Ty Gibbs Wins at Bristol, Blaney Finishes 2nd Despite Pit Struggles & Kansas Preview
Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX
Ty Gibbs Wins at Bristol, Blaney Finishes 2nd Despite Pit Struggles & Kansas Preview
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Concept
Cup series
The Cup Series is NASCAR’s top level of racing. A “first win in the Cup series” means a driver just got their first victory in the biggest NASCAR competition.
Concept
shuffled back
“Shuffled back” means the driver got pushed farther behind in the running order. In NASCAR, being near the front usually makes it easier to control the race.
Concept
crew chief
A crew chief is basically the team’s lead strategist. They talk to the driver during the race and help decide what to do to improve the car’s performance.
Term
staying out
“Staying out” means you don’t pull into the pits when you could. It’s usually done to keep your current position, but the tires may get worse over time.
Concept
pit stops
A pit stop is when the crew pulls the car in to change tires and do quick service during the race. If they’re slow or make mistakes, the driver can lose positions fast.
Concept
pit crews
Pit crews are the people who work on the car during the stop. The faster and cleaner they are, the less time the driver loses.
Term
break pedal
The brake pedal is what you press to slow the car down. If it shakes, it means the braking isn’t smooth, so it’s harder to brake the way you want.
Concept
false read
A “false read” means you can’t trust what the car is telling you. If the brakes are shaking, it can trick you into thinking the car is doing something else.
Term
playoff picture or postseason picture
This refers to NASCAR’s standings that determine who advances in the postseason. Drivers track their position (“six” in this case) because points and stage results can be crucial for qualifying.
Car
Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott is a NASCAR driver. In this segment, he’s talking about how hard it is for teams to get the car to handle the way they want.
Concept
dominate a race
To “dominate a race” means a driver’s car is consistently faster than the field—leading laps, controlling the pace, and making it hard for others to challenge. The hosts say they hadn’t seen that kind of dominance recently, emphasizing how complete Larson’s performance was early in the week.
Concept
qualified 34th
Qualifying determines where you start the race. If you qualify 34th, you’re starting near the back, which usually makes it tougher to get into the front early.
Concept
winless streak
It just means a driver hasn’t won a race in a while. NASCAR fans and commentators keep count, and it can be a big talking point.
Concept
32 races
They’re pointing out it’s been a long time—32 races—since he last won. That’s a big deal in NASCAR because wins matter a lot.
Concept
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is a major NASCAR racing team. They have multiple drivers, and the conversation is connecting the driver storylines to that team.
Term
vertigo symptoms
Vertigo symptoms involve dizziness or a spinning sensation, which can be especially dangerous for drivers due to the high physical and visual demands of racing. The segment notes Alex Bowman returning after dealing with these symptoms and speaking to the media.
Term
Bristol
Bristol refers to Bristol Motor Speedway, a short track known for heavy braking, close racing, and frequent tire and handling stress. It’s also famous for high loads on the car and drivers, which is why returning after time off can be especially challenging.
Term
heat
“Heat” here means it was hot out and on the track. That can make tires behave differently and can make the car harder to get comfortable with.
Concept
OEM conversation
“OEM” is the company that makes the cars—like the big automakers. When NASCAR’s OEM talks get heated, it can change who supports teams and how the whole series is set up.
Brand
Ram
Ram is a car brand (under Stellantis). In NASCAR, when a brand like Ram shows up in a series, it usually means more support and resources for the teams racing there.
Car
Dodge Ram
Dodge Ram is a type of pickup truck made by Dodge. In NASCAR’s truck series, a race version of the Ram is used, so people mention it when they’re talking about which brands compete in that racing category.
Term
get lapped
To “get lapped” means another car completes a full lap on you, putting you a lap down. In NASCAR, being lapped can be a sign of slower pace, pit-time losses, or handling issues that prevent you from staying with the lead group.
Term
qualify six
“Qualify six” means the driver earned the sixth starting position in qualifying. Starting position matters because it affects track position, clean air, and how much traffic you have to navigate early in the race.
Concept
ARCA
ARCA is a racing series where drivers compete in stock cars. A lot of drivers use it to prove themselves before moving up to NASCAR.
Concept
restarts
A restart is when the race starts again after a yellow flag. Everyone bunches up, and it’s a moment where drivers can gain spots—or get shuffled back.
Concept
Kansas Speedway
Kansas Speedway is the track in Kansas where NASCAR races. Different tracks have different “personalities,” and Kansas is one where restarts and track position matter a lot.
Concept
rear-ended
“Rear-ended” means someone crashed into the back of your car. It usually causes damage to the rear of the vehicle and often turns into an insurance claim.
Term
stoplight
A stoplight is the traffic light at an intersection. It tells you when you have to stop and when you can go, which affects how cars move through traffic.
Brand
NASCAR
NASCAR is a popular American race series. The cars look like regular cars, but they’re built and tuned specifically for racing on tracks.
Concept
door-to-door
“Door-to-door” means two cars were right next to each other, very close. It usually happens during a tight racing battle where drivers are trying to pass without touching.
Concept
burnout
A burnout is when the driver spins the tires on purpose, usually to make smoke and show off. It can wear out tires fast, so it’s not something you’d do with a car you care about.
Term
CDL
CDL means Commercial Driver’s License. It’s a special driver’s license you need to drive certain big commercial vehicles.
LIVE
It's pretty awesome to see him get his first win.
Coach Gibbs has been a part of a lot of big moments in sports,
but I would bet this ranks pretty high on the first race all year.
We've we've seen what we expect out of Kyle Larson.
This guy won the championship and never want to race in the playoffs.
And you look at the Chevrolets in general,
it's about those processes and details.
Every little thing matters so much.
Welcome to Kevin Harvick's happy hour presented by Nascar Fox.
I'm Kevin Harvick.
She's Caitlin Bensie and our one and only Mamba Smith.
Mr. Smith has been a good weekend.
That's it.
Great weekend.
Yeah, you know, the Bristol was the the fans of Bristol.
I'm telling you, they really showed out and the vibes were super high.
We had a lot of closures came by the Ram display.
Wanted to talk about the show and what what's going on here.
How great your segment is.
How great my sermon is, you know, they want to give you some ideas.
Give me some ideas.
Maybe to make your segment a little better.
No, no, not make it better.
They just told me to let you guys know that it is in fact their favorite.
He says this every week.
I guess he truly hears this every week.
Yeah, I hear it every week.
Come to the stage.
You'll hear it too.
Yeah, we'll have to check it out.
Maybe in Kansas.
We have a lot to talk about guys as we leave Bristol Motor Speedway recapping that
Kansas, the mountain a half racetrack is coming up next for the circuit.
And you have your sips, this, this very special segment that he brags about
daily, very special segment that I brag about daily, but it's for the closures.
It's their segment.
They love it.
