice helps drivers internalize as “muscle memory.”
"[4851.2s] Okay, think about it. Come back the next week, do it again.
[4853.9s] Because if you know those things, now you can focus on what we can't send, which is track surface.
[4859.2s] Oh, there's a ripple here. We didn't know."
“Track surface” means how the road/track is actually behaving—how grippy it is and whether it has bumps or uneven spots. Even if you know the track layout from a simulator, the real surface can still change how the car feels. That’s why teams still need time on the actual track.
“Track surface” refers to the condition of the racing surface—things like grip level, rubber buildup, and surface irregularities. Changes in track surface can alter braking distances, corner entry behavior, and tire grip, so teams often need real on-track feedback. The speaker contrasts simulator learning with the need to react to surface issues like a ripple.
"And if you start behind on the weekend, you're slow in practice, you're slow and qualifying. You have no track."
In racing, practice sessions are time on track used to learn the circuit and refine setup choices before qualifying or the race. If you start behind in practice, you typically have less time to build confidence and find speed, which can hurt qualifying.
"But I love watching road courses in preparation to see, okay, there's a bridge that goes across as we head toward turn four."
A road course is a race track with lots of turns and braking, not just a big oval. It’s the kind of track where learning each corner matters a lot.
A road course is a type of race track that uses a mix of left and right turns, braking zones, and elevation changes, rather than just long ovals. Drivers often learn braking points and corner geometry by watching and practicing on the specific circuit.
"So they can't, it's not going to be ideal grip wise. ... they're going to dial the grip and the tire to make the lap time what they think it should be."
Grip is how well the tires can stick to the road. More grip means you can brake and turn harder; less grip means you have to slow down more.
Grip is how much traction the tires have with the track surface, which directly affects braking, cornering speed, and acceleration. The speaker notes that without accurate sim tuning—especially for tires and surface patches—grip in the real world may differ from what drivers expect.
"They can, you know, they, every time they go to Dover, they went to Dover Sunday. There are drivers in each manufacturer's Sim all day today running the Sim to dial it in"
Dover is a specific race track the series visits. The point here is that teams can use what happened at Dover to make their simulator more accurate for the next time.
Dover refers to Dover Motor Speedway, a specific NASCAR venue where teams use simulator data and driver feedback to improve next-week performance. The speaker contrasts how teams can dial in the sim after racing there versus tracks where they can’t tune as much ahead of time.
"dialing the Sim closer to that track that they just raced on, trying to improve the Sim, the model, the tire model, and the grip and the surface."
A tire model is how the simulator “pretends” your tires will behave. If it’s not accurate, the sim’s lap times and handling feel won’t match the real car.
A tire model is the simulator’s representation of how the tires generate grip, respond to load, and wear over time. If the tire model is off, the sim can predict the wrong braking points, corner entry speed, and overall lap time.
Term
San Diego
"They won't be able to do that with San Diego. They're going to get in a Sim and hope that the lap time is close."
San Diego is the next track they’re talking about. The idea is that teams can’t fine-tune their simulator as much ahead of time, so they’re aiming for a close lap time instead of perfect accuracy.
San Diego here is a venue/trip where the speaker says teams won’t have enough time or data to fully tune the simulator beforehand. As a result, they may rely on getting the lap time “close” rather than matching real-world tire and grip behavior precisely.
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You're Dale Jr.
Should I say it?
It's Dale Jr. Fockets, I gotta say it.
Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. back again for another episode of the Dale Jr.
Download. It's the guest show today and I'm going to bring in my teammates from
Amazon. That's Adam Alexander and Steve LaTarp.
We're going to talk about all the things that we've seen going on in the season
this year. Maybe some silly season rumors that we've been hearing.
We'll talk about the schedule, some of the tracks we're excited about.
All things NASCAR. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Right here in the Arby's studio.
I want to remind you also about Arby's new Meet 3 Box.
You get more meal for your money at Arby's.
We have the meat, so let's get the guests in the show and get started.
So, alright, I'm here with LaTarp, Adam, and we're excited about getting back into
Booth. I mean, you guys, you know, Adam's kind of, you know, he's always into Booth.
He never stops.
He never stops.
Steve, what have you been doing?
Watching, doing the digital inside the race with the NASCAR group.
So, I've been doing all my digital work and just getting ready to go.
I'm ready to get all this digital stuff and podcasting is fun, but there's nothing like live events.
I'm ready to get up in the booth, see it in person.
Adam, are you ready?
So, you're going to continue what you've been doing, but you're attacking on an additional lift.
That's right.
Are you knowing what you know now after last year?
Are you ready?
You know what? It all went better than I thought it would.
Not that I thought it was going to be bad.
I don't know how to take that.
I just mean managing the schedule and all that, but you guys know Caleb Combs,
who's our producer on the CW side, and he was just really good about managing time and making sure
I was where I needed to be and putting me in the best possible place to be successful.
So, that really helped me.
So, going into year two, I'm way more comfortable with the schedule part.
And I would say my excitement level is way higher than it was a year ago just because we have this.
We now know each other way better, and so the anticipation is just at a really high level for me.
Well, we got a lot of storylines going on in the sport.
I guess we can kick it off with free agency.
We'll cover the laps, the action on the track, and all those things will come relatively easy for the most part.
But some of the more challenging things are the stories that are happening behind the scenes
and how to fit them into the program, right?
And free agency is a big topic every year.
Everybody gets excited, I think, hoping that there is a big story in free agency.
That it's not a fizzle, that it's fireworks, and Kyle Busch is kind of at the top of this list.
Every other day, I hear Kyle Busch is happy.
There's a likelihood they resign.
There's nowhere for him to go, but then I look around and I'm like,
I see some places he could probably land that wouldn't be either lateral moves or maybe some improvement,
depending on how you view the teams.
What do you guys think?
I agree with that assessment that thinking he doesn't have options would be a miss.
I mean, there's always some seats available moving around.
I look at the crew chief change as an organization committed to their driver.
So I look at that as them saying, hey, Kyle, you're our guy.
You're our guy.
We're going to make changes around you to see if we can get this going in the right direction.
I mean, who wouldn't want Kyle, right?
The car seems to be partnered.
They have stickers on the car every week.
I mean, what is it?
Three years now?
Two and a half years of winless streak?
It's longer than it should be.
Almost three years to the day.
Crazy how quick the last three weeks have been way better.
I was going to ask you as a crew chief, Steve, the way things have went for that team since they made that change.
I wasn't anticipating much of a difference in performance, but immediately he's qualifying better, racing better, seems to be happier.
So I don't put that on one guy.
I don't know.
I say I'm not in the meetings, but I don't put it on one.
I think Jim is a very smart guy.
But what that tells me is it happens to all of us in relationships and in business, whatever.
I wonder how the organization just itself maybe just didn't get stifled, right?
Maybe the engineering didn't feel like they were being heard and Arrow didn't feel like they were being heard and somebody else.
And then the owner, RC comes in and he's like, we're going to make a public front facing change.
This is not a behind the scenes change.
This is the number one guy on top of the pit box.
And if that didn't, you know, generate, so I look at the changes we've had in our careers and I'm like, man, I went in there.
If anybody has suggestions, let me hear.
I took all this information in to try to get up to speed as quick as possible.
So I wonder if it wasn't just one guy, but if other people in the organization felt like they could be heard.
Or if it forced them to peel the Band-Aid off and be like, hey, man, we were afraid to make changes because we were afraid to get worse.
And you get to a point where you like you can't get any worse.
Then you have to make some changes.
But this is something that they were doing last year.
This was like a new idea.
They had worked together last year toward the end of the year.
And so they kind of knew what they were getting themselves into.
And they're running better now than they did at the end of last year, right?
But here's what I would say, though, it's not just the eight.
Like if you look, it's almost like the flip switched over there across the board because both those guys ran really well at Watkins Glen.
The eight had incredible speed at Texas, even though they didn't get to pay off there.
And then you look at what they did in the All-Star race.
I mean, the three car was unbelievable.
Probably ran as well as he had, you know, since last fall when he won at Richmond.
So I feel like that, you know, as you bring it to Kyle Busch and where does he land with his future,
he's got to be incredibly encouraged about staying where he is just because of the speed they're now producing across the board.
Well, Denny's helping every older driver out there.
That's right.
I mean, not being smart.
Well, you're really five year old winning.
I think that helps if you're an older driver, really look, it can still happen.
If we get the cars right, you know, I think it's an easier sales pitch that it isn't an automatic age thing.
Yeah, let's move on to the HMS 48 car.
Alex Bowman was injured and had to sit out a few races, came back.
You know, Alex has had this, I don't know, hot and cold sort of up and down career.
You know, he'll run off a win and have a good string of runs and then have a string of struggles.
And it's kind of hard to know, you know, what you're going to get.
But there's been just, you know, rumors flying around.
One of those is that Corey Day could be seen as a guy that could depend upon depending upon how the rest of this year goes.
He's won two races in the Raleigh series.
You know, they could move him up, which would, you know, I feel like, you know, I got my opinions about that.
I think Corey could everybody that goes into the Raleigh series, especially Corey, who has a very limited asphalt experience.
Everybody could, you know, the two year deal is kind of always the minimum.
I think for young guys coming through the Raleigh series.
So I'd like to see Corey run another season, but he could get thrust into that position.
Connor Zillich has also been mentioned as a rumor of somebody that could possibly get there.
But that would involve all kinds of, you know, crazy shenanigans with contracts and so forth because he's with Trackhouse.
And so, you know, I don't know what that means for Alex because I think Alex, it belongs in the Cup Series.
I think he's talented and when he's injury free, when he's healthy, you know, I think that he can get the job done.
So it's a tough spot. I think if you're over it, you know, if you're Jeff Gordon or any of those guys over there trying to figure out what to do.
