Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Matt Weaver's Atlanta Post Race | The Burnout

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Matt Weaver's Atlanta Post Race | The Burnout · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
What's up everyone, welcome to the second edition of the
0:03
Burnout week #2 for us here on the Kenny Walsh YouTube channel.
0:08
Super excited to talk with, with Matt this week.
0:10
This is, we are going to have plenty of topics to discuss.
0:14
So very, very excited. Really I, I want to just kind of
0:18
get a quick feel for, for Matt's feelings on the weekend, kind of
0:22
what he experienced there boots on the ground in Atlanta,
0:25
because there was plenty of on track action, plenty of
0:28
storylines, plenty of things to talk about, but just general
0:31
feeling what, what you felt like being in Atlanta this week.
0:35
I've I've got a confession. We're we're going to open the
0:37
show with a confession. And I don't, I don't know how to
0:42
articulate this in a way that doesn't make me sound like a
0:44
complete answer. I have no idea what happened in
0:49
this race. Like, like the the narratives,
0:52
the storylines, the, the flow in and out of the race.
0:55
I have no idea. And the reason why I want to
0:59
pull up my my box score really fast is that the the Media
1:05
Center is on the front stretch and infield care is on the
1:10
backstretch. It's one of the longer walks
1:13
that we have on the Tour. Darlington is probably the worst
1:18
in terms of like the number of steps.
1:20
Not that I care. I like the walk and I enjoy it.
1:23
And my my work out of choice is cycling.
1:28
And it's really hard to cycle when we have like an ice storm
1:32
in North Carolina followed by a snowstorm.
1:34
And winter is harsh. So I appreciate the steps, but
1:38
when it takes about 15 to 20 minutes and Darlington's 30 to
1:43
to to go there and back, you know, the cautions waved on
1:47
laps, you know, 83 and one O 4 and 126 and 161.
1:54
So that there was a there was a period in the middle stages of
1:58
this race where I would walk to Enfield.
2:01
Care to talk to Josh Berry? And I guess I was the the Riley
2:06
Herbs crash was the Riley herbs was the one with with Ricky
2:09
Stenhouse. And I just walked there and I'd
2:11
walk back and as soon as I would get back in another crash, walk
2:15
back to Enfield. Care get done with that walk
2:18
back to the Media Center, another crash.
2:21
And so I'm going to be super, super honest, like I don't know
2:25
who really dominated the race or what the, the mid race story is.
2:29
And I mean, I look at the box score and I, I see that, you
2:32
know, Bubba Wallace and then Tyler Reddick, they all LED big
2:36
chunks of laps. And so it's no surprise they
2:38
were in the mix at the end. But you're going to have to tell
2:41
me what the mid race stories were because I I ran a marathon
2:47
today going back and forth. OK, fair enough.
2:51
Yes, 2311 were the class of the field pretty much at at all
2:55
points to the race. I I think the Hendrick duo of
2:57
Larson and Byron would be their biggest challengers.
3:00
Seemed like the four, the four guys didn't quite have the the
3:03
typical dominating speed. They were still factors.
3:06
They were still up there, but 2311 did look a step above the
3:10
rest. And so, you know, even with the
3:12
missing right front Fender, you know, Reddick was able to get
3:14
done that just a ton of speed in the cars, But it was a very,
3:19
very good show. I mean, it really was, there was
3:21
a lot of passing. I think it was the most lead
3:23
changes ever. I I don't think that surprised
3:25
anyone, right? Ton of lead changes, ton of
3:27
action, ton of crashes, ton of storylines, which of course, you
3:31
know, you probably saw the, the back end of the crashes, you saw
3:33
the the guys in, you know, right outside the Medical Center.
3:36
But it was a really, really fun race and a lot of moving parts.
3:41
But I think that, you know, the biggest thing or the biggest
3:43
storyline coming out of this cup race besides Carson host bar,
3:47
which we'll get to in a second is is 2311.
3:51
I mean, they they've gone back-to-back here.
3:52
Michael Doran gets a he just can't lose at this point.
3:55
Tyler Reddick is swinging out on all cylinders, right.
3:58
He is, I think 40 some points up in the points already and and
4:03
points matter now. So a big opening 2 races for
4:07
them. And you know, really I I didn't
4:12
anticipate this to happen again for ready from the pole, right?
4:15
He got the pole because of the metric.
4:17
And I'll just kind of like, OK, whatever.
4:19
It won't be. You know, you expected to be a
4:21
Logano day. You expected to kind of be those
4:23
big names. But no, it was really Reddick
4:25
and Wallace moving the charge most of that day.
4:28
So definitely deserved. What do you make of 2311 going
4:31
back-to-back? Yeah, So like I'm exhausted by
4:36
Speedway pack style racing. But I I will say if if we have
4:42
to open the year with two of them, I appreciate that Atlanta
4:47
is its own really unique animal monster.
4:51
And out of all the versions of Speedway racing we have, Atlanta
4:56
is the the best. And, and I've said it for a
4:59
couple of years now, especially as the pavement started to age,
5:02
everything that I enjoyed about old Daytona and Talladega, we're
5:07
getting in Atlanta on a scale in the sense that I really do think
5:13
that it's no accident to win. And I think it is an accident
5:16
sometimes to win at Daytona and Talladega.
5:19
And it's just a matter of surviving the crashes.
5:21
And there is a degree of attrition that takes place in in
5:25
Atlanta. But I even think there's a, a
5:27
degree of, of skill that that goes into even picking and
5:32
choosing your spots at Atlanta to miss the crashes.
5:35
I, I really appreciate more and respect more what it takes to
5:40
run up front. And, you know, say what you will
5:42
about Carson and we can get into him in a minute, But I, I think
5:46
Carson's philosophy is right. And in Carson said it after the
5:50
race that, you know, especially when you don't have practice, he
5:54
learned in the truck race that this race rewards aggression and
5:59
it rewards confidence and the confidence in making moves.
6:05
And, you know, sometimes it works out.
6:07
It's controlled aggression. And we saw Larson make a move
6:10
that he regrets now that that that was a low percentage move.
6:14
And cars a couple of those too. And, you know, I don't I don't
6:19
know that Bubba made a mistake. Bubba just got caught in a bad
6:23
spot. But I do think and I I say I
6:28
frame it all this way because I do think there's something real
6:32
to be said about the arrow that the execution pit stops in the
6:37
drive by Tyler Raddick. I do not think this is an
6:41
accident that he's won two of these races in a row.
6:44
So credit to him and Billy and Nick Payne.
6:48
I mean your your spotter is so important and near the triangle.
6:52
We call them the triangle driver, crew chief, spotter.
6:55
That try angle is very good right now at at this style of
6:59
race. Yeah, absolutely.
7:00
And yeah, remember Tyler, Rick has went Talladega too.
7:03
So it, you know, this isn't exactly something that he can't
7:06
handle. He's very good at the drafting
7:08
style tracks. Real quick.
7:10
I just want to you know, we, we are still working out the kinks
7:12
on this. Sorry for you.
7:14
We try to put a set time to get going on this podcast.
7:16
So obviously some people are hopefully trickling in and and
7:20
watching slides live. If you want to drop a comment,
7:22
please do. We'll try to you know any any
7:24
questions that that kind of tie in with what we're thinking,
7:27
we'll we'll try to add into the show.
7:31
But yeah, I mean, it was really we already got one on Cletus so
7:34
we can talk about the guys reckon these what we're going to
7:36
compare him to Cletus. I I do think you know when I
7:38
look at Riley Herb's wreck, I'm like damn that wasn't very good.
7:42
So maybe there is some comparisons to be made but a lot
7:47
to talk about it. You know throughout the three
7:49
series and and a lot of things. But we got to start Carson
7:51
Osvar. He was the show this weekend,
7:53
whether we like it or not. Truck Race.
7:57
Who, who, who, who wouldn't like it?
7:59
Like if you're, if you're a NASCAR fan, like, do people
8:02
really not Like I'm, I'm, I'm in my own little insulated world.
8:06
People like to complain about everything, so they.
8:08
Do they do? I think it's amazing.