Yes.
We all love it.
And you know what else we love is when we get to come in here on Monday and talk
about a first time winner in the cup series.
That is exactly what happened over the weekend.
Ty Gibbs delivering in a big way.
I could hear it in your voices in the booth.
You guys were very impressed with what he did.
Well, you're not supposed to root for people in the booth, but we're rooting for Ty Gibbs
to get that, that first win.
And, and, you know, Clint and I have had a debate about this for about the last, well,
it's in the last year.
And I think that the progression that, that Ty Gibbs and his team have had really with
the last 10 or 12 weeks of last year, starting this season, they've had speed pretty much
every week, qualified well, raced well.
The thing I liked about what Ty did yesterday, got shuffled back at the beginning of the
race, had one run where he got shuffled back again.
Never had a meltdown on the radio.
Never had any issues.
It was just back to business.
And his words, you know, his crew chief, Tyler Allen, telling him, all right, let's look
through the front window.
What's happens happen.
Let's, let's keep moving, moving forward.
So it's pretty awesome to see him get his first win.
And, and, you know, you think back with everything that he's been through with his dad and the
Gibbs family in general with, with, with everything that they've had to deal with.
And now to see that when come for them and everybody be there together, his mom riding
in the car to, to victory lane and those two being able to celebrate that victory and
have so many great memories of what it was, what it would have been like with Coy there
and all the things that, that they got to go through was, was, was a great moment for
the Gibbs family.
It was a very heartfelt moment when he said, I wish my dad was, was here to see this.
And the Gibbs family has been synonymous with this sport for a long time.
Coach Gibbs has been a part of a lot of big moments in sports, but I would bet this ranks
pretty high on the all-time list for him.
I gotta believe that this is probably top.
I think that this is probably the top moment.
I mean, he's a Super Bowl champion.
He's won Daytona 500s, but I think watching Ty drive a cup car for the, you had a victory
lane.
It was awesome.
And how he did it, like beat the best, beat the best.
I mean, we're talking about Kyle Larson last year's champion.
We're talking about Ryan Blaney who's in the, who was in the final four when we had it almost
perennial every year.
Like these two guys get it done all the time.
And Ty, I thought the more impressive part wasn't the restart, like the restart, the
final restart and overtime, that was great.
But how he defended the win with like 10 to go with those guys hounding him.
I mean, he, he all but gave up the lead and then passed them back.
Right.
So for Ty to get up on the wheel, do everything right.
When the lights were bright and the stage was the biggest, it was fricking awesome.
And I've known Ty since he was like 12 racing late models.
And that's the guy, like the, the, the kid is now a man and that's the kid, the kid I
remember.
It's very, I have arrived.
And of course it begs the question, Kevin, is this going to be a multi-win season for
him?
You think I think so.
You just can't continuously run in the top five like that, not win.
I mean, you can, but the odds of you winning more races when you are putting yourself in
the front of the field like that, or just like this week, it gives you an opportunity
to pick the right strategy.
It gives you an opportunity to make the move.
And, you know, I think that, you know, you look back to Bristol last year in the fall
and him leading that race and getting to pit road a little too hot, locking up the tire
and then coming back this year at Bristol and closing the deal redemption.
Getting that redemption that, that he so deserved, you know, from, from the previous Bristol
race, I think for, you know, I think that for them, I think it's the potential is a
multi-win season.
And I think that right now he's arguably, arguably been one of the best two cars to
start the season with Tyler Redick, you know, as far as week in and week out with everything
that they've done from the consistency standpoint.
So sky's the limit.
You know, now it's, now it's all about managing the expectations and the expectation is to
win, but also making yourself do the things that you did to get to this point.
Right.
We talked so many times about winning your first race and not letting your guard down
and continuously, you know, trying to push things forward, not being comfortable that
you just got your first win and letting your guard down and not being able to put that,
that high level effort in that it takes to win these races every week.
Kevin did mention him, Tyler Allen.
I'm so happy for the crew chief because we all know who Chris Gabbard is.
We all know how great he is at what he does.
And that situation last year was kind of unheard of someone.
There was a crew chief and then there was a, it was a weird situation.
And I think this just reminds Tyler why he is the crew chief of the 54.
Like there's a reason Ty chose you and Joe Gibbs chose you to, to captain this crew
and shout out to our boy Cheddar Bob.
I love Cheddar.
I mean, he, he has that DNA, that championship DNA that came from Rodney and Kevin in our
2014 championship group and talking to him every week.
He's like, we're, we're getting there.
We're getting there.
The kids in there and now, now they did it.
So I'm happy for everybody.
Well, I think the other thing to think about back to his crew chief with Tyler Allen,
you know, putting Gabe Hart in that position last year on the pit box and him not quitting
or getting fired or any, any, there's a number of ways that he could have just been gone.
Right.
And absorbing that learning, progressing in his career to be a better crew chief, a better
leader, whatever, whatever happened in all those moments, he absorbed them.
I mean, that's not an easy call at the end of that race, especially when your driver's
like, I got to have track position.
I'm staying out.
I got to have track position.
I'm staying out.
And that's what Ty was saying on the radio and, you know, not overruling him and saying,
okay, I think we need to come in and put two tires on or, you know, no, we need to put
four tires on whatever the scenario could have been right there.
He went with his driver and, you know, they kind of made that bed together as far as
what was going to happen.
And in the end, it won him the race.
You can sense a lot of trust there already between the two big for the crew chief as
well getting his first win in the cup series.
Awesome moment all around.
So the driver that finished second was Ryan Blaney had a lot of speed, very fast car throughout
the race.
Driver did what he was supposed to do.
He had some saves throughout the race.
Interesting moments.
The pit crew once again had some issues and I know the team has expressed their loyalty
to their guys, but at what point do you think they should start to look at maybe making
a change?
Yeah, it's tough.
I mean, they had a pit stop there at the end of the race where they got him back out front
and were able to maintain the lead, but he had seven cars, lap cars in between him and
second place.
So he had the lead and he had a big gap.
They had a decent pit stop, but I mean, they just, they don't have the speed, let alone
the consistency that you're really seeing out of the Gibbs, the Gibbs crews, the Hendrick
crews on occasion.
The other top tier crews.
But like you look this week, Joey Logano's crew was spectacular.
They had a great weekend on pit road, but the 12 team has been consistently not consistent
on pit road with airs and slow pit stops.
It's a really tough deal, right?
Because you're bringing really good race cars to the racetrack.
Your driver is, I mean, he might be driving at the best that he's driven in his whole
career right now.
There's a lot of maturity, a lot of just leadership that he has exude, I feel like, over the last
few years and it's all clicking for them.
And now this one part of it, right?
It's kind of like your golf game.
Like you get off the T box, you can putt, but you can't get down the fairway.
