Latest / Throttle to the Floor Podcast / Ep. 89 - NASCAR (Fall Talladega) + F1 (COTA) Recap

Transcript

Ep. 89 - NASCAR (Fall Talladega) + F1 (COTA) Recap · Throttle to the Floor Podcast

0:24
SPEAKER_01: Hey y'all, welcome to tonight's episode of the Throttle For Podcast.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Will Ernest, here tonight with my guest, Ethan Wolf.
0:31
SPEAKER_02: How's it going?
0:33
SPEAKER_01: That's doing good.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: I got a good sized episode tonight, so let's get right into it.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: But first, if you would like to voice your opinions on what Murder Sports should be covered on the podcast, how the format should work, episode link, and more, check out the Throttle 4 podcast survey that's down in the description below the video, and below whatever audio platform that you may be on.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: It's over it's below any episode.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: So whatever episode you choose to watch or listen to, it's available down in the description below.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: But on to the other news.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: WRC The World Rally Championship confirms that Knoxville will be the host city for their return to the U.S.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: from August 26th to the 29th next year.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: The ceremonial start will be on Lower Broadway in Nashville with the stages going through eastern Tennessee and eastern Kentucky, although the stage by stage route was not released yet.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to go.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: I want to go so bad, honestly.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I can definitely see why.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that definitely like this first time in a long time BWS hasn't even had a big WRC event here.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, since 1988 to the uh Olympus rally in Washington.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: So it's been a while.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I just want to go jump out.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: I just want to go drag myself to the woods and go watch a screen by IndyCar finally released the other half of their 2027 schedule.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: Barcelona, Spain has been confirmed for July 18th of next year, which that's good.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: But getting rid of Nashville to do it, absolutely awful.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: We need more Oval's IndyCar, not less.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: And really just more events in general.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: 17 events is not enough.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, even off uh off podcast, me and you were talking about potentially hearing about Texas maybe coming back.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: So now to see them sho like kind of shockingly remove Nashville like that, what?
2:22
SPEAKER_02: I don't get it.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: Like we told like there was rumors that we could have added Texas and added an oval, and instead we have now one less oval.
2:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what is it now?
2:30
SPEAKER_02: Well, obviously Indy, and uh the only other one is Milwaukee, if I'm not mistaken.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: It's um there's five ovals indie, the Milwaukee double header.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: So I guess there's that's two over races on the same track, and then Phoenix and Gateway.
2:46
SPEAKER_02: Phoenix Gateway, right?
2:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: Should be Nashville, should also be Texas, but whatever.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: Also, Washington, DC is expected, will not return as that was just a one-off event.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: Although I will say they did try to make it a multi-year deal.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, for how slap-dashed it was over the like six months it took after they announced it back in like February or maybe it was January, but like for how little time it was to actually prepare, it really wasn't that bad.
3:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it was a good it was a good race.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: I mean, in terms of our picks too, Kyle Kirk would want to get me out.
3:28
SPEAKER_02: Um in terms of the actual race and how well it was set up for only a six-month window, like you said, I think it was really impressive on their part.
3:41
unknown: Yeah.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: Also, it was just confirmed today that Clay's McFrullin and Squirrel McNug will both drive full time in Arca next year.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: Kledas for Richard Tillis racing the 33 and Squirrel for Rick Jones racing in the zero.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: Man, I mean, this is gonna put some big eyes on Arca for sure.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, full time for the both of them.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Arca's practically gonna triple in popularity overnight.
4:07
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Kletus already doing the part-time, like I definitely believe he like he's already put butts in seats, but him doing full time with Swirl now, like in a kid bit.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: And the best part is the 20 Arca events, it doesn't even conflict with any of his other stuff.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: So, like all his um other events in the Freedom Factory, like everything else will still go on a schedule, so it doesn't even affect any of that.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: So it's definitely gonna help a lot for Arca, and then like he's still gonna run, I think, like four O'Reilly's events and maybe some truck races too.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, Cletus is definitely helping.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean, whether you like him or not, I mean, he's not exactly pulverizing in a bad way, he's just pulverizing in a good, like non-experienced kind of way.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: It's like he's like almost kind of like a really smart dog, just doesn't really know what's going on, but happy to be there, happy to learn, happy to give experience.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: But yeah.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: But it definitely um it definitely puts butts in seats for sure.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: Definitely draws eyes to Arca and even trucks on rise whenever he runs.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's the same way how Postmark draws eyes to in the cup, Carl, though he's like the opposite of Cleus just drives aggressive and on to F1 now.
5:29
SPEAKER_01: Formula One was back in the U.S.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: this weekend in Austin, Texas Circuit of the Americas.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: But some things seem to just never change in Formula One.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: We see another Kimmy Antonelli victory.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: This one coming from the pole on a one-stop strategy.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: Over 13-second victory over Charles Slayer in second, Max Rerstappen rounding up the podium in third.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: It's Kimmy's ninth Grand Prix victory of the season as he needs just two points, a ninth or better this weekend in Mexico City to lock up the World Drivers Championship at just 20 years old, which would make him the youngest F1 champion by a long shot.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: Sebastian Veto's first title in 2010 at just 23 years old is the current record holder, but Kimmy Antonelli's on fire.
6:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it sure looks like that record is going to change as much as I love Vettel.
6:20
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Kibi's just been on another level this season, and the only two people mathematically who are still tech well, quote unquote idiot are George ironically, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton teammates.
6:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: Mercedes.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: But man, yeah, just this.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: But man, Kimmy has just been like on another level this season.
6:52
SPEAKER_02: I know, I know a lot of people did not have him as the pick to win the world championship.