Yeah, this is where the business of sports and the emotion of sports becomes really tangled because I believe that Alex deserves a cup ride.
And I think when he's at its best, he's, he can win. He's proven that.
But the unfortunate part is like when your favorite football player goes down, he's your guy and he might have taken you to some great heights.
But if you just can't perform or consistently perform or just stay healthy enough, then you have to make bad or tough, is better word, maybe tough business decisions.
So I think that it would have to be a business decision to keep them as crazy as that sounds like a partner, whether it's ally, somebody would have to say,
we've invested in this guy, he's our brand and we love him and I just don't know.
I mean, Ally's there, but are they there because Alex Bowman? I don't know.
My question, so Ally and Alex got a great relationship. I think that's why Alex is still there, honestly.
And so because, you know, I know that Ally loves Alex Bowman.
And so, you know, I think that is, that has lengthened his runway.
Well, listen, if I had a choice, if you're asking me between Cornier and Conor Zillich, I would move mountains to get Conor Zillich in.
I agree, but Cory Day just won two races in the O'Reilly series. He's proving that he is a special talent.
He has the commitment from Larson, who, you know, is part of this program.
So he has that, you know, and I think Jeff Gordon has kind of gotten behind this as well, signing off on Cory Day.
So look at the three drivers that they have outside of Bowman.
They're not getting rid of Byron, they're not getting rid of Chase, they're not getting rid of those guys.
If you bring Zillich in, that is a roadblock for day.
For like a decade.
Yeah, that is a bad sign for Cory Day.
So I feel like that business decision-wise, now if Ally is super happy with Bowman,
regardless of what the performance on the racetrack has been, I would give Bowman another year.
I would say, look, you know, the plan is to run day this year and the following season in the O'Reilly series
with the idea that he goes into the 48 after that.
I see your point on timing though, because if you don't, I think Cory is going to need a place quicker than some thought.
Cory is not 18 or 19.
You know what I mean?
Like Connor is 19.
So I look at drivers at the O'Reilly level now, and sometimes to me, and this is me 22.
Someone could correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure he's 22.
So he's a little older, and I realize he doesn't have that foundation of stock car experience.
I mean, he's just really getting his feet wet doing it.
But that runway is a little different for him because he's not a teenager.
So I feel like maybe you speed that path up a little bit.
The other thing for me on Cory Day is I heard the rumors about the 48, and I'm like, man, I think he needs another year.
And then he went out and did what he did at Dover on Saturday, and I'm like, oh my gosh, we can't get him there fast enough.
I mean, that was impressive.
I agree.
I mean, you can put him in the 48 next year.
I think you're not going to, I think at the end of his career, it's all the same.
But I believe if you put him in the 48 next year, it's going to be very similar to what we saw in Byron when he got in the Cup series out of the gate.
It's just going to take a little time.
It's completely different.
And the car is completely different.
He's got to learn an entirely different tire, and it's got a smaller, it just drives.
Everything about that car is nothing like he's ever driven in his life.
Maybe the sooner you get him there, the better.
Well, I feel like for William Byron, Xalta and Rick made that work.
And what I mean by that is from the outside, it seemed like William knew he had a long runway.
We had a partner who's on board for a long time.
We have an owner who knows.
You might be moving up a little quick, but we're just going to get you there and let you mature.
And it's worked out wonders.
So for Corey, I don't think there's a wrong answer to your point.
Like if you can convince Ally and you say, hey man, just don't lose the blue sky right away.
This is a really tough jump, and there's going to be a little bit of a learning curve on the other side.
Because the talent's there.
It's an interesting, years ago I would have said that you had the Spire organization and Mr. Hendrick had a lot to do.
But since Spires really kind of shown up on their own, I feel like they're kind of off doing their own thing with Hosevar now.
Like four years or three years ago, if you'd ask me, I'm like, well, Hosevar is going to be in line.
But I think that Spire organization is standing on their own two feet now, and they've signed him up for a long time.
And I think his name is off the list.
I agree. I think too that Hosevar, if you're assuming that Hosevar could go to HMS, I don't think that that's a fit for him.
I don't think HMS and Hosevar are a good fit to get.
I think where Hosevar is, is they let him be him, right?
And I agree with what you're saying about Spire.
I think that they've made a commitment and they've shown to Hosevar that they can get him what he needs and where he wants to go and they can succeed.
I think Zillich is absolutely, if he is available, if there's a way and a route for him to ever be taken out of the Trackhouse deal or bald out or whatever that means, he's absolutely the best option with the most upside.
But I just don't know what that would mean legally.
The other driver I think we could talk about, there's a couple on this list, but the one that stands out to me is Corey Haim.
I think we kind of all know that 2311 is where he's going to end up.
Just last week, Legacy said that they were working on Herbst.
All those dominoes seem to fall into place.
And I think we couldn't be more excited about having Haim become part of the series.
What an interesting year though.
I haven't heard your opinion, so if you've given it, my apologies.
But for Corey Haim to basically suspend full-time racing for a year and kind of run whatever is, I don't remember anyone doing this of recent years.
Pretty fascinating.
Yeah, it is.
It's not the same, but a bit similar to what Casey Cain did with Red Bull, where he kind of did a lame duck year there.
Not really lame duck.
I mean, they had some success and ran really well before he was good.
And he was already tacked into the HMS deal, but he had to wait a year because Mark was going to run one more season.
So I don't think there are very many examples that would even be somewhat similar.
Corey is incredible.
And I've loved it because there's a couple of times that he's had some off weekends.
He's came and raced with the cars tour, so that's kind of nice for us to get a guy of his caliber to come down and run with us.
But it seems like that he's starting to really get the cup car figured out, you know, starting to show some speed in that car.
And it's not really even a full-fledged effort behind him.
And he's able to go out there.
And when given the opportunity to lead laps, control the race and all those things, he's starting to show that he's capable of doing that.
It's remarkable to me how he can go from series to series to series, not with any sort of rhythm.
And be so, I mean, he's like 11.
To be that young and to do what we're talking about as difficult as the cup car evidently is to drive and to float in and out when you have that limited experience and you're that young is so impressive.
And, you know, what they did at Texas, I mean, I know it was a strategy call, but you put him out front and he's leading laps and taking care of business.
The other thing I like about him is he's so steady.
And I look at, you know, Denny's approach and I think about Reddick and, you know, Bubba's a little up and down, right, with his personality.
But I feel like Corey is just a really nice fit personality wise to compliment what they have at bit 23-11.
Yeah, he is a lot like Denny.
I agree with that.
Hey, this is Dale Hart Jr.
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Let's talk about some, you know, teams rising to the top or some teams that are struggling.
We, I don't really hesitate to say this, but I'm not sure if it's what everybody believes.
I believe that the Next Gen car has swayed us toward a more F1 style experience as consumers of the product or fans of watching it.
You see more instead of independent teams or, you know, having one car out of an organization really run well and the others sort of everybody's kind of sprinkled throughout the field.
With this car and the way that we set cars up, the way engineers control a lot of what's going on, crew chiefs are more about orchestrating just the weekend,
make sure everything goes well and they're more about putting people in the right places.
They're not so much setup guys anymore.
The way the cars are built, put together and sent to the racetrack, we see organizations run on top of each other.
Which ones are getting it right?
Which ones need to do a little work?
Which ones are surprising you with how maybe they're struggling or succeeding?
Ryan Blaney's talent behind the wheel must be outstanding because he is the standout at Team Penske now for a relatively lengthy period of time.
And I, look, I think Joey Lana can absolutely drive.
So that just tells me that if you assume all three cars are reasonably close,
Blaney is consistently the faster of those three cars by a reasonable margin, which shocks me.
So I'd say for the under-performance side, I would say the 22 specifically is the one that's shocking me.
But all of Team Penske has been down.
Blaney gives them some hopes at times, I think is maybe some false hopes at times.
The other one I have that, you know, it's Toyota's year.
And it's hard to pick on legacy now because they just had it okay run at the All-Star race,
but they went a completely different way from what I understand, doing a lot of their own tools and beating kind of their own drum over there.
And we all know how cyclical this sport is.
Like if I'm a Toyota driver right now and I'm not competing for wins, I'm scared to death.
Or if I'm crew chief in one of those cars and we're not winning trophies,
because at some point we're not going to have the best equipment and then we're really in trouble.
So if your legacy and the brand that you drive seems to be at the top of the heap,
I'm concerned at their distance from the other ones, but maybe it's just a long-term play.
So they went about, instead of sharing tools with all the other Toyota teams,
they went about building their own SIM and all that stuff. Am I correct?
That's how I understand it. Much like RFK did the same thing with Ford.
Both of them wanted to be almost brand agnostic if you believe it, right? They want to be flexible.
I feel, in my mind, when I watch them race on Sunday, I give them the benefit of the doubt,
because I know that this is a process for them.
And if I don't see the results, I go, well, you know, I'm not naive enough to think that,
I mean, I guess I know Jimmy Johnson just as you do, the guy is going to succeed.
He's not going to fail. And when he first kind of got into the ownership side of it,
I was like, man, the Jimmy Johnson, I don't know if he's going to be able to,
I don't know if he realizes how much time he's going to have to commit to this to really make this work,
because he's everywhere. He's all over the country, world, right?
And so, but he's proven to me that he absolutely is willing to put in the legwork and the accountability,
and he is a leader of the organization. And so I believe that when I watched him race,
I go, all right, you know, I don't know whether they have all of the pieces in terms of,
are these the drivers that are going to be winning races for them when they start winning?
Are these the, you know, these might not be the cars yet.
These might, you know, they may be missing a few pieces, right?
But they will get there. And so I almost give them the benefit of the doubt,
but I would love to see it. I would love to see the process start to work.