That feels like kind of what's going on with, with the Team Penske 12 car and man, like
it helps that when it, when the, when the money stop was on that they didn't lose it,
but like you still got to look at, he had to come back from deep in the field like twice.
So like, they've lost him over 80 spots throughout the year, which is 30 more than anybody else.
It's unbelievable.
And, you know, I hate to just pile on with him and Clinton, Clinton's like, what would
you do?
I'm like, you don't want to know what I would do.
I'm, I'm, I'm hell on wheels when it comes to pit crews.
So I'm definitely not the guy that they want talking about this particular scenario because
I'm, I'm, I'm pro driver and pro fast pit stops.
So if your pit stops are not fast, you are paid to pit the car and they better be good.
That's fair.
Yeah.
So we'll have to see if there are any changes that may come down the line.
One team that has to be very encouraged, leaving Bristol is Tyler Reddick that they
have identified that the short track program needed to improve if he was going to in fact
contend for a championship.
Well, he finished fourth.
We got a top five when I mean, well, he qualified up front and they had a miscommunication on
their pit road speed reading early in the race.
And the first pit stop, he came into the pit road with more lights on than he should have
had on.
And, you know, so he and his crew chief had a little bit of a miscommunication there as
to what that setting needed to be after they saw what it was on the warm up lap.
So, but they, they talked through it and on the radio and we were able to listen to all
that.
And Tyler just drove back to the front and we've talked about it on this show.
And the 45 team had to get better on short tracks.
Well, they're fine at Bristol.
They're competitive at Bristol.
Can't, can't, can't say the same thing for, for Martin'sville, but it's, it's definitely
a step in the right direction for Tyler Reddick.
He said it was a very physical day from inside the race car and that he was going to take
today off when you have Bob Pocker's check.
If he did in fact take the day off, I'm sure it was because he was complaining of like
some break shakes too.
So which we, at one point they were cleaning out the break ducts.
I mean, they, they are, that is the most intriguing part.
Always one thing that is so such an outlier.
It is that because it's always them and it seems like not so much to 23.
It seems like the 45 more so.
And I just don't, or the 35 even, I just don't know what that is.
It seems like it always works.
Not always, but most of the time it's fine in the long run, but like there's always
an issue that he comes on with like break shake.
And I don't, I don't, it's interesting at one point.
He's like, I can't drive it because of how bad it's shaking, getting in the corners.
So, but yeah, it is consistently a problem for them.
Can you, can you, can you explain like what that feels like real quick to, to
you mean just sit here and just like, yeah, yeah, just like in the show them with
your feet, like cause it's shaking through the break pedal.
Yeah.
Well, basically what happens is that, you know, the breaks typically when they
shake like that, they get too cold.
So you have to, when you, when you push on the break pedal, it pulsates in your
foot, but when it's pulsating in your foot, it's also shaking in your hand.
So it's, it's definitely not comfortable.
As, as a driver and typically you can't make it go away, but they obviously
were in there working on the, on the cooling of the 45 car and, and it worked
itself out.
It seemed like at the end of the race.
It gives you a false read of what the car is doing too.
Cause you don't know, sometimes you don't know how free or how tight you are
because there's a whole different situation.
And you can't manage the car with a break pedal because you can't put more
pressure on the car because you put more pressure on the car.
It shakes, shakes harder.
And when it's shaking like that, you know, you just, you can't modulate the
pressure.
There you go.
You wanted him to demonstrate and there you have it.
The driver that finished one spot better than Tyler Redick was Kyle Larson,
swept the stages, picked up a lot of points.
He's currently six in that playoff picture or postseason picture.
What did you see out of the five?
What I saw out of the five is exactly what we expect out of the five.
And that's the first race all year.
We've, we've seen what we expect out of Kyle Larson at a racetrack.
We expect them to dominate and he dominated the first part of the race.
They, they caught up to him a little bit at the end of the race and the
circumstances of, of the way that everything worked out.
12 and 54 had a better car at the end of the race, but he took charge of the
race right from the beginning.
And we've been wondering if those weekends are there.
And, and I interviewed Chase Elliott earlier in the weekend and he talked about
the struggles that, that they are having, um, getting the balance right on, on
these race cars.
And, and you know, honestly, he talked about Las Vegas where we've had the
least amount of changes with our cars, um, from a rules standpoint with tires
and diffusers and arrow rules and things like that.
So, um, you know, we're going to Kansas next week where all that's going to be
the same.
So it'll be interesting to see if the same is, is as good as it was at Las
Vegas for, for the Hendrick cars.
But this is exactly what we expected, uh, out of Kyle Larson.
And, and that's what we got.
And you know, it's, we've not seen one of those cars dominate a race, uh, like,
like Kyle Larson did early on this week.
Yeah.
I think if he didn't, everyone would be the panic button wouldn't be hit, but
you'd definitely be having over it because you need, you need to stop the
bleeding, um, somewhere and you're like, okay, uh, if we're not good at places
we know we're good at, now we're really in trouble, right?
But that battle that, the battle that Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson were
putting on was awesome.
I mean, Larson ran the O'Reilly's race as well.
And that battle between him, Zillich and Brent Cruz was just just throwing
sliders and just everything you want in a short track stock car race.
It was a full contact race at the end.
No, at the end of that dominated the rest of it.
Yeah.
The rest of the, it was, it was like carbon copy.
It was like the exact same thing.
So Kyle Larson still knows how to drive cars down.
You'll still know how to make them go fast.
They're going to be just fine.
Yeah.
And I think that, you know, the, the big thing about Kyle Larson being, being
able to do that on Saturday and Sunday is like you say, for his confidence is
really good Connor, Zillich, same thing, right?
Like when in the O'Reilly's race and being able to, to run up front for him,
it's a firm reminder that, that he can drive and he's just, he's struggling on
Sundays to be able to put that car where it needs to be and know what he needs to
put in his car because Zillich quit practice early on Saturday saying his
car was good and it was not good.
Right.
So I still think he's searching for what he needs in the race car and what's
right and wrong and how hard he can drive it and all the things that come
with learning how to be a cup driver.
That's a 20 minutes of practice KV for those guys.
Yeah.
Connor Zillich ended up 33rd on the day.
Just a few spots in front of him was the team Hendrick teammate to Kyle Larson,
which is William Byron.
This is pretty unusual.
Qualified 34th was nowhere in the conversation all day.
Similar to what we saw with Joey Logano at Darlington.
What do you think happened there?
Well, and he's still never let a lap at Bristol.
Yeah, that stat still stands.
The stat still stands and it's there for a reason.
And, you know, I think that the, look, I've been to Bristol and been lap five
times and have no reason come back to the shop and have no reason to understand
why you got lap five times in the gen seven car.
It's going to happen.
And they changed the steering rack before the race.
That didn't fix anything.
He got lapped early in the back of the pack and never really gathered any
momentum through throughout the whole day.
