Atlanta Motor Speedway is a famous NASCAR race track in Georgia. It’s built for fast oval racing, so being able to cruise around it with nobody around is a special, unusual experience.
“Cruiser laps” just means taking easy, slow laps around the track for fun. It’s the opposite of racing—more like a relaxed drive.
Term
cool down life after a way
After a race, drivers often do a slower “cool-down” lap. It helps the car calm down after being pushed hard, and the track usually isn’t completely empty yet.
A motorcycle is a two-wheeled vehicle. The speaker is saying he rode one around the track, which is why safety gear like a helmet became part of the conversation.
Timing and scoring is the official tracking system that measures lap times and who’s in what position. It’s how everyone knows who’s leading and how the race is unfolding in real time.
Term
pipe pipe
In NASCAR slang, “pipe” is often used to mean pushing hard or driving aggressively toward a goal (here, “pipe pipe for it” implies really going for the breakaway). It’s not a literal mechanical term—more of a racing expression about effort and commitment.
Stages are parts of the race where NASCAR awards points. Winning a stage means you were the best at that point in the race, and it can help you win the overall event.
Pole position is the starting spot at the front of the grid, earned by having the fastest qualifying speed (or by the series’ rules for setting the field). In NASCAR, starting on the pole is a big advantage because it helps you control the early restart and lane choice.
“String out” describes when the field stretches into a longer line rather than staying tightly packed. On superspeedways, that can happen as cars find different grip and lane options, and it often changes how drafting and passing work.
The “top lane” is the upper racing line on an oval, typically closer to the outside wall. On superspeedways, lane choice matters because grip, aerodynamics, and drafting strength can make one lane faster at certain times.
Term
time in the draft
In NASCAR, drafting is when you follow really closely behind another car. The car in front helps you go faster because it reduces the air resistance on you. “Time in the draft” is how long you can stay in that close-follow position.
“Lifting” means taking your foot off the gas. In a race, it’s a quick way to slow down and keep the car under control when grip changes or traffic gets chaotic.
“Pull the bottom” means choosing the inside line on the track. Drivers do it to help the car handle better and to take advantage of grip where it’s available.
“Subdue the top” means not letting the higher line have all the advantage. The driver picks the inside line to keep control and make it harder for cars running the outside to pull away.
A “run” is when you suddenly get faster and start closing on the car in front. “Generate runs” means the driver could repeatedly build that speed to catch back up.
A “unicorn car” means a rare race car that feels amazing to drive. He’s saying this car was unusually good and not something you get often.
Concept
unbelievable seed
“Seed” here means the starting situation—where you end up in the race order and how well-prepared the car is for that moment. He’s praising the team for giving him a great starting setup so he could win.
A restart is when the race starts moving fast again after a slow-down period. Drivers line up and then accelerate, and who gets a good start can make a big difference.
The throttle is basically the gas pedal control. “On the throttle” means the driver was pressing for power to keep the car moving hard.
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I heard before the race that there was a motorcycle up for grabs for the winner.
And then I forgot about it.
And then it was sitting in victory lane and they're like, hey, you know how to do it.
It's a motorcycle. I was like, no way.
What's going on, NASCAR Nation, Mamba Smith back in the hot seat for this week's
victory lap on the motorcycle for the Kevin Harvick happy hour podcast.
My guy, Ryan Blaney, YRB, what's up champ?
How are you?
I'm great.
But I don't even know what I don't know if I should start with the motorcycle or the
mustache.
I guess we'll start with the motorcycle.
I want to start with that shirt you're wearing.
Oh, okay.
Look at that shirt called Dave Blaney.
Look at that guy cast car, man.
That was one of my favorite, favorite cars, man, that you got your dad drove.
I don't know.
Me too.
That was, I mean, that was his rookie, rookie cup car, you know, and the, and the Bush series
back then.
So yeah, I always like seeing old, old, uh, Amaco stuff and that that, I mean, I remember
him driving the Jasper car.
Um, he just had like a bunch.
Obviously almost one of the, the 500 and the 36 that was Baldwin.
Yeah.
Good times.
Good times.
All right.
Well, what about this motorcycle?
Yeah, that was, um, that was part of the trophy at Atlanta.
So it was a Harley Davidson.
Uh, it was like a Sturgis edition, one of 26 that they made.
Um, I know I'm not sure the actual like model of it, but yeah, it was neat.
I mean, I, I, I heard before the race that there was a motorcycle up for grabs for the
winner.