8:10
I do think that the move there at the end, that direct bell was
8:13
a bit ridiculous. I think that was probably the
8:16
one where it's like dude I know it's 2 to go but also you
8:19
probably could have just shoved them out and then pass them.
8:22
But I I said this, I said this when it happened in real time,
8:25
like we all have the benefit of slowing it down.
8:30
And you know, he gets a push from Ross there.
8:34
There is a tiny gap. I don't think it's quite a whole
8:36
car. He said it was a whole car.
8:38
I just I disagree with that. But he saw it for a second and
8:43
listen, whether whether you're a fan of his or not.
8:46
And I have the benefit that I have truly no allegiances,
8:50
right? Like I root for good stories and
8:52
I'm happy for people who are good to me winning and for the
8:56
most part, this entire cup garage are people.
8:59
That's been great to me. So I I have no allegiance this
9:02
year. And so when I when I strip the
9:05
emotion away and I just kind of go objectively, what are the
9:09
things that you want to see in a race?
9:10
You want to see someone that drives with reckless abandoned,
9:14
who does not care how you feel about it.
9:17
I'm not saying that it's ethically sound.
9:19
I'm not saying that there are not consequences for it, but if
9:23
we had a, I'm trying to think of who is like a super, you know,
9:27
clean, respectful driver, it might be Tyler.
9:29
And it's actually great that Tyler has one because Tyler is
9:32
not that reckless or out of control.
9:35
As much as I I like and I admire Tyler, I do not want a field of
9:38
36 Tyler attics. That would not be the most
9:42
captivating Cup Series product. I like that we have a Carson
9:45
hose bar that is a a mixer and a shaker.
9:48
And by the way, he's 4th in the standings.
9:50
That's awesome. So I I like that we have someone
9:53
who's willing to shake it up. It sucks for Bail.
9:56
You know the race that he ran, He ran a, he executed a great
9:59
race. I understand that if you're a 20
10:01
fan, this one's not going to sit well with you.
10:04
And you're you, you've got some love letters to send to Carson
10:07
Hosovar. But just as an objective race
10:09
fan, I like someone who goes and mixes it up.
10:12
Yeah, for sure. The crazy part is not the only
10:15
thing our, you know, host Far dead.
10:17
He there's a tweet out here from Ericy Step, so I'm just going to
10:20
give him the credit for this. But it's fantastic.
10:22
Flat tirewall Ronnie top five race the leaders to stay one lap
10:25
lap down window blows out, goes 2 lap down gets 2 free passes,
10:29
earns stage points and stage 2 after that spins Logano, which
10:32
the Logano spins getting very overlooked in this whole
10:34
equation hits, retires late, comes through and and then
10:38
causes all the late chaos as well.
10:39
So it's not just Bell, it's also going to be Logano.
10:42
It's also going to be all the other guys.
10:43
He didn't wreck, but it came very close to it.
10:46
Listen, he did the same thing in the truck race.
10:48
He is not holding back in. The same thing last year.
10:52
Since his entire career, right? This isn't, it feels though, I
10:56
and I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you get a
10:59
contract extension and you know you're safe and you know where
11:02
you're at and you're that type of personality, it's like, I got
11:05
it, I'm going. And that's kind of what he feels
11:07
fired up this year. It feels different even than
11:09
what we saw last year. So do you want to?
11:15
Yeah, I don't. There's nothing wrong with what
11:17
he's doing. But do you want to jump into
11:19
more Spire talk? Because there's obviously a
11:22
lawsuit. Going on so and and just.
11:24
For my sake I had put a note to talk about Spire and host far
11:28
anyways like if we needed a topic like if the week comes
11:30
morning I was like let's talk Spire.
11:32
But it has exploded now, and I know you love talking lawsuits
11:36
so. I actually do.
11:39
I, I, I'll tell you, I, I had the thought driving Daytona
11:47
because I, I drove to Daytona. I drove here too, actually.
11:50
So I've had a lot of windshield time these first 22 races of the
11:54
season. I thought it is as taxing as it
11:59
was. I enjoyed the process and the
12:02
procedure of, of waking up every day.
12:04
And then we have a website called Pacer.
12:06
It's, it's how you, you, you electronically view all the
12:09
legal documents for the past year and a half, that was my
12:14
life. Wake up every morning, first
12:16
thing I do is check pacer to see if there's any more documents
12:19
that were filed overnight. And every couple of hours go and
12:21
check PACER. And you, you do it for a year
12:24
and a half. And I'm not saying that it was
12:26
good for me or good for 2311 or for NASCAR, but just as a, I'm a
12:31
creature of habit. And so that's been stripped away
12:33
from me now ever since December, I'm no longer in the habit of
12:36
looking at PACER. We do have the Cal Bush Pacific
12:39
life lawsuit. So I do check that once,
12:42
probably once twice a week, but it's not the same.
12:46
Now every day I'm checking Pacer ever since earlier this week
12:49
because we we've got a doozy. And based on what Chris gay part
12:53
said, yes, we're talking gay part Spire.
12:56
I think we might have a couple of weeks or more of of looking
12:59
at Pacer every day because there's a lot of really
13:02
interesting subplots that I don't think people are talking
13:05
about yet. So let's let's dive into it.
13:08
Great. All right.
13:10
I am so curious at how this thing escalated to this point
13:14
because it seems like there was an independent third party that
13:18
came in and kind of dug into this whole situation and that it
13:22
kind of went away. And and I guess we should set
13:24
the stage. Gabe Hart left JGR late last
13:28
year, early this year, I don't know the exact time frame.
13:30
And it was kind of known that he was going to Spire because while
13:33
Spire is going full, you know, Death Star, Darth Vader on the
13:40
Cup series at this point, and they are gobbling up whoever
13:44
they can with a great mind. Yeah, I'm checking my phone real
13:49
quick because I actually, I got this pretty early and I needed a
13:54
second. I never reported it because I,
13:55
I, I'm probably too conservative.
13:59
You know, Jordan's very good at doing the breaking news game and
14:03
so is Adam Stern. And I, I want to be on that
14:06
level. And I don't know if I'm just too
14:08
concerned. I'm, I'm not the Carson host of
14:10
our of media members. I want, I want to have two or
14:13
three people tell me something. But I did find out about a part
14:16
November 21st and found out that it was not a yeah, it was not a
14:23
Toyota team. And that's when I kind of
14:26
started to piece together, OK, well, this is interesting.
14:28
And we found out later it was Spire.
14:30
And so I I've known for a while that this was happening, but I
14:33
had a lot of questions. Even in real time.
14:36
I'm like, OK, I I struggle to understand how Chris Gay part
14:42
after spending a decade as an engineer and a crew chief at the
14:45
highest level, who then becomes competition director and all the
14:50
the different spigots that open up when you're in that role, The
14:53
data and the information you're have and given the era we're in
14:57
now with this car to where everyone's got the same Lego
15:01
pieces and there's more carryover from one car to
15:06
another manufacturer than ever before.
15:10
How how gay part could just walk away forget for a second taking
15:14
pictures and having the Spire folder things we'll get into
15:19
just his brain. I don't understand how it would
15:22
even be allowed for his brain to be transferred over to Spire
15:26
Motorsports with all the intellectual know how.
15:30
He has he get out of that contract like how does he leave
15:33
that? Yes, that's question number one.
15:35
Don't forget, like Hendrick Motorsports forever had like 13
15:39
crew chiefs on retainer because Lance Mcgrew would be out of a
15:43
out of a crew chief job. But he's been a crew chief at
15:45
Hendrick and he knows all of Hendrick's secrets and so well.
15:49
We're going to stick him and make him vice president of
15:52
Office 3B. They they have, they have an R&D
15:56
team down there, right? And Keselowski ran a few races
15:58
for them during that period. And every year there'll be a new
16:01
crew chief. Tony Junior's kicked off
16:02
Junior's team, while he got an R&D team like there was.
16:06
Vice president of Office 3D. Yeah, Greg Ives is doing it now,
16:09
right? Like these guys do not leave and
16:12
a lot of it's because. The institution.
16:14
Was not a hours ago. You can't let go.