So tough day for the 24 that we haven't seen out of that car in a long,
long time.
So that, that one definitely raises some eyebrows as to, as to, as to why they
were that bad, but they aren't that good typically at Bristol compared to a
lot of places that we go.
Yeah, he had a huge moment in qualifying that set him back.
And then obviously they changed the steering rack and you just would have
thought that, oh, he's going to make, they'll make some gains.
Like I really expected him to early on in the race, pick up some spots and at
least not go down a lap that early.
It just wasn't there for them.
And it's obviously not a lack of effort because I don't know, I don't know
how many guys work as hard as William Byron does at the craft.
That's what he specialized in.
That's why he's so good is because he worked so hard at it.
So, uh, he's definitely looking at that crew is definitely looking forward to
Kansas.
Yeah.
They never looking forward to get to a place that they feel like they can
control their own destiny a little bit more and have some success.
I think the other thing going back to Kyle Larson, you know, I know that he
had a great weekend, but unfortunately he's still got to answer that winless
street question.
And now it's at 32.
Yeah.
We're going to Kansas.
And we're creeping in on, you know, he won at Kansas, but it's a little less than,
than a year since, since he's one race, but we're, we're getting close
to a year since Kyle Larson has, has won a race.
So, uh, that is something that I had to look a couple of times a few weeks.
Every week I look at it and go, are we sure this guy won the championship and
never want to race in the playoffs.
I, I, I didn't, I guess I hadn't put all that together because you just assume
and you see him race so much and lead and do all the things that he's done and
champion.
I hadn't put all the pieces together to realize that it's now been 32 races.
It is a surprising stat.
There's a number of drivers on pretty long winless streaks.
Alex Bowman, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, also being one of them came
back finally from those vertigo symptoms he was experiencing, spoke candidly to
the media about what all that was.
It sounded like a very tough ordeal to go through.
What kind of uphill battle is that for a driver sitting out, coming back and then
having another tough result?
Well, you know, it's great to have Alex Bowman back in the car.
That's, that's the ride that, that he had and, and, you know, earned to, to get to
this point.
And I think that you couldn't ask for a, for a tougher racetrack to come back
to the Bristol with all the G's and all the heat.
It was hot this weekend, typically not that warm in the, in the spring
race at Bristol.
So, you know, it's good to, good to see him back in the car.
But now we're, now we're back to analyzing the 48's performance and it wasn't
good, uh, you know, through, throughout the weekend, they, you know, they didn't
really have any speed and, and wound up in an accident.
And, and so, you know, now they got to concentrate on, we've got the driver's
health back where it needs to be.
Now what do we got to do to get this car back to where it needs to be in the,
in solidly in the, in the top 10.
So that'll be the next, uh, tall task that they have to figure out.
Yeah, they got, I mean, obviously he's been out for a handful of races.
So points for him, driver wise is not about points.
That's, that's, we got a win.
We got to, if you're going to, if you're going to keep your job, you're
going to have to win.
And, and I think if you look at it, just from how my perspective, they didn't
put anybody else in it, but Justin, obviously Anthony Alfredo ran one, but
Justin Allgaier became like the, the replacement driver for most of it.
So when you look at that reading kind of the tea leaves is like, okay, they're
not trying to move on.
They're not ready to move on.
They still believe in Alex Bowman.
It seems that way.
It seems that way.
And I would just, I think that obviously they got to win.
They got to figure out whatever hasn't been meshing over the last few years.
You got 20 something races to get this thing right and going into 20.
I think that we're going to see a lot of dominoes start to fall early in the
year this year.
I don't think we're going to see what we saw last year as far as the drivers
and minimal amount of changes and things happening.
I think you're going to see some things happen as we start to get into, into
the early part of summer, um, you know, as far as who's going to drive what,
who's going to move teams, who's going to do things.
I think we're going to see things shake up more than we've seen, um, for
sure, from last year, especially as, as the, the OEM conversation keeps getting
heated up, obviously Ram is in the truck series and you would expect the, the
Stalantis group to make a move into the upper series at some point.
So as those conversations keep circling, like it changes the whole landscape.
Yeah.
And, and you know, that's an up, that's going to be an uphill battle for, for
Dodge to, I mean, you know, with the way that those trucks have run, uh, they've
done okay with their cup cars with no simulation and all the things that they've
been doing on the cup side, but like, who are you going to get to drive them?
Like who, that's going to be a road to go down.
Like right now we don't have anywhere to get engines, right?
You know, if we're, if we're Dodge and, and so going down the road of figuring
out how to get an engine shop and, and you're going to have to either make a
big move, but I mean, who are the engine shops?
You've got Roush Yates, you've got TRD, TRD, Childress.
But Childress and Hendrik, they're kind of like merged together.
So like, and the only ones that, the only ones that have previously had
engine shops is Pinsky.
Right.
They, but I mean, how do you resurrect them?
I mean, you'd have to resurrect an engine shop.
Yeah.
Um, and then you've got, uh, who else?
I guess Roush at one time had their, had their own engine program, but you know,
that's all, I guess the Elmore engine group that has the truck series and
archer engines.
You could maybe work somewhere else.
Built engines for outside things before, but is that really going to be
competitive as far as what you need?
So I, I just look at it.
It could be a, it could be a very non-competitive road for Dodge to get
started on the cup series in a big time uphill battle.
Might be a summer silly season.
It's all these developments taking place.
Uh, you referenced the fact that Bowman got taken out.
It was, Shane Van Gisburgen was the result of this, goes around, bunch of
cars have to check up and get collected in the process, which SVG was
showing a lot of strength.
Um, I feel like in the early portion of the season, but where do you feel
like track houses out right now?
Oh, they're struggling.
I mean, when you see Ross Chastain qualify six and get lapped, um, that,
that really, he's the, you see SVG right here, just back out from underneath.
We saw that with a lot of guys this weekend.
The cars were just light in the back, uh, and, and especially as the race
ran on and the rubber got on the racetrack, we saw a lot of cars just
have the back in slide out from underneath him.
But in the end, I, I mean, like you said, SVG has been the best track house
car consistently.
Yeah.
It has not been, but look at the changes.
Ross has got a new crew chief.
Um, you've got Connor in the mix.
Yeah.
In the mix.
Now he's got a new crew chief.
We saw some changes within the organization that have happened.
And right now it's just not, it's not clicking.
Yeah, that's a really tough.
It's tough for, uh, Connor, obviously, because it's rookie year.
It's going to be tough no matter what.
It's tough for SVG because now he finally has going back to some places
and you, he's made some steps for it.
Like you can see the steps forward, but like the stuff is, and it's not all there.
And so you're really relying a lot on Ross to kind of, yeah, he's your gauge.