Um, and then I forgot about it.
And then it was sitting in Victor Lane and they're like, Hey, yeah, by the way, that's
your motorcycle.
I was like, no way.
Like can I, and this was after everything, right?
It was after Victor Lane, there was just some mascot security people there, some folks from
my group.
And I was like, I'd love to take this thing for a lap around the racetrack.
It'd be kind of cool.
And they were like, yeah, go ahead.
It's what you can do whatever you want to do.
I was like, okay.
So I just, I took a couple cruiser laps around, around Atlanta motor speedway.
That's, uh, I can happily say that I've done that.
And that was, um, that was a neat experience.
Just kind of me, myself and my thoughts just cruising around the speedway.
Yeah.
Well, what were you, well, what were you thinking about?
Like, cause that is, that is probably the most quiet time you probably ever had.
Like at the racetrack, you know what I mean?
Like most of the time you're cool down life after a way and there's still guys around
you.
Like what was kind of going through your mind?
And it was the most, one of the most unique experiences I've had at the racetrack, you
know, with it's, it's probably three AM at that point.
And I'm by myself, there's nobody in the stands.
Uh, yeah, I don't know.
I was just thinking, I was like, this is, I, the only really the only thing I was thinking
about was this is like the coolest experience I've ever had.
I had the racetrack to myself and I could just cruise around this thing on a motorcycle.
And it was, it was cool, man.
It was, it was awesome.
So I know I, I got some grief for not wearing a helmet and stuff like that, you know, but
it was, it was something I couldn't pass up and I was just cruising out there.
So I felt okay about being able to be by myself with no one else, no other cars around to
where I, I think I can, I felt pretty confident.
I'm not laying this thing down.
I'm just going to be okay.
I'm going to be okay.
Some things are in the moment, man.
You know what I mean?
Like in the moment thing.
And like, you just put your hat on backwards.
It looked like, it looked like a movie.
It looked like right out of a movie.
Yeah.
You know, hey, and I'm a big, you know, safety, be safe, you know, like type of person and
but it was in the moment and I couldn't turn it down in the moment.
So speaking of in the moment, you had a pretty funny moment with me, a buddy, old bubble
Wallace.
It was like, it was like the cookies and cream came out of the chat and now we're in real
life on TV together.
And that was hilarious, bro.
That kind of went viral on us.
It was, you know, it was the universe talking to us.
You know, if I was, you guys are doing the interview and I just happened to be walking
by at the time and I'm happy y'all, y'all pulled me over.
And honestly, when I, you know, when I went over there, the screen that the monitor that
the guy was holding up.
Yeah.
It wasn't showing like a live thing.
Like it was timing and scoring.
So I didn't know.
I actually didn't know that we were live at that point.
But yeah, it was, it was funny.
It was like you said, cookies and cream in real life back together, back together.
Man, let's talk about the race for a minute.
You guys really dominated.
It's kind of, we talked about it a little bit before the race or maybe during the break
that it reminded me a little bit of like a 1990s Daytona race where you guys kind of
break away a little bit and one guy could kind of, you know, really pipe pipe for it.
And I was impressed that you guys had so much speed and we're able to do that.
Yeah.
I mean, our car was unbelievable.
I mean, sitting on the pole, winning both stages, you know, ended up winning the race.
Like that was, that was a fun car to drive.
That's for sure.
And the first round of the race was definitely interesting.
I did not expect it to string out like it did.
You know, our plan between myself, Joey and Austin, we were all starting close to each
other like, all right, well, let's try to get organized.
As fast as we can.
And maybe we can string it a little bit and really just like try to get the first six
cars clear.
And then we have the speed to kind of make sure that, you know, like the top lane can't
kind of surge, but I didn't expect us to have like 10 cars in that front pack.
And it'd be really separated.
I think it was just, it was hot.
There's the first, you know, time in the draft with everybody so you don't know how your
car is going to drive.
And I think everyone's car was driving pretty bad at that point.
And so everyone just had to keep lifting and just get spread out.
And then as the, you know, when the rain came, it cooled everything down to where the
second half of that race was more like the traditional Atlanta that we saw.
But my car was so good leading, especially I could really control a bunch of lanes.
I could kind of pull the bottom if it needed help to kind of subdue the top.
I could, you know, kind of pull the top one I needed to, I could really just jump back
and forth.
And, you know, we would lose the lead sometimes when it's hard to hold the lead if you got
like two or three cars clear behind you because they just get big runs and you can't block
some of those moves.