It's funny because, you know, here we are talking about our summer run,
and I feel like last year, it was about this time that we started to see flashes from both Eric Jones and John Hunter Nemechek.
I mean, Nemechek qualified like top 10 in the 600.
And then I look at what Eric Jones did over the weekend in the All-Star race.
I mean, he was right there and I won't say he was as good as Hamlin and Brisco and Reddick,
but he was able to hang with those guys.
And then I wonder about, you give them 90 minutes of practice,
which is something these teams aren't used to having,
and maybe this weekend does serve as a little bit of an opportunity to turn a corner for them.
Maybe that's what I need is a blip because, you know, you reminded me,
they came out to India and they weren't just okay.
Like they were standout fast.
And I think they alluded to the fact that we have to pick and choose our weeks.
You know, we can't, if we try to do it all the time, we don't ever do it great.
We have to kind of like pick our ones.
So maybe we see something over the summer.
Maybe they have some tracks identified.
We'll start to see some movement.
Yeah.
One thing that I've enjoyed watching, it's the first half of the year.
And I'll be curious if it continues, if the storyline continues to kind of be woven together.
But it's a little bit of Spire and Suarez and Trackhouse, the tale of those two teams.
And how they're somewhat linked because of the Suarez relationship that the Trackhouse had for years.
And now he's at Spire and he's running well, better.
Suarez has taken his opportunity at Spire and seems to have leveled up a little bit.
Trackhouse has struggled to make pace, make speed.
Now they had a good day at Watkins Glen and there's been some moments.
But they would probably agree with all of us sitting here at the table that they're not running the way they want to run.
They had a good run this weekend with Zillich.
But there was a lot of reason.
I mean, there's a lot of cars got knocked out of that race.
You know, the ton of attrition, good quality cars that would have been, you know, cars he'd had to run for that top five.
You know, where do you guys kind of see Spire?
Where do you see Trackhouse?
I think those teams, for whatever reason, I kind of link them together, even though they have zero history.
But they're like two ships passing in the night.
One's going one way and one's going the other.
And I'm not sure what, you know, I think I know Spire's headed to the top.
If they can continue to sustain the support that it takes to be, you know, it costs a lot of money to be able to compete with Rick Hendrick, with Pinsky.
It costs.
It just does.
And if they can continue to sustain, you know, that effort, they're going to continue to race for wins and challenge some of these bigger teams while Trackhouse is headed in the other direction for whatever reason.
And I can't really put my finger on it.
So I think there's a driver in each organization that's going to be the North light to each of them.
So follow me here for Spire.
Hosevar will be the reason they keep getting talented engineers, talented pit crew guys and other drivers.
Like when younger drivers come out of the O'Reilly series, they're going to see Spire as an opportunity because if you're a good race car driver and you believe you could do it, Hosevar is doing it.
So you're like, man, right?
Like if somebody's doing it in that equipment, you go, man, I, whether you can or can, if you believe you could be Carson Hosevar, then you want to go drive there.
It's your best opportunity.
On the flip side, you know, SVG, I have him kind of circled a little bit for the limited amount of oval practice we get anymore.
He is dang close to Ross Chastain most weeks.
Now, I think that equipment isn't very good.
So if Ross can get better and the organization can get better, I want to see how quick can SVG keep up with him as they move closer to the front because I believe it's way harder to run like eighth versus 15th.
So those are the two drivers I have circled.
It's funny for some reason, I have them attached as well.
I'm trying to figure out why I think they're attached in my mind, but those two are going to maybe the timing of them all.
But you get to see all these drivers on Saturday, but like where, where are those young drivers go?
And I think those are the two teams that are going to have opportunity at some point.
It is funny though, when you look at Hosevar and you talk about me doing the Saturday stuff, you know, he kind of skipped that.
I mean, he ran a handful of races in O'Reilly, but he was basically straight from trucks to cup full time.
And, you know, to me, when I look at Spire, Hosevar is the one that's going to get the headlines for so many reasons.
And he has the win at Talladega and he just is a dynamic personality that's going to draw lots of attention.
But we talk about Suarez.
Suarez in year one has got himself in a chase position.
I know we got a long way to go, but he's, he's done all the things in the first half of the regular season to be in a spot to be successful.
You know, you go back to Watkins Glen and Michael McDowell has not hit the sweet spot, but they, they found it there and ran, you know, second
and had a great run similar to what SVG did driving back through the field after they were on a different strategy.
So I, I feel like the parts and pieces are there for them to continue to grow and I, I'm a glass half full guy.
So I know that it hasn't gone as well as everyone would have hoped at Trackhouse in the first half of the regular season.
But what I would say is I feel like the win at Watkins Glen, the performance there of, of what Zillich was able to do coupled with what he did in the All-Star race.
I still believe in Ross.
I, I feel like we could see them turn a corner.
I don't know that they're going to make a huge splash beyond the road courses, but I'm, I'm not giving up hope there on them being able to make something out of 2026.
This is a bit of a jump, but because we started with Kyle Busch, you know, I know it's a truck series, but he's been off kind of in a little bit.
Everything he's been driving that performance and over in that spire truck was, I mean, it was everything, right?
What, what are in his fast lap?
I mean, he basically, so is there any way that is something like, if you're RCR trying to keep Kyle, you're trying to keep him because somebody else is trying to get him.
You would imagine, you know, is a spire looking to bring a guy like him in?
I don't know why they would with their current drier lineup, but he's over there running the truck and doing.
I'm surprised, I'm surprised that that conversation hasn't gotten any legs.
I mean, you don't hear any rumors of Kyle Busch to Spire on the cup side.
And, you know, I look at Michael McDowell.
He's, he's obviously got some very good relationships at Spire.
He's been there a while.
They find, they see value in him.
And I often wonder and, and, and, uh, Spire has ran their team as a business.
They don't, they don't spend foolishly.
They have, we've watched them.
They will run, they will, they will put, they will put one car in a position if they believe it can to go out and run harder and run better.
But it needs to achieve X amount on a, on a finishing position or a result to bet, to do what they needed to do financially for the weekend while the other car has another agenda.
You know, this was before they went to a three car team, maybe even before the, the next gen.
And I wonder if there's still a little bit of that business model remaining at Spire.
And that's why we see their cars, unlike a lot of the other organizations in the series run uniquely.
Like this host of our will be in the top 15 and, you know, the 71, maybe not quite as, quite as, uh, doesn't run quite as well on average.
And I wonder if that's still that, that business model that they've kind of adhered to for the longest time to make this make sense financially is still present in some pockets of their organization.
You know, I don't know that they're just flush with, you know, bags of cash and can just go pushing both all three cars all in every single week.
Maybe they're still a bit of a, you know,
And like divide and conquer like, hey, we could be set up A or B or C. Let's try them all and we'll try to learn and cover more grants, something different or the approach.
What I will say is I've always heard Mike McDowell's work ethic is outstanding away from the racetrack.
And you wonder, um, while Suarez is not very young, he has definitely been up and down, like on the racetrack emotionally, things like that.
Most of ours very young. You wonder if McDowell is just a really good team guy in the room.
I've heard that Michael has had, I'm not certain about how much this is really true,
but I've heard that Michael's very hands on at picking people that are around him and even outside of that team that he drives for in the building involved.
He's involved in other decisions when when they're making key hires.
And maybe he could see himself while he's probably wants to drive for several more years.
Maybe can see himself moving into a, you know, a foreman style role in the GM style role in the business somewhere.
But I wouldn't, I only assume that the personal relationship and business relationship with McDowell is so valuable.
And that's why we haven't heard any rumblings of could Kyle go to Spire, right?
If there's a place for him to go, that's, you know, you look around and you got to start thinking and looking at teams.
And that was one that I wondered if could be a possibility because he does run the truck and they do have a relationship.
It is shocking that it had nobody's jumped over that, you know, over that fence.
The most baffling race team in the whole garage area for me is what's RFK going to do with three sign drivers and two charters?
They said they'd run and open and all three performing at a really high level because last year, you know, it was a struggle, you know, I mean to get the playoffs and so on.
Dale's point, I think RFK, some of its next gen, some of its formula one, but I think RFK, they're the ones I really noticed that ran next to each other.
Like, I mean, they would run like 12, 13 crazy close to one another and as they moved up and down the field, they would do it together.
It was crazy.
I'll tell you this.
It was interesting to me.
You talk about RFK and consistency.
I looked at the numbers and preparation for what we're going to do and I want to say that prece is finished between 9th and 14th and nine of the 12 races.
Yeah.
I mean, it's, he is, he is, that is where he runs and it doesn't matter type of track.
It's, it's pretty remarkable what he does just to maintain that level and put himself in position.
Yeah, I, I, I like what they're doing.
I, I think it's time to, you know, I'm sure they want this as well, but I mean, to your point, I've seen them run 10th all year.
Yeah.
As a teen, as an organization and I know they're, they're trying, but it'd be awesome to kind of see them kick it up another notch, you know, go get, get their selves to where they're fourth, fifth, sixth every single week running on top of each other like they do.
But I heard if they don't get that third charter, they'll just run open in the third car that everybody's going to be on the track one way or another.
And there was a, I forget what the number was, but I saw it on social media somewhere.
They had determined it would be like a, I don't know, $5 million swing or something like that from, from, or, you know, not a, not a crazy, crazy number from running open to not open.
But still, I mean, it's a lot of money, but I thought it.
It's a lot of money until you think what a charter sells for.
That's not even what they are anymore.
They're a hundred, a 100000000 dollars, I'd say right now.
That's a $95 million swing.
If you can go $5 million the wrong direction for running as an open, that's a lot better than writing the check for a 100000000 to own the charter in the short term at least.
Yeah.
I suppose.
You know, there's, there's 36 charters and it'll be interesting to see if there's any inventory.
Yeah.