And if, if the gauge is getting beat by the second, you know, SVG, it's like,
okay, then we're further back than we really think of SVG is our, is our main
horse right now.
Not no disrespect to SVG, but like Ross should be that.
On the ovals.
So yeah, on the ovals for sure.
So they gotta, they gotta roll their sleeves and go to work.
And the interesting part that I, that I've heard Ross talk about, uh, in some
of his interviews is the car will qualify okay, and it'll take off good, but
they're terrible on the long runs.
And that's exactly what happened to him at Bristol heat.
I mean, he would make that car fire off on the restarts by making bold moves.
And he could hang in there for 20, 25 laps.
And then it was just, all right, I'm fighting for my life here.
And eventually he just got further and further back in the track position and
wound up, you know, where that car was actually capable of running.
You were talking about how loose or out of the track, a lot of the cars were.
I feel like I heard a couple of them talking about as the rubber was going
down, the PJ one was coming off and it was kind of making it bumpy and
un, um, very inconsistent for their feel.
Was that, do you think that something to do with it?
Well, that's not abnormal there.
And I think as you run, the, the rubber will kind of get clumpy.
I think the thing that made the bottom groove not as good as the PJ one
traction compound did come off the racetrack.
And you could really see that lighten up, especially where the left side tires
would run, you could see that traction compound lighten up.
And, and that's, there's just not as much grip, right?
And, and so what was grippy at the beginning of the race, now you've
got to slow down for, uh, nothing to catch you as you're seeing a lot with
that SVG spin, uh, kind of slide out from underneath you.
There's nothing to grab.
There's nothing that the left side tires can grab as that, as that
traction compound wears off.
So track definitely changed.
We knew the track was going to change.
We saw it on Saturday when the first session went out on the racetrack.
Rubbered up the racetrack fast when the track was cleaner and then all of a
sudden the clouds came in track temperature by the time we qualified.
I think it was 115 degrees, um, you know, when the first session started,
it was 99 degrees track temp by the time we qualified.
So these guys had their hands full.
I loved, I loved the fact that the, so the tire compound, they didn't
have a tire wear issue, but that a heat, not, I won't even call this an issue,
but the tire got hot and would lose grip and everyone was struggling with that.
So if you can give me a tire that has some fall off, but doesn't like,
doesn't, uh, come apart like it was, but makes it hard to drive.
That, that seems like a pretty good situation to, uh, cool.
It's good.
You know, I wish, I wish we did have more wear and fall off.
I think they all got hard to drive, but it seemed like they all got
hard to drive at the same time and the variance in speed with the cars was minimal.
Yeah.
Um, especially like there were some laps where we were looking at the scoreboard
and you see the 29th place car or Connor Zillich, because I know that we did this
would run like a 16, 23 and the leader would run like a 16, 29, you know, so
it really comes down to, you know, trying to figure out how to get more variance.
But overall, the Bristol race was good.
It was good to watch the way that they had the racetrack prepared, kept the
bottom hanging on long enough to where the top just didn't become dominant.
And then they almost moved off the top a little bit because the cars were
so light on their feet, they had to drive in straight and would actually
not run right up against the wall and make that big arc on the exit of the
corners, like, like they have in the past.
So it was a, it was an intriguing race.
It wasn't intriguing race.
You guys been talking about how drivers had their hands full.
One of them was Kyle Busch with a big save on lap three 78.
He would eventually return a favor to Mr.
Riley Herps, but when you look at Richard Children's racing, it has been
a big struggle, both Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, their best finishes all year
12th. That's beyond that.
That's they haven't done anything else.
What do you think is contributing to the RCR struggles?
That's a great question.
I mean, I don't know that answer because I'm not within the walls.
I can tell you that the keys to this race car are details, right?
Like it is how many, how many details can you stack?
And that starts from when you get the chassis in the shop to the body
panels that go on the car.
And so, you know, I think that the, when you see some struggles,
like, like they're having it, and you look at the Chevrolets in general,
right? Like they've had a lot to work through with, as we watch
Riley, the 35 car rally Herps, getting to the back of Kyle Busch,
spinning him out right here off a turn four.
But this is all about details.
And so if you're struggling, it's all about your processes and your
details and your simulation and your tools and who's putting all that
stuff into the simulator and what you're getting out of the simulator
into the simulation and how you put those and adapt those things
to the, to the setup of the car and, you know, how far your floor pans
and splitters and body panels and all those things push to the
thousands of an inch.
And if you're not getting that, it's about those processes and
details that you're not stacking up.
Yeah, I think, I think there's a misconception that because all these
parts for these cars come from one place.
No, we're close to the same.
No, brother, like now the, the sandbox went from being pretty big
because, you know, you could do all these different things too.
Now it's very small in the details.
Every little thing matters so much.
And if, if every little thing matters so much, you could be dead nuts
on, on three or four things.
But if you're messing up on like these other three or four things on this
side, you don't know where you're, where you're really messing up.
And I think, you know, one thing that I'd really love to see NASCAR just
kind of sit and talk to the teams and consider is, is opening up on the
short tracks and road courses, some of these boxes.
Like since we've gone to the simple diffuser and a smaller spoiler and
things on the back of the car, you know, like nose weight rules and wedge
rules and some of the things that we have that, how could we open it up
a little bit to give the teams a little more leeway to do some more
things a little freely, a little more freely on the short tracks and road
courses, because we, you know, we've, we've cut the spoiler off.
We've gone from good diffuser to simple diffuser to, I mean, we've, we've
tried a lot of arrow things.
I just, I wish that box could be a little bit bigger on some of the rules
that we have from some of the things that we mandate with the, with the car.
So before we move on to Kansas, I do want to mention a team.
We don't normally get to talk about that often.
And that's Todd Gilland, Chris Lawson made a two car tire call before this race.
He had said this was one of his worst race tracks, but he got a six place effort
out. Well, they made a great call at the end of the race and Todd did a great
job keeping the car where it needed to be and got the most, most out of his day.
So really the, the shining moment for, for Todd Gilland and that 34 car this
year. And that's, that's good to see because we saw those moments shine
several times as we've gone through the last couple of years.
And we just hadn't seen it yet out of the 34.
We've seen Zane Smith have some, some great moments.
Yeah. I want to shout out to, I mean, that whole, the front row group, like
that they've been around for a long time.
They really are.
That Bob Jenkins and his group, they are grinding bunch and they have developed
a lot of talent, like mechanics that have left there and gone to like Hendricks
and gives another places. And Zane Smith, man, he was a guy that he won a lot in
ARCA. He won a truck championship.
He found a way to like get in some Jerram stuff and just kind of stuck around.
And then he thought, man, he's getting his big break at track house.
And that was a freaking disaster for him.
Like he thought it was going to be it.
And then SVG came and then Connor came and he ended up being the odd man out
real quick. And for him to be able to land at a place that allows him to grow
and get better at front row, they, that group is doing a good job.