But I was able to generate runs to get the lead back pretty quickly.
So that's a, that's a fun car to drive.
I called it a unicorn car because you don't get those.
You barely see those and it was fun to be able to drive that.
So 12 boys did a great job of bringing me an unbelievable seed.
You talk about that.
How mad would you have been if you weren't able to win with that car?
You know what I mean?
Like certain cars, like, you're like, wow, we were really that good.
And then you don't get it done for one reason or another.
How mad would you have been if you didn't win with that one?
Yeah, I mean, I would have definitely been disappointed, but sometimes that just happens.
You know, I mean, I've had, we've always seen it of a dominant car sometimes doesn't win
just the way things play out.
And especially in a place like Atlanta to where you don't know, like it's,
it's, it's a lot of help dependent.
I was fortunate the last restart to get a lot of help, you know, whether it was from
Bubba from C bell through three and four.
So I would, it would have been a bummer, but I would have understood like, you know,
sometimes it just goes that way.
But so we were fortunate that it did all work out to where we could finish it off.
Yeah, for sure.
You were on the throttle on the gas.
Mind you, speaking of on the gas, yet I, you know, in your old age, brother,
I thought that you were going to like really, you know, settle in.
And I've seen you all over the place.
You had your fast friend with WhatsApp.
You had the stuff with Amazon where you undercover.
And now you have on the gas.
And I guess you have a new episode with Ocho Sinko coming out.
Yeah, I've been fun here doing a lot of stuff, you know, from like you said,
the WhatsApp deal with George Russell.
That was fun to get to know him a little bit from NASCAR versus Navy that we did
out on the base, the undercover show that I was an old Englishman Amish,
which was a blast.
And then yeah, on the gas, this new show we have.
It was really, I had this idea like two years ago of I wanted to, you know,
have a show to where we can get the closest thing to race ready cars that we
can and put other athletes, celebrities,
musicians in the right seat and give them like an experience like they've
never had before and just give them a perspective of what motor sports is
all about, what we do.
So we had, we did it up at IMS at the Speedway and we had a car for the
big track.
And then we had a separate car for the road course set up because I wanted
them to give them two different experiences on all types of tracks that
we have.
And so that was a blast, man, just giving them an idea of what we do,
getting to learn about the person that I was giving a ride around.
We have a bunch of questions and stuff like that.
So we get to learn more about them.
And Chad Otosinko is our guest this week.
The episode drops tomorrow.
And he was fantastic, you know, having one of the best, in my mind,
one of the best wide receivers that the NFL have ever seen and a huge
personality.
You know, he's done so much stuff post-playing just to get his
perspective on, hey, how did, how does your body and your mentality feel
like after this compared to what you used to do?
You know, what is the differences?
What are the similarities?
And I'll give it to Chad, man.
He looked a little green in the gills for a little bit.
But he stuck it out, didn't throw the towel in.
He went through it and he was a funny guy.
So I'm happy he had a good time.
I'm happy people have really enjoyed watching the show and kind of hearing
different perspectives about the different guests that we've had on.
And hopefully that thing continues and we can continue to do bigger and
better things.
Yeah, man.
Hey, I love it.
I love seeing you doing the, doing the fun stuff.
It reminds me of back in the day when we just be hanging out around the pool
and just BS and man, it's good to see you back in Victory Lane.
I'm glad that the mustache has stayed intact.
Don't let that thing go anywhere.
I told Kevin the other day, like, hey, man, magic is in the stash.
So we can't get rid of it.
It's at least two tents.
It's at least two tents.
Yeah.
So I don't plan on it going anywhere.
Time soon.
Love it, man.
We'll give the family my love.
Tell Charlie I say hi and we'll see you back in Victory Lane.
Thanks, pal.
See you.
Thanks, buddy.
About this episode
Ryan Blaney talks through the Atlanta race that put him on top from the pole—winning both stages and controlling lanes as conditions changed. He explains how early drafting uncertainty, hot-and-then-rain-cooled weather, and restarts shaped the outcome, including getting “a lot of help” on the last restart. Between strategy talk, the show revisits a Harley-Davidson motorcycle prize awarded in Victory Lane, plus Blaney’s late-night, helmet-debated laps around the speedway.
Ryan Blaney joins Mamba Smith to discuss his win in Atlanta which featured a late night motorcycle joyride around EchoPark Speedway at 3am.
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