16:18
That was a different era. That was a different era because
16:20
obviously they're, they're doing, they, they were doing R&D
16:23
and there were, there were, there was institutional things
16:26
that they were doing from a, a car building standpoint.
16:29
But in this case, I actually the reason I think this, this case
16:33
is so intriguing. Let's just get into it like I, I
16:37
think that the the outcome of this case, regardless of who
16:41
sues who, if Spire is drugged in or if Spire countersues or JG
16:46
are also sues Spire, all these things that are on the table.
16:50
The thing that I think is the most interesting part of this
16:53
that no one's talking about is that if this is resolved in a
16:57
way, whether by the court or through settlement, that it's OK
17:01
for gay part to leave with no long term non compete clause
17:09
situation or or if it's even OK that he did some of the things
17:13
he's alleged to do. And I'll make sure I use that
17:15
word alleged because obviously JGR painted a very detailed,
17:20
thorough and kind of sassy the the lawyer who who wrote it.
17:23
She is a a word craft of the highest caliber.
17:28
I posted it on Motorsports so you can read the full lawsuit if
17:31
you want to. It's a very sassy complaint, but
17:37
if it's OK, let's just assume for a second, but all these
17:40
things that gay part did is somewhat true.
17:43
We, we, we want to read gay parts thing first.
17:46
But if it's true and he's allowed to do that, the
17:49
floodgates open because any team that has someone who has
17:53
institutional knowledge is fair game to be, you know, poached or
17:58
acquired in free agency. And given how closely tight our
18:05
our garages in terms of how close on the time sheets are, if
18:10
no secret is safe, this is the Wild West.
18:13
It's just to the highest bidder. Anyone who has knowledge can go
18:16
somewhere. Yeah.
18:18
And you know, even as recently with Stewart Haas, you know,
18:21
when they went under or they were closing shot, I don't want
18:24
to say going on there, they they kind of restructured and sold
18:27
some charters. They shot, you know, Ford shut
18:29
off the laptops and then basically took their information
18:32
away halfway through that year because the information is so
18:35
important to these teams, right? It's all set up knowledge at
18:38
this point. Like you're saying, it's they're
18:40
the same cars. It's.
18:41
Not the other thing, too, that a lot of people need to to
18:44
recognize about our current, the current structure of the Cup
18:49
series. It's more true now than ever
18:51
before, isn't that the hierarchy runs through the Big Three, and
18:56
not because they're they're just inherently the best.
19:00
They are, like Penske, Gibbs, Hendrick, are awesome because
19:03
they're they're awesome. But they're also awesome because
19:06
they are, they are synonymous with their respective
19:09
manufacturers, like all things Ford runs through Penske, all
19:13
things Toyota runs through Gibbs, all things Chevrolet runs
19:18
through Hendrick. And so it's, it's interesting to
19:22
me because no one has more money right now than Spire, you know,
19:26
Group 1001 and Dan Towers and they're the GM, they.
19:32
Are the Dodgers of NASCAR they're.
19:34
Yeah, I mean like literally because the same, same, same
19:37
owner, yeah. Like here.
19:39
I would have put that together when I was making an analogy,
19:41
but yeah, they are. Literally the Dodgers.
19:43
Yeah, they are literally the Dodgers.
19:45
And but what they don't have is the true tier one relationship
19:50
with Chevrolet. And so like there's even a part
19:53
of me that's wondering if being, and I shouldn't speculate
19:57
without reading gay parts rebuttal, which is going to come
20:00
within the next week or two. He had 19 days from being sued
20:05
to to respond in kind. So that could come any day
20:10
within the next week and a half. But I just want to paint a
20:12
hypothetical to where this is true.
20:16
You get sued, you end up having to pay $10 million in damages,
20:19
but now you have all of Joe Gibbs Racing set up information.
20:24
Jesus. If I'm if I'm Jeff Dickerson and
20:27
company, yeah, like Dan Towers wipes his ass with $10 million
20:32
if that's what gets them on the same knowledge base as the big
20:37
three. I guess that's just the price of
20:39
two women business. But again, I want to, I want to
20:43
again say allege we haven't read gay parts, but I I guess I'm
20:47
just there's a lot of layers to this.
20:49
There's a lot of reasons for why the consequences to this or the,
20:55
the, the, the end result of this, this lawsuit are so far
20:58
reaching because again, whatever the final resolution is, and I,
21:03
I can't believe I'm saying this again after two years of saying
21:05
this, this could change the structure of the sport as we
21:10
know it after two years of a lawsuit which changed the
21:13
structure of the sport as we knew it.
21:15
Yeah. And you know, for me, I've, I've
21:17
been, you know, I think we've all been watching Spyro the last
21:19
couple years that, you know, they brought in Rodney
21:21
Children's that didn't work out. And again, he had to stay quiet
21:25
and just go with the Chevy team kind of in the HMI, you know,
21:28
like he wasn't allowed to then just leave.
21:30
But they brought in Matt McCall. They seem to be bringing in as
21:33
many heads and minds that they can to get as much information.
21:36
This is just the biggest fish that they've landed.
21:40
But come on, was that folder really named Inspire?
21:43
Yeah, that's the other part too. So listen, I've, I've known,
21:47
I've known gay part for a while now.
21:49
We, we share a love of short track racing.
21:52
And yeah, I, I wanted to get into that.
21:54
This is exactly where I'm going, Chris.
21:57
Gay part used to be a champ. People don't realize this Gay
22:00
part used to be a champion driver, super late model star
22:05
like he he won all the the big races in the Midwest.
22:08
He was a driver crew chief. He was a brilliant racer who
22:11
could do could clearly work on his own stuff.
22:14
And he still continues to be involved in that space today.
22:18
The the port city race car phase two chassis that a lot of teams
22:24
use around the country. Gay parts fingerprints are all
22:28
over that chassis. He is still very instrumental in
22:31
that world. And through that and then
22:34
through the NASCAR stuff, I've, I've, I've, I've worked in that
22:38
space with him a lot in NASCAR and short track racing.
22:41
And I just always felt like, especially over the last five
22:45
years, seeing him and Denny grow together and then him becoming
22:48
competition director. I would tell anyone who listens
22:51
that Chris Gay parts like one of the three smartest people in
22:55
this sport. Any room he walks into, he's the
22:57
smartest guy in the room, which is why it left me so
23:01
flabbergasted that as per the allegations, this seems awfully
23:08
reckless for a guy that I know is so calculating and so
23:13
thorough. That part doesn't quite add up.
23:16
And I've got a lot of questions about that.
23:18
And I think we're about to get some of that answered in, in the
23:21
rebuttal. My first thought was, my first
23:24
thought was that was like an opposition research folder.
23:27
You know, like in politics you have what they call oppo all of
23:31
your different candidates. You have a folder is JGR just
23:34
being super selective about this one folder that was called Spire
23:38
and ignoring the fact that he also had folders that said
23:41
Hendrick and Penske and Trash house.
23:44
Like, I don't know I'm speculating, but that's that
23:46
makes a lot more sense. Yeah.
23:48
Because we, we learned in this last lawsuit that for, for both
23:52
sides, that when you want to tell a story, you're very
23:54
selective in the, the notes that you play.
23:58
And so I just think it's really important for everyone watching
24:02
and listening to recognize there's another shoe to drop
24:06
here before we really know a better idea of what this looks
24:10
like. So sure, I have questions too,
24:13
though clearly all. Right.
24:15
Let's move on from lawsuit talk. We're going to have plenty of
24:17
that going for it. Obviously, this is not going to
24:19
be a quick one and done conversation.
24:22
I have had this question saved in my brain for five days now.
24:27
Is Atlanta the best track on the NASCAR schedule?
24:29
I I before this week and I was thinking about the races that we
24:32
had last year and I was like, that was some amazing racing.
24:35
This could be the best track. And then we get the three races
24:37
we got this weekend and I cannot think of a single track that
24:41
puts on better races through all three series than Atlanta Motor
24:45
Speedway. What do you think?
24:48
It's super subjective and I guess it's it's what you want
24:52
out of your NASCAR, right? Like, I enjoy it for what it is.