6:57
SPEAKER_02: Everyone thought, oh, George is gonna, George's got the best car, George is gonna win.
7:00
SPEAKER_02: And then Kimmy's just kind of snuck up on everybody.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: But F1 isn't the only title that's almost certainly locked up, but more than that a little bit.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: Um Talanega wise, we'll start with the trucks.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: The big storyline was the tires in this truck race, but they were it's like they were familiar tires, so it's not like that was the issue.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: But the real issue, um, MRN mentioned this on the live broadcast.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: All the cut tires, it came from lap 36.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: Ben Rhodes' right side window blew out and it shattered, which those shattered pieces of plexiglass is what caused all the flat tires.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: That's why all those tires got flat and cut, and there was tons of problems and stuff.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: It's because just it's just because of shattered plexiglass, that's all it was.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm a little bit surprised uh that NASCAR did not catch that going through there.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: Not even just like the pieces of debris themselves, but the fact that something had flown off had broken there.
7:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean they probably realized it and tried to um get it up with all the sweeper trucks and stuff that they have, but I don't know.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: They'd probably just missed it.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, you know, small shattered glass from a clear right side window off a truck, I mean, that's not exactly the easiest thing to see.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's fair.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: It's not as clear cut as one piece of debris.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's probably there was probably hundreds of pieces on the tracks.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: But they they tried.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they at least tried.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: You also have the big wreck to end stage one with Stuart Friesen cutting a tire in the middle of the pack, which took out guys like Tony Stewart and Clear Sunfarl in early, which was also just rough.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Stuart coming back after he ran back in February, Daytona, and then Cleus making just his, I think, third trap start after also Daytona in February, and then Michigan in June.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Stewart's done with NASCAR, because to be honest, he only came back just for that 25 truck, and just because he has such a good relation with Dodge and Ram from him driving an ISRA, because you know he's affiliated with them, so yeah, I wouldn't be shocked to see him return, honestly.
9:16
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I was surprised he even came back uh for Telling.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:21
SPEAKER_02: Like in the first place after Daytona, but especially after Tallaga.
9:26
SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, I would be very, very surprised to see Tony come back at all.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and his media interview, like he did the TV interview and the radio interview, and then like he just left.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: He didn't even do the other ones.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: So I wouldn't be surprised if he's done.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it was Sammy Smith on the same day that he announces he's going to Tricon Garage full-time in the trucks next year, gets his first career truck wimp while driving Spire Motorsports 7 truck, Tyler Inc.
10:00
SPEAKER_01: from second, Austin Green third, and Spire 77 truck.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: So Spire first and third at Talladega, which is just wild.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: And I mean both of their trucks have been really good.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: They made the um they made the chase and the owner's points for the truck series, just for how well they've done in both those trucks.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, very good day for Spire throughout.
10:23
SPEAKER_02: Um like the fact that they had both their trucks up there and managed to keep them clean for that long is very impressive to me.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: And first win for obviously first win for that seven trucks since Kyle Bush back at Dover and Smith.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: It seems like no matter who's in either of those trucks, they always just run it, they run fast and they run up front.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I'm curious how good they would be if they had somebody full-time in one of those trucks.
10:52
SPEAKER_02: How could they be there?
10:54
SPEAKER_02: But I'm curious to see how Sammy Smith does at Tricon.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: I think that's a really good thing.
10:59
SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be interesting.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious how uh Dawson Sutton's gonna do in a Tricon truck full-time because Dawson Craig, I think.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh Dawson Sutton, um, his family on team, yeah.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: His family on team Rackley Ward just shut down, sadly, after Talladega.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious um how he's gonna do a TriCon um next year.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: It's an interesting combo.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be yeah, it's gonna be a very interesting combo because we know uh Honeycutt's coming back and Logero's coming back, and then I think their fifth truck the one truck will still be like a part-time, like kind of all-star truck, like the five truck also was this year.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be very interesting to see.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: Um speaking of truck, Honeycutt was in fifth, um, just behind Time Jeski in fourth from the pole.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: Honeycutt still leads the standing sleeping lane rights by 43 points in the point standings after Riggs uh finished in eight.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: Only the top five in truck points can now win the championship with just two races left.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, yeah, but let's be real, it's probably just gonna be honeycutt and riggs.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: Let's be real.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, we've kind of known for a good number of weeks now that it was just gonna come down to Honeycutt and Riggs to win this title.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: Um our picks in the standings, I still need the truck points by 73 over Evan, 89 over Haley, 125 over Stacey.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: I can cleanse the truck's title if my lead's 87 or more after Martinsville.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, that's not a that's obviously not a guaranteed thing, but there there's there's a decent chance I can do that.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: Um's 299 back, Saints 319 back, Ethan your 348 back, and Bernard's 390 back.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: So you all y'all are kind of close together.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not last anymore.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're not last anymore.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: Good job.
13:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, picks-wise, I picked Gio Rogero.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: I won stage one, and I'm like, yay! And then he promptly broke.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: Um he broke his transmission.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: He was stuck in reverse on the pit stop immediately after.
13:17
SPEAKER_01: So I ended up like 25th.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: But the stage win definitely helped salvage um my day.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: Edwin with Chandler Smith, 14th.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: Came back from two laps down after having a cut tire.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of guys that had a cut tire, of course.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: Um thanks to Ben Rhodes, which Haley picked Ben Rhodes and ended up 17th.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, Stacy with Brent Henfinger rectanged up 24th.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: Noah with Dawson Sutton speaking of which, um, he led a lap and got the fastest lap as well.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: So practically War went out.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: All right.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: They didn't quite go out with a win, but they went out the fastest lap.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: They did something.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:54
SPEAKER_01: They at least led one more lap.
13:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, Ethan, you had Lane Riggs, ended up eighth.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: You you survived.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: You were the best of us survivors.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, and Zayn with Christian Eckis and 21st.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: I think I think Eckis also had a cut tire as well.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: It's probably easier to list off who didn't have cut tires than who had cut tires.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: But man, the O'Reilly's race.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: Holy moly, that was a snooze fest.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, everyone was just content with just riding around on the top to secure a top ten instead of going for broke like they should have.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we had a whopping one DF in the O'Reilly's race.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: One.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: And it was just Jake Finch wrecking by himself with 10 to go.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's I mean, that's just embarrassing.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: It reminds me, it reminds me back of uh Tony Stewart speaking of him uh again back in the spring of 2012 at Talladega when he famously said, uh, oh, we need to extend this race till we crash at least 50% of one of these cars.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know if it needs to go that far, but like, I mean, it should not be a single file freight train.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: And of course, at the front of that single file freight train was Junior Motorsports with another blockade, which they quite literally rode with to victory.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: No, literally, last slap, backstretch.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: When everybody normally is, you know, going crazy, you know, with three wide, like, oh, they shoot to the bottom.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: Nah, nah.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: It's just single file on the top.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: Sam Mayer's the only one that tried, and he just falls back on the inside by himself.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: Nobody went with him, not even his own teammate, Sheldon Creed.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: Everybody else was just content to ride around, and then Sammy Smith won the race off of turn four, and that's basically it.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, nothing else happened, but good for Sam Mayer for at least trying.
15:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, respect the mayor, really straightforward.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: A for effort.
15:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, A for effort.
15:41
SPEAKER_02: The whole um, not necessarily how the finish turned out, but the single file line, the free train, bullet train up top, for lack of a better term.
15:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, it kind of reminds me almost of like the the late 2006 finish that Teleda, all those guys up in a bullet train going right to the wire, waiting to the last lap to make a move.
16:03
SPEAKER_01: I do, yeah, I can bear that, yeah.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: But um, after all that trash, it was Sammy Smith picking up his second win in as many days after winning the truck race the day before with his first win since Brock and 2025, which if you remember, that was just because Jesse Lempka disqualified.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: And before that, it was the same volatile that he raced in 2024.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: So maybe full-time track is a good idea for Sammy Smith.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: It feels weird because I used to live in Iowa and he's from Iowa.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, his first win at Phoenix in, I think it was 23.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, he was still in high school out of Johnston High School, which is like three hours west of where I used to live in central Iowa.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I don't know.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, second win at Taladegas, we mentioned the fall 24 race.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then his fourth career win, keeping it technically technically it keeps his very minimal Chase hopes alive, as now only the top seven in the standings are still alive.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: But let's be real, Sammy Smith is not winning this O'Reilly's championship.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: He ain't no.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: The standings are still pretty tight, though.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: Um Love's still leading by 19 points over Algar, 29 points over 40 day, and by 50 points over free with just two races left.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: So I mean the Orioles title is still decently competitive, at least.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I mean, unlike the other two um standings, other two series standings, you can kind of tell like that it's pretty much wide open for anybody at this point.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the truck series, like we mentioned earlier, it's pretty much just down to honeycut and rigs.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: We've known that for a while, and then oh, we'll get to the cup standings later.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the cup standings were wide open, but a certain somebody shut the door.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: And I wouldn't even say shut the door, slam the door.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: With us already.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: Um Sammy Smith becomes the first non-cup driver to sweep the truck in a rallies races in one weekend since the late Greg Biffle did it at Phoenix back in 2001.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: If you're thinking, oh, Greg Biffle was a cup driver, well, remember he was a rookie in 2003, so this is before he got to cup, but um yeah.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Carson Cropple second, he led 67 of the 94 laps.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: That just tells you something.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: When somebody leads like two-thirds of a super sphere race, like something's up.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: Like either, like either, like either they just had a great car and nobody could pass him, or it was just a freight trade.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: And in this case, it was a freight trade.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, Love ends up third, Justin Augar fourth, Preed in fifth, Mayer would be in the top five if uh he didn't get abandoned and neglected on the backstrips of the last lap.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Um picks and standings-wise.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, I did pick Mayer, if you couldn't tell.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: I ended up 13th after all that.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: And with Stacy's win with Sammy Smith, uh, my once larger writers lead is now down to just a single point.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Not 10, not 11, not 110, 1.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: Uno, not good.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: Haley's still technically alive as well.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, 146 back, Evans, 351 back, Bernardo's 603 back, Zayn, 621 back, Noah's 695 back, Ethan, uh, you're 771 back.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: You you got work to do.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: It's not impossible, but you got work to do.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: You might finish last.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: I need to find that gold horseshoe.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: A gold horseshoe that somebody might have, but we'll get to that in a minute.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: Um Evan with Algar ended up in fourth, just another junior murder sports blockade.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Uh Haley with Roger Carew back in 17th.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: Noah with Brad and Poole in 26th.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: Also got the fastest lap.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: Noah got the fastest lap in trucks and O'Reilly's and did even better in the cup car.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that too.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, Ethan, you had Austin Hill uh in both O'Reilly's and Cup.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: O'Reilly's wise, what happened to him?
20:08
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I get that like nobody wrecked, but how did he end up like 35th?
20:12
SPEAKER_01: I missed that.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: He had been really aggressive all day.
