Latest / The Apex / 2026 COTA Predictions

Transcript

2026 COTA Predictions · The Apex

• Meredith: Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Apex Podcast. We have the trio back together today. And it is absolutely wild to think that this time last year we were all gearing up to meet in person for the very first time together. So happy to be back with you guys. Paul, how are you today? Paulie :D: Doing good. How are you guys today? Meredith: I'm excited. I'm bummed to not be hanging out with y'all this weekend though. Paulie :D: I know, it's it feels weird. I was super stoked last year and now it's like I have major FOMO going on right now. Meredith: I bet. What about you, Josh? How are you? Josh: I'm doing great. Doing great. I'm glad the the weather's perfect. It's my favorite time of year. I love the fall. Just been really enjoying being outside. I I hate that I'm not gonna be in Texas sweating. I'll be n hopefully enjoying my nice cool weather still. But no, I I'm I'm I love this weekend. It's you know, I love the Austin race. I now have, you know, a personal connection to it. So it'll be a fun one to watch with a little bit more investment, I guess. being you know, being able to say I saw it last year and you know, knowing kind of where things are a little better. really good experience. I I d I hate them arguing there this year, but it'll be fun to watch. Meredith: Yeah, it will I'm gonna like I Aaron and Leah are coming with us. And so I was like, okay, at le you know, not that Joe and I wouldn't have fun, just us two, but it always makes it more fun when you're excited to go watch racing with people. But I was just like, I don't know if Aaron and Leah are gonna be down to shotgun happy dads with me in the parking lot at nine in the morning, you know? I they may they may have to get on board. Josh: Yeah, or get the refills of Paulie :D: Yes. Josh: Jose Cuervo that we definitely were not supposed to be getting. Or what yeah, Patron, you're right. Paulie :D: It was Patron. Meredith: It was Patron. And okay, how about the fake news of the guy telling us, well, if you bring it back, your refills this much, which was absolutely not a real thing. Cause then when we went back on Sunday, they were like, No, that's not Josh: And with y yeah, only if it's cash. Meredith: a thing. And we were just handing this guy cash. And I'm like, good on him. I hope he's working Paulie :D: You Meredith: again this year. Josh: Yeah, a hell yeah. Paulie :D: he bamboozled the hell out of you two. Josh: No he didn't. We we we made out like bandits. We made out so well. Meredith: No, we got we got the better end of the deal. Cause it was like yeah, it was like what was it? Like a full one was like twenty two. And then he told us that like cash price was like if you if you came back and brought your bottle, he would refill it for like fifteen for cash. Ten. Yeah, Josh: It might have been ten. It might have been even less. Meredith: it was it was low. And I was like, Yeah, okay, I ran out of cash. Do you got Vemo? Josh: Yeah, that's right. And Paulie :D: Ca can I cash app you? Meredith: Yeah, can I can I gashap you Zell? What's your Zell? Josh: they were they were he wasn't he wasn't holding back either. They were they were refills. Meredith: Yeah, my favorite was like they would do it and then they'd go, Do you want an extra floater on top? Yeah, every time. Every time. The drink body count was high. And you know what? I see all Josh: Do you have to ask? Paulie :D: You two you two were blitzed on day one. Josh: So drunk. Meredith: the discourse on on TikTok and on Instagram about like coda beverages. And everybody geeks out over the lemonade. And I've never, in all the years I've gone to coda, I've never done the coda lemonade. So I am gonna try it this year. But I am gonna try to work the system and see if I can get a coat of lemonade and go to the patron stand and get a patron margarita. And I'm gonna see if I can Josh: Mm. Meredith: combine to get a a lemonade patron combo going at some point here. Paulie :D: Please keep us posted Josh: Little half and half. Paulie :D: on how this goes. Meredith: I will. I will. I'll be sending on my drink body count. But it has been a bit since we were together. So, you know, what's been up? What's been up in the life of Josh? You just got back from vacation, a little little beach time. So what Josh: Yeah. Meredith: else has been up in your world, Josh? Josh: beaching, working. what else has been going on? I mean it's middle of football season, so you know, we've got my big Tennessee Vols beating Alabama and just having a grand all time, so that's fun. yeah, just rocking and rolling. Puppy's getting big, losing all his baby Meredith: Yeah. Josh: teeth. He's he's lost all his baby teeth, so I d my my hands are healing finally. Meredith: My answer, I know that puppy, gosh. And like the up and down the arm too. It's just like, no, I promise I I Josh: Ugh. Those just sharp thanks. Meredith: it's I'm not injured. It's I just have a puppy. And Josh: Yeah. Meredith: Paul, you are in Wisconsin vis Wisconsin visiting the fam. How long are you there for? Paulie :D: Yeah, my bad I'm just here till Friday, just on my four day, just quickly s showed up, had to help the parents with a few things and yeah, yeah, just took flew in last night. Meredith: Yeah, and and no puppies in Wisconsin with you. Disappointing. I always love puppy updates from you too. Paulie :D: No, no, they are they they are home. There's no puppies here. My parents have an old Chihuahua, so but that thing is grouchy. Meredith: What's its name? Paulie :D: Max. Meredith: That seems like the least Chihuahua name of all time. But I kind of like it. Does he Paulie :D: What? Meredith: have big dog energy? Chihuahuas tend to have big dog energy. Paulie :D: No, this has this one has Lucifer energy. This kid this dog is Satan. If you ever if we ever wonder what dog Satan would have, it's a Chihuahua dog. They're just angry little creatures. Meredith: I is it like aggressive or what? Like Paulie :D: No, he's just he's just moody. He he he wants to be by you, but if you pet him he gets mad. If you move he gets mad. He's just you can't make him happy. Meredith: So a little like Max Verstappen. Paulie :D: Y a little band, yeah. A younger version of him. Meredith: So the name maybe does fit. Paulie :D: Yeah. We've had this dog since high school and that thing is still sticking around. I'm shocked he's not dead yet. Meredith: Wait what? How old is it? Paulie :D: Yeah, we've had this dog since I mean, sh I have no idea. So when we got him, he was already he was already a couple years old. And we got him I graduated high school in two thousand and eight. So we probably got him in two thousand and nine, ten. And that Meredith: Okay, so this dog is damn near twenty. Paulie :D: yeah, this thing and and he just won't she's still kicking on. I'm sucked that this thing's lips this thing's gonna my parents are gonna pass away and this thing's still gonna fucking be kicking. Meredith: And you're gonna have to take it. Paulie :D: I'm not. Meredith: I think it'd just get along so well with your dogs and cat, just so well. Paulie :D: yeah, so but yeah, it's always fun coming back to Wisconsin. I'm currently in my old bedroom, so it's it's fun. Meredith: Do you have like your high school memorabilia up on the walls, band posters? Paulie :D: No, no, they they t they took everything down and it's just bare walls. Meredith: It b you look like you're in a mental health institution. Are the walls padded anywhere? Are we do we need to do we need to have a conversation? Paulie :D: yeah. Like I I'm I'm I'm wearing grippy socks. Meredith: Honestly, grippy socks are underrated. The Pilates girls have it figured out. The the grippy socks rule. Paulie :D: Absolutely. Yeah. So so we're here. Meredith: I did see some Coda videos that some girls you know, that like just bought their new boots because they're coming to Coda, they wanna rep it. some of the girls that are coming to Coda are trying to hack the new boot blisters by wearing grippy socks inside so their feet don't slide as much, thinking that it's gonna prevent blisters. I'm here to break the news to them. They're still getting blisters. If those boots are not broken in, they're getting blisters. Paulie :D: Let's get into it because that Josh: Even if they are broken in. Paulie :D: let's get into that because that was my biggest eye opener is the amount of walking you have to do. And I knew we were gonna have to walk, but I was not prepared for the amount and the distances and the different terrains you had to walk through. It was pavement, cement, grass, gravel, dirt. It it was a lot. Meredith: We give you a full Texas experience here. You need to see all the terrain. You know, it's a big state, so there's gotta be a big track for a lot of walking, a lot of a lot of sweating. Paulie :D: And then the all the all the