And Kudos to Zane and Todd.
And obviously Noah's over there too.
He's got to, he's got a little bit catch up to get to his teammates, but they're
doing what they need to do.
Peppin step as we head out to the Midwest and we are headed to Kansas Speedway,
the mile and a half race track next for the circuit.
So let's talk about the teams to watch.
But first, maybe we'll discuss the fact that Kevin, our man, won there three
times. We did okay.
We did okay. He says honesty.
What makes it a tough place?
Well, it's, it's one of our best mile and a half race tracks because of whatever
happened with the, with the banking and the asphalt and all the things that,
that have become Kansas Speedway have made it great to race on because from a
driver's standpoint, you have options. The tires wear out, you got to run up
against the fence, but you can run the middle and you can run the bottom when
you need to make a pass and it just makes for really entertaining racing.
And, and, and especially with the gen seven car and what it's developed into.
So we've had some, some great races at Kansas.
I think that the big key at Kansas is stay off the brake pedal and make sure
your car will run the top of the racetrack comfortably because there's a,
there's a bump getting into one that you got to navigate getting through.
The restarts are always wild at Kansas.
So you got to make hay while you can make hay on the restarts.
And, and, you know, I think it's, it's going to be cool this weekend in Kansas.
And I have to listen to Clint Boyer all weekend about how great Kansas is.
I love Kansas. I love that track.
I think I also think it's great that the track was there before anything else was
there and it's all been built up around the racetrack. Like the, when we,
when NASCAR, whatever we do shows up somewhere, was I born yet?
When the track was, when was the track about 2001?
We ran our first race. Yeah. I was, I was, I was like nine. Okay.
Nine. Yeah.
Because I went there for the first time before we had the first race at Kansas
in 2001, I did the winter circle appearance there.
And there was a racetrack, a highway and nothing else.
No best for that's how much that's how much the racetrack has meant to that,
to that town to be able to build that, that area right there.
They built it around the racetrack and, and, you know, the casino right there
and turn two, that used to be Eric Stone Street's family farm.
Oh, was it really? Yeah. Oh my, really? That's right.
That's funny.
Kevin's got some, you know, some random nugget up in the middle.
I like the story time.
Some of the grays, the grays keep all the stories.
I've learned it. I have to pay more attention because Mike Joy always has
great stories about certain places that we go. So Kansas Speedway, yeah,
that it's, it's built a whole city.
I bet the, I bet the track, you know why the track is probably so great?
Because, you know, they, when they build them, the asphalt was built off the
ground around it, all that agriculture there, that good, good soil, good soil.
I got a question for you guys.
The only thing I don't like about Kansas Speedway.
Have you ever made a complete lap around the Kansas Speedway,
trying to figure out how to get on the highway? Yes.
Yeah. It is like a game of Tetris.
Oh my God, you can't get there.
You run right into the front grandstand.
Yes. And you got to go back and you go all the way back around to turn.
It is confusing.
Yeah. If you get on that road down at the bottom around the racetrack,
you can't get on to the road that gets you onto the highway.
You can see it, but you can't get there.
How do I get there?
I don't know how. You got to go under the bridge and out and around.
The map just keeps redirecting, circling around.
Yeah, that's fun. Please turn around. Please turn around.
I could see you driving Miss Daisy around there.
I knew you would say something like that.
Hey, I got rear-ended, by the way, you guys, the other day.
Someone ran into me. Yeah, my car.
You got rear-ended. I sure did. Yeah.
Wow. I'm not happy with that person.
We need to get a stoplight or...
No, just like driving traffic, basically.
He said he was trying to adjust his cat in the front seat.
His cat? Correct.
I don't want to ask what that means.
It was an animal.
Not an ideal conversation for us to get into.
I'm not doing it.
But yeah, so I actually got hit and it wasn't my fault.
Are you saying that you don't take your cat for rides in the car?
I don't have a cat. I'm allergic.
OK.
How about you? You have a cat?
He does not. You have a cat?
I got a got-to. No, I don't have a got-to.
No got-to. You have a dog?
I did. He passed away last week.
It was, honestly, that was so traumatic.
Like, I don't know if I can love anything that much ever again.
I bet you can.
Well, I don't want to sound...
Callous. I don't want to sound mean.
OK, let's go back to Kansas, guys.
Before Delana calls him and tells Adam.
He already forgot his wedding song, so we don't...
Well, it's been 25 years.
I can't remember.
Well, he's struggling.
Katelyn does...
I got you and just shoves him in the water.
Well, now we've got it on two shows. Thanks, Katelyn.
You're welcome.
Yeah, I'm sure I'll...
I'm sorry.
Never heard the end of it.
One quick thing I want to note here, very fast.
Chevrolet has won the last four straight races at Kansas.
Prior to that, it was four straight Toyotas.
So who do you think are the teams to watch?
I think, I mean, right now, you have to say the Toyotas.
OK.
I mean, whether it's 2311 or Joe Gibbs Racing,
you know, you look back at Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin
and Christopher Bell qualifying on a pole.
I mean, I know Kyle Larson will be good,
but I just don't know that they can beat the Toyotas right now
without circumstances happening.
I don't think they're going to beat them on raw speed
unless they found something over the off-week
on a mile-and-a-half racetrack that we don't know about,
which is perfectly possible
because the Chevrolets have the most potential to get better, right?
The Toyotas have been here, the Fords have been here,
working with the same cars and things that they've had,
and the Chevrolets are going to, at some point,
we think they're going to take a step
and get their arms around this whole thing and get better.
So they are the only ones that have the most potential,
but I don't see it right now.
This is the longest that Michael Jordan has gone this year
without winning, so it's probably his time to go get another one.
Yeah.
OK.
So votes of confidence there for the Toyota Camp.
OK, it is time now for Mamba Smith's social sips, sir.
Maybe we should just cut the rest of the show.
How was NASCAR Sundays, by the way?
Listen.
How was it?
Closers.
The closers showed up to that, too.
NASCAR Sunday.
Were we able to go, though?
Because you were working, right?
Yeah, so I was working at Bristol,
and then got done, drove down to Hoppin,
and there was 60-something people there.
And this is in Charlotte?
In Charlotte, yeah.
So you did hospitality and drove home in time
for the start of the race?
No, no, no.
Not the start.
I got there for the last stage.
Did you make, like, a grand entrance?
Did you film it?
I mean, I didn't film it, but when I showed up,
they knew, because I was thirsty.
It was time to get going.
Did they know you were there?
Did you announce yourself there?
I didn't.
Mamba Smith, I'm here.
I didn't have to.
My hat and my outfit pretty much spoke for me.
Persona speaks for itself.
It's called ORA, OK?
When you step in, they know it.
I call it flashy.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
Welcome to Mamba's social sips.
It's your favorite part of the show.