20:16
SPEAKER_02: Like he was I I guarantee you if he were with Sam Mayer on the back stretch, he would have gone with him.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: But he had been like really aggressive, like lane changing all day.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: And then one time he got like he made like a bit of an aggressive move going into turn three, and he got the wall kind of tire and had to go to their move.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that that makes sense.
20:35
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: And especially, and especially with how bad the O'Reilly's race was with no attrition, nobody like he was just screwed.
20:44
SPEAKER_02: Setting up for at minimum a top ten, though.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: Um with Quapple, as we mentioned, they're up second in the most laps.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: Um Quapple should have won that race, but I mean, it's Talladango, so you kind of just throw that out the window pretty much.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, truck race, cut tires all over the place.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: O'Reilly's race, freight trade, cup race.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: At least for stage one, anyways.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, watching this race in person, because I was there for the cup race on Sunday, it was definitely interesting to say the least.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: RFK, they saved stage one by going all out, and at one point was up like 40 seconds on the whole field as they finished one, two, three, and stage one.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: It very much reminded me of 2018 Stuart Haas Fall Talladega.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: That's very much what it reminded me of.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: Man, hopefully it wasn't hopefully it wasn't just me that remembered that.
21:41
SPEAKER_02: No, I no, I was thinking that same thing.
21:44
SPEAKER_02: It was hilarious to watch.
21:47
SPEAKER_02: I mean, obviously, you were there, I was watching from home, but it I it was hilarious to me to watch them do that.
21:52
SPEAKER_02: And like finally, finally, somebody doing something about the field saving.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm sure it was even funnier watching.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Watching it at home on TV, like but um I mean the rest of the field basically ran at like minimum speed.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: Like we've seen bad fuel saving, like half throttle, but they were literally running like quarter throttle.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: They were running like 160 miles an hour.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: NASCAR thought about black flagging the whole field for running too slow.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Like, goodness, like I think to fix this, because we've had this problem for years now.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we've had this problem like pretty much since the next gym was invented, and maybe even a little bit before that.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: We've had this, we've had this problem for like five years now, okay.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: I think to fix this, you have to do multiple things.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: And none of those things involved changing the cars, because we've already changed the cars and we've changed a bunch of other things.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: First, take Ryan Priest's idea and award that money, like I don't know, like five thousand or not five thousand, like five hundred dollars to like a thousand dollars, maybe a little more per lap, but give them give them some monetary uh uh some monetary uh encouragement.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: Go let them lead, you know.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: Second, award points for leading again, like it was back in the Winston Cup days.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: Like, do what we do with our points from the podcast, where we award five points for leading a lap and five more for leading the most laps.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: So it's like not only do you get um monetary incentives, but points incentives as well.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: And third, just take Ryan Blaney's idea from Door Bumper Clear and set like a minimum second lap time.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Elliot, Chase Elliott ran the fastest lap, and it was like a mid like 47-second lap.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: So just run, just do like a 52-second minimum lap time.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, it forces everybody to push hard to not fall off minimum speed, and plus they have monetary and points incentives to already race hard and lead these races, because who wouldn't want to lead to collect the bonus points and the money?
23:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
23:59
SPEAKER_02: Like you would think if they were given something like that, then you know, you gotta keep that up.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: And this is like these fixes are all assuming um NASCAR just doesn't like we're gonna assume in this scenario NASCAR doesn't just scrap the stages entirely because we've seen how uh picky they've been about keeping that.
24:21
SPEAKER_02: But obviously, the best scenario for this is just get rid of the stages entirely on super speedways, but these three scenarios like this giving monetary and um points encouragement definitely help them matter.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: For sure.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, like, you know, just having the monetary and points incentives, you know, you're naturally gonna have people race hard because they're like, I want to lead, get bonus points.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: It can affect the championship.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: And then it just naturally increases the action.
24:51
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to spend millions and do millions of dollars on making changes to the car or to the engine or the spoiler or the restrictor plate, the taper spacer, the tires, the track, repaving the track.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: You know, like you don't have to change anything big like that.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we've done that at some form or another, at just about every track on the schedule, nearly for the last 40 years.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, speaking like super spill-wise, I mean, like, if we did those three changes, I mean the minimum second lap time and adding in additional points, that cost nothing.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: And then the monetary value, I mean, if you did like$500 or$1,000 per lap, I mean, you're talking like, you know, that's only about another$90,000 to$180,000.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Which sounds like a lot until you realize that it costs tens of billions of dollars to test a car and parts for it and all these different changes.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, you know, it's only it could only cost you like between$100,000 to$200,000, you know, just to add in lap money if you choose to do that, and then the points incentives and the minimum second lap time you can just do without money, and you could just do that instantly.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, you wouldn't have to work on car parts and or do like a track repave or like do things and develop things that take months to do when you could just do those three changes overnight.
26:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a simple fix when it comes to that.
26:35
SPEAKER_02: Don't make it complicated, don't waste your time and the money.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: But uh enough of that.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Stage two was fine, it mostly set up towards the end of this race.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: You of course had the first big one on the back stretch after Bubble Offs made contact with Blaney, which sent him around and took him out along with other chase contenders, Tyler Rarrick and Chase Elliott.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: They would finish 38th or 36th through 38th respectively.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: Joey Logano would win stage two, and it looked all good for him until stage three happened.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: Coming to five laps to go, Carson Ozpark does well, but then post-part things.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: Makes a little contact with Logano.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Logano's car doesn't take it.