I mean, basically, so we'll start.
Let's figure out.
We got one way or a charter.
They seem to seem to be fine.
Yep.
You can never tell.
Correct.
Well, I'm just going on.
I don't know.
I wanted to, you can never tell whether Rick Ware really wants to keep it or sell it.
And it is in his best interest right now to say I'm not interested in selling it.
He's playing poker.
This man.
I'm just letting you know.
Doesn't miss.
He's genius.
He does not miss.
Because when they offered me 5 million 20 years ago, I took it and now he's sitting on a hundred.
I've thought about that so many times about.
Oh, you have.
No, I'm just saying the role that, you know, you see in the sport and you think about where you fit.
And you're like, man, what if somehow I'd had a chance to buy into one of these charter deals?
And then where would I have found the jumping off point to say we hit it big only to find out two or three years later, we could have hit it a lot bigger.
Yeah.
I'm telling you.
Yeah.
So to your point about inventory, right?
So we have that single car, JTG or whatever it is now.
I'm sorry.
Hayek just re-signed Ricky.
So they seem to be very in and confident, which is amazing.
Great organization, happy there.
I'm not trying to run them out, but there's a one there.
There's the Haas factory team.
Like there's just not a lot of inventory out there for these charters that I can think of.
What do you think?
Do you think the Haas?
I don't understand it.
What do you think there?
I just, I'm with you.
I'm as confused by trying to run one.
Oh man.
It just seems like such a daunting task.
Yeah.
On such an island in this day and age, that's a challenge.
I mean, Hayek's been doing this a long time and I think they have a very good group of
people.
I think Ricky Stenhouse is the perfect driver to like line up with them.
They seem to have the same tenacity and mentality.
And I can't imagine the emotional task it is.
Well, Ricky said it when he came and sat in on the action detrimental.
He went and talked to Denny and he's like, you know, I load up thinking or hoping we're
going to have winning equipment.
And then very quickly in practice, I have to adjust because Denny was trying to figure
out like how his mental approach to the weekend is.
And that just has to be a, just emotionally draining when you have to kind of reset your
target every week, but they do it and they, man, they're consistent.
The Haas one.
I think that's, I think, I don't understand.
I think that, I think that's the one.
You're not going to take that team all by yourself and drive that kid into the top five.
No.
And race for wins.
You're not.
And so they're just going to bleed money running at the cup level when he was probably pretty
happy running in the O'Reilly series every week, right?
Running up front.
If you sell it for a 100000000 you can run a lot of O'Reilly for a long time and
have a, you know, the interest on your money would probably pay for your O'Reilly effort.
And they've got two O'Reilly teams that are really competitive.
But it's not, it's not just the two O'Reilly teams that run out of their shop and under
their umbrella.
They've done a really good job of creating the Alliance deal with Jeremy Clements and
the SEAG.
So they foundationally, what they have done with their O'Reilly program, the business
model, and I don't know what the numbers are, but, but both from a competitive standpoint
and result standpoint, and then what you would anticipate goes down on the business side
has been pretty impressive.
I agree.
I just feel like that if there's any inventory for charters at the end of this year, that
could be one that I think could do, you know, with some convincing, you know, could end
up being on the market.
Let's, you know, one of the major things that, the major, the number one thing I think that
we are experiencing this year is the, is the chase for the championship being back.
And it's been, it's been a lot of fun.
Every race looking at the points at the end of the day and saying, hey, what happened to
this guy?
What happened?
Oh man, that bad finish.
Look at there.
Man, that really put him in a bad spot.
And we've all done a lot of talking together about what we all individually believe needs
to happen for these teams going forward to have a shot at winning a championship.
But we got some guys, and, and, you know, we can talk about that a little bit.
We got some people that are outside of the top 16, you know, Chase Brisco, Joy Logano,
Chastain, Kyle Busch, those, those are names that you think would be in the top 16 comfortably.
And they're not all going to make it.
I mean, they're just not going to get there.
You think they're all going to miss?
Well, I will say they won't all make it.
I mean, I don't know that they'll all miss.
I have, I have a pretty good amount of confidence in Brisco because I feel like they're barely
on the outside.
A lot of them being on the outside is a product of SVG winning at Watkins Glen and elevating
him and with only two road course races left between now and the chase, I think that's going
to be difficult to sustain.
And Brisco to me, speed wise, equipment wise, team wise is in the best position to take
advantage and make a jump.
He's 20 points out of 13th or 14th.
So I mean, a win.
He has firepower enough to, I'm not saying he's going to, but he could go to the 600.
Would you be shocked if he goes to the 600, wins two stages and runs fifth in the right?
Like he can have a huge monster point day.
Yep.
I think you guys, I remember last year, he was struggling trying to figure this car
out.
And I think the 600 is where they started to catch their, you know, figure it out, right?
And then boom.
Yeah.
And then went on and won Pocono and had a really strong run all the way to the very
end of the season.
So that could, you know, Brisco could catch fire again.
Logano, you mentioned him.
I really don't know.
And I don't know what to think about that team and how they're going to, how they're
going to find speed because, you know, they're not, you mentioned Blaney running good, but
you can tell that the organization is just kind of not quite what they're usually, you
know, how they usually are.
I just don't know how Joey, I think he might be able to slip slip into the top 16, but
I just,
Do you think that's even on his, I asked this because you and I have had these candid
conversations.
I've heard other drivers talk about it.
I don't, I'm not willing to say that he doesn't care if he makes the chase, right?
But for a guy that's won multiple championships while the, while the dreamers die, if you
don't make the chase, you can't win another championship.
Like he's got to think, man, if we sneak in in 16th, unless there's something coming on
the horizon, like how far are we really going to go?
That's it.
It feels like for someone like that, making the chase at this point would be just a consolation
prize because you're not going to get yourself into the top 16 and then get yourself up into
the top six or seven, which is where we all universally believe you need to be prior to
the reset if you're really going to make a run at a title.
So, you know, you and I talked to Jeff Gordon and it was interesting to hear Jeff talk about
the chase standings and where they are need to be.
And his whole thing was like, it's not that we're not looking at points, but we need to
improve our performance before points really become something that we're concerned about.
And I look at Logano kind of like that too.
Like we got a lot of things we got to figure out before making the chase is, you know,
what we need to do.
I'm sure they want to get there, but yeah, there's different.
I forgot how magical it was to look at the results and then the points.
This, that sounds dumb, but like my whole career used to get that NASCAR print out and
it would have the results and then the points and you just went back and forth and back
and forth and back it, I just forgot about it.
We had the playoff format for so long that I never looked, I just didn't need to.
Yeah.
But now it's back and man, I found like I'm like the kid with the back of the sports
section anymore.
I'm like, comparing the finish in order to the points.
I love it.
I think I've, I've been, uh, you know, kind of, I guess surprised by some driver's
opinions when, and this isn't new.
This was also going on before we had, uh, when and you're in, you know, you talked
to, uh, Tony Stewart about, uh, you know, his chance of, of, of making the, the chase
or, or doing well in the playoffs.
And he, he was say, he would say something like, we just need to win a damn race.
We can't even win.
I don't care how I don't want to be in that.
I don't want to be in the chase.
If I can't even win, Dan, we suck.
You know, and you ask, if I ask Larson or, or, or Chase Elliott about points, they go,
now I don't even look at it.
I don't look at it.
I just were, you know, I just go out there, try to win the race.
I don't worry about the points.
I don't look at it.
And then you got other guys that are telling me, well, look at it every day.
I look at it every day.
I'm always looking at it wondering, you know, what I'm thinking about how I, you know,
how I can move forward or how far ahead of the guy I am that I need to be ahead of.
And so there's different, you know, drivers are all different in how they absorb or how
they, uh, receive all this information.
And, um, you're probably right about Joe Ligano.
They're probably sitting there going, hell with the chase.
We just need to get running better.
We're not running good enough.
I don't, it doesn't matter.
We're not running good enough to do anything in the chase if we get there.
You know, so I think that they'd probably tell you that they just want to go win one
weekend.
Remember what that feels like, you know, and what that can do for you.
Yeah.
We got some interesting, uh, things that happened to the schedule this past, uh, this past all
season.
Uh, I'm excited about Wilkesboro being part of the package that we're going to be a part
of, uh, one of the races that we'll get the broadcast together.
Um, going there as a kid all those years and that finally being back in this, in the system,
we just left over the all star race, which I, uh, I want to get your guys opinion about
that as well.
Um, I enjoyed Dover.
I enjoyed the all star race.
I wasn't there.
I saw all the comments from all types of people, drivers, media about how it didn't feel right.
You know, it didn't feel like the all star race didn't have the feeling, but tuning in,
like I was entertained.
I know that it got a little tire, a snooze fest a little bit at the end, but that's all
right.
You know, I mean, it's a long race.
Um, what did you guys take away from the all star race going to Dover?
Uh, could have been a lot worse.
Oh, so I will start with the highlights.
I think that the track didn't, like I thought they did everything.
It was racy.
So for me, this sounds silly, but since one hot night, like I want lights and that's not
a Dover problem, but I want the all star rates under the lights on a Friday or Saturday night,
glitzy and glammy and fireworks.
Dover didn't provide that.
But what Dover did do for me is it now has, has entered the one race, wonderful markets.
And what I mean is is New Hampshire, Michigan, Pocono, Texas, they're all amazing events
because we go there once.
And what I saw from Dover, I was there for five hundreds.
We went to 400.
I think maybe it's time for 350 lap.
Trace it Dover.
Like that's enough for me.
Like, but, but the, the track was racy.
The car looked good on there.
Like I'm nowhere near done with the monster mile.
It just doesn't have shiny all star.
It's more blue collar, coven score your points type of momentum for me.
So it's like, didn't do it for all star weekend, but that's not a deterrent or black eye for what Dover is.