dirt blowing in your face. Don't wear a white shirt. If you wear a white shirt, it's going to stain. And those Texas stains do not come off. Yeah. Meredith: Yeah, it's red clay dirt. It's like it it's it those stains don't come out. That's a a Paulie :D: No. Meredith: couple weeks ago for one of the race watch parties, one of my friends Maherin and I, she were we were both gonna wear our chili pepper dresses because she was like, my gosh, I saw you have a chili pepper dress you wore at Coda last year. I have one too. Let's wear them next weekend for Carlos Science. I was like, Yes, for sure. two problems with it. I pulled it out. It's no no longer white. That thing is dusty. Cause last Sunday was the Sunday last year was very, very Paulie :D: No. Yes. Meredith: windy and dusty. Number two, that dress shrank and is more of a long cropped top, if you will, now I put it on and I was like, this is going in the donate then. So R.I.P. chili pepper dress from last year. We had a fun run at Coda on Sunday. Paulie :D: Yeah, I bought a white t shirt at Koda at you know, it says Coda GPN on it. After I wore it one day, it's just brown. And those stains have stuck on forever. Absolutely. Meredith: Yeah, you might as well just like dye it tan, get that red fabric dye, dye it like a khaki color, tie-dye it. Like Josh, I always think of your Mercedes tie-dye shirt. Like I love Josh: Mm-hmm. Meredith: that Mercedes tie-dye shirt. Paulie :D: Mm-hmm. Meredith: Paul, you could just have some fun with it. Tie dye it. Paulie :D: I should. I should. Josh definitely showed up my Meredith: I see you being big arts and crafts guy. Paulie :D: huge arts and crafts guy. I lived it up when we were making friendship bracelets. Meredith: I I hope Josh: That was fun. Meredith: they have them again this year, but in preparation in case they don't, because on Friday we do plan to go out to the ranch and do like all that stuff before it gets super busy and all the great b beads get picked over. I hope they have it again. But in case they don't, I have all of my friendship bracelets in my chili pepper over here that I have like a little chili pepper ceramic dish, and I have all my friendship bracelets in it over there, and I'm gonna take all of them and wear them just in case they don't have friendship made friendship bracelet making stations. Paulie :D: We we have backup plans. I love it. Meredith: Backup plans on backup plans. I will say, I think like there are two things I'm gonna miss the most about this weekend with you guys. Number one, all the drinking and fun. But number two, just like getting to do this virtually is so fun. But my favorite part of the race weekend last year was coming home every night, like dipping the feet in the pool or hanging out and just like giggling and talking about the day. Like that was so much fun and recording our. Quick little reaction videos to y'all's experiences. That was so much fun. And I am gonna miss having you guys there this year and miss making stupid videos with you guys. I'm gonna miss catching Paul creeping on people on Sixth Street, just looking like a lost puppy. Josh and I were having a time and Paul, you looked scared. You looked vigilant. Paulie :D: Josh, no, no, no, no. Josh and Meredith were blitzed beyond belief. And I was just I'm not I no no I'm I Meredith: Sorry you didn't have as much fun as us. Josh: I mean, yeah. We we already talked about the Patron. We were already we were way gone. Paulie :D: I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. You two lived it up. And I was just trying to soaking soak it all in. Sixth Street, is that where we were? Meredith: Yeah, we we soaked a lot in. You didn't. You were a bit dry. Paulie :D: We I was soaking it no no no. You soaked in all the liquids. I was soaking in all the atmosphere and all the it was like people watching galore. Meredith: It is. Especially where we went that last bar we went to, which is like the you know, rooftop open, really good people watching. But I feel like the vibes in Austin feel are you gonna show our karaoke video? Paulie :D: I'm gonna I'm gonna miss that the most. Josh: Karaoke Paulie :D: I'm gonna miss Josh: video. Paulie :D: the the drunken karaoke singing. That you two Meredith: yeah. Paulie :D: idiots. Look at that, look at that. She is just going. You are just Meredith: Like I'm air drumming. Air drumming. Paulie :D: god. I don't know what Meredith: You're just jealous you didn't participate. Paulie :D: I I was soaking it all in. I mean you two. These are videos that we have yet to release, and I think they need to get released to the public. The world the the Meredith: Drop it. Drop it on the apex. I'm not embarrassed. I've got a horrible voice and I know it, but I have a good time doing it. And if you're gonna have a Paulie :D: Mm-hmm. Meredith: horrible voice, you need to be aware of it and be confident in your delivery. Paulie :D: Yes. Yes. Yeah, it was it was it was Meredith: I'm sure Joe as the the the outsider to the party was like, What the hell is happening with these Paulie :D: Okay. Josh: No, Joe Joe was having a good time. Meredith: three? Like this is chaos. Paulie :D: Joe had a great time. But yeah, I could definitely tell that he was like, yo, these guys are wild. So I'm hoping next year that we can set it up to go. Meredith: For sure. For sure. For sure. And we do have to plan out some of our races for next year. Like I know we've talked about Daytona. Like that would be a solid one. but I think we need to we need to get ahead of our planning for twenty twenty seven and and map out our races, whether it's Texas or other races. I'm here for it. We can we can make it happen. Paulie :D: Yes, we need to do some races. Meredith: Twist my arm. I did just buy my Formula E tickets because Formula E is coming to Coda in February. So got the email this week, added to cart so fast, checked out. And I was like, I already had the Airbnb booked the second they announced the weekend of when it was coming that tickets weren't on sale. And then got the email and I had it open and I got a text. It was like, guys, Formula E tickets went on sale. I'm like, I know I have them in my cart. Are we going? And Aaron and Leah were yeah, we're going. I was like, done, check out. Tickets are booked. Paulie :D: Are the are those more reasonably priced than Formula One tickets are? Meredith: I want you to take a guess. Main Grand Stand Formula E, what do you think the ticket cost is? Paulie :D: Now, is it just one day or are you doing a whole weekend thing? Meredith: I just booked the tickets for one day, just Sunday. Paulie :D: each ticket I would say was two hundred bucks. Meredith: Okay, Josh, what do you think? Josh: a one day grandstand ticket. Meredith: Uhhuh, main grand sien. Josh: For former E first time it's ever been I'd say eighty five. Meredith: fifty one dollars including taxes. Paulie :D: Damn. Josh: That's not bad. Meredith: I was like, I'm so excited because before they announced that they were coming to Coda, my plan was to go to Formula E at Miami next year. Like I I that's been on my list. And I was like, or you know, like Paulie :D: It's the Meredith: eventually I want to go to Formula E at Monaco because the cars are super, super zippy in Formula E and are actually like really good at overtaking in Monaco. And Formula E at Monaco is a lot of fun. So when I saw the $51 price tag, I was like, hell done. Add to car. Well, it Paulie :D: That Meredith: is Coda weekend. It's my favorite weekend of the year. Y'all know this. I but I've been so busy at work that I I until last night I hadn't even like planned my outfits. I I was like, I'm I just gotta get gotta get through the work week. But now I've hit Wednesday. I'm kind of like peeking at my work extravaganza tipping point. And now I feel like I can start thinking about this weekend and thinking about all the excitement and the fun. We've got a sprint race, we've got regular race. They are doing a Moto GP showcase out there. They are doing Porsche Cup races. So there is a lot of on-track action this week. And I am excited to talk about it. But I will say the one big piece of discourse that I'm seeing a lot come up about or about the race this weekend is fans are very, very, very disgruntled with the new turn one grandstands. So remember last year on Saturday afternoon when we came around turn three, there's the big hill you walk down. Well now a large portion Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: of that hill, which was a massive general admission area before, is taken up by a large four-story hospitality turn one grandstand section. And so p Paulie :D: yeah. Meredith: fans are pissed. I I mean, like very, very mad about it. And I did get to see the grandstand and like structure being built when I went out and did the driving experience at Coda a couple weeks back. it does look sick. And I will say that like Seeing it, it's not taking