And then we're going to start with the word of the week.
All right.
I like where it's at now.
It's part of the social sips.
Let's run it.
A lot of these guys are slip sliding around.
As you see, Legano right there.
I think he just meant to rattle his cage,
but kind of hit him harder than he expected
down the straightaway again.
Just a little rattle of the cage.
You know what?
It's how you say it.
And I was shocked that Clint and Mike didn't,
like, there was no giggle or nothing.
It was, I missed it, to be honest.
Yeah.
But it was like a rattle.
You know, it was a very iconic early thing to say.
You made it too easy again.
Well, I wasn't trying to make that.
I was supposed to be kind of funny,
and I guess it just landed flat.
No, it didn't.
It was great.
You guys like that?
He's too good at it now.
That was flat.
You see?
It's how he delivers it.
Yeah.
Now this week, this week is going to be a wild one.
You're going to have to.
You'll need a few left.
You're going to have to get a little...
Spicy.
A little spicier.
Speaking of spicy.
Yeah.
As long as it's not talking about nuclear hot dogs,
it'll be fine.
That's fine.
Speaking of spicy.
Me and Migo.
Yes.
Daniel Suarez.
You're looking to see what I did there.
Yeah.
Julia Pequette.
They are...
They announced that they're having a child here soon.
So excited for them.
Congratulations.
They are two of the hardest working, nicest people,
and I'm so happy for them.
They're super great.
Congratulations.
Great timing for them, too,
with the way that his car is running right now.
Yeah.
It seems comfortable with where he's at,
and they'll make great parents.
Yes, they will.
Yeah, for sure.
That kid is going to be fun.
Yes.
We're a fun kid.
A lot of spice.
Probably drive a Volkswagen.
Oh, 100%.
Yeah.
Yeah, first car.
So over the weekend, obviously we're in Bristol,
but the Heritage Invitational at 1010s,
shout out to Mr. H., Marcus Smith,
Graham Smith.
That event looks so cool.
That venue is amazing, too.
And they had the IROC series racing.
Kurt Busch won.
He went...
He raced door-to-door against Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labani.
Kevin, how about this burnout with my IROC car?
Well, this is exactly why I don't loan my IROC cars out
for other people to drive.
I'd be mad if my IROC car got treated like this.
And honestly, I can't believe they race them like they do.
They race them.
I look at mine, I'm like, I don't scratch it.
But that was a good burnout.
I'm not sure who owns the car.
I think it's Kurt's.
It's Kurt's car.
It's his car.
He can do whatever he wants to.
Kurt Busch burnout in a while.
Kurt Busch burnout.
That was a good one.
I also love the way those cars sound.
Oh, yeah.
I miss that high pitch.
I think that's the way to...
If we could change that on our car on the cupboards,
I would vote for that.
I think that there is definitely a way
to make our car sound better.
Yeah, I feel like it wouldn't be that hard either.
One thing last year that we talked about
on the Super Speedway is guys coming out of,
especially coming out of Daytona 2,
was how aggressive they were racing from the beginning
because the way the stages were and the fuel situation,
because I'm tired of everyone talking about saving fuel,
and I think we might be getting closer to adjusting that.
So John Probst was on the Hollertalk show that NASCAR has,
and they talked about, you see here, Kelly Crandall.
NASCAR's John Probst explained on Hollertalk
that the stage lengths at Talladega will be altered
to combat the fuel strategy,
TBA on what the lengths were.
This was last week when I saw this,
and NASCAR is also looking to have a genuine test
at Daytona to work on the other car changers.
I got the first question. What is Hollertalk?
It's a podcast with Mike Ford.
NASCAR Communications Group.
All right.
So what they do is they try to pull back the curtain
a little bit, explain some of the things,
the decisions that happen, good and bad.
They actually do a good and bad, so I'm getting credit for that.
I like the theory behind that.
I love your sarcasm.
Do you have another question?
What are the stages?
What is this test in January?
I haven't confirmed yet, but it sounds like...
Can you work on that this week?
Yeah, because it sounds like a little bit,
what we used to call it, pre-season thunder.
It feels a little pre-season thunder-ish
from back in the day.
I think that'd be a good idea.
Maybe we're getting the pre-season thunder back
in test session.
It feels like that.
Back to Daytona, media day, everything down there.
If we're going to do it, we might as well do it.
Do it right.
What's old is new again.
Remember that whole thing?
Hey, what's old was pretty popular.
Exactly.
I like where we're headed.
We made a lot of great changes this year.
Yeah, this is a good one, too.
The state trying to combat the fuel strategy situation.
Absolutely.
I think a lot of the drivers would...
Welcome that.
Would welcome a change to the super speedway stuff.
It's so hard to race like they have to race
and not get more of a reward for pushing.
So it'll be interesting to see where this all lands.
Yeah, so I'm looking forward to all that.
I need to give a couple of shots really quickly.
Very quickly.
Big L.
Big L.
Big L was a closer that came out to the display this week.
And then this guy Steve, he was wearing...
This guy Steve.
This guy Steve.
No, this guy Steve was wearing a Keselowski shirt.
And I'm like, well, what are we going to do
to get you to switch over to a Ram shirt?
He goes, I wouldn't do it for $100,000
because we're giving away $100,000 at the end of this year.
When he registered to do the Ram stuff.
And Chris Rice was on stage.
He's like, do you...
He's like, I'll do it if you give me a job.
Chris is like, can you drive...
Do you have a CDL?
He goes, yep.
He got his number right there on the spot.
I think these guys are going to work that calling.
This guy Steve.
This guy Steve.
I have a random question for you.
Okay.
I knew you were working on something there.
Yeah, I knew you were giving him time.
Do you know who this guy is?
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
I did not.
Who is it?
He's like a comedian.
He's great.
He's funny on socials.
I don't know his name, but he's funny on socials.
He's a comedian.
Like an influencer?
Yeah, kind of, yeah.
Oh, rapper.
He's with your son.
He was.
Okay.
No, it's not Drew Ski.
I wish it was Drew Ski.
No.
What's his name?
It was...
Mexican OT.
The Mexican OT, that's right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm going to let you guys know if you want to leave a voicemail,
805-317-4175, if you want to leave a mailbag question,
harvickhappyour4 at gmail.com.
You just educated me on some pop culture.
That was okay.
You got some work to do this week.
Okay.
You are about to see some work you're going to have to do.
Caitlin?
Well, first we got to see the work of Ty Gibbs, his burnout,
and grade it, because it was quite good, I might add.
Never forget your first, right?
That's right.
Isn't that what they say?
That is what they say.
I thought this was awesome.
It was.
It was pretty good.
Yeah.
It was all tied together.
It's a fast pace, too.
I like that.
The thing you got to understand about Ty Gibbs is he's a gasser.
When he gets in these moments, he's going to be high strung,
23-year-old kid.