It's just, it should be a tough stop on the schedule somewhere in the summer that the driver has to go do it.
And I feel like Denny kind of said that after he won.
I mean, I mean, this guy is not going to go out and say, well, we, you know, we shouldn't be doing this because he won the race
and won the million dollars.
But he definitely is of the belief this should be a points race.
And he feels like it's more suited for that.
And a lot of his reasoning was, and Dale, you could speak to this more so than anyone certainly here, but the uniqueness of that place
and what a one off it is on the schedule to utilize that as an all star race didn't seem to have the right fit.
I'm kind of like Steve.
I like lights and I'm actually a fan of doing it here.
I loved when, when we kind of had that spring, you know, speed weeks and it was, you know, partnered with the 600.
And I would even go a step further if we're going to put ideas on the table.
You know, Chris Myers floated the idea when we were talking about the clash and maybe doing it on Monday night at Daytona prior to the 500.
I know there's a network change, right?
You know, with the 600 and us doing prime and Fox wrapping.
I would love to see the all star race on a Wednesday night prior to the 600 and just really play it out that way and tie all of that together is one race week.
But I thought the racing was good, very competitive.
200 laps to me is too long of a stand.
I know they had the competition caution, but I like to see shorter segments where we really, really allow guys to get after it.
That would have been my one question, I guess, is if so, let's assume that the clash goes to Daytona and it's run on Monday and we get a bit of a speed week vibe back, which would be amazing.
And then we all think that, you know, you may unanimously that Dover deserves to be a points race and say we, we make it a points race and we do.
Is it a big ask to have the teams run an all star race on a Wednesday before the 600?
Is that lift possible for the series?
I think if it's in Charlotte, it's not impossible.
I think asking them to go somewhere else it is.
I would actually flip it where like you'd have an all star race with no practice, no open, you know, vote the drivers in or earn your way in or you don't get practice.
I don't want to tell you and then give a full hour for the 600 being in.
Hey, I know you weren't in the all star race.
The tracks closer to 600.
We give them an hour on Saturday when the O'Reilly race is going a little old school.
I'd make it.
If we're going to do that, I'd make it feel old, right?
I'd show up Wednesday and all the thing you would do is unload your all star cars, run a lap, qualify, maybe pull them out of a bingo.
I don't know how we do it, but like limit all the on track and then move the on track better for the 600 and make that 600 feel like the Daytona 500, which is we kick off with a race.
We have the news of who won that race on Wednesday night and we lead into the biggest, you know, it's the biggest racing weekend of the year.
The Indy 500 and the 600 are like the Memorial Day weekend is the biggest race of the week.
So I'd be fine with a Wednesday night all star.
If it's, if it's, it would be a big lift to travel.
Here's the other thing though.
There's a lot of races there in April and May that are regional, at least on the schedule now.
You know, we go to Bristol in the spring, we go to Martinsville in the spring.
Darlington always falls around that same time.
If you run Darlington on Sunday, you know, teams are already in the region where it's very easy and much more manageable than to be at Charlotte on Wednesday night prior to the 600.
So I got just a hypothetical.
Should the all star race slash all star weekend be a celebration of driver, teams, cars, everything?
And the reason I asked that is, is there a better way to let the all stars go see fans in different markets driving and racing, but maybe not Hendrick Motorsports prepared Chevrolets or Joe Gibbs.
Like more of the IRA, like I know Ray's bought this Iraq series, right?
Like could you go hire a Ray and the Iraq series?
I don't know how you do with brand.
It's complicated.
Yeah.
But just let, let the teams have a breath, right?
No offense to the drivers.
They do work a lot.
But I believe they, they get compensated for their action versus the tire guy and the mechanic and they leave home as well, right?
What if the all star was truly about the all stars, which is just the drivers or hypothetically more about the drivers and we'd like get 16, 18, 20 of them and you make an all star weekend like other sports do.
Let them drive, but don't have them in their own equipment.
I don't, I mean, that's a spitball and it's a way off the whiteboard.
But is there a way, whether it was the race of champions that used to put them in buggies or Iraq used to do other ways?
Are there other safe, entertaining ways we could get the drivers of the cup series out there, you know, in front of fans and maybe a bigger market or just somewhere around the country that we feels underserved that we would like to bring our sport to.
I don't know how you do that, but that would be my only counter.
And I have to ask the ownership.
Like what does Rick Hendrick want and Jeff Gordon, do they want the all star race?
Would they just assume have their drivers competing and they get, I don't know the answer.
You would know better as a team owner.
What's most important to them?
Here's what I would say to, you know, we're looking to get tracks involved and Rockingham has come back in the last two years.
We've done trucks in O'Reilly there.
Is that a landing spot for the all star race to put cup cars at Rockingham without it being a points race?
You know, not to December, what we saw at North Wilkesboro when it came back.
That would be another idea of a regional all star event that wouldn't be, you know, too challenging for the teams, but would allow us to put cup cars at one of the tracks that everybody loved for years.
That's been gone for a long time at that level.
Yeah, for sure.
Chicago lands coming back on the schedule this year.
Everybody seems to be pretty excited about that.
That was a racy little track.
We went over to the street course for a couple of years.
I, you know, we haven't even gotten the chance to go back to Chicago land to see the race.
And there's already conversations around the street course, possibly being an option to get back on the schedule.
And I, I feel like that means, I mean, there's only going to be one race in Chicago.
Only one.
There's a lot of fans on social media thinking, well, surely they'll keep Chicago land.
I'm like, nope.
Not unless it's full.
No, sir.
They going to run the street course and Chicago.
No, no, I'm saying like, I agree with you.
I guess my point is if you think Chicago land deserves a race, you better hope you better go.
You better go.
You better go.
That's right.
If it does not fill up.
Yeah, we're not doing both.
We ain't going to do both.
No, we ain't doing both.
And if it doesn't fill up, then they will go back to the street course.
Right.
They will.
So I'm a believer if the street course is a real option, if you know, and if the, if the, you know, if the local government's being serious about this, they'll absolutely go back and do that.
Because listen, the economy, it's no different than brands.
And, you know, somebody can tell you how great their food is.
And if nobody's in the restaurant, I don't believe them or how great your product is.
If you can't sell it, you know, so to your point, I'm great with wherever we go.
If the fans prove to us that that's where we should be.
That's back to the one race for some of these tracks.
That's proven to me that it worked because they're amazing.
The crowds are amazing.
If we go to Chicago land, it's empty.
I'm with you.
That was going to be, that's going to be a one off test.
Yeah.
There's the idea that they've got to put about 3000000 bucks in this place to get it kind of ready.
Yeah.
So they're going to send 3000000 dollars roughly, you know, just pulling an eight number out of.
It's not free.
Yeah, it ain't going to cost nothing.
It's going to cost some money to get it back.
They're going to put it on the schedule.
And if it doesn't do well.
And I'll remind you, they spent millions of dollars on all of the walling and stuff for this course.
I don't know how much that's used in San Diego, but it's like that's out there somewhere.
It's in a parking lot being itching to be used.
I will say, though, this car has reacted so well to the mile and a half and Chicago was always a great race anyway.
So now you put this car at Chicago and it's almost like a flashback to where we were because I felt like we just.
So you roval Texas.
I mean, so the bump in Texas, right?
The challenge that they have in turn three and four at Texas, that is going to be there in in spades.
The bump in turn three and four is Chicago land is nasty.
And so I can't imagine them not struggling trying to get through that part of the racetrack.
Get your mouth guard.
Yeah, it's going to be rough.
It will be rough.
And I'm sitting there unused for for how many years that bump has just gotten worse and year after as the ground settles underneath the racetrack.
But yeah, I feel like what we'll see on the racetrack will be fantastic.
You know, I'm just wondering whether the fans will come out and support it.
And if they don't, we will go back to the street course, whether we like it or not.
Like I personally would prefer the oval.
And, you know, as a broadcaster, when we're working at the at the Chicago race, you know, just as as anyone who's on the ground level, you can only see a very limited area of the racetrack, right?
Whereas when we're working a booth in an overrace track, I can see the whole damn track because I call the race from the from the monitor and what I'm kind of seeing out there.
But so I like to see as much possible.
But I'm going to be curious as to kind of how this this trip to Chicago to Chicago land goes.
And if it, you know, if it goes well, I hope that we'll we'll continue to do it for a few more years.
I'm excited to go back.
I love the racetrack.
I thought the racing was great.
Yeah.
It's interesting to see what the property looks like now.
Right.
And what's grown up around it.
The build the build up development around it.
Because it was so rural when we were there before, at least way, way back in the day when I was first going there, you know, shoot 25 years ago, there was not a whole lot out there.
And I'm sure that there's a lot more growth now than what was there before.
Speaking about street courses, San Diego is on the schedule this year.
I think we're all excited about that.
Steve, you guys have been out there.
Y'all have taken a look at it.
I've yet to really put my feet on the ground.
Well, what are we getting ready?
Well, so yeah, we did an overnight out on a carrier.
It was amazing.
Truthfully, before I get to the race, and this is awful to say, we've been very fortunate to like see the military come to, you know, but to go spend an overnight on an aircraft carrier out in the ocean.
It was a humbling experience to realize the sacrifice all the men and women made that were on that carrier.
And it really motivated me to like make, you know, this event is going to be awesome for the military.
The land is gorgeous.
That whole Coronado Island.
Look, I'm fired up to get out there because, you know, I would be scared, scared if we hadn't done Chicago because we had never really done any temporary, right?
But Chicago, I looked at that circuit and I'm like, oh man, this corner is not going to work and this court is not going to work.
They raced and it was fine.
So I'm ready to get out there and see some racing to be on.
I'm ready to see a track.
Like I'm still struggling.