up as much lawn space. But for those who are diehard turn oneers and want to sit at big red, I can see the frustration. I mean, people camp out, like get there two and three hours before gates open to try to get to turn one. What have y'all been seeing on the internet about like people leading up to Austin? Have y'all seen anything about what people are excited for, pissed about? Have y'all seen anything about the grandstand discourse? Paulie :D: Josh. Josh: I actually I have I actually haven't. I haven't seen anything. I need to actually look that up a little bit more intently. what I will say is my fear would be the trickle down effect from that. Like you said, it's a huge land area and it's a huge general admission area. So my fear would be how much of that is going to cause congestion in other fan areas that may have been a little bit more accessible. Like we were over by the ranch in kind of that area back that way. Meredith: Yeah. Yeah. Josh: And I really enjoyed that area 'cause you could stand in one spot and see several corners. You could see a straight. and it was a decent vantage point. but there's not a lot of fan amenities over there. so if you pack another fifty, sixty thousand people, you know, of o over a weekend in that area, you know, how much how much of that fan experience over there is gonna be overrun? and then, you know, like all the other places we went, we struggled to find water some days, we struggled to find food some days. or had to wait and, you know Meredith: You you don't want to talk about your delicious chicken strips? Josh: I I had to wait in line for those chicken strips, remember? And I would been a I would have been even more upset had I had to wait in a two hour line to w get those damn chicken strips. Meredith: I remember I gave you I f I was searching in my purse to see if I had anything and I had salt and pepper packets Josh: So Meredith: from our trip to Austria that just happened to still be in my purse and you put the black pepper on there and you were like better than nothing. Paulie :D: They had Josh: Dude, it was. It's bad when like a Paulie :D: they had no seasoning. Josh: packet a packet of black pepper is like a noticeable improvement to your chicken tenders. It's poor experience, but I digress on the chicken tenders. I actually had not thought about that in a while. Thanks for the memory on that one. but like I'm saying, d well we got to the car. Paulie :D: I have never been so excited to eat an uncrustable and when we got to the car as much as Meredith: you already know I have them ready for this weekend. I upped Josh: so bad. Meredith: my car snack game for this weekend. So we've got chips again, you know, like the big, big max, big mixed bag of chips. I've got jerky. We've got string cheese that'll be in the cooler. We've got the uncrustables that'll be in the cooler. I I got snacks for when we get home. Leah's making some homemade muffins and stuff. And then of course we'll hit, you know, some of our favorite restaurant spots. But I was like, Gotta up my snack game and and also Paulie :D: It Meredith: consume more water in the car. Paulie :D: And and and before Coda, I was not a big uncrustable guy. That's not something that my parents ever bought us growing up. But fuck, after Coda walking to that car and eating a s a grame uncrustable, God, that thing hits so well. Meredith: It does, especially, you know, because it's like throughout the day, like the cooler that we have keeps things pretty nice and cold, which is great. The beverages stayed cold the whole week and, you know, we only added one bag of ice throughout the whole weekend. But cold water bottles, cold drinks, and snacks when you get back in that car was just money. Now, one thing I learned from last year is that I I like camping out in like camping out after kind of to avoid the traffic. I think that was the way to go. When we were going to the concerts after just to like hang out, I think that was the move. But the other thing that I was thinking about was like, okay, taking the bag chairs and stuff just to have in the trunk so that we can hang out and like take a speaker to like listen to music while we wait for traffic to die down, leaving. So it's like an enjoyable experience, like camp out kind of tailgate mindset. If we don't Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: want to stay inside the venue and like go hang out at the concerts and stuff, I did learn that last year. But Uncrustables will Paulie :D: But but getting back to the point, Meredith: be featured. Paulie :D: absolutely. You should get a variety of crucibles. Get the strawberry, the grape, the Nutella kind. Switch it up a little bit. Meredith: Ooh, Nutella's disgusting gross, but I did get both grape and strawberry this year. Paulie :D: See. But getting back to the point you were talking about with the grandstand, I think this gets to the bigger issue that F one has is that they want to focus on the people that can spend the hundreds and thousands of dollars to go and they don't they don't not they're not really caring about the casual guy that can just afford the four hundred dollar weekend tickets. Meredith: Right. I I think it is, you know, a lot of the discourse, and especially because turn one is where people come to do track invasion. You on Sunday to do track invasion, you have to come over to turn one. That's where they open the gates. And so with less sitting space, that area is going to become a lot more congested. And so especially Sunday thing about track invasion, especially if Kimmy becomes world champion, that would just be like crazy, crazy. I will say I do have to. Paulie :D: Let's get into that in a second. Meredith: Yeah, we'll get to that. But I I do have to give Coda props because, you know, for the last several years, it's been very hot. And last year, y'all had a really hot year. This year we're lucky it's gonna be a little bit cooler. It's gonna be in the low 80s, which is drastically better than the low 90s. It was the, you know, the last four years. But Coda did add an option that no matter what your ticket package is, whether it's grandstand or general admission, they added something called like the chill zone. Which was a ticket add-on that you could do that has air conditioning, refreshment stations, snacks throughout the whole weekend that you can access at any time. And I I think I looked it up and it was like like a couple of hundred bucks. And so for people who that like maybe want to do a general admission experience, but want to have the amenity of being able to go to a place with cold water and drinks and snacks and air conditioning the entire time, a place to sit indoors, like I do think that that's a smart way to do it for someone, because like even if you buy a $700 grandstand ticket, you still don't have AC. You still don't have indoor facilities you can go to. So I do think that they that that was a really smart thing given how hot it's been the last few years that they added on. that kind of is like a trade-off for some people who really can't afford like the hospitality. And I looked. I looked at the new turn 20 hospitality party thing. Those tickets were twenty four hundred dollars a piece. What? Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: I can go to two European races, travel and indulging included for that. But for those that really care about having the inside amenities and AC, I think it was really smart of Coda add the chill zone or whatever they were calling it. I think that was a good move. We'll see how it goes though. Paulie :D: But honestly it was hot. It it was hot, but it wasn't unbearable. Like I didn't have an awful time with the heat. Meredith: Yeah, but y'all also live in Tennessee where y'all are used to heat too. I mean, like when we get people that are, you know, if from other parts of the country that where it's not that hot, it is a massive shock for them. So I I I get it. I hope they really, really, really planned for water this year. I I hope they planned to do a lot more of those water refills because hell, even if it's hot, I'd rather have warm water than no water at all. I mean, last year what we were refilling our ranch water cans at one point because we heard that the water was full and we were like, we might as well fill up now. Josh: Yeah, that's that was my Paulie :D: Or Josh: biggest complaint, I think, was i the heat's bearable if you're somewhat acclimated to it. Like it's you're outside, it's hot. Like there is shade in places. You can find a place to step out and, you know, get out of the direct sunlight occurly. but the biggest thing was was access to water. You know, it it's such an expanse of a of a venue. You know, the track itself is three and a half miles. And so just think on both sides of that. You've got walkways and gr GA areas, grandstand areas, you've got all sorts of just space and I was so surprised by the lack of