24:58
I I think from a Cup series standpoint and really O'Reilly
25:01
too, 'cause they're good everywhere.
25:03
The intermediates are just tremendous racing.
25:06
And I can't believe I'm saying that 'cause we all lived through
25:08
the, you know, the 20 tens where we were so over intermediate
25:13
racing. But whether it's the, you know,
25:15
the current, you know, next Gen. Gen.
25:18
Gen. 7 that's so-called the next Gen. or the, the, the, the
25:23
O'Reilly car, I really love intermediate racing again.
25:27
And I love its purity. I love how straightforward it,
25:31
it comes down to execution, racecraft, pit stops.
25:36
And so when I watch racing at Daytona in Atlanta back-to-back,
25:42
it's just different than the things that I love most about my
25:46
NASCAR. But I recognize that if you love
25:49
action and you love side by side, door to door, beating and
25:54
banging, I think Atlanta and I, I made this joke a couple of
25:58
years ago. It is the, IT is the Bristol
26:03
Motor Speedway of Talladega's in the sense that it races like a
26:10
Bristol high speed, full throttle short track on a
26:14
superspeedway on an intermediate.
26:17
Yeah, I hope that makes sense. And so, yeah, so I it's just
26:22
what do you love about NASCAR, right?
26:24
Some people really love their Rd. courses.
26:26
Some people really love short tracks.
26:27
Some people love, I love Darlington and some people love
26:31
superspeedways. And I will say that this Atlanta
26:36
is very good. And I actually, I've been saving
26:39
something for you too, and then for the whole world.
26:41
I tweeted something like this, similar, but I want to say it on
26:44
video. Marcus Smith, I gave you so much
26:49
shit in 2021 when this came out, you had the entire garage.
26:55
I, I remember the, the, the weekend after it was announced,
26:58
we went to Atlanta. All the drivers were up in in
27:01
storm. This is in the middle of the
27:03
five. They were so pissed.
27:05
This is in the middle of the 550 package era too.
27:07
So our garage was already super frustrated by the state of the
27:12
racing product and that, oh, NASCAR just wants to make
27:15
everything like Daytona and Talladega.
27:17
And and it's funny because this Atlanta has has accomplished the
27:23
goals of the 550 package in a way that the 550 package never
27:27
did. But Marcus Smith, I gave you
27:29
hell. I was so mad.
27:31
Just like the garage and I was wrong.
27:34
I'm not I'm I'm man enough to admit it.
27:37
I think this product has been thrilling.
27:39
I thought you were so stupid, Marcus.
27:41
I really did because you put out in your press release.
27:44
I'm being really raw here. I thought you were stupid
27:47
because in your press release you said we specifically paved
27:51
Atlanta with a, an aggregate that's going to go away really,
27:55
really fast. And I'm like, this makes no
27:58
sense. So you've built a diet
28:00
superspeedway with high grip and high speed and obviously when
28:05
you have high grip and high speed you have pack racing.
28:08
Why would you put a pavement down that ages super fast?
28:11
It defeats the purpose of raising the banking and wanting
28:14
to pack up the cars together. You want to keep gripping the
28:17
track as soon as possible. This place is getting better and
28:20
better as it loses more grip. Everything that Marcus and, and
28:24
his team, Steve Swift set out to do, they accomplished it.
28:29
So I salute you. I'm the dumb son bitch.
28:32
And you know what? We'll move on from Bristol.
28:35
And that was your dad's decision.
28:37
That's not that's not on you. I'll, I'll let that one go.
28:40
And SMI brought back Wilkesboro. Marcus is hitting banger after
28:45
banger right now. So, Sir, I salute you.
28:48
Yeah, I, I, I completely agree. I was in the same boat.
28:50
I was like, why would you ruin Atlanta?
28:52
Yeah, I think we all were. It.
28:53
It was one of those things. That do it to Texas.
28:55
Texas is awful. Yeah.
28:57
I, I want. OK, So I was going to get there
29:00
eventually. Would you be OK replicating this
29:02
with Texas and having more? No.
29:04
Because I don't want more. Well, one concession if we think
29:08
that Texas truly is so far gone, I would still say no.
29:13
But if, if the if the solution is OK, well, one race at Texas,
29:16
one race at Atlanta and we take the second date to Atlanta at
29:19
Atlanta and do something else cool with it.
29:22
So we have the same number of All Star race, intermediate
29:26
superspeedway style races. That's fine.
29:28
I just don't want to add the one extra drafting track race.
29:33
I don't think we need more of that.
29:35
I just still maintain that if we we just need to put Texas back
29:40
the way it was because we got so mad at Texas and this car
29:43
Kentucky, Kentucky sitting there.
29:46
The next Gen. would be great at Kentucky.
29:48
I hated Kentucky, but again, everything that was awful a
29:51
decade ago is probably good now. We've we've seen that we'll know
29:55
it for sure when we go back to Joliet.
29:57
Joliet was getting awesome at the end.
29:59
Even some of those 550 package races were actually really good
30:03
by 550 package standards because the pavement was so old.
30:07
If the next Gen. is a banger at Chicagoland, and I think it will
30:12
be too, then let's just put Texas back the way it was.
30:15
If we can go back to the old configuration, I don't think we
30:18
need to to stupify Fort Worth and turn it into another
30:23
Atlanta. And and I don't think Texas has
30:25
been like awful the last couple years.
30:28
It it's really amazing. Big challenge for the teams,
30:30
right. You see a lot of single car
30:32
spins and a lot of cautions there now, which probably helps
30:35
spice up the races. Every time you go there, you get
30:37
12 cautions and someone's in the wall or something.
30:39
It makes a little bit more entertaining.
30:41
But yeah, I think that pretty much handles that.
30:44
I agree. With you, here's the thing, I
30:47
wonder if if you look at that Xfinity race, to me that is like
30:50
the perfect version of that track.
30:53
And it's because they use that hybrid intermediate body style
30:57
arrow with the superspeedway engine package.
31:01
And you know, Robert Brandt, who is a Toyota engine tuner
31:07
specialist, he used to be the long time engine tuner on the,
31:11
the four car at SHR. He put out a tweet that I, I
31:14
shared this morning. I just want to read it to you.
31:18
Robert Brand is super, super smart and I, I take stock in
31:22
what Brandt says and he's a fellow Alabamian.
31:25
And so obviously, you know, Roll Tide or worry go whatever floats
31:29
your boat. I'm a South Alabama good guy,
31:31
Robert Brandt tweeted. OK, NASCAR, it's time to do a
31:34
670 test at Atlanta. It is put on some good races,
31:38
but it's getting somewhere and it's really too small to
31:41
Speedway race. That's Robert Brand has been
31:45
working on engines and and and Cup cars for much longer than
31:49
I've been around. And so to me, I just wonder, you
31:54
know, the Xfinity car is is getting closer and close
31:57
Xfinity, the O'Reilly car is getting closer and closer to
32:01
going back to a true intermediate package in Atlanta.
32:04
And that racing was so darn good.
32:06
And I just wonder what would happen if you ran an
32:10
intermediate body style or the 670, you know, spacer.
32:16
I would love the data point. I don't think NASCAR wants to do
32:18
it. I don't think they're going to
32:19
do it. I think again, and Marcus is
32:22
been proven correct. I don't think Marcus wants to do
32:24
it, but I do think it's worth the conversation that as this
32:28
track loses more and more grip, NASCAR is eventually I think
32:33
going to have to respond to it in some way with the Cup car
32:37
because I don't think it's sustainable.
32:39
But we'll see. And they've mentioned that.
32:41
I think they've said after, you know, a handful of years, they
32:44
know the tracks going to wear out to a point where they're
32:46
going to have to probably look into doing something.
32:48
Right now, I don't know how you can change it until you probably
32:51
get that first bad race or, or it's just so obvious that that
32:54
there's enough tire wear. I did want to ask one thing
32:57
because you know, you in these conversations, we've kind of
33:00
lumped Daytona and Atlanta in together.
33:02
But I don't remember over the last 2-3 years hearing drivers
33:06
get out of the car frustrated with the racing or say, oh,
33:10
that's just Daytona for you. It seems almost like we get a
33:14
different feel and the drivers feel differently about this
33:17
track. Do you get that same sense, you
33:20
know, when you're interviewing or talking to them?