I got to cheat my way onto iracing a little bit.
Like not that I can drive, but I want to just drive around a few times and be like, okay, you know, so when it gets closer and it gets all out there.
It's been the longest road course ever.
So I will tell you, I'm not going to be all positive.
My one negative is the yellows.
I believe that the courts and I'm sure there's good reason.
So I'm not here saying we should do something different because we're like, we're going around the base and runway.
It's too big for my liking.
Well, very spread out.
It's just big.
It's just a yellow is going to take forever.
We did this at Road America.
Like I really wish it was a 1.3, 1.6 mile road course.
I think it's just big to be as large as it to be as big as it is.
It needs a cut through for cautions, but they're not they're not able to do that because of the interior of the racetrack and everything that's there.
But they're going to have to maybe would they even, you know, consider, you know, with all within reality of safety and all those things.
Would they consider being a little more stingy with the yellow flag?
Dude, like once that yellow comes out, dude, we're that's a 15 minute deal.
Yeah, minimum for sure.
Just to have a basic, you know, opening of pit road and all of those things that happen in a traditional yellow.
That's going to take a while.
Is there something they could do as far as pace car speed?
Is there, you know, could they could they be a little stinger with the yellow flag in some scenarios?
Quite possibly.
I mean, would you go in as a crew chief thinking I might see something a little different here?
I'm not going to anticipate getting that yellow just so easily.
I would really watch the trucks in the O'Reilly.
I think you're going to learn a lot to see how that happens.
You know, run off.
Is there a place for a car?
You know, all the questions I'm waiting to.
I've seen the track map, but you know, that doesn't tell me like, where's the Jersey Barrier?
Is it a foot offline or is it 20 feet offline?
So I'm waiting to see that.
But really the best state of comparison is Chicago street course and we got rain though.
I mean, this is so different because it's not on the city streets.
And so there were just tight confines where it was not really negotiable.
If you had an incident like we kind of needed to make sure that we took care of business and put the caution in the air.
I'm curious to see, I mean, the runoffs in the space outside of the traditional, you know, whatever the traditional racing group becomes.
Is there, are there areas to get out of the way so we can avoid long lags in the competition with yellow flags?
And that's, but, but I will say across the board, what we're going to experience the magnitude of this event.
And like Steve said, Coronado Island and the base itself and San Diego is a backdrop.
This to me, you know, celebrating our nation's military and, you know, 250 years of the Navy and all those things.
It's going to be remarkable and the buzz will match about anything we've ever experienced.
Oh, are you kidding?
Man, we're going to be, spend the majority of our time when we're on the clock on an aircraft carrier.
We're calling the race from within the tower of this aircraft carrier.
So that's going to be an experience unlike anything we've ever done before.
I can't even wrap my brain around what that's going to feel like and what that's going to be like.
So, but it's going to, yeah, it's going to be fun, but unique unlike anything else.
I just want to your point about yellow silly things.
I just want to, like, I have all the confidence we have the best talent in the world lining up 36 of them to put a heck of a race on.
I just hope that something crazy that nobody's, you know, I went off damage to a wall, long red flag, you know, something that will take away.
Because I agree with you.
This is crazy to say, but I think the race is going to be like just the, just the thing that happens after all the pageantry
and the emotion of the weekend.
So I just hope we just get a good race.
Like I said about every super speedway race, I wanted to get to the start finish line because the fans deserve to see the finish.
That's all I'm hoping for here is a clean enough race that we see some good racing.
We're, we're kind of winding toward the finish line.
A couple more topics that I wanted to talk to you guys about before we wrap.
Steve O'Donnell moving into Jim Francis role, Jim stepping down.
I felt like that that was just a process that is coming.
It was coming down the pipe either way.
A lot of people want to link it to the lawsuit and all of those things, a court case, but O'Donnell's been around a long time.
I, you know, it's kind of no different than when they put Helton in a similar position.
I feel like O'Donnell's earned the opportunity to, to steer the ship bit.
And, and he's the kind of guy that I think you trust in this situation.
What do you guys think?
I think he bleeds an ass car.
I think that's most important for me.
You know, I selfishly, this is all I've ever done.
You same, right?
Like this is all we know.
And I think that, that there's no doubt in anyone's mind that Ben as the, who got promoted with O'Donnell is the, is the law.
Like he's the family member, right?
And I, I love the fact that they didn't invert those that they gave O'Donnell his opportunity to be at the helm.
And I'm, I'm ready to help him find, however way we can help him, we being the sport, whatever signature he wants that to be.
Cause I think every leader kind of has their own signature.
And his seems to be a little bit like the hell yeah, right?
He was the hell yeah mantra and everything we're going to have.
So I'm excited to see what changes.
I agree with you though.
It's not a new outside guy.
You know, I'm sure there's going to be some small stuff, but I don't, I don't know why it would veer completely off course of what we seem.
But now when I say that, I mean last 25 years, not the last five, he's been there so long that I don't think it's going to be an about face.
To me, in anything, experience matters.
Race car driver, crew chief, broadcaster, whatever.
The more experience you have, the better suited you are for success.
And I mean, O'Dee's been doing it forever and he bleeds it.
I mean, it means a lot to him to see it, you know, be successful, the sport of NASCAR.
So I feel like that experience and that passion will go a long way in allowing him to be successful.
You know, immediately after the announcement, host of our wins, Talladegg, and he's riding down the front straightaway on his window.
And I'm like, everybody's like, there's going to be a rule.
There's going to be a rule.
And O'Dee's like, I have at it, you know, so I thought that was a great way right out of the gate to connect with a fan base.
And I'm like you, I'm a huge fan of Ben Kennedy and what he brings to the table because he kind of has it from every angle.
Being a family member, but he's been a competitor.
You know, I think about the education he got at the University of Florida and what that did on that side of things to allow him to see from a different perspective,
maybe things that can be done.
And the hats that he's worn as he's climbed the ladder, he wasn't just anointed, go do this.
He's been taking all the steps.
So I feel like those two at the top will be a tremendous team to create the leadership that the sport needs.
So you mentioned O'Dee.
So I'm going to defend him and tell this story.
So I had him on the Inside Race post-race show after Talladega.
He was my guest.
And as any executive is, this is an O'Dee thing.
You get like some, hey, you know, he's prepared to talk about X, Y and Z.
I mean, no C-love executive does interviews without a little, same with us.
If we're asked to join something, we get an idea we're talking about.
I didn't get any, any email to say what was going to happen on this show.
I'll tell you, he logged in, in on time.
And I'm like, Hey Steve, you know, I got a couple of things here we've known each other a long time.
I'm just going to shoot from the hip.
And he instantly was like, man, you can ask me whatever you want.
Like the fact that his instant reaction was fire.
So then I was like, well, I want to start with this one.
What'd you think of that celebration?
And he did.
He was like, you know what?
And he leaned right in.
And my point is, I think that's what I'm looking for.
I'm looking for someone that doesn't have to be prepped with answers.
Look, you're a hundred percent right.
I have seen in times during, there's been times in this sport where the guy that they have standing in front of the press is annoying.
Because he doesn't answer the question or he feeds you a line of.
You know, and you know, when you ask Steve a question, he's going to tell you what he thinks.
And he's going to, he's a company man.
He's going to tell you what he thinks is best for NASCAR and as he should, but he's not going to lie.
And he's not going to, to feed you a line of bull.
And so I always kind of, yeah, I always kind of appreciate.
He's almost too, he's almost more emotional and more bought in and more into it than he needs to be.
You know what I mean?
Because he's, I mean, he's worked in this industry forever.
I think that when you, great, you know, I'm great.
I'm glad that you mentioned Ben because that was, that was probably the key part.
Part of the whole deal was seeing Ben.
You know, we've got the announcement with O'Donnell taking over for Jim, but Ben's movement forward alongside of O'Donnell is probably the more interesting and important piece because they're grooming him to be the guy.
And my, they are facing some challenges and how they approach an answer to those challenges will determine whether those guys were successful or not.
They got a, they're swinging at this current next Jim's car at the super speedways.
They got big tests that they've been talking about and promoting coming up in off season.
Can they make some gains to change how we're, you know, how we're racing at those racetracks to give drivers and fans a little bit more of what they're asking for.
The O'Reilly series, there's been some conversations around that and the identity of that series in going forward.
And it's very successful right now with the CW numbers.
The series is doing some really good things.
It had struggled for a long time to really carve out a space for itself.
And I think it's kind of done that, but it does need to be taken care of and, and, and value.
And I think that Steve O'Donnell, those guys want to do that.
But is it, you know, what part of it is best left alone and what part of it is best needing some adjustment, right?
And you got to pull the right levers and mash the right buttons.
And then the other thing is the schedule.
It is not, we, Ben loves, I think Ben, I think Ben loves this.
I don't know this for a fact, but I think Ben loves doing cool things with the schedule.
I think he loves what happened with the Chicago Street Course.
I think he loves what we're doing in San Diego.
I think he loved going back to Mexico City.
The LA Coliseum.
Right.
It was another one.
So, and, and he, he's going to continue to push in that direction.
And there's a very small pocket that, that exists in our schedule that allows them to have that creative freedom and fun.
But that is always going to be a purpose, already purpose built road course or a street course in some city somewhere.
It is not going to be another oval.
We've got a lot of ovals.
We've got plenty of ovals.
Do we need more ovals?
No, but nobody's building ovals.
Building a racetrack right now is a bad business.
Nobody's going to build a brand new racetrack for a one date, right?
And, and so at least in the next 10 years, I don't see a new oval getting built anywhere in this country.
So, you know, I think how do you appease a lot of the core fans that want one thing while trying to give us something new?
And there are a lot of fans that want that new.
There are a lot of fans that love what's happening in San Diego and they're excited about it.
They love what we did in Chicago and they love to have that back.