access to water throughout. It was just that makes it really tough. Meredith: Yeah. I mean, and it's been like that every year. And it's like I'm not gonna go stand in a line thirty people deep to pay eight dollars for a water bottle. I shouldn't have to. For what we pay for the ticket Josh: Right. Shouldn't have to. Meredith: package, water should be a basic necessity. Paulie :D: Or you just keep drinking alcohol and you never need water. I mean Meredith: Dun sss words that you didn't live by, Paul. We did. Paulie :D: Okay. You want me to give me next year I'm just gonna get drunk the entire weekend. You guys are gonna have to deal with drunk Paul. I don't think Meredith: Absolutely. We'll put you in an adult diaper. Like we're just I wanna see you get absolutely wild. I wanna see you Josh: Nice. Meredith: in your striped overalls jump in on the the little over at the ranch, jumping on the little thing roping. If not, you did it wrong. I don't Paulie :D: Okay, next year you guys are gonna get wildpaw, but I don't think I've ever peeed myself drunk. Meredith: That's a good thing. I I mean I was Paulie :D: Yeah, I don't think I've ever Meredith: just preparing for safety, you know, just in case. I don't know, I've never seen Paulie :D: I might have thrown Meredith: wild paw. Paulie :D: I I may have thrown up a couple of times. Once on myself. Meredith: we've all puked and rallied. Paulie :D: Yeah, yeah. You just keep g you just puke, make room and just keep going. Meredith: Yeah, that's exactly right. Paulie :D: All right. You asked for it. Next year Wild Paul's coming out. Meredith: I'm ready. Can we can we call you Wab Wa West Paul? Paulie :D: Well, we'll see. I might have to buy a cowboy hat. Meredith: Okay, I last thing on on the code of TikToks. I have been so incredibly impressed by how creative and talented people are with creating cowboy hats and like bedazzling them. Like my friend Lainey did one for Red Bull. I don't know if y'all saw I posted on my story. Like it it's she did one for Max and it is so impressive. And she was working on it at the last Racewatch party. And it is just, I cannot believe the talent people have and how creative they are. I even bought bodysuit thinking I would like bedazzle it with like a McLaren logo or something and then I was like that's not me I'm I'm not good at that but I've been seeing girls doing boots custom boots custom hats there was one guy who bedazzled his bag chair he like did he like decorated the bag chair and I was like this is awesome I love seeing how creative people get with this and I just think it's very impressive I it's not my skill set but I can't Paulie :D: I just Meredith: I can't do cowboy hats either. I have a tiny head. So unless I buy a child sized cowboy hat, it's not it's gonna fly right off. Paulie :D: I th I'm sure we can find I'm I'm sure we can find an adult size cowboy head for you. Meredith: No, they're like straw hats, like cute straw pool hats with like these bands around them are like a big thing down here in Houston. And all the girls, we go out to the pool and all these girls have all their cute straw hats with their custom little bands on and they're like, they make like extra small and small size hats. You should go. And I'm like, okay, well, these hats are like 150 bucks. I went and tried one on in the extra small, I could still just spin it around. Just so just little me and my little tiny head will not ever be a cowboy hat person. Can't do it. Paulie :D: That's fair. But I'm wearing a cowboy hat next time I go. I'm that's I'm doing it. Meredith: How about we go get you fit? Like let's let Josh: Like a custom one? Meredith: yeah, like let's go like y'all come out on Thursday next year and we'll go in town, we'll get you fit for a hat. Like you'd you don't choose the hat, the hat chooses you, you know, it's kind of that situation. Paulie :D: Okay. I'll save up for it. That's fair. That's fair. That's fair. Okay. I w I'll I'll get in earlier than we did last time and I'll get a custom head. I'll save up for it. Meredith: Yeah, I'll I'll still get us Bucky's breakfast tacos though. Paulie :D: Those fucking slapped. Even though Josh ate his twelve hours later and was hammered drunk. Meredith: Hey, honestly, it was like it was under a heat lamp the entire time, so it feels feels like it was fine. Josh: Right. Yeah, it was still nice Paulie :D: I was Josh: and warm. Honestly, that was a that was a power move. It was a power play on that one. Paulie :D: I I was I it was funny because I we Josh and I sat in the back seat and he left it in the cup holder. I was hoping the fucker would forget about it. And especially because he was drunk, I was like, dude, I hope he forgets Josh: Not a chance. Paulie :D: about this because I'm gonna eat this fucking thing. And the first thing he did was beeline it for the taco. Meredith: Okay, well, next year I'm gonna commit to this. next year I'm gonna commit to this, y'all. There is, Josh: I knew it was there. Meredith: there is a a a taco place that's like drive-thru fast Mexican food in Love It called Taco Villa. And I love it. And it is so good. And when my mom comes down to visit, she brings me a dozen burritos and like freezes them. And then we just kind of like eat them throughout the year. I will commit to saving some Taco Villa burritos to bring so that we can Paulie :D: Done it. Meredith: crush on those because those are absolute money. Paulie :D: Done. Meredith: Let's talk track, Josh. Paulie :D: Let's t well hang on, hang on. We we haven't talked about this. Briefly, hang on. where is it? I had a picture, son of a bitch. Let's talk. They're going to Africa. That's pretty fucking sweet. Meredith: Yeah, yeah, that is exciting. I'm in in what year is that for? Paulie :D: Twenty thirty? Twenty thirty one? Meredith: God willing, I live until then. I I'm super excited. I'm super excited to see that. And I know that like people have been advocating for it. I will say though, after the race in Malaysia, I would have rather seen, I would have rather seen them say, that was incredible racing. We're gonna bring Malaysia back because you just proved that you can host a strong event and it have good racing and fans be excited about it. So I don't know a lot about that track in South Africa. In fact I don't know a thing about it, but I would I I would have really liked to see Malaysia get the green light to come back too after how great that race was. Paulie :D: I know Lewis Hamilton has been really been pushing for a race in in the continent of Africa, so he's Meredith: Mm-hmm. Paulie :D: been publicly saying that he wants it. So I'm glad it they were able to work it out. Meredith: Me too. Paulie :D: Now, the Josh would know this, have they ever raced in that continent before? Josh: Yes. The South Africa. Three times. Paulie :D: Have they so they've raced on this track before? Josh: No. This isn't in South Africa, right? Paulie :D: I think it is. I don't know. Meredith: It is. I think. Josh: Does it? okay. Well then this will be I don't know if it's the same circuit or if they're gonna do a different one. That I don't know. Paulie :D: this one is in Rwanda, not South Africa. Josh: Okay, that's what I thought. I thought it was in Rwanda. Meredith: Look, I know I've told y'all a million times, geography is not my strong suit. What where the hell is Rwanda? Josh: I honestly couldn't point to it on a map, but I do know they've had a lot of of marketing over the last like decade. I mean I just I w I'll be honest, I just I don't I couldn't tell you if it's Meredith: I'm dying. Okay, this makes me feel so much better. I gotta look it up. Josh: northern or southern Africa. Paulie :D: Yeah, they signed a they signed a ten year deal for Rwanda starting early twenty thirties. Meredith: Rwanda. Paulie :D: The only thing I know about Rwanda Josh: East. Paulie :D: is from that movie and about the genocide that they had there years ago. That's the only thing I know. Meredith: Okay. So I okay, Josh: It's Meredith: let's talk about I'm not that cr like South Josh: probably why what most people know. Meredith: Africa's down here, Rwanda's over here, like Africa is massive. Okay, so I wasn't that far off. It's right next to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, above Burundi, and you know, just northwest of Tanzania. Okay. I wasn't that far off. Paulie :D: You were there for Meredith: It's Central Africa. Okay, well that's super exciting. I d you know what is interesting though? like w I got a I got an old Formula One legends coffee table book. It like on clearance at Mar Marshall's or TJ Maxx, and I was reading it the other day, and it was talking about what it one of the drivers that it went through was talking about Malaysia and it was like why Malaysia ended and and why they quit going to Malaysia and it was like declining traffic, not a huge tourist destination anymore. You know, things shifted. I i am