The banking is hard there, too.
No, the banking is hard.
It didn't care about engines.
It didn't care about where we needed to run it next.
I don't think anybody cared.
As they should.
No.
This one.
Look, we had a good burnout, so I'm going to give it a B+.
Yeah, and we always say it's about the whole celebration,
and with his mom and driving her in a victory lane,
and he got her the flag.
Yeah, so I think that the style points go way up.
When you put mom on the right side for your victory lane,
your burnout would have been a B+.
But I think when you put mom on the right side,
we're probably going A territory.
We're going at least in A.
Because also he jumped into the interview with his grandpa, Joe Gibbs.
Which was awesome.
So the whole thing, bro, that thing is top of the board right now.
It's going to be hard to top all the things on top of the burnout
with all the style points.
So we're going to give it an A.
That way we have some room in case we have to give somebody an A.
But the thing that I will say that I was most excited about
is the fact that Joe Gibbs took the microphone from Jamie Little.
Yeah, she couldn't get it back.
And she was like, you can see you're like...
Delicately.
Like, should I?
And just to see Jamie Little uncomfortable makes me happy.
I love that.
That was my favorite part of the whole thing.
She posted on social media and was taught to never give up the mic.
But I thought for Coach Gibbs it was okay.
Coach Gibbs Michael joined those guys.
She lost that microphone and I was laughing my ass off in the booth.
And she just couldn't quite figure out how to grab it.
Yeah, she got it back eventually.
Alright guys, you referenced the points.
So let's take a look right now at where we're at.
What happened?
Well, I didn't pick Denny Hamlin.
Yes you did.
I picked Ryan Blaney.
No, you did not.
Did you not listen to the pre-race?
No, that doesn't know.
See, this is the problem.
We have two separate picks taking place.
Here's the problem.
Tyler's gone.
Producers gone.
No, no.
I mean, was anybody paying attention who picked?
No, no, yes.
I hope not.
I picked two weeks ago.
It was Denny Hamlin.
It was Denny Hamlin.
Thank you, New Meals.
I don't think so.
Listen, so here's the thing, Kev.
We have a document.
A running tally.
Here's the thing, Kev.
You guys cheated last year.
I'm trying to figure out how to cheat.
We didn't cheat.
I cheated last year?
You cheated.
How so?
Well, you got a mulligan.
I got a mulligan.
You got to be better at it.
If you want to win, you got to be better at it.
Okay, well, in case you're in the dark, I'm leading 30.
Six points for Ryan Blaney.
Kevin picked up points for Hamlin.
And he picked up 10 for the race winner at Ty Gibbs.
Which that might be one of the most impressive picks all year.
That was bold pick.
Listen, here's the other thing.
I picked that.
I picked that when I walked into the studio two weeks ago.
I knew who I was picking off the rip.
Good job.
How do you?
You're still the first.
No, but I'm beating your ass.
That's all that matters.
Okay, well, we can have a chance to redeem ourselves here
because we have to make picks for Kansas.
So who would like to go first?
Well, Kevin's last.
So he should probably go first.
You think I should go first?
Yeah, I want to give that to you.
Okay.
I feel like he and I have the same pick.
You guys do a lot.
You only pick three people.
I think...
Not true.
I'm going to step outside the box a little bit this week.
Oh, finally.
I'm going to pick Bubba Wallace.
Oh, okay.
We don't have the same pick.
That's a good pick.
You talked about the Toyotas, which I'm staying in that camp as well.
Christopher Bell, second and third in Kansas races last year.
He always does.
I think he will be...
He's never won a race from the pole.
But anyway.
He's going to pull the pole.
I like the Bubba Wallace one because I think it's redemption for him
after Denny Ranerman in the fence at the end of last year.
You're picking the same?
No, of course not.
I'm going with his teammate Tyler Reddick.
Okay.
Because I mean...
Rolling.
Honestly, rolling and where he ended up almost stealing the win at Bristol,
I'm like, no, they got it going.
You were like, no way.
Is he going to come up and win at Bristol?
Yeah.
I was like, I love Tyler and Billy's got all them.
But if he would have beat Ty, I would have been a little...
There was a moment right there.
I'm like, yeah, he's there.
I was like, oh, shit.
So Tyler Reddick, that's my pick.
There you go, guys.
Three solid picks.
We'll see how they fare out in Kansas.
Three Toyotas.
This is a cool thing.
Three Toyotas.
We want to mention our show.
Kevin's show was nominated for a Webby Award.
So you guys can get in on the voting action to vote.
You go to vote.webbyawards.com, click on categories, select podcasts.
After that, select limited series and specials and click on interview or talk show and vote
for Harvick's happy hour.
There's a search box you can type in.
And that makes it easier.
The image on that will bypass a lot of that.
There you go.
So you referenced Chase Elliott earlier.
That interview will air on Thursday.
We look forward to that conversation.
That was a great conversation.
I can't wait.
You got to listen to the end because, well, I assume it's at the end after it gets edited,
but the fact that his story about racing with his dad was pretty cool.
That's nice.
He doesn't talk very often about those things.
I was super pumped into how open he was and appreciative.
Good job, Kevin.
All right.
We want the closers to subscribe on YouTube and follow us at HarvickHappyPod as well.
That's where you can find us on all the socials.
Why are you grinning like that?
Because you're the one that's here.
You have to say it because you forgot to.
I didn't forget.
I was going to see if you guys would say it.
Actually, you are supposed to say that and I stole your line.
Sorry.
That's okay.
All right.
We'll see everybody after Kansas.
Thanks for being here.
About this episode
Bristol delivers a first-time Cup win for Ty Gibbs, and the crew credits his calm radio, clean execution after getting shuffled back, and the trust between him and crew chief Tyler Allen. Ryan Blaney finishes second but faces renewed scrutiny over pit speed/consistency. The hosts break down other Bristol storylines: Kyle Larson’s dominant stage-winning performance, Tyler Reddick’s short-track progress (plus recurring brake-shake issues), and struggles for Hendrick and RCR. They wrap with a Kansas preview, betting on Toyota strength while expecting Chevrolet to improve.
Original notes
Ty Gibbs’ first NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway, emotional celebration with Joe Gibbs and mom, Ryan Blaney’s pit crew mistakes, Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing struggles continue. On this episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith break down Gibbs’ breakthrough victory and emotional post-race moments, analyze Blaney’s pit crew’s continuous struggles, dive into Kyle Busch and RCR’s ongoing performance concerns, preview the upcoming race at Kansas, and react to the latest viral moments in Mamba’s Social Sips while giving expert insight into the biggest stories in the NASCAR world.
0:00 - Intro
1:36 - Bristol Weekend Recap
32:15 - Kansas Preview
37:59 - Mamba’s Social Sips
45:03 - Last Call
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