Or where is it?
Where's the next city that we end up going and racing in?
But it's all, you know, it's, it's, it's going to be that, that, that city street or it's going to be, maybe it's a, you know, it's a road course somewhere that's already got some real history like road, road America.
So that's doing that right and landing that plane every single time.
That's going, that's, that's what's on their shoulders right now, pushing the sport forward and they've got some challenges.
One thing that Ben has done for me when it comes to the schedule is I am way more open to whatever risk or chance he's willing to ask the series to do because I feel like he is open to criticism or changing direction.
If it was, I don't want to say the wrong or less successful than he had hoped.
Like I felt like Chicago had some weather challenges.
We gave it three tries.
Then it was time to go away.
We may end up back, right?
But he was not afraid to say, everybody wants to go to Chicago land.
We are going to, we're going to put a hiatus here and go down the road here.
International.
We have to go international.
We went to Mexico City Saturday when Suarez run the crowd was, it was electric.
It's one of the greatest things I've ever seen.
So right.
And we all know we expected, we would hope that it would build for Sunday.
It just didn't, right?
It didn't resonate.
Something was amiss.
You know, so we didn't go back.
Now my point is he's, if he did something and regardless of the results kind of forced it
upon everybody, but I don't feel like they do that at all.
They ask you to believe in the system.
They put something on the schedule.
And then I felt like we kind of roll and we fluctuate and we move along.
And that helps me be really open to whatever they come with next.
Cause I don't feel like we're going to have to do it forever if it wasn't the correct choice.
Here's the other thing I would say about that is I feel like that Ben and everyone involved
with the scheduling process in the last five or six years has built up some grace with the fan base
to allow them to try some things and have a swing and a miss here and there.
Because I feel like that what happened with the LA Coliseum was crazy and unique,
but it worked and it served its purpose and it got, got us back to Southern California.
You know, Mexico, there was, there was a positive in Mexico with what happened with Suarez.
We saw great results and when the weather was good and it's Chicago and on the Chicago street course.
So when, when you do things and they work, that creates that grace to say, okay,
we'll try something else and if it doesn't work, we're not going to fill the wrath that we may have felt
if we just jumped out on this island and totally swung and missed.
So I'm curious to see where they go with the future of the schedule,
knowing that we've done some things that were completely out of the realm of what we've always seen.
And it actually, you know, pay dividends for everyone involved.
Yeah.
Well, we're going to find out, you know, as we move forward, what happens to the All-Star race,
what happens to Greenville Pickens, if anything, and Dover and all those things going forward.
We have five races with Amazon Prime coming up.
Charlotte, Nashville, Michigan, Pocono, San Diego.
I know we're all looking forward to each and every one.
Who goes into Charlotte and gets it done?
I feel like it's Tyler Redick.
You know, I look at the speed.
More the same.
Yeah.
Well, I just, I look at what they've done this year.
And, you know, winning Crown Jewels, as you know, is, man, that's a feather in your cap and it means so much.
And, you know, they did it at Daytona and, you know, his results have been really good in this race.
And it's hard to bet against Denny right now because he's been pretty dang good at Charlotte, too.
But if I had to pick one right now before any cars have hit the track, I'd put my money on Redick.
I think Toyota's had the speed advantage.
I think the storyline for me would be Larson.
Spent a long time.
He's run the double the last couple of years.
The 600 has been not an afterthought to him, but people were questioning how was he focused on the 600.
He's doing the double.
So I think it would be a really amazing story if Kyle Larson could now win the 600, not running in Indy.
But the Toyotas just, I think, are naturally have more raw speed in the current state.
Yeah.
I like Briscoe.
I think the Toyotas are the competing team right now at these racetracks, the best package in terms of Aero engine and all that.
The Chevy's are good, better than I expected them to be with a new body.
But I just feel like Briscoe is going to hit his stride, just like he did this time last year, coming off of a solid weekend in Dover.
Heading into Nashville, a concrete racetrack.
Who do you think has the upper hand there?
That's such a unique place.
And we've seen some unique races play out there and maybe, you know, you put yourself to have a winner that would surprise you a little bit.
But I look at a Larson there only because of the nuances of that racetrack and the adaptability that you have to have because we just don't go anywhere else like that.
And anytime you go into a unique situation, he's someone that I point to right away just because he seems to figure it out because of his diverse background.
So I'm going to try to mix it up before going down the line here.
So I would read it.
I'll go Larson for a race to it Nashville.
So it's a high power low downforce.
It's less than a mile and a half.
So it's not the same rules will run at Charlotte.
I actually think as crazy as this is sounds for some reason, as soon as you said Nashville, like we've seen some more surprise winners.
I'm thinking RFK is going to be really, really good at Nashville.
And I'm thinking like a busher.
And you know, remember he was great at Bristol there for a while.
Like, like bushers good, good, good.
And then all of a sudden, man, like house of fire fast.
So I'm going to go with a more non-traditional, more of a long shot per the sports books.
I'm going to say like a busher RFK weekend.
How about alliteration concrete keselowski?
Oh, listen, that's why you're that's why you get the big mic.
No, no, no, no.
Blaney's been good there in the past.
I think he goes and gets a win at Nashville to kind of continue to cast his name into the conversation going forward to the chase.
Going to Michigan, a lot of speed.
You got a handle, but it's a big, it's a big motor track.
I think we're going to see what we just saw it dover.
I think it was Denny last year and I don't know.
He's so good at those high speed momentum tracks.
I'll give that one to DH.
I go host of our only because the storyline is unbelievable.
It's a home game.
I just think that big, fast, wide open, let it hang out on restarts.
And he was really good there last year.
And to me, his maturity and his speed is is at a different level this year than it was a year ago.
So I'll go for Brad.
You're going to have host of our win in Michigan born before Brad.
That's right.
You're killing for Brad.
And Eric Jones too.
I like Larson there.
I feel like that at some point, the Chevrolets are going to have to start matching what we're seeing from the Toyota's early in the season.
And I just got a feeling, a gut feeling that it's just a couple of, you know, turn a few bolts and this thing's going to start rocking and rolling free for Hendrick Motorsports.
And I just like he's had success there in the past.
And I just think it's a racetrack where he can go out there and win.
All right, going into Pocono tricky triangle.
Who do we think gets a win there?
Well, last year, somehow brisco ran forever on fuel and there's still gas in the tank.
Yeah.
I mean, I think, look, it's easy to say the Toyota's that, but that is one that if you have some efficiency, especially in straight line speed, it helps your car so much in so many different ways.
So like we talked about Blaney, right?
Well, he has pit road struggles at the moment.
You can't have that at Pocono.
So you hate to keep giving them to the Toyotas, but now I still think that they're going to be the favorite going there.
I would probably go chase Elliott.
I feel like that strategy is such a big part of the equation.
I go back to how, you know, Alan played the games and they were able to win at Martinsville.
And, you know, so I would, I'll just go chase Elliott.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm going to go Cowbush.
Wow.
Yeah.
That would be good.
I think how does it, you know, we saw last year where fuel mileage getting the track position, just being the leader, if you can find your way forward.
I think they're a team that can figure the fuel mileage and get an advantage on the rest of the field to be able to go further.
And he's running well.
I mean, give him three or four more weeks.
I mean, this guy is threatening.
Is it crazy to say he's threatening to win a race now?
Well, they've taken a bigger step from three weeks ago to now than what I thought they would.
I mean, off the radar.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, let's be honest to give them the credit for as good as they've gotten.
They were nowhere to be found for the first, whatever it was, 10 weeks.
So big improvement.
Who's going to go to San Diego and win?
Good luck on a new circuit.
I mean, I mean, I'm not trying to, here's the thing.
There's a lot of things.
I talked to Connor Zillich about SVG and he said, you know, I feel like there are times I can match his overall speed lap to lap.
He goes, but he just, his race, man, this is per Connor Zillich, right?
Cause I can't manage it.
He goes, his race management is so outstanding.
When you go back and you watch your race, Connor says, when I go back and watch the SVG race, right?
How often he runs at 90% how often he doesn't slip a tire, how often he, and now the car itself is so much more comfortable cause he runs it every week.
I don't think he's using any brain power to what's flipped the switch in the fans.
Like it's all very natural to him.
So I think SVG has, has just so much more raw speed available on a new track.
I don't think anybody can tell you.
All right, so let's take SVG out of the equation.
Who's, who's got a chance to go in there and not challenge him, but have a great day.
I would say Zillich.
I feel like the storyline is there.
They've been running better.
The speed is, you know, they were solid at Watkins Glen.
And so, and you look at the storyline.
We're there celebrating our country and our nation's military and Zillich is kind of the all American kid, right?
And so for him to go and win his first race in that fashion would be pretty cool.
I'm with you guys though.
And I think the advantage SVG has is exaggerated because everybody's going there and no one knows.
And if they all go there and we got to figure it out, that guy, you know, figures it out even when everybody else has been going to these races.
Tracks for years.
So, you know, that's, that's what I think about him.
But I would pick Zillich.
If not, Shane Bank is.
I would throw tie Gibbs on the list.
Somebody for a track you have to prepare at lot virtual like ties raw speed at the road courses.
He seems to always be.
He was pretty good at Mexico City there for a while.
So there is a throat.
We'll throw this into the, into the pot and see if this changes or bring somebody to your mind.
The SIM.
So there's, there is SIM data.
There is a, there is scans available for these teams to be able to get their drivers into the simulators.
I do not believe.
And we need to, we need to probably check this.
I do not believe there is a version of this racetrack to take home.
There's not an iracing San Diego currently.
No, I agree with you.
So you, you're not, you know, for the guys who are really hardcore about it, they ain't going to be able to sit at home for hours and running laps on this racetrack.
But what they can do is go to the manufacturer SIM.