27:11
SPEAKER_01: It sends him around.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: He ends up flipping, and he skidded on his roof past start-finish.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: It was like a thousand feet.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: It was a long skid before finally coming to rest on his roof.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: Luckily, uh Logano and Riley Herbstream, okay, because good lord, Herbst's impact on the inside wall was just brutal.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know if he would have survived with the modern safety equipment that we have today.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: We were talking about that um prior to the episode, but just oof.
27:39
SPEAKER_02: Man, yeah.
27:40
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know watching from home, the first thing USA showed was Logano upside down and trying to get him out.
27:48
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, obviously, like we're worried, but we know that, you know, these guys have betrayed for this type of thing.
27:57
SPEAKER_02: And yes, it was a big hit, but they know like they know what to do, they know what to do with a situation like this.
28:04
SPEAKER_02: When you go back and they show that Riley hit it to the inside, wall, man, that that's really hard to watch no matter what angle you go from.
28:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, the other thing is too, is Logano's flip.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the the thing you want in the safety of a car is crush zones.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: You want to be able to dissipate that energy.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, that's that's the reason why in 2022, when the next gen was first made, especially the rears of the cars, they were so stiff they didn't crush.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: That's what ended Kurt Bush's career.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: That's what gave Bowman a concussion.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Cody Ware, I think, had that injury as well.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's why we had those injuries with the next gen back in 22 when it was first made, because the rear of the car was so stiff, and then they changed it, which made it better.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: But like, just speaking from in general, just a physics standpoint, when you're like Logano, when you're flipping, you know, you're flipping, you know, you're gradually slowing the car down, you know, tumbling.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: Or I guess in his case, he didn't tumble, he like flipped over, but like he hit the wall and then flew through the air, like, and then on his roof and he's just skidding slowly, coming to a stop, you know, it dissipates that energy slower.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, you know, that energy has to go somewhere.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: Some of it goes to the ground, some of it goes to, you know, Logano.
29:23
SPEAKER_01: But in Herp's case, you know, he hit the outside wall, and obviously the safer barrier, thank God the safer barrier is there, it does its job, it compresses, you know, takes some of that energy away.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: But it's a much that in itself is a much more sudden impact.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: And then of course the big one, he came way down to the inside wall and just pounded that thing and came to a stop.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: But that's a much more sudden stop compared to something like Logano's flip or like um Priest's two flips at Dayton.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: You know, like especially like the summer race in 23.
30:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, trust me, that wreck was bad, but you know, Priest tumbled so many times, it dissipated the energy so well.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: You know?
30:10
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's why like head-on collisions like are just so much worse because it's just a sudden stop, versus like you're tumbling through the air and it's just gradual, you know, it's a gradual dissipation of that energy.
30:25
SPEAKER_02: So And even Daryl Waltraps uh at one point, he said always the worst kind of hits that you can take are the sun ones.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: But it's a good thing that they're both okay, but I mean, Herbst uh he had his left wrist wrapped up, but otherwise he seemed fine when he came out of the care center.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: Um Ethan, me and you were talking like um he could we initially thought when we first saw it that he could be almost like injured again.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, okay, well, Herbst is probably done for the year because he missed Daytona back in August because um a uh concussion at New Hampshire the previous week.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: And so I mean we kind of I mean he seems fine, and I think he's good for Martinsville and Homestead the next two weeks to close out the year.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: But we we kind of thought that he could potentially be more injured than he was, and thank goodness he wasn't.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: And it's just the left wrist that's wrapped up, but yeah.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: In addition to Logano, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cynic, they were taken out in that wreck as well.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: And uh, I would be remiss to mention Chris Rebell taking himself out back in stage one, uh spinning coming on to pit road, getting into the wall, and then just having even more issues after that.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: They would end up 34th, 33rd, 27th, and 35th, respectively.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just Bell had such a great chance because remember at that time, it was during the pit cycle, he was leading, coming on to pit road, and then just spun, spun by himself, just locked up, coming too fast.
32:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean, bad day for all the chasers.
32:09
SPEAKER_02: I mean, and you look at them with the bad day, like almost none of them were self-inflicted, with the exception, obviously in this case being Bell.
32:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:21
SPEAKER_01: But um, then we get to the overtime restart.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh oh boy, you know, like 30 laps prior in the stands, I had called it Hendrick and the Chevrolets.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: They were just gonna parade around to the victory if no one did anything.
32:35
SPEAKER_01: And well, as it turns out, after the race, I found out that the other Chevrolets had team orders to help Kyle Larson, apparently.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: That that's kind of important.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: But last lap, Larson gets shoved to the middle out of the lead by Austin Hill, which Ethan, I hate to say it, but went below double yellow line and um ended up losing power in the trial.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: That's what ended up happening, and um he ended up 14th, which if NASCAR would have penalized him officially, he would have ended up in the same spot.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: So that's why they didn't say anything.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: But um Larson fell all the way back to 11th by turn three, with Ricky Stenhouse leading.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: And then Larson in half a lap just drove by everyone for the win.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: But here's the thing Larson went under the WLI in the trial, no doubt.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: But he was already past Todd Gillen and didn't pass teammate William Byron ball below it, therefore, no positions gained, no penalty.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: The T Mortar's part, NASCAR claimed they looked at the SMT data and said everyone was going full throttle, you know, nobody hitting the brakes at the last second, let Larson win.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, they never actually showed us the SMT data.
33:47
SPEAKER_01: So, like I'm not saying I'm not saying, you know, I'm not saying they let Larson win, but I'm also not not saying that.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'd like to actually see the SMT data and get some like conclusive evidence, but Yeah.