33:21
Yeah, yeah, for sure. More happy with this in Daytona
33:24
style racing. They feel like, and I, I said
33:27
this earlier in the show that they have a degree of autonomy
33:32
over the results because it is such a handling track and the,
33:37
the tighter confines that they do lift like this is not full
33:43
throttle all the way around. And so you have to burp the
33:46
throttle and you have to, it's not just point and click style
33:50
style racing and at the end of a run.
33:53
And we we saw tires matter. I mean that doesn't happen
33:57
really at Daytona and Talladega. So tires really do matter.
34:01
And I just think that they feel like they have a little bit more
34:08
more say so over the results of the racing product than they do
34:12
right now. They tell them to tell it.
34:13
And by the way, you know, you know, a phrase we didn't hear
34:16
all, all weekend fuel save they went out there and they were,
34:21
you know, jet fighter combatants.
34:23
That's really what it was. It's like that old Dick Trickle
34:26
quote, you know, jet, jet fighters in a gymnasium.
34:28
That's been attributed to like 5 different racers over the years.
34:32
But that was, that's really true.
34:34
It's more true it knew Atlanta than it was even at Bristol or
34:38
Winchester or or Salem. Yeah, fair enough.
34:42
OK. In in obviously the the racing,
34:45
the fuel taking point's a huge point of this probably right
34:47
now, but the racing's different. It feels different.
34:49
And it, you know, I made this comment to you maybe on a
34:53
different show at some point where I was like, man, if we can
34:56
make Daytona and Talladega a mile and a half, that'd be
34:58
pretty awesome. So it'll never happen, but
35:02
still, it's like, man, Atlanta is doing such a good job.
35:05
So let's wrap this up. Let's get to the the O'Reilly
35:08
series. I'm going to drop the wrong
35:10
word. The O'Reilly series.
35:11
First off, Sheldon Creek gets the the first one in the career
35:14
that was. Real quick, so it's one of the
35:15
comments, you know, a couple drivers use fuel miles to gain
35:18
spots on pit Rd. but it wasn't talked about constantly because
35:21
it wasn't to the same extent. Like I want everyone to
35:24
understand fuel saving is just fundamentally part of racing.
35:29
Like people are like. They're always doing it.
35:32
Yeah, they're always doing it anywhere.
35:34
And I had one person tweeted me after Daytona was like, because
35:40
I'm, I'm, I'm a big advocate that our problem is not fuel
35:44
saving. Our big problem at Daytona is
35:46
the drag in the car as we talked about it last week, right?
35:49
The the struggles and passing someone, someone said back to me
35:53
that you know, well, since you're a big advocate of fuel
35:55
saving, they're just going to treat every race under your
35:58
your, your, your preferred model like a road course.
36:02
I'm like, brother, I'm here to tell you they already treat
36:05
every race like a road course because there are 36 to 40 teams
36:11
that we'll say 36 for the sake of this argument, that when they
36:15
drop the rag, their sole priority is the end of the race.
36:20
And every single war room and every single crew chief and
36:23
every single wheel driver is running that race backwards.
36:26
This is not just a road course thing.
36:28
This is not just a superspeedway thing.
36:29
This is a in Motorsports, when you drop the green, they're
36:34
already thinking about the quickest, most efficient way to
36:37
get to that checkered flag. And so, yes, of course, teams
36:41
fuel save to get track position and to try to save time on pit
36:46
Rd. They do that everywhere.
36:48
They're doing it next week at Circle of the Americas, are
36:52
going to do it in Phoenix, are going to do it in Las Vegas,
36:54
anywhere to where you have to spend time on pit Rd.
36:56
If you think there's an advantage to be had, you will
36:59
save fuel. That is just Motorsports.
37:02
Yeah, I mean, we've seen that forever.
37:05
There's tons of examples of drivers saving fuel.
37:09
And you know, what was it Brad at Kansas really was highlighted
37:13
fuel saving 15 years ago? Where he was so good at that, by
37:16
the way. Oh God, he was the best.
37:18
Yeah, Logano in Nashville went super, super long a year or two
37:22
ago, right. So it like it happens
37:24
everywhere. We will have a lot of it
37:26
probably next week at at Coda, right, Rd. course racing.
37:28
But yeah, fuel, fuel saving is going to happen.
37:30
And and like you mentioned with the teams and the the structure
37:34
that they have, they have compounds now where they have a
37:37
bunch of engineers calculating this in real time all the time
37:41
and it'll never go away. So let's move on.
37:44
I want to talk about shoveling Creed.
37:45
All right, that that's where I wanted to go really this whole
37:48
time. I'm a big shoveling Creed fan.
37:50
I think when you see someone finished second that many times
37:53
and you know they're good, you know they're capable of winning
37:56
and it just doesn't happen, you feel for them and then the see
37:59
that win happen. And you know, he was really good
38:02
all day. He ran top five all day.
38:04
Yes, he got a little help with Austin Hill and Chastain
38:06
contact, but Creed finally breaks that barrier and gets
38:09
that first win, which could open the floodgates potentially,
38:12
which I hope it does. What are your thoughts on Creed
38:14
getting his first win but then also the Xfinity race as a
38:17
whole? Yeah, you know, none of this
38:20
makes logical sense, but I've been in racing my whole life and
38:26
I think everyone watching us talk and listen to us talk,
38:29
they've watched or experienced racing their whole lives too.
38:33
And there's something very tangible and real about once you
38:38
breakthrough, it just does something.
38:41
I don't know if it just takes some of the edge off you get out
38:43
of your own head. I've had race car drivers my
38:47
whole life tell me that, you know, to learn how to win, you
38:52
first have to run top five and to run top five if to learn to
38:56
run top ten. And how I I didn't really
39:00
understand how that works if you're either faster or not.
39:03
And with with Sheldon Creed, it's even weirder because it's
39:05
like, it's not like he was never a good driver.
39:09
He was a consistent winner in ARCA.
39:12
He was a winner and a champion in the Truck Series.
39:15
And it's not like he sucked. He's he's never sucked.
39:18
He was perpetual a threat to make the final four and to be in
39:23
the mix at RCR and JGR and now Haas factory team.
39:28
And obviously it's well documented the the 15 second
39:32
place finishes, but it's just been so weird and circumstantial
39:37
the reasons this played out this way.
39:40
And I, I just, I don't know if he's going to change the way
39:46
that he races. It'll take some of the pressure
39:48
off. He admitted it.
39:49
He admitted it after winning at Tustin the Media Center.
39:52
He he said there were times where he thought I was going to
39:55
have to go work construction or an office.
39:59
And he's like, I had to tell myself or I told myself, man, I
40:04
suck. Like he said that it's a quote,
40:06
like, man, I suck. I'm awful at this.
40:09
And he's like, well, then I have a good run, another second place
40:12
run. It's like, no, no, I'm just, I'm
40:13
close and. Super unfortunate and so I'm
40:16
just happy for him that he has a human being as an empathetic
40:20
human being, I know what it's like to look in the mirror
40:24
sometimes and go, God, you screwed up that suck.
40:27
That story was bad. You didn't get all the facts or
40:30
you put someone in a bad spot unfairly and you didn't realize
40:34
it till later. I look in the mirror every day
40:36
too. I'm sure we all do.
40:37
No matter what we do in life, our personal relationships, our
40:41
professional relationships. We've all had days where we've
40:43
gone home, looked in the mirror and was like, you suck.
40:47
I'm going to get off the show and probably do it.
40:49
Me too, Me too. And so to see someone who I know
40:54
has gone home some days and looked in the mirror and says,
40:56
man, Sheldon, you suck. To be able to go home last night
41:01
and be like, Sheldon, you're a winner.
41:02
And know what? I'm going to go Cup racing now
41:05
because he said he's like, you know what, I still want to run
41:06
on Sundays. I still believe I can run on
41:09
Sundays. And six months ago, he was not
41:12
telling himself he was still a Sunday driver.
41:14
Now he is. And that's awesome as a human
41:16
being to see someone get their confidence back.