Some guys will, will clamor to get those opportunities while other guys don't really enjoy the SIM and may have to force themselves to, to run a few hours.
You know, thinking about the, you know, drivers like Ty Gibbs that will jump in that SIM and do whatever's needed.
Those are the guys that I believe will have the advantage.
Because I'm telling you, I, there was a, the only, the only example, the best example that I could use is erasing on the SIM and going to Bristol or going to a racetrack that you've ran thousands of laps at is sometimes, you know, it doesn't bear a ton of fruit.
And a driver can absolutely skip SIM sessions and go to that racetrack that he knows really well and just do, just fine. No problem.
But when you have a brand new track, especially a road course that you've never had any laps on, racing on the SIM or getting on iracing is insane in terms of the, the amount of time that you, you cut off for the front end of the day.
When you chose, if you, if you go to a road course that you've never ran on ever, you're literally getting faster every single lap, every lap.
And this goes on for hours. You're not at your best until honestly you in the race.
Once you, you get in the race and maybe about 40 laps in the race, you might be finally really pushing every corner to, to the max and really getting everything you can out of the lap.
But if you can run hours and hours in the SIM on this racetrack, you really, really cut a ton of that legwork out that you need to do inside the race car.
I'd never ran at Road Atlanta and Jimmy was testing there and I've told you this story before.
Jimmy was tested in there and Chack announced, Jimmy had to leave the second day and Chad asked me if I'd come drive the car.
And I said, sure. So I said, I'd never ran there.
And I sat on my racing rig and ran for like six hours that night lap after lap after lap.
And when I got out there and ran, I think my first run, I was only about two tenths or three tenths off of Jimmy.
And by, you know, 30 or 45 minutes, I was running the lap times they needed me to run.
And so they were like, no way you've never been here.
It's impossible.
I'm like, well, I ran on a SIM all night last night.
So when I got here, all the shift points were the same.
Everything was the same as like deja vu, like I had been there.
And so the guys that really embrace the SIM, even if they don't enjoy doing it, just to learn the track and understand what gear to be in,
when they should be expecting to shift and change gears and get the muscle memory of running that four mile lap,
those guys are going to have the advantage and it'll show up immediately on the lap time when they go out to practice.
And so, you know, and I think that while, you know, there's not a ton of SIM time,
and they're going to have to divide that equally and fairly among Chevrolet drivers, among Ford drivers.
And that's going to mean that O'Reilly guys and truck guys don't get quite as much, right?
Or may have to really kind of take the crumbs.
It's going to be, I think over the next, you know, four or five weeks trying to get into those manufacturers SIM and getting some time on that race track.
That's going to be imperative for these drivers.
And I don't think you want to put it all in a week to his point.
Now that we're done with the Glen, if we were going in there, right?
If I was Dale's crew chief right now, whatever, if we're in there, working on Charlotte, the last 30 minutes,
I'd be like, man, just put San Diego in, put our standard setup in, hey, man, just go run 30 minutes.
Like, I don't even really want your, just go left, right, left, right.
Okay, think about it. Come back the next week, do it again.
Because if you know those things, now you can focus on what we can't send, which is track surface.
Oh, there's a ripple here. We didn't know.
Oh, the paving scene changes from the runway to the interior part, like all these nuancey things.
And if you start behind on the weekend, you're slow in practice, you're slow and qualifying.
You have no track. You're like just behind the whole weekend.
How much of that time is just learning the rhythm of the race track versus, if at all, the visuals around the race track to give you familiarity?
Because I, you know, this is going to sound silly and I'm not trying at all to compare myself to the guys that are preparing to run the race.
But I love watching road courses in preparation to see, okay, there's a bridge that goes across as we head toward turn four.
What, you know, there's grandstands on the right side as they make that right hander at turn seven.
I'm just making it up. But I remember going to Mexico City.
I watched every race I could possibly watch to try to understand the visuals of the track to help me do what I do.
Is that part of it from the driver prep too?
I think when we go to the new road courses in Mexico, for example, the first 20 minutes of practice, we see a lot of mistakes.
Guys missing corners, ended up in the traps, you know, and ended up hitting walls or spinning out.
You know, the first 20 minutes, you know, there's people messing up. It's fun, right?
And it's because they get out there on the real race track and they go, damn, I can't go as deep into that corner as I thought.
Or, wow, that's way tighter than I expected it to be.
And they run up on these corners, you know, because what the Sims told them was maybe inaccurate because they can't really tune the Sim.
They can't tune the tire. They can't really understand how to tune the surface and how different all of the different patches of surface are going to be for this race track.
So they can't, it's not going to be ideal grip wise.
They can, you know, they, every time they go to Dover, they went to Dover Sunday.
There are drivers in each manufacturer's Sim all day today running the Sim to dial it in to what they felt yesterday,
trying to get the Sim closer to real life so that when they go back to Dover, they have that data and that information from that driver.
So not only are drivers getting in the Sim to prepare for the next week, they're also getting in the Sim on Monday after every race,
dialing the Sim closer to that track that they just raced on, trying to improve the Sim, the model, the tire model, and the grip and the surface.
They won't be able to do that with San Diego. They're going to get in a Sim and hope that the lap time is close.
They're going to dial the grip and the tire to make the lap time what they think it should be.
And then they're going to go, all right, man, go out there and run.
And you may drive a Sim that's, you may get in the real car and go, we got way less grip.
Or we're way off the Sim's way off. But to your point, what I would be trying to do is just get in a, you know, you take your hand off the wheel to shift back on the steering wheel.
All right, now I'm going to shift again back on the steering wheel.
I just need to get, you want to do the same thing every single lap with your hands, with your feet.
And what you need to do in the Sim is just get in a rhythm of doing those things over and over and over.
And so it's really seamless when you finally hop in that race car and go out there to run a lap in a real car, your hands and your feet are doing everything they're supposed to be doing.
Or they know what they should be doing next, right?
So you're not like learning, damn, what gear do I downshift into for this corner and the next corner?
Can I run second gear all through this little series of corners? I don't know.
You know, you need, that's what the Sim can help you understand to do.
And so, you know, the drivers that really tackle that and take opportunity to be in that simulator as much as possible over the next four weeks to Steve's point.
I think it's an awesome idea. Get in there. You should be doing it now.
Even though the race is five weeks from now, you should take 30 minutes of the end of your day if you're in the Sim and just run a few laps.
And, you know, Steve's done this a million times.
Put his drive in the race car. Go out and run me some laps.
Alright, come in. Stop. Get out. Think about it.
Hop back in 10 minutes later. Don't even change anything.
Goes out there and runs 23 tenths faster.
Because he just got out, thought about it.
I could probably change my shape here. I probably need to do this. I didn't do that very good, you know.
And so, that's what that's, you know, getting that Sim run 30 minutes.
Alright, man. See you tomorrow. Come back.
Alright. Well, 30 minutes more today.
Alright. See you next week. Come back. Do it again.
You know, and they'll just, they'll just get muscle memory and get faster and faster and faster.
And all of, you know, that is hours that you're cutting out of having to learn this racetrack in real time on the race weekend.
That, you know, your driver's going to hit the ground and be pretty damn close. Should be.
It's going to be a lot to digest.
There'll be distractions galore in a good way as well. I mean, there's going to be a lot going on that weekend.
Well, look guys, it's been a lot of fun. I'm excited to finally get back to work.
We have, you know, we barely haven't talked about the fun that we have in the boot together.
You know, I think the world of you two guys and, you know, seems like it's been a long, long time since we got to work together.
Last year was fun. I know that, you know, when we got in a room with all of our producers and all the folks that we're going to work with in TV compound with Amazon,
they were like, Hey, the idea is to run it back. We're not going to try to reinvent the wheel or change a whole lot about what we did last year.
We enjoyed what we did. Fans seem to enjoy it. So let's just polish it and stay on the throttle.
So are you guys, I hope you guys are ready to go.
I'm excited. I am ready to run it back, looking forward to it. And the anticipation is real.
Yeah, I feel the same way. Something that was that much fun, I hope is as good a listen as it is to cover because maybe we have a blast up there.
Yeah, well, our pre-race, our post-race, all that stuff is going to be rocking.
We want all the fans to get down there on ground level with us, be a part of the pre-race, be a part of post-race, be a part of the show.
That really added a ton of great energy, I think, to what we were doing.
Leading into each event was having all the fans kind of being in the background there, being a part of what we're doing.
So look forward to seeing that every single week and you just know we're all excited to be back on prime.
We'll see you next week.
All right, everybody. Appreciate you all tuning in. Thanks, Steve and Adam, for coming through.
Excited to get back to work with these guys this weekend at Charlotte for the 600, all here in the Arby's studio.
I want to remind you about Arby's Meat and Three Box. You get more meal for your money at Arby's.
We have the meats and we also have a lot of great things happening here at Junior Motor Sports over the weekend.
Fan day is almost here, gang.
I wanted to let everybody know Thursday, May 21st this week, right here at Junior Motor Sports.
All types of things are going to be going on.
We're going to have tons of sponsors out here giving away a lot of free product, trying to showcase everything that we have going on in our industry
with our Junior Motor Sports teammates and all the other things going on.
Also, Dirty Mode Media, Serious XM, we're going to be hosting a ton of shows.
9 o'clock in the morning, that kicks off with Larry Mack and Danielle Trotta on the Arby's stage.
And then at 11 a.m., there'll be a Dirty Mode live with Mike Davis and Kenny Wallace.
A few surprise guests will be coming on to the show for that.
And at noon, bless your heart with my wife Amy and myself, followed by DoorBumper Clear at 1 p.m.
They'll have Jordan Bianchi joining them.
Come hang out with us this Thursday, May 21st.
We'd love to see you. We got a lot of stuff to show you, so come on through.
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