I missing the boat? Is Rwanda like a big tourist destination? Josh: Yes. It's they they've been marketing themselves as like this like renewed destination, right? Like an African destination to i over the last like maybe twenty years. Like I've s I've noticed the first I heard about it was I I watch English soccer and ye I mean that's probably twenty years ago. They started as a shirt sponsor for Arsenal. and that was the first I had heard about it. And so they had started they started the shirt sponsor deal. They went to a couple Or could they've been several times to Rwanda to do like preseason games, stuff like that. So that was Meredith: Okay. Josh: my first kind of understanding of like where they were going. So they've really marketed themselves as a destination. And I think that's now I mean, it's come to fruition, even more so now that they've attracted a Formula One event. Meredith: Yeah, no doubt. Josh: I mean, that's huge for for a tiny country like that to to have to host a Formula One event in general. They've definitely had a huge economic boost. Mm-hmm. Meredith: Yeah, and it is cool hearing that other sports are going there too. You know, like I like I mean, I you know, I don't really follow many other sports, but I it is cool to hear that other sports are going there too and that they're already set up and and showing success in in hosting global sporting events. That's really cool. Josh: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'm I'm curious Paulie :D: And I think it's super cool. I mean Josh: what they'll what what track come what c what track comes off the calendar at that time. Meredith: Yeah. Paulie :D: Madrid, Meredith: Something we gotta give. Paulie :D: Monaco, Pequiwa. No, I know. But I think it's super I I think it's Josh: Nah, it won't be Madrid. It won't be Monaco. It'll Meredith: No. It's too much they make too much money. Paulie :D: super cool that the continent of Africa is starting to to host these events. I'm and we're we all we all have heard about the issue that they've had politically and and violent wise. So I'm glad they're starting to clean that up and bring in more tourists. It's can only help grow the continent and and and and help, you know, bring more eyes to it, which is which is pretty freaking cool. Also I can just think about the cool merch and the cool liveries that these cars are gonna come out with with a continent like Africa. That is gonna be some badass merch. Meredith: Yeah. Agreed. Okay, I just I did a quick search. no, it's not the same track as it was before. Formula One left Africa after the nineteen ninety-three South African Grand Prix at Kayalami. The departure was driven by severe political unrest and international pressure during apartheid in the nineteen eighties, followed by high hosting costs and change in circuit ownership that made the event financially unviable. So nineteen ninety-three was the last time Africa hosted an F1 race and it was at the Kayalami circuit. So Completely different now. Paulie :D: That's what the track layout's gonna look according to Google. Meredith: Ooh, that's fun. It'll be interesting to see what the cars Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: are like at that point and if they can manage those long straights. Josh: Well that do you see that they're they're going back to V was it V eights? Yeah, I think Meredith: The eight, the eight. Josh: it was V eight. Paulie :D: Yes, yes, I saw that. I wonder if it's just gonna be I don't know. I I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Josh: I don't know. I I feel like they're gonna they're gonna f they're gonna tempt us with V eights and then it's gonna be more so like twenty twenty one V eight. Paulie :D: They're gonna find a way to fuck it up. Josh: Yeah, or those those V sixes. Whatever the the jump where they did the V eights was Meredith: F one puts the F and fuck it up. Josh: I know and the 'cause they're they're gonna struggle to convince these engine manufacturers to just drop all these years and money of of development with this style of hybrid racing that to just drop it and go to a purely internal combustion engine. So we'll see. I I've I'm hopeful it's a move in the right direction, but we'll see if it's how it's actually fleshed out regulation Meredith: Yeah. Josh: wise. Meredith: Yeah, I'm even just excited to see the difference of next season to this season. Like I d I think each year we're gonna see, you know, minor improvement. So yeah, I don't know. Cautiously upbeat. Josh: here's here's one for you. Here's something that actually is gonna really, really hamper the development over the next couple years, including next year. So FIA released a 12 page document basically banning any of these manufacturers or teams from utilizing Formula One personnel in any other category of motorsport, including the hypercar, WEC, any other programs. So a lot of these guys that are, you know, double teaming, working F1, but also doing development on the side for hypercar. No more. They are no longer allowed to do that. even to the so Meredith: Interessante. Josh: if like let's just use Ferrari for example, or actually McLaren's a better example. So McLaren's building their hypercar program. They've taken Meredith: Mm-hmm. Josh: a lot of what they've learned from the Formula One side. A lot of their engineers may have had a hand in that, right? So now as the WEC season will start, McLaren will have to decide where they want these engineers to go, if it's going to be the Formula One side or the WEC side or whatever the case may be. No. Meredith: Yeah, so they can't dabble them both, they gotta pick. Pick a side. Josh: And there has to there has to be a three month gap, gardening leave between those two jobs. So like if I work for McLaren and I work for Formula One, but I want to go to WEC, I would have to be off work for three months and not allowed to contact anybody from the Formula One team or have access to any data, development, anything, anything at all with the Formula. You have Meredith: I think wow. Josh: to have a complete cutoff for three months. I I think it was three months. It was something like that. Paulie :D: That's dumb as shit. Josh: So there's no longer going to be a this kind of sharing of technology between programs, even within its their own manufacturers and their own teams. So I think that's gonna that's a huge step back. I don't know why they've decided to do that. Yeah, and and they they did it Meredith: Yeah, that's a major change. I also feel like that sucks for some of those engineers and and team members who who really have liked working in motorsport because of the adaptability and the variability of like having options to be able to move around. Like I feel like it kind of pigeonholes some people's career. Josh: So the reason they've done this is they are I guess I mean I'm sure it's been done because it's the cost cap era, right? Is it's a way to get around the cost cap because you can develop something on let's just say the hypercar side, you can develop a technology there. Well, then you can just port it over to the Formula One side and you didn't use any of your cost cap to develop it. Or you're or you have a whole, you know, if I have got 30 engineers sitting over here on the WEC side and I develop the technology that I really want to put on the Formula One car. Well, those guys aren't covered under the cost cap. They're not the neither is the development. So that's a lot of money that I can spend as Ferrari or McLaren or whatever, since I have a hypercar program that I can now move over to Formula One that like say Williams, they doesn't have that luxury. They can't spend that kind of money and have that portability of the technology. So I understand why they've done it, but Meredith: When you explain it like that, it does make sense, but it does just suck for the people who have chosen careers in this industry because of the ability to learn in multiple racing series. Like I understand that FIA decision, but like I don't know, like that it just sucks for those employees. But I understand from fairness. Whatever. Paulie :D: Fuck fairness. Let's just get rid of the cost cap. Let's just pour all the money you want into this. But I get it. It it it does when he explained it that way it makes sense. I'm less angry about it. Josh: The only thing the cot the only thing the cost cap has done is create a stagnated end of the grid, right? The back markers are just stagnant. Because there's no way that they can just fail, right? They're everybody's hampered to the same amount of money. So there's no way that you can do poorly enough to just fall apart. That's all we've done. Meredith: Speaking of back markers on the grid, did y'all see Checko's media comments that he feels that this is based on his leadership, his performance, getting to know the team in the car that he feels this is his best performance yet in