41:19
Yeah, for sure. And you can look at Tyler
41:21
Reddick today. I mean literally Wednesday time
41:23
500 and he goes right back-to-back and just he didn't
41:26
win it all last year. And you saw at the end of the
41:28
year, Reddick just wasn't his same, his same self anywhere.
41:32
And then he wins one and also back-to-back.
41:34
And it's just like he's the king of the world, right?
41:36
So wins are big. I'm super happy for Sheldon.
41:38
I think that's awesome. It spices up the series as well.
41:41
Like we need these guys to be competitive and not just be
41:44
Algar. And you know, obviously Zillich
41:46
is not full time this year, but it was Algar and Zillich last
41:49
year just kind of kicking the field's ass and then whichever
41:51
cup guy would come down or whatever.
41:53
So getting more blood, more drivers going out there and
41:55
winning. I think Mayor won once, right?
41:57
Let's get these guys winning two 3-4 times and having a real
42:01
battle where we can kind of follow 456 guys fighting for
42:05
that championship and everything.
42:06
So I'm really happy for create. I think it's great for the
42:08
series. I I thought the racing was
42:11
fantastic. Like you mentioned, let's get
42:13
the hill in Chastain because I think that's the other main main
42:16
topic. I thought both the moves were
42:19
kind of good. Like I I thought that was just
42:21
racing and situational, but what do you think?
42:24
No, same thing. I mean, obviously when I go to
42:28
talk to both of them in the interviews are on my my social
42:31
media channels, they both get a lot of attention and it's it's
42:34
Austin Hill and people feel very strongly about Austin and some
42:39
people feel very strongly about Ross too, right.
42:42
I think I think both of these things are true in the sense
42:46
that and by the way, Austin admitted this, that you can only
42:50
make that move so many times and eventually you're going to pay
42:55
for it. That was a very audacious block
43:00
and he he paid for it. I can understand why he feels
43:04
frustrated by it, but also like, you can't expect Ross to live
43:09
there either. Like, and by the way, Ross has a
43:12
very long documented history that you throw a bad block on
43:16
him, he's not going to take care of you and no.
43:20
And then and so you have to know who you're raising.
43:22
So I think both of those things can be true, but Austin Hill is
43:26
also won a lot of races that way because he just expects people
43:31
to lift and they do inexplicably.
43:33
So why wouldn't he, you know, make that move?
43:37
Ross actually took care of of Austin a lap or two before
43:41
because he, Austin had the run and he didn't block it.
43:44
And Ross was like, in hindsight, I should have just blocked that
43:47
run and we wouldn't have even been in that spot more than
43:51
likely. I love the back and forth
43:55
analytical parts of that. Like it's really easy to get
43:58
sucked into the emotional, you know, Austin saying, you know, I
44:02
expect Ross to send me firewall deep and Ross saying, you know,
44:06
I should have blocked him a lap before.
44:09
But at its core, that was very high level, intense stock car
44:15
chess. And I loved everything about it.
44:17
And I hate, I hate. What I hate is that neither of
44:20
them were rewarded for how hard they race.
44:24
As much as I enjoy that Sheldon finally won, I can feel all
44:28
those things simultaneously. Rightly.
44:30
I want Austin to be rewarded for his dominance and for how he
44:33
came back through the field on tires and overcoming some early
44:37
adversity. I want Ross, who I love the way
44:39
that Ross drives, to be rewarded for making the bold move.
44:43
I want Sheldon to not finish second for a 39th time.
44:48
And what I, what I learned in saying all of that is that there
44:52
are a lot of really good stories in that moment, and you can only
44:55
get one of them. And just as a race fan, that was
44:59
compelling television, that was compelling in person racing,
45:03
that was really compelling post race storytelling.
45:06
Yeah, and we talked about it last week where it felt like
45:08
nobody had the brains to challenge Hill, right?
45:11
No one had the understanding of how to make the draft and runs
45:14
work. Ross Chastain is that guy.
45:16
And I feel like this kind of a consequence of Austin Hill
45:19
having someone to go to battle with more than anything.
45:22
It's like. Austin Hill ran into Austin Hill
45:24
is what happened. He ran into his own archaeotype.
45:28
They are very much the same guy in a lot of ways.
45:31
And, and so I think what happened, what happened is, is
45:33
that Austin Hill learned what it's like to race Austin.
45:37
Hill, do you have an issue with what is perceived as Austin Hill
45:42
complaining about everything though?
45:43
Like it seems like if it doesn't go his way, you know he'll right
45:47
rear hook Eric Amarola. But if it doesn't go his way, he
45:51
will just blame and throw fit. And it's just like, dude, that
45:54
was good race. And I know it didn't go your
45:55
way, but you can't be mad every time it doesn't go your way.
45:58
And the block was your fault, by the way.
46:00
Yeah, it's funny because like, if you go back and watch my my
46:03
video with Austin, Austin's like wrestling himself.
46:06
He like, man, I'm really frustrated that I spun.
46:09
But did you see that save? That was awesome racecraft.
46:12
That's what he said. And he's like, I, I expect Ross
46:16
Chastain to send me firewall deep and he's like, but I would
46:20
do that too. He goes like up and down, up and
46:23
down. He's like, I can't believe this
46:24
happened. I'm mad about it.
46:26
Wait a second. I do that.
46:28
Oh, I'm so mad. I would have done that too.
46:30
And so you see his like intellectual honesty meter
46:35
fluctuate up and down. Listen, race car drivers are
46:40
super selfish. And in the moment we get them
46:42
out of the car, they're not going to be into like
46:45
intellectually reasonable. They're they're they're fighting
46:48
themselves to be reasonable and to be emotional.
46:52
And so it's fair to criticize Austin's intellectual
46:57
consistency there because he said it.
46:58
He says he's talking out of both sides of his ass, and that's
47:01
just the reality. But I will tell you that I love
47:05
the O'Reilly Auto Parts series for a lot of reasons.
47:08
But Austin Hill is probably my favorite thing about that series
47:12
because he is so unapologetically himself.
47:15
He does not give two shits what you, me, or anyone has to say
47:20
about him. He's going to race the way that
47:22
he wants to race. And we for the same reasons that
47:25
I said we need a Carson host of our, we need a Austin Hill.
47:29
I wish we had an Austin Hill in the Cup Series who who was in
47:32
that position to be able to to be that competitive and that
47:35
competent and to ruffle people's feathers.
47:39
We need people that when they get out of the car, the fans Boo
47:45
them. That was one of the coolest
47:46
things about the race on Saturday.
47:47
It was like that that fan base that stuck around on Saturday,
47:52
they they did not leave early because they wanted to serenade
47:56
Sheldon. They knew what that moment meant
47:58
to Sheldon. And that was one of the loudest
48:01
reactions I had heard from a from a crowd on a Saturday race.
48:05
It sounded like a Sunday reaction because they stayed and
48:09
wanted to celebrate Sheldon. But at the same time, the big
48:13
screen above us, the video showed Austin in the cheers when
48:17
immediately to booze. And I love when NASCAR or any
48:22
sport watching Olympic hockey this morning can make you feel
48:26
extreme passion, extreme negativity.
48:30
It goes back to that thing that Dale Senior used to say, as long
48:33
as they're making noise. And we just need personalities
48:36
and characters that make our fan base make some kind of noise.
48:40
Yeah, that's why you go to court with one of your teams, right?
48:43
You just. Make the There's a lot of noise
48:46
being made in courtrooms these days.
48:49
I think it's a really good question 253 why is Austin Hill
48:54
not a cup? I believe the answer is, and
48:58
correct me if I'm wrong, but a couple years ago he did have a
49:00
cup ride lined up. But it was like, I can make the
49:02
same money in the Xfinity series and kick ass so I can go around
49:07
25th in the cup series and make the same.
49:10
Like there's no actual game for him to be in the Cup series
49:12
other than the I'm a Cup driver, So what what, what do you think?
49:16
Obviously you're going to have a lot more knowledge, but why is
49:18
Austin Hill not a Cup? No, I, I think that everything
49:21
is a, is a calculation of is a, is a risk reward calculation
49:30
with what your priorities are in that I could be at this level
49:35
and when, or I could be at this level and not be super
49:39
successful. I could be at this level and
49:41
have Sundays with my family and my kids and that's cool.