34:06
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not one to typically put on the tinfoil hat, but I mean that the I am saying that this whole situation does look just a tiny bit suspicious.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, but like this is it's it's multiple super speedways now, just numerous races.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the double yellow line, it's just it's it's I would honestly go out and say it is the worst rule that NASCAR ever added.
34:33
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, I get it, like their thought process being safety-wise after the death of Dylan Hart, but it's like it's all it's caused is controversy.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: That's all it causes, is just controversy after controversy after controversy.
34:47
SPEAKER_01: It seems like every other super spirit race we go to, somebody violates the double yellow line, and it's a controversial call that NASCAR has to make, and we debate about it, and chances are NASCAR ends up making the wrong call.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: And it's like if you think about it, the double yellow line, it just constricts the track and it makes it to where more cars are in a tighter space, more likely for wrecks and carnage, and arguably making it more dangerous, if you think about it from the driver's perspective.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: So I I just I still don't know why the double yellow line rule exists.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: NASCAR can't even get it right, they can't officiate things properly.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, Hill is below the double yellow line.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he ended up where he should have been, but I mean, if he didn't lose power in the triangle, then we'd probably be talking about Hill winning.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: And imagine if NASCAR didn't call the double yellow line penalty.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: Like, they wouldn't have called it like, oof.
35:48
SPEAKER_01: And like Fault Talladega 2020, Denny Hamlin's car was completely below the Well line, no penalty.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: But Matt De Benedetto touches William Byron just below the Well line, same corner at the exact same time, De Benedetto gets a penalty.
36:03
SPEAKER_01: And it's like none of these calls are just accurate.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: Of course, Regan Smith got forced below the WL line by Tony Stewart in 2008.
36:11
SPEAKER_01: Then they gave Regan Smith the penalty, and it's like, uh, but Stewart forced him below the line.
36:18
SPEAKER_02: Like Yes.
36:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:21
SPEAKER_02: To me, I'm like, if you're gonna keep that rule in place, if you don't absolutely don't want to budge on it, like at least learn to consistently freaking enforce it.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, but NASCAR's never been consistently enforcing about really any rule.
36:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the WL line rule for sure is like the number one thing.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, there's plenty of other times NASCAR has just been turning a blind eye and just so inconsistent about rules and stuff.
36:50
SPEAKER_01: I mean, team orders-wise, who remembers when Chevy had team orders and set up a blockade at Martinsville in the fall of 24?
36:58
SPEAKER_01: They got fined and penalized for it.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: Why didn't they get fined and penalized at Talladega?
37:02
SPEAKER_01: Ooh, teams are teams are supposed to work together.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, not team orders.
37:07
SPEAKER_01: Maybe like teammates and like getting on to pit road, but not team orders to let somebody else win.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: Let the points layer win.
37:17
SPEAKER_01: Like, and I mean yeah, and the top six were all Chevies.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: It's the first time a manufacturer, any manufacturer in any cup race has swept the top six finishing positions since the fall Phoenix race in 2013.
37:34
SPEAKER_01: Like it's just a little suspicious.
37:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:39
SPEAKER_01: Just a little bit.
37:41
SPEAKER_01: And it's like But NASCAR's not gonna do a thing about it.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: No.
37:46
SPEAKER_01: And it's like some of the calls they got right, some of them they got wrong.
37:52
SPEAKER_01: And sure, you know, sometimes, you know, you're always gonna have times where you get calls right and you get calls wrong, but it's like they're just their officiating is so inconsistent.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: It it's getting old at this point.
38:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
38:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, seeing it year after year after year with it, so yeah, and seeing it all pretty quick.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's like it seems like every two or three super serial races, there's always something that happens.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Atlanta in July, Bob Wallace went below the double yellow line, got penalized.
38:23
SPEAKER_01: Was he plenty below the line?
38:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, his whole car was below the double yellow line.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: It was a good thing they called that as a penalty.
38:28
SPEAKER_01: But Larson was below the line, and yeah, he didn't pass anybody.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: So I'm glad they called it a no penalty.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: But like, we've seen other times where people have been below the double yellow line partially, or in Hamlin and Volatile 2020 fully, and like it doesn't matter whether it's your whole car or part of your car, or like, oh, the whole tire has to be under like, no, it it doesn't matter.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: If you go below the double yellow line to advance your position, or if you force somebody below the double yellow line, you will be penalized.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: It's not that hard.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: It's black and white, or at least it should be black and white.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
39:13
SPEAKER_01: Of course it's not.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's what the rule is.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: It's not, oh, your left side tire has to be below the double yellow.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: No, it doesn't matter.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: If you go below the double yellow line and advance your position, you'll be penalized.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: It shouldn't be that hard to officiate.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: But NASCAR is just they just really love making things a pay when it comes to officiating.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: Ain't that the truth?
39:37
SPEAKER_01: But regardless, um, Kyle Larson is your winner.
39:40
SPEAKER_01: Getting his first win on a super speedway after 59 tries.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: Wow, do I look like an idiot after last week?
39:48
SPEAKER_01: No super speedway wins.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: Larson's not great on super speedways.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: All right, yeah, thanks.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, his third win of the year, all in the chase.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Tony Stewart 2011.
40:03
SPEAKER_02: Definitely looking like that guy.
40:06
SPEAKER_02: I'll leave it a cut, I'll leave it and give myself a bit of blame, too, because I said this was the type of time where Larson has struggled, and this is where the rest of the chase needs to take advantage of it, and and Larson's the one stepping it up, if anything.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, we knew that Larson was going to be good at the three straight mile and a halves, Kansas, Vegas, and Charlotte.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: He won Kansas, finished second at Vegas, and finished sixth at Charlotte.