Formula One? Paulie :D: I mean not point wise. Josh: Cope. Paulie :D: I I no I did not see the interview, right? But Meredith: it's I'll I'll send it to you guys because I'm like, Checo, no, it's Paulie :D: But I think Meredith: not. You had some incredibly strong seasons. This is not your best performance. Now, in terms of like jumping back in after being out of the sport for a few years, coming back in, bonding with the team, understanding the Cadillac brand, giving great feedback. I'm sure there are no two better drivers to do that than Botas and Checo this year, because they are both such seasoned, accomplished drivers. That there's no two better drivers to have on your first year on the grid than two drivers who can deliver cars, deliver performances, give you great feedback. I don't discredit that at all. But and I'm hoping that the comments and quotes that have been put out in the media were taken out of context because Checo, no, this is not your best. You're, you know, dead last. Like Paulie :D: But I but I think if you look at it, don't look at it, and this is how I'm thinking about it. Don't look at it as points or standing. Look at it as everything that comes with it. Look at the headache that was Red Bull. Yes, he was performing, but it was he's very, very been very vocal. It was Max's team. He was second fiddle. He got the s he got the throwaway stuff. Look at all the stuff that he that happened with his previous teams. What force India was going bankrupt, so he had to be he had to pretend to be a lawyer. He had to help save the team. So now This is an established team that is looking at him and Vaultry as a guiding light, so there's not that headache and we can talk about just how it's going well for him in a way that is less stressful. Yes, the performance isn't quite there, but well. Meredith: Yeah, no, his his verbiage was about performance. His it was about his performance. That's why I'm like, let me let me go find the quote real quick. Cause I'm like, all those things that you just said, I agree to. yeah, hold on, let me go to it. All right. Without a doubt, Josh: This yeah. It's hard for me to stomach a Meredith: in terms of confidence, driving level, decision making leadership, one of my best years. I am being I'm being part of something so important and fundamental in a new project. My voice carries a lot of weight here. And I think that as a driver, that carries a lot of responsibility as well. So, like, yes, to all those second pieces. But I'm sorry, you are factually incorrect when you say, in terms of confidence, driving level, one of my best years. Like, no, statistically speaking, not true. I I but all the other aspects of that that you just mentioned, absolutely, yes. Paulie :D: Un unless they're saying Meredith: I just hope that they can deliver them cars. Cause like Botas and Checo are two people who were incredibly talented drivers who had to play second fiddle to two of the greatest drivers of all time. Like I I I th Paulie :D: Sure. Meredith: I think they're both incredibly talented. I just think that that was a a wild thing to say that this is one of his best performances in F one. Paulie :D: But did anybody did anybody really expect Cadillac to do anything this year? I mean, as a team that started from nothing within a year to be able to do this, I think maybe they're seeing some gain within their numbers. We never thought did did our predictions say that they were going to run towards the midfield? I didn't think so. At least I don't remember Meredith: Yeah. No. Paulie :D: us talking about that. So like I think they're up to par with what we thought they were going to do. Meredith: No, they haven't finished half the races. I expected them to have cars Josh: Yeah. I Meredith: that finished races. Josh: yeah, I didn't expect Paulie :D: I Josh: to be going for podiums or anything, but I definitely thought that we would have I mean, 'cause my whole thought would early in the year was everybody started at a level playing field, right? New regulation set, completely new cars. So the idea was that everybody would have the chance to at least develop a car that can finish. Paulie :D: But everyone else aside from Cadillac is this established team who already had the frame framework and foundation to do this, Cadillac just started from literally nothing within a year to do this. So like I'm giving a bit more grace next year, we'll see what they can do. But I don't know. I don't have a huge issue with that, but performance wise, unless there's numbers that we're not seeing that they are, it's it's interesting. Meredith: Yeah. I d I mean, you know, not I I th I I hope the Cadillac program goes well, you know, having a second American team, true whole motorsport American team on the grid would j I mean it'd be really cool to see them do well, but sitting at twelve DNS this season, tough first year. Paulie :D: Well, I think the interesting thing I think the interesting thing is what happens because, you know, Colton Herda doesn't want to do it anymore, and he was supposed to be their next star. So it'll be interesting to see. Well, I think that Josh: No, he wasn't. Colton Herter was given the opportunity to go to Forma Two and see if he could hack it and he can't, and so he slid on back. Paulie :D: Right. And give him Meredith: He can't Paulie :D: and give him enough points to get a super license because he was supposed to take over that seat and it's not going very well for him. Josh: Yeah, but to get super license points you have to perform well. They don't just give those out for participation. Yeah, he didn't he just couldn't Meredith: You have to you have to you have to score more points. Paulie :D: I'm not I'm not dis I'm not disagreeing with you, but Josh: he couldn't do it. Which good on him for trying, it's more than I'm ever gonna get to do. Meredith: I I being honest, I would like to see Colton Herta back in IndyCar. I think there are already so many extremely strong, talented Formula Two drivers that have far more experience that I'm more excited about seeing in Formula Two seats like Rafa for Haas. Like I think that's really, really exciting. I want Colton to go back to IndyCar and and to deliver in IndyCar again. He was very, very comfortable Paulie :D: There's nothing. Meredith: in an IndyCar. And I, you know, not look yeah, look to 2028, Colton. Use this next year to dial in your performance, test some things, experiment, and then 2028, go for a strong top indie car seat. I don't know. I think this is one of those Paulie :D: Well, but Meredith: Danny Rick situations where you know Danny Rick left in the prime of his career seeking opportunities and thought he would kill it and other Formula One teams, he went to Renault, and then then we all know what happened. I think Colton Heard is in a bit of a predicament. He left in the peak of his indie car career, hoping for an opportunity in Formula Two to gain the points to to earn this the F1 seat. And that is just not the reality. But even if he had, let's say he had accomplished the Formula Two super license points to get promoted to a Formula One seat. Do you want to get promoted to a Formula One seat in a team that's DNF'd 12 times this season? So I I I I like Colton Hurdle a lot. I love the Andretti driving family. I would love to see him back in any car. And, you know, probably not with Andretti, because I love the Andretti lineup right now. I'm biased, but I I like Colton Hurd and I I just wish him the best. Josh: Maybe he'll dabble on some MSA. I could see that. Meredith: let's yeah, dabble in some MSA, exactly. Dabble in some IMSA, sign a WEC contract, figure it out. I th I would prefer to see him in an IMSA over WEC, but I I mean, just because there's a lot more US based races and I think that would give him a lot more exposure and a lot more availability to hop Josh: Yeah. It's a more of a natural fit for a US Meredith: in. Josh: it's a lot it's it seems to be more accessible for a US based driver at first, especially if you wanted to race in like a you know, an L P two or a hypercar ki type category instead of just, you know, trying a G T three seat. Paulie :D: But hey, let's talk about Meredith might see Kimmy win the world title this weekend. But Josh: Probably will. Probably will. Paulie :D: it so from what I've gathered, it all Meredith: George has to finish ninth or below. Paulie :D: it all depends on if they're gonna do the last two races of the year. Meredith: They are. I just yeah, I just they're literally as I just pulled up that as I just pulled up that one thing, the the the quote about Checo, all the FIA accounts that I follow and all those accounts, literally th three of my feed things, F1 season will end in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Abu Dhabi GP breaking news, the Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs are expected to go as hand up as planned, like three posts Paulie :D: So now Meredith: right in a row, which means Now I gotta buy my fucking flights. Paulie :D: So now if those since those races Josh: What a terrible idea. Paulie :D: are happening, George have to finish ninth or worse, which that's gonna be hard to do 'cause George is pretty weird. Meredith: And Lewis has to finish below fifth. Paulie :D: And George and and Lewis has to finish below fifth, which if Meredith: And if so, he wins the title. Paulie :D: I think it's more doable that Lewis finishes fifth or less than George to finish ninth or less. I think George is a very strong Meredith: I mean, but what if Josh: Yeah. Meredith: what you know, we've had some mechanical DNFs. We've had you know, he had Paulie :D: Absolutely. Meredith: the spin out when he tapped that line, but I I think it's more likely that if it were to happen it would be a mechanical DNF for George than a mistake at this point. Paulie :D: If that happens, I need you to run your ass and go on the grid and get in that crowd. You Meredith: Nope. You ain't never gonna catch me doing a track invasion. Number one, I don't this is literally I sent this to Space City Racing Club this week in our chat because everybody's like, when's everybody coming in? And they're all talking about track invasion. I was like, I don't run. I don't like big crowds, and I don't run. Barcelona, Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: the track invasion, they just opened the gates by the grandstand. We just walked out casually, and in fact, I had time to grab A iberico ham sandwich and a soda before I walked out and then we we walked on the grid. That was my ideal track invasion in Barcelona. Coda, you ain't ever gonna catch me running over to turn one. Are you kidding me? Can you imagine my ass running to anywhere? Number one, and number two, to the turn one, which is now limited seating availability because of the new grandstands, to try to fight people to get on the track when a driver wins a world title. I'll be standing up on that hill, waving and watching, looking down on the sunset, Josh: Mm-hmm. Paulie :D: That's fair. Meredith: watching, watching all my space city racing club friends videos from them being right there, and I'll watch it from afar. Never doing attracting basion at Coda. I got to do it Paulie :D: That's fair. Meredith: at I got to do it at Lone Star Lamont, and that was really cool. And we were literally right underneath. And I was like, all right, so I've got it checked, bucket list done. Paulie :D: Been there done that. Meredith: It would be really, really cool though. And in fact, I am fully prepared to change my attire on Sunday. I have a backup outfit in case I decide to channel Kimmy for Sunday. Paulie :D: I think you should just wear it for Kimmy on Sunday. Meredith: I don't know that I can do that. It depends on how things go throughout the weekend. Josh: Nah. It'll depend on quality. Meredith: Yeah, it depends on how things go throughout Paulie :D: No, you need Meredith: the weekend, you know? Paulie :D: you need to be a feel be a full non supporter for him going into Friday. Meredith: No. Not never gonna happen. I got two Ferrari. I mean, no, not two Ferrari. I've got two McLaren outfits planned, a backup Ferrari outfit planned for Sunday. My Sunday outfit could go any direction. It's a denim dress. So based on the accessories is how I would rotate it out for Sunday. But we'll see. We'll we'll have to see how it goes on Sunday. Paulie :D: looking forward to these outfits. Is Joe wearing anything particular? Meredith: you know that man hasn't even put an ounce of thought into that either. He's gonna pack Friday morning when he gets up. Paulie :D: I love it. Josh: Reasonable. Meredith: Nope. I here, okay. I'm gonna place my bets because I know he won't listen to the episode before we go. He is going to take his Lewis Hamilton t-shirt, the my helmet pocket tee with the Lewis Hamilton on the back. He is going to take his Lewis Paulie :D: Yeah. Meredith: Hamilton Cowboy 44 shirt. he will take a Mercedes jersey tee. And he will wear his denim over shirt like he did last year. He will wear his tan paddock club social hat as much as possible and a black Mercedes hat. Paulie :D: Okay, if this happens, you get an extra 10 points in our standings. If all of those happens, I can't take it back. If Meredith: Done. Recorded. You can't take that back. You can't take that back. Paulie :D: the if all of those happens and you can see here's the problem though, and I wish I could be there. You cannot be an influence on what he wears. Scouts honor. Meredith: No, he's very into his fashion now, so he's he's all on his own. Paulie :D: Yeah, you cannot influence him. If all those things happen, you get an extra ten points. Meredith: Okay, done. I'm here for it. Paulie :D: Done. I wish I had a snub rock Meredith: Okay. Paulie :D: be like, do your thing. Don't let your wife influence you. All right. Meredith: I'm not saying shit. I'm not I won't even address it. And if he asks what what he should pack, I'll be like, pack whatever you want. You've been to a ra you've been Paulie :D: All right. Meredith: you've been to a million races there. You pack what you're comfy in. Paulie :D: I'm gonna trust you, young lady. We need evidence. Can you Meredith: I will I I I will be honest about this. okay, guys, time for track talk. Josh, our resident track Paulie :D: Let's do it. Give us our Meredith: talk nerd, give some track talk, and I have a second part to that because Paulie :D: Mm-hmm. Meredith: I'm going to then tell you after you do track talk, I'm then going to tell you where I felt it was the most challenging parts on the course to drive. Since I've now driven code out. Okay, let's go. Track talk nerd. Josh: Hmm. All right. Paulie :D: fancy. Josh: All right. So Coda's fan it's a fan favorite. It's also a driver's favorite. They really, really enjoy Coda. There's so many different aspects to it. When they designed it, they took pieces from circuits all around the world that are, you know, favorite pieces. and kind of threw them all together and created one track. It's great layout, it's it's an incredible three and a half miles. well known for that big first turn left hander, damn near on top of a mountain, right? It's it's unbelievable how steep it actually is until you see it in person. It is absolutely nuts. There's no way that you can see a breaking zone coming up there. So great spot for an incident in turn one. We've seen the McLaren's hit each other. It's so much fun. it's just a completely blind breaking zone. So super nuts. And then it comes down to the end of the first sector, the the S's another great section. We sat very near the end of the S's through qualifying session last year and saw all Meredith: Hit me up at the cantina on Saturday. Josh: Yeah, the cantina. Isaac Hadjar bent it right in front of us, which is pretty nuts. that was fun. Yes. Meredith: We heard it. I feel like we felt it before we heard it. Because we felt the boom and then we turned and we looked and we're all like Josh: Like, yeah, it was crazy how you could like I guess, you know, it's one thing to like see it on TV, but to actually like hear the impact and to damn near feel it from you know, s hundreds of yards away, probably two or three hundred yards away. Is it's wild how much impact forces there are. So great great section through there. then you got the first little straight coming into the nice breaking zone. There's so many good passing zones at Coda. So I do think that these cars are gonna be well suited for that. 'Cause there's plenty of opportunity to recharge the batteries through the heavy braking zones. big long straight coming down the backside. That's such a fun, very long straight. I'm sure Meredith enjoyed that and her on her drive. and Meredith: I did, very much so. Josh: and then it gets to a technical end of the second and third sector. I love the like the continuous right hander kind of a la turkey. I don't even know what turns those are, but I c I don't remember the numbers, but it's a three right hand turns in a row. It's kind of almost like a big h horseshoe, but you can take it at damn near full speed, well, flat out in a F one car. So that's a great spot to watch, just how those cars just grip the track there. And then there's a breaking zone right there at the end of the end of the third sector getting onto the pitch straight. So we've seen some cr overtakes happen right there at the end of the lap. So it's such a good, good track. I think it's gonna suit these cars a little better than some of the other circuits have. they won't have to be as conservative with their energy deployment. I think they'll be able to be a lot more liberal with it as they can regenerate energy quite a few more Meredith: Yeah. Agreed. Josh: places per lap than I think some other circuits. So I I am hopeful that we get some some good racing this next weekend. So