Latest / Mac & Bone Podcast / Mac & Bone Show - Adam Alexander Interview

Transcript

Mac & Bone Show - Adam Alexander Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: NASCAR back in Atlanta, Echo Park, if you will, And
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the man that will call that race for TNT is
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Adam Alexander. He joins us here on the Mack and
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Bone Show. Adam, thanks so much. As always, we appreciate
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: your time.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Man. Yeah, no, it's awesome to be on with you.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Good morning and looking forward to a big weekend.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Awesome we are too. Atlanta has become kind of a
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: circle race for a lot of us. And how entertaining
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: that race is. How high up the list does Atlanta
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: rank for you of the races on the schedule, And
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: what makes Atlanta right now such a great race.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: It's so unique and one of the things that I
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: love about NASCAR in general, and the tracks that really
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: mean a lot to me and the ones that I
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: look forward to going to are the ones that are
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the most unpredictable, and I would say that Atlanta checks
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: all the boxes in that regard. And ever since they
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: made the change and made it a drafting track in
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty to they repaved it, they reconfigured it. It's
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: now a part of that drafting group with Daytona and Talladega.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: But what makes it so special and unique is that
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: you just don't have the time for those drivers to
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: make decisions like you do it Daytona and Talladega. You
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: just have to get after it, make quick decisions, and
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: it puts a lot of pressure on them. And so
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: the entertainment value to have a drafting style track at
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: a mile and a half venue makes it very unique
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: and different. And you know it's starting to weather a
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: little bit, so handling is becoming an issue. And then
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: when you race there in this summer starts getting a
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: little bit slicker, and so the drivers face that form
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: of adversity as well. So this place is just awesome,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: and I think what we'll have Sunday night, it'll be
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: really special.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: One thing that surprised me on your broadcast the other day,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I had known it's been a while. I did not
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: realize that Kyle Warson has it won And what is
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: it since May of twenty twenty five? Is that accurate
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: that it's been that long as Kyle Larson wonty wow,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: forty three races? What's going wrong with him? And do
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: you think that, hey, eventually this dude's going to break
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: through here.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: There's no doubt he's going to break through. And I
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: would say you have to put an asterist on the
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: windless streak because in that same amount of time, he
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: collected the championship last fall last November at Phoenix, right,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: So it's like he hasn't won. But they did everything
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: they needed to do throughout the playoffs last year to
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: collect the championship, and I would say that when you
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: look at where they are in the points, what they've
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: been able to do throughout races, leading laps, collecting stage
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: points and all of that, they have put themselves in
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: a great position. Chevy went to a new body in
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six and no one really knew how the
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: manufacturer would react to that, and it's taken him some
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: time to get everything figured out. But Larson has been
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: the one that's carried the ball for the manufacturer and
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: so far for Hendrick Motorsports. And while they haven't won,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: they are still very much in the game when you
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: think about where you need to be positioned for the
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: reset once we get to September and he goes to
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: defend his title. So they have it one. They've been
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: top five and like five of the last seven races
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: they're in a good points position. It's a matter of
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: time but I still think they are an enormous threat
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: once we get to September to defend this championship.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Another guy who I've been surprised at really the lack
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: of success compared to usual here in twenty twenty six.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And I keep trying to bet on them at him
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: every week and it's not working out for me. And
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: that's Joey Lagano. What's gone on with his team here
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: this year? And how surprised are you that his struggles
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: have lasted as long as they have here end of
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the season.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: That's one that's been a real head scratcher. And when
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: you look at Team Penski, they have just had a
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: hard time. I would say Ford in general, but Team
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Tensky has been the one that's been the most shocking.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: It just their inaability organizationally to find speed. Ryan Blaney
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: has done a really good job of nickel and diming
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: it and finding his way to good finishes and scoring
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: stage points and keeping himself in the game. It's been
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: a bigger challenge for Austin Sindric and Joey Logano, And
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Joey Logano is the one that's always going to create
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: the headlines when the speed is not there because he's
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: won three championships and you just anticipate he's going to
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: be a part of the equation, but they've just had
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: a hard time getting their arms around it in twenty
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: twenty six.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Having said that, we've gone to a lot of race
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: tracks where if you don't have speed, you're compromised, and
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I would say that one of the things that Team
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Tensky has hung their hat on is being good in
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: the draft. Short track program is in a decent place.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: So when you look at these last seven races to
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: finish out the regular season, there's a lot of places