40:37
SPEAKER_01: And then we knew that Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville, Larson has struggled, and we knew that um Penske was good at all three of those tracks, and we knew that the other chase contenders had to capitalize.
40:48
SPEAKER_01: They capitalized at Phoenix, that's for sure.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: Larson ended up wrecking.
40:51
SPEAKER_01: It was the first time he finished worse than sixth, all chase long, and going into Talladega, we had the top seven, all within 56 points of each other.
41:01
SPEAKER_01: Larson, we knew had no super speedway wins at the time, was not great on super speed wings.
41:07
SPEAKER_01: Bell just had the one win at Atlanta last February and otherwise wasn't great.
41:12
SPEAKER_01: But like Briscoe was the defending fall Talladega winner.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: Reddick had won the 500 in Atlanta back in February.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: Hamlin, Blainey, Lagana, they all had numerous super speedway wins.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: Like it looked like it was gonna get even tighter.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: And we all thought it was gonna get even tighter.
41:30
SPEAKER_01: And we know the super speedways, we have to expect the unexpected, but I guess we didn't expect the truly unexpected.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: Larson getting a super speedway victory.
41:40
SPEAKER_01: And pretty much everybody behind him wrecking, as all of the other chase contenders in the top eight finished 27th or worse, except for Hammond, who finished eighth.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: Which is top seven with 56 points heading into Talladega.
41:58
SPEAKER_01: Now Larson leads Hammond by just or by 73 points.
42:02
SPEAKER_01: Bell by 74, and Briscoe by 79, which is two races left.
42:08
SPEAKER_01: Man.
42:10
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you want to talk about a momentum killer for the rest of the field right there.
42:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean that's that is definitely like I'm not gonna say it is the thing that clinches the championship.
42:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, obviously it's not 100% clinched yet, but it definitely feels like Kyle Larson has slammed the door shut on the chase.
42:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
42:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you want to talk about a championship statement, you want to talk about stepping up to the pressure under the chase format.
42:42
SPEAKER_01: We've seen it before.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Jimmy Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: And now, I mean, that was the last time we saw a back-to-back champion, and Larson is on the cusp.
42:53
SPEAKER_01: If he has a 77-point lead after Martinsville next week, he will be a three-time champ, which we never thought that.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: We never thought Larson would be a three-time champion.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, maybe some people did, but certainly not when he was at Gennassy, that's for sure.
43:07
SPEAKER_01: And it'd be he would be the first back-to-back champions touch Jimmy won five straight.
43:12
SPEAKER_01: But Larson coming into the chase was winless on the year in the seventh seed.
43:16
SPEAKER_01: He hadn't won in a year and a half.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: We thought we almost thought he wouldn't win again.
43:22
SPEAKER_01: At least some people did.
43:23
SPEAKER_01: Or like, you know, and at that point, Hendrick just had the two wins at um both with Elliot at Martinsville in the spring and Texas.
43:35
SPEAKER_01: The lowest amount of wins that Hendrick had in an entire year was four, and that was in 2019.
43:39
SPEAKER_01: Elliott had three wins, and then Bowman had his first win at Chicago in.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
43:44
SPEAKER_01: We all thought Hendrick was gonna shatter that record.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: Well, now Larson's got three wins, and with Elliot's two, they avoid that company low.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: Because now they got five wins as an organization, but I don't know.
43:57
SPEAKER_01: I guess that's the world we live in, I guess.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean.
44:01
SPEAKER_01: Hendrick does know how to capitalize on the chase format.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
44:06
SPEAKER_02: Like you said, definitely see it with Jimmy a time, too.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: But Slurston's 35th grade win.
44:13
SPEAKER_01: It breaks a tie with Kurt Bush and Martin Shurik Sr.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: for 26th all time.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: Wow, it sucks to say that.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah.
44:21
SPEAKER_01: Byron in second, Senthaus in third, Ross Chast in fourth, Cole Custer fifth, and Hosebar sixth.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: As we mentioned, Chevy should be being the top six.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: It's the first time since the fall Phoenix race in 2013.
44:34
SPEAKER_01: Um updated picks and standings.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: I have clinched the Cup Series Championship.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: Wow, it feels good to say that.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: Yay, hooray for me.
44:46
SPEAKER_01: Haley's 228 back, Evans 294 back.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: That's basically, you know, battle for second.
44:52
SPEAKER_01: Um Stacy's 471 back.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: She's locked in the fourth in the standings.
44:56
SPEAKER_01: Ethan, you're 711 back.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: So yay, you'll probably hold on to fifth.
45:02
SPEAKER_01: Goofy.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: Um Noah 822 back, Bernard 844 back, Zayn 919 back, stuck in last.
45:09
SPEAKER_01: Um I picked Hosovar, ended up sixth.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: You know, shout out Tow Truck driver who towed Hosebar back because he mentioned this on his stream, I think last night, but um normally the tow truck driver, they come up and they're like, Oh, are you okay, yada yada?
45:26
SPEAKER_01: And then the tow truck driver's like, hey, we're gonna get you back in the race.
45:29
SPEAKER_01: And they're just they just fly down at like 45, get back to pit road.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: They're passing cars that are trying to limp back, they're all damaged and stuff.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah.
45:39
SPEAKER_01: Hostor doesn't even lose a lap and goes from 24th to sixth in the final two laps.
45:45
SPEAKER_01: So um Evan with Hamlin ends up eighth.
45:52
SPEAKER_01: I really thought we would have seen Hamlin more.
45:54
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, we normally see Hamlin out front of these super speedways.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, to be fair, Hamlet did dodge the two big wrecks, but he was just he was just kind of there.