that'll that's that's my little track think. Meredith, I want to hear what you gotta say. You see actually drive it. Meredith: okay, turn one is incredibly fun because what you have to do is when you're going up it, you have to actually come wide at turn one to hit the apex to come down to be in a good position for two. The the turn at turn one is not challenging when you're driving by yourself. I can see with the traffic why it's such a big collision spot. Turn two is really easy, turn three is really easy. where I felt like it was the most challenging was when you come out of five, you have to hit an apex on six to position yourself right to come in on seven. And the most challenging part of the track for me was seven, eight, nine through those little S's, through those bins, because you have to hit those correct apex points and they have it marked with tape and with cones of where you're trying to get out to and when to cut back. In because if coming out of nine, you're not in a good spot coming around a 10, then you're absolutely fucked when you get to 11 to turn around to come to the back straight. The back straight was my favorite part, obviously. You know, just being able to go flat out full straight, plenty of room for overtaking down the back straight. I expected that, like coming in through like 12 through 15, like through that little through the turn 15 little S's right there. I expected that that would be really challenging. Again. Not as challenging as I thought. You just have to be careful Paulie :D: Okay. Meredith: and hit your apexes there. The other second spot of the track that I felt was challenging was coming out of turn 16, which is right after those little S's at turn 15. When you come out of turn 16, you have to hit it wide at 16 and 17. And then you have to cut in down at 19 to be able to hit the apex to come around to hit that back straight at 20. So the sticky, sticky spots for me were like coming out of six through nine, and then again at sixteen through nineteen. Because if you can get a good position coming out of turn nineteen and into twenty to come in on that back, you've got a massive opportunity between turn twenty and turn one, which like if it's close, that could get super exciting. So those are the spots that I like that I it makes me love where we sat last year more over by the cantina. And that's definitely where we plan to be for Saturday again. it's yeah, I just think it's so exciting and so fun. It makes me want to stay on Friday. You know, we went out on Friday, we did the fan zone stuff, and then we went out to the ranch on Friday. I think Friday will probably just stay more over at that turn 16 area that had that little open hill general admission right there coming out behind that bridge, you know. I think I'll Josh: Mm-hmm. Meredith: probably stay more over there this year on Friday just to like be a little bit closer, minimize my walking time and to be able to see a little bit more on track action there during free practice sessions on Friday. Because now that I've done that spot, now I want to see them do it and see how much better they are. Paulie :D: Does that make you appreciate what they do a little bit more? I mean you had to hit it for a couple Meredith: a million percent. Paulie :D: of a couple of laps. These guys have to hit it for 59 laps, pristine. Meredith: yeah. Yeah, I mean a million percent. You know, only only having gone through it with four laps. I was like, holy shit, you know, you get out and your my neck was like stiff and it's you know, it's not like I was even like I was doing, you know, like fucking fifty-three through the S's, you know, nothing. Back straight, I Paulie :D: How fast did you hit that? Meredith: got up to like one forty one or one forty three or whatever. Then I was like, I was excited about that. But you know, like it's you you have like you have a massive appreciation for it once you see how fast they're able to do it. It's insane. Paulie :D: Yeah, that's incredible. Meredith: Let's talk predictions. And it's been a minute since we were all on one on Paulie :D: boy, I'm not even remotely ready. Meredith: predictions. So I I will when we come back next week, I will I will have our the last time we updated was we had Baku predictions. So we had after hungry, we had Josh with 12 points, me with 10, Paul with one. But we had our Baku predictions that we never did, as well as Malaysia predictions that we never did. So I will total all those up for next week. But Josh, since the last time we scored up, you were in the lead. I will come to you first. What are your podium and shocker predictions for this weekend? Josh: Yeah, it's tough 'cause it I mean it seems like what's like we talked about last couple episodes, the the top four are kind of interchangeable in a lot of ways, right? It doesn't seem like anyone has a clear nose in front. It does seem like Red Bull's very strong right now. Max is Meredith: Mm-hmm. Josh: finding that car drivable. he's just finding a lot of pace. We saw that this last race at Singapore, right? He was just far and away dominant. Just he got out in Meredith: Just Josh: front. Was like at one point he was like fourteen seconds off, you know, the next t to Charles. So just a just a wild amount of pace that they found, but but that's not to say that they get to this next race and just Mercedes takes off, you know? So I personally am just gonna go with my gut a little bit more than Meredith: Okay. Josh: I'm gonna go with like the last statistics because if I was gonna just go with statistics, I'd probably pace Max one, but I'm not gonna do that. I feel like it's too easy. So I'm gonna go Kimmy one, Max two, Charles three. And I really wanted to put a McLaren in there, but I really just think they're just I don't know what they're doing right now. Meredith: Okay. And what's your shocker? Josh: Let's go. Paulie :D: Doo doo Josh: Let's go Paulie :D: doo. Josh: Yeah, I know, right. I would like to pick something that's not just super overt. There will be a teammate collision at some point in the race. Meredith: Okay. Paulie :D: Time button Josh: I feel like it there's each team is so close together. It's just the only we saw so many what team Meredith: All right, Paul, who you got? Yeah. Makes it fun. Paulie :D: I bet Josh: there like last week there Ocon and Oakon and Behrman were like going at it. The Ferrari's always close. Meredith: You mean O'Connor Higong? Josh: Yeah the Higong. Paulie :D: I think I think Meridi Meredith: Hang on. Paulie :D: should go next 'cause I'm left in points. I should go last. Mainly 'cause I haven't thought it this through very good. Meredith: Okay, I had Kimmy, Lando, George, and my shocker is both Red Bulls and both hosses in points. Paulie :D: Okay, you you put this y y Meredith: I have to give Paws some home team love. This is their home race. I gotta give love. Paulie :D: You did this way quicker than I thought you were going to. Meredith: Also, I thought I thought about just throwing a Cadillac in there for bones just because I love the new livery, but I'm a realist. Alright, you got this, Paul. Paulie :D: All right. I got let's do Max Charles. Meredith: Okay. It did feel wrong not putting Paulie :D: I think b Meredith: Charles in my podium at Coda, but I just couldn't. Paulie :D: I think both Cadillacs finish the race. And double points for our pin. Josh: think you'll get the Alpine one. I don't think Cadillacs will finish. It's so hot. Meredith: Yeah. And there it's been like Paulie :D: Listen. Meredith: the the brakes have been overheating. That's been the big issue. Both Williams Josh: Yeah. Meredith: and Cadillac have had huge, huge issues with brakes heating. Paulie :D: It's gonna happen. It's gonna happen. Meredith: Well, that is a wrap on our Coda Prediction episode. I will miss you both dearly. I'll be sending pictures and videos as available because as you know, that is where cell service goes to die. So y'all will get things when I get home from the track. But I you're there with me in spirit. It's like I feel like I need to make little flat Stanleys of both of you. Just little Paulie :D: Yes, you you Josh: You shouldn't. Paulie :D: a hundred percent should. We're we're here in spirit. Meredith: I'll drink beverages for you, but I'll update you guys. And then we will be back on next week to record debriefing coda, talking all things fun and getting ready. We have a, do we have another, do we have a break after this or another triple header? No, we go to we go to Mexico City next weekend, don't we? Yeah. Okay, so we will be Josh: Hmm. Yeah, I was gonna say we got the North American leg here. Paulie :D: I th I think it just I think it's just Meredith: back on next week to talk All Things Coda weekend and do our predictions for Mexico City GP. And we hope you all have an awesome rest of your week and we will talk to you soon. Bye, everybody. Josh: See ya. Paulie :D: Later.