49:45
Or I could be at this level and not, I could be at this level
49:50
with my funding and partners and make a really, really good
49:54
living. Or I could be at this level and
49:57
spend more to make less and to be less prominent and and less
50:03
of a talking point. All that stuff goes into a
50:05
blender and Austin talked about it on Friday.
50:08
Austin's like, I want to be a Sunday racer.
50:10
It's just going to be the right situation, the right
50:13
partnerships, the right support, all that stuff.
50:15
And right now, I think he recognizes he's in a really good
50:18
spot. They championship guy at RSCR
50:21
and people talk about him and I think that he gets more support
50:25
and more attention being this guy on Saturday than he would
50:30
being and also ran on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely.
50:33
And we've heard, you know, Al Geyer talk about this when he
50:35
came back down, he's like, my timing Cup was brutal.
50:37
I hated it. I didn't like racing because
50:39
you're running 30th. It's just not what you get into
50:42
racing to do. I had an experience when I was
50:44
like 12 or something, I went to Ron Hornaday's house and he
50:48
showed us this trophy room. He's like all the stuff and he's
50:50
running Cup running 30th every week.
50:52
And he's like, I didn't get in the racing to run 30th.
50:54
I could make a bunch of money maybe, but I want to win races.
50:57
And that's kind of what propelled him back to the Truck
50:59
Series. And I think most drivers,
51:01
especially someone like Austin Hill, Austin Hill running 30th
51:03
every week is not going to cut. He wants to be there fighting
51:06
for wins. And so I think situationally it
51:09
makes a lot of sense. You can't be Austin Hill running
51:12
30th. No does.
51:13
Not work out, but yeah. So I I do think there's a chance
51:18
that he gets there. How old is he?
51:19
Is he in his he's in his 30s by now.
51:21
So what is he? Low 30s.
51:23
I mean he's in his early to mid early 30s.
51:27
We don't see a lot, and maybe that's part of it, too.
51:29
We don't see a lot of prospects. You know, once they get past 25,
51:33
it's like they don't get a shot anymore.
51:34
He turns 32 in April. OK, so he's getting to the age
51:39
where it's like, man, if he's going to go Cup racing, this is
51:42
kind of the point. Obviously Kyle Busch is in the
51:44
contract here. He's probably on the way out.
51:47
So there is a good chance to ride opens.
51:50
Yeah, the problem is he's been a very heralded team teammate.
51:53
Too. Like, yeah.
51:56
Who has CUP funding? Yeah, I mean it.
51:58
So there's a lot, a lot of areas.
52:00
I would love Austin Hill to be in the in the O'Reilly series
52:03
for the next decade plus and just win 100 races or whatever,
52:07
you know, and and really lead the charge because I think he's
52:10
a huge he can be the staple of the series.
52:13
He can be. When I grew up, it was Jason
52:14
Keller or, you know, like just all these drivers that you were
52:17
like, man, I love these guys. They're they're part of my
52:20
childhood. And when you grow up, that's who
52:22
you think about, right? It's the series regulars in in
52:24
the Bush series back then. And so Randy?
52:26
Lejoy is a bigger deal for being a Bush series champion and he
52:30
would have been for being a cup mid pack back marker.
52:33
Absolutely. Yeah, that's the best example.
52:35
I mean, that's that's the perfect example.
52:37
SO1 quick thing I want to talk about is The CW booth, namely
52:44
Adam Alexander, but. All of them.
52:47
The call, the finish of that race was unbelievable.
52:51
We are seldomly happy with the way broadcast teams cover NASCAR
52:56
right now. It just feels like it's The
52:58
quality is very poor, if we're being honest, and this weekend
53:02
was no exception. But The CW booth of Adam
53:05
Alexander, Parker Kligerman and Jay McMurray is unbelievable.
53:08
They the chemistry's there, they're the ability to deliver
53:12
what is happening in real time quickly and efficiently is
53:15
fantastic. They blend in and out of each
53:17
other. And you felt the excitement,
53:20
which is all you like you, you feel your tension rising with
53:24
the racing. And I thought it was fantastic.
53:26
So I just wanted to, you know, get that out there because we
53:28
all we do is complain about the Truck Series broadcast and even
53:31
the Cup series broadcast. But that was that was epic.
53:34
I'm smirking because I'm old enough.
53:35
I've always been a Adam Alexander guy, but I'm old
53:38
enough now to remember like his old TNT days and some of his his
53:43
Truck Series stuff he did even 10 years ago.
53:46
And I've always really appreciated Adam.
53:49
But people used to say I don't like Adam.
53:51
He shouts all the time. Why?
53:53
Why is Adam Alexander yelling on my TV?
53:56
And I'm just like, he's passionate, like he's excited
53:58
about this thing authentically the way that I do.
54:01
And that's why I've always loved that I know Adam enough to know
54:04
that he loves racing and I always felt like he was a
54:08
professional, but also he just really, really loves calling
54:11
good racing. And so I've never been upset by
54:16
Adam Alexander yelling at me on TV.
54:19
And it's so funny to me. And this one I was smirking
54:21
because like the the most, the consensus this weekend was is I
54:27
love how excited Adam Alexander gets.
54:29
He's like me. He's a fan.
54:31
I'm just like, why how the the turns table, as they say,
54:36
because people used to get mad at Adam for shouting at them on
54:39
TV all the time. Now we want them to.
54:42
Yeah, I. Think up races very soon, like
54:44
the full schedule. Yeah, that's also part of, you
54:47
know, getting comfortable with that.
54:49
He's got so much experience now. He's probably figured out when
54:51
to dial back a little bit. I feel like he's, he's very,
54:54
very good. I, I, I that, that call was
54:57
just, that's everything I want. I I thought was hilarious.
54:59
You can hear like he was at the end of his breath though.
55:02
With the huge he was cast he was.
55:06
Fantastic. But that was a great call.
55:08
That was a great moment. Real quick, Parker Retzlaw ran
55:12
great. I don't know how much the Viking
55:14
Motorsports affiliation with RCR is a part of that team running
55:18
so good, but he was fantastic in that race.
55:20
Sam Mayer in the grass at the end was was quite the moment at.
55:24
Did you catch that? Yeah, I did and I I did.
55:27
And actually messages crew chief to Jason's and Cherry.
55:31
I'm like, I hope the drivers not in trouble for that one because
55:35
obviously we were all very emotional.
55:37
That's very unfortunate, Very, very unfortunate.
55:39
But good argument for putting the what what the infield
55:43
grasses at Charlotte, the the turf down in in all honestly,
55:47
all those tracks that have turf. I I firmly believe that.
55:50
I'm, I'm a little weary because it it could speed up cars too
55:55
and I don't, I don't, I don't want cars sliding through turf
55:59
headed towards Rd. I don't, I would need a safety
56:02
study. I don't, I don't know, maybe I'm
56:05
talking out of my ass, but I I would love to know what the
56:07
safety study says on that first. Sure.
56:10
All right now the Truck Series action, the the biggest
56:13
storyline is not Kyle Busch winning three in a row at at
56:16
Atlanta Truck Series. The biggest storyline is the
56:20
shortened event that the clock being put up on the screen and
56:24
us losing about 10 laps of the like.
56:26
Corey didn't wasn't aware that was happening.
56:28
Corey. Corey Heim.
56:30
Was he not? You're joking, right?
56:32
Yeah, he was so upset because he said that no one told him until
56:35
like, it's like, oh, by the way, the race is about to end.
56:37
And yeah, if you go back and watch my my video with him on on
56:41
Saturday, he had no idea. And that's why I kind of buried
56:44
it on on TVI think he told TV he hated it too but no one told him
56:49
like before the race that 420 is a cut off.
56:52
Yeah. So I am very happy that race
56:56
took place. I I think putting after the
56:58
expanded race would have been less eyeballs on the product.
57:01
It wouldn't have been, you know, a show that people saw moving
57:04
into early Sunday or whatever. I think getting it in the
57:07
window, the TV window they had there was the best call.