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: you feel like they can over comes some of the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: problems that they've had and start to get it going
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: in the right direction. They're going to have a hard
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: time winning a championship just because once we get to
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: the reset, they're not going to be in a good
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: spot to get there. But I do feel like they
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: can make their way into the chase based on the
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: tracks we have left and what he's done historically at
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: these venues.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: That's the voice of Adam Alexander. He is the voice
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: of NASCAR on Amazon and currently the TNT portion of
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: the schedule. Adam, how close do you think the Chevies
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: are to competing week in week out with the dominant
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: toyotas well.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: We started to see another step, I believe Sunday evening
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: at Chicago, you know we talked about Kyle Larson. William
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Byron wins both stages, leads over ninety laps. That was
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: as good a performance as he's had in twenty twenty six.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: You know, Alex Bowman spent time out of the race car,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: but you know he's kind of come backlast couple of weeks.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: He's top ten was good at Sonoma. They showed a
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: lot of speed over the weekend at Chicago. You have
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: to point certainly to Chase Elliott. You know, he's been
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the one that at some of these conventional race tracks
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: has been able to go out and win this year.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: You know, he did an outstanding job at Texas. They
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: had a great strategy at Martinsville. So Chase Elliott is
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: someone that has done a good job as well. And
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: you have to give a lot of credit to Spire.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: You know, Spire is an organization has really gone through
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: some growth. Daniel Suarez winning the Coke six hundred, Carson
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Joseovar one of the draft at Talladegg and the kids
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: always making headlines. So Chevy across the board has done
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: some good things. Shanevan Gisbergen on the road, and I
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: feel like we're starting to see them take some steps
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: as we head toward the chase to be in position
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: to make a splash.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Adam Martin. Martin had to tweet up recently about six
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: of the last seven races being sellouts. He pointed to
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: the point system being a reason why that's the case.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: How much are you putting into that that notion that, hey,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: this point system is putting people in the seats right now?
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: I would say that, you know, there's been a decent
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: amount of twenty twenty six where you sent some of
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: the momentum. That is there is a flashback to what
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: we've seen in years gone by, and I would say that,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: you know, the point system certainly is a contributing factor,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: but I just think that there's a whole lot going
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: on in this sport right now. Depth of competition, you know,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: the unknowns, we've had some new winners. All of that
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: to me points toward you know, we're starting to see
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: some things that that we hadn't seen in a while,
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: and the sixth sellouts in the last seven years is awesome,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: and you know that this point system will be interesting.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: And I've always been one of those that let's not judge,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: you know, good or bad. Let's not judge until we
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: get to the end of the line and we finished
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: this thing out, and the way it sets up right
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: now and what we've seen at the front for the
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: regular season championship between Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick has
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: been a lot of fun. I think once we get
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: to reset, it'll be very, very competitive once we begin
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: to chase at Darlington. But right now there's no denying
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: that it's been a good thing and the fans right
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: now are really embracing the sport.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Adam. I love the San Diego race, the backdrop, the
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: racing I thought was great. The ability to pass on
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: that course, I thought it was awesome. Any rumblings on
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: what could be next when NASCAR ventures out, We've seen Chicago,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: We've seen San Diego, Equornado, any other any other spots
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: here in the future we could look at for a
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: race like that.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I feel like right now the conversation in that regard
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: centers around will we go back and do San Diego again,
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: more so than what's next. I've not really heard, you know,
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: what's on the horizon. I know NASCAR would would like
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: to step outside the US, and there's been some conversation
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: about Montreal at some point coming on to the schedule
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: to last year we went to Mexico City, so we'll
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: see if something pans out in that regard. But the
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: San Diego event was one of the coolest things that
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: NASCAR has ever done. I was out there last sprint
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: when it was first being talked about. I was out
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: there last summer when they made the announcement, and I'm like,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: this has got a chance to be unbelievable, and having
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: been there and experienced it, it was even beyond the
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: expectations that I had. I would love to see that
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: happen again because I'm like you, I thought it was
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: going to be a venue thing. It turned out it
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: was not just an unbelievable venue and backdrop, but the
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: racing was awesome. So hopefully we'll get another crack at that.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Adam, thanks so much for joining us. We'll be watching
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: you Sunday night. The Quaker Steak four hundred Echo Park
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: down there, Hampton, Georgia, coverage on TNT. You're the best men.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Now, thank you so much for having you guys.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Have a great Thanks Adam