46:04
SPEAKER_02: I mean.
46:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I know that nose damage he had obviously didn't help.
46:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he did get a little bit of nose damage.
46:10
SPEAKER_02: Where he couldn't really lean out from any attacks.
46:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
46:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, Haley with Elliot ended up 36th, caught up in that first big wreck.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: Did have the fastest lap, but that pretty much just about sealed the championship for me.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, Elliot was running like 10th to 15th all day just in the Hornet's nest, so he kind of really wasn't in the greatest spot.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: But Hostar had a speeding penalty, stage one.
46:35
SPEAKER_01: So I was like nearly two laps down, basically that whole first two stages.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: In like 25th.
46:41
SPEAKER_01: So I mean I wasn't in a great spot either, but you know, Hostfar got his laps back and almost led, didn't quite officially leave, but was up there towards the front, and then it was um dad pushed the Logano that started that wreck, so I'll take a sixth.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: Wasn't quite a win, but I'll take a sixth.
47:05
SPEAKER_01: Stacy with Blaney ends up 38th wrecked out from that uh first wreck, that first big wreck.
47:11
SPEAKER_01: Um Penske, they really needed to capitalize, and instead they all wrecked out.
47:18
SPEAKER_01: Sindric in 27th, Blaney in 38th, Logano I think was 33rd, of course Logano flipped over.
47:26
SPEAKER_01: Um Penske, you know, I mean they were they were decent at Phoenix, but they couldn't close the deal.
47:34
SPEAKER_01: Talladega, they all wrecked.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: So Thursday's Trump Martinsville, maybe.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: I saw this at Lugano's gonna try and become the first to win four short track races in a year since 2007.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: So we'll see if he can pull that off.
47:49
SPEAKER_01: Of course, we know um how good Blaney has been in the fall Martinville race as of late.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: One in 23 and 24, and then finished second to Byron last year.
48:01
SPEAKER_01: Which, yeah, Byron second, just one spot short of a victory.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: He's only got two more races to try and break the regular season champ, uh goes winless the following year trend.
48:13
SPEAKER_01: He's only got two more races to pull it off, but it's yeah.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, Hammond was the regular season champ this year, so we'll see if it continues into next year.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: We know that next year is gonna be Hammond's last year.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: We already know it.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be the end of his contract.
48:29
SPEAKER_01: He's not renewing his contract, you know.
48:31
SPEAKER_01: Just connect the dots.
48:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean yeah.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh Noah with Cole Custer, a fifth place finish.
48:40
SPEAKER_01: Wow, it's a miracle.
48:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:43
SPEAKER_01: It's only his third top five and his eighth top ten in 34 races.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: Oof.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: For context, I have I think 17 top fives, or maybe it's 18.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: But Noah with a fifth place.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: It's the best of all of our picks.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: Um be Cole Custer.
49:05
SPEAKER_01: I did kind of think Cole Custer could have won this race.
49:09
SPEAKER_01: I I had him as my 36th for 36 pick on the NASCAR app, so that turned out pretty well.
49:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's Noah's first top 10 since a seventh with Elliott at Nashville in May.
49:23
SPEAKER_01: Like five months ago.
49:26
SPEAKER_01: So good for him.
49:27
SPEAKER_01: Uh Ethan, as we mentioned, you had Austin Hill again, cup race.
49:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: Tough sights.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: Ends at 14th, loses power on the tribal, could have won, but then NASCAR probably would have hit you with a double yellow line penalty.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what's worse.
49:43
SPEAKER_02: So I I would have taken if it if NASCAR absolutely were going to penalize him, if I knew that was going to happen, then yeah, I would have rather what happened actually happened.
49:53
SPEAKER_02: Because to see that win, especially especially well, you're not a Wush fan, especially to see that win and have it ripped by a double yellow line penalty, that would have been even more gut-wrenching.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean, true, I mean, true, but like normally, like double yellow line penalties, like if somebody goes below the double yellow line and they go and penalize it, like they call it, you know.
50:14
SPEAKER_01: They'll call out the penalty.
50:15
SPEAKER_01: And like, you know, we didn't know that Hill was gonna lose power in the triumph.
50:19
SPEAKER_01: So, like, you know, why didn't they penalize Hill from the get-go?
50:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
50:26
SPEAKER_01: So, like, if he would have won or even finished like second behind Stenhouse, like, would they actually have called the penalty?
50:33
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they would have.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: And that's just another, and that's just another inconsistent officiating call.
50:39
SPEAKER_01: Because, like, it shouldn't take that long.
50:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can see it right on the broadcast feed at your television at home.
50:46
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, you know.
50:49
SPEAKER_01: So, I don't know.
50:50
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's just really bad officiating.
50:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, same with Car Zelich wrecked out in 29th.
50:58
SPEAKER_01: I'll say though, the trackhouse cars were surprisingly quick and up front because Chastain ended up at fourth, and the track house cars for much of the late stages of this race were in the top 10.
51:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, because you had SPG and Zolich also up there in the top 10, and then they got wrecked out with the second bigger one with five to go.
51:16
SPEAKER_01: But trackhouse showed some surprising speed for sure.
51:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh, so that was good for them.
51:24
SPEAKER_01: That'll do it for tonight's episode of Thor 4 Podcast.
51:27
SPEAKER_01: Make sure you tune and listen, watch, and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube.
51:31
SPEAKER_01: Check out the chill photography and Thor 4 Podcast, Instagrams, and TikToks.
51:35
SPEAKER_01: Check out the Thor 4 Podcast survey down in the description below, and we will see you all next time.