57:11
We lost 8 or 9 laps, you know, from a fan perspective.
57:14
And we added intensity. What's that?
57:17
We added intensity. Yeah, I I mean the race product
57:21
was good from start to finish. It was a fantastic event.
57:25
Do you have any problem? And and this was something that
57:27
was implemented after the Chicago race, right?
57:30
Where they kind of like crap. What do we do in this situation?
57:33
So they, yeah, they made a rule where this is now something they
57:38
can do whenever they feel like they need to do.
57:41
And I feel like this was the best execution of it.
57:43
You know, I turned on my TV. They said this is what we're
57:45
doing, 420, we're done. I don't know how all the teams
57:48
in it know. It feels like that should have
57:49
been pretty obvious. But you know, I, I guess
57:52
communication with team still isn't excellent, but I thought
57:57
it was the best of a bad situation to a degree.
57:59
But it seems like a lot of fans are upset or at least Twitter
58:04
fans. Obviously you don't mind.
58:08
I don't mind it. Do you think it's an OK thing
58:10
going forward or do we need? To.
58:12
Fans or just. Ignore.
58:13
What do you want? Right.
58:15
Like I would just ask any fan who's upset by how that played
58:18
out, I always say that this is a debate between quality and
58:23
quantity. Do we do we lose some quantity
58:25
of racing? Yeah.
58:27
I would argue we gained some quality of racing.
58:31
Yeah. And so I just, I think it's
58:34
important to run the race when the TV window says it is.
58:37
It's good for all of our partners.
58:38
It's good to maximize eyeballs. It's hard to run double headers
58:42
like that. And this is not the norm.
58:44
It's it's it's hard. It's so rare to come across a
58:47
moment like this, but all the teams were notified in advance
58:51
and I don't, I don't think we lost anything for it.
58:55
Like I always tell people this is like anytime the people
58:58
disagree with me, I tell them I'm a fan first.
59:02
Like everyone who knows my work knows how much I love doing this
59:05
for a living. And I'm I'm from a racing
59:08
family. I'm just like you guys.
59:09
And I always view it through a fan lens.
59:12
I view it through an educated fan lens, like I understand, you
59:17
know, the, the TV dichotomy and some of the logistical issues
59:21
that, that come about. But just purely as a fan, I, I,
59:24
I enjoyed my motor sporting content on Saturday, the way it
59:29
played out and I, I didn't feel like we, we were hurt at all by
59:31
it. And I think that it even added
59:34
some intensity. So what, what?
59:36
What do we have to complain about there, right?
59:39
I honestly, I just coming onto the show and getting my list of
59:44
topics I want to talk to. I, I went on Jeff Glock's
59:47
Twitter because he, he talks about everything throughout the
59:49
week, right? I'm like, man, is there
59:50
something I miss? Is there a topic I miss?
59:52
And I found his tweet about, about this, you know, situation
59:56
and he was kind of getting bombarded and he's like, what's
59:59
the big deal here? It's, it's a great race.
1:00:01
And so I, I just want to get your opinion on that.
1:00:04
I thought it was fine as well. The one thing I really enjoyed
1:00:06
about this is there was no chance of overtime.
1:00:10
I knew this race. Listen, if you don't make the
1:00:12
past now, there's not a chance. I don't like overtime in general
1:00:16
because I think it it cheapens and discounts everything that
1:00:19
came before it. So I to me, what I love about
1:00:23
the Indy 500 in any IndyCar race, really, right, is that if
1:00:28
you don't get the lead by 10 laps to go, that could be your
1:00:30
race. Like it, it feels like overtime
1:00:33
for like 15 consecutive laps because any caution could end
1:00:37
the race. I don't like them throwing the
1:00:38
red flag in the Indy 500 like you, you know, really lock in 20
1:00:43
laps to go because the end is coming sooner rather than later.
1:00:47
And I, I, I just think that overtime cheapens a product.
1:00:50
And I say that again as a fan, I think that it just cheapens the,
1:00:54
the totality of the race. And while we're having all of
1:00:57
these intellectual conversations about randomness and gimmicks
1:01:01
and chaos and all the things that we've become over the last
1:01:05
15 years, I, I hope we can at least have a good faith
1:01:09
conversation as an industry and a fandom about overtime.
1:01:13
And if it's something we still agree that we need some form of
1:01:16
moving forward. I don't have the answer, but I
1:01:18
want to have that conversation. So I've seen multiple people do
1:01:22
this whole process. Say it was 10 laps, it was 10
1:01:24
laps, it was 10 laps. It's not ten laps, 1, two hours
1:01:28
before the race. You don't know how many laps
1:01:29
you're going to have left and you can't go and arbitrarily
1:01:32
change that just because there's only 10 laps left.
1:01:34
You can't then change the rule. You've put a rule in place that
1:01:37
it's 420. That's the rule.
1:01:39
The other thing is if there's a crash with two to go, there's
1:01:41
overtime. We don't know how long that
1:01:43
overtime is, that overtime session.
1:01:45
It could be A10 truck pile up, It could be 30 extra minutes.
1:01:48
We cannot. It has to be a dead window out.
1:01:51
So I thought structurally is the best thing they can do.
1:01:53
I thought the racing though, like you mentioned, the
1:01:55
intensity was there from from the moment they they threw the
1:01:58
green flag. I I don't really have a whole
1:02:01
lot other than Carson host far. Just putting on the show again,
1:02:04
I don't I don't think there's a lot to truly talk about.
1:02:07
Kyle Busch wins host far, but any other storylines that kind
1:02:10
of stand out for you? No no.
1:02:12
And I forgot to drive home too. So I just, I, I want everyone to
1:02:18
give Gabe Hart a chance to pair out the side of it.
1:02:20
I know the JGR lawsuit was super thorough and super detailed and
1:02:26
I just, I, well, it's, to me, it's like the one dangling
1:02:28
threat. Everything else has a
1:02:29
resolution. And it's really easy to have
1:02:32
strong opinions on everything else we saw.
1:02:35
I want to hold off on strong opinions until I see the other
1:02:37
side of that. And I, I've seen a lot of people
1:02:40
reach conclusions when we have probably 50% of the story.
1:02:44
And that's just the last note that I want to I want to leave
1:02:46
on this weekend. Fair enough.
1:02:48
I appreciate it. Matt, thank you so much for
1:02:50
taking the time again after the race.
1:02:53
I know it took you a little bit longer to get here because
1:02:55
you're you're maneuvering out of the track, but please, you know,
1:02:59
drop a drop a like on the video, leave some comments, let
1:03:02
everyone know, tell your friends, tell your mom's,
1:03:05
whatever that that we're trying to.
1:03:06
Tell a fan, tell a fan, tell a friend, tell a neighbor.
1:03:09
There we go. Very much appreciate you guys
1:03:12
checking out the podcast this week.
1:03:13
We will of course, be here every single week.
1:03:15
Matt, anything where where can everyone catch yourself?
1:03:18
We got motorsport and then what? What else you got going on this
1:03:21
week? Yeahmotorsport.com and short
1:03:23
track scene. I'm I'm not going to circle to
1:03:25
the Americas. I'm actually going to cover the
1:03:27
Cars Tour. And I know a lot of people love
1:03:28
my short track coverage. My, my Cars Tour coverage, the
1:03:31
Cars Tour season. It's back.
1:03:33
We are so back. Cars Tour Saturday nights are
1:03:36
back again. I'm going down to Southern
1:03:38
National Motorsports Park on Saturday and I'll watch a cup
1:03:40
race on TV on Sunday. But I love the Cars Tour.
1:03:43
I love that series and I, I treat it like I treat Sunday
1:03:46
racing. And I know a lot of you guys
1:03:48
love Cars Tour too. So it's a Cars Tour weekend for
1:03:51
me. There it is I I thought that
1:03:53
might be the case. So awesome Matt enjoy the enjoy
1:03:55
the cards tour for me. Just follow me at Larkin 8 on
1:03:58
Twitter. I'm just trying to boost this
1:04:00
the followers. But anyways, thanks you guys.
1:04:02
We'll catch you next time. See you.