Latest / Throttle to the Floor Podcast / Ep. 86 - NASCAR (Fall Las Vegas), NHRA (St. Louis), CARS Tour (Newport) + IMSA (Road Atlanta) Recap

Transcript

Ep. 86 - NASCAR (Fall Las Vegas), NHRA (St. Louis), CARS Tour (Newport) + IMSA (Road Atlanta) Recap · Throttle to the Floor Podcast

• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, welcome to today's episode of the Final Before podcast.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host of the Wilderness here today, just myself, but got a quick Thursday episode, so we'll get right into it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Penn's Oil and Speedway Motorsports signed a new long-term deal to keep the motor oil the entitlement sponsor of the spring Las Vegas race.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Next year will be the 10th year they've been together and the 30th year of Vegas' existence, as the first cup race was held there back in 1998.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Also, some big uh news was officially confirmed a couple days ago.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Casey K has been announced to drive full-time in the trucks next year for Spire Motorsports in their 77 truck.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is definitely interesting, and I'm curious if Kane can go out and win again in the truck because he's got just six previous truck starts over a span of 2004 to 2015.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Six truck starts.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: In those six truck starts, he has five wins, and the exception was a runner-up, which is just incredible.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Although, I mean, I'm not doubting him to win again.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, back in May, he filled in for King's Royal winner Anthony Macrean, picked up his first ever World of Outlaws winning at Williams Girb Speedway in Pennsylvania.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see what he can do in the FedEx truck series.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be weird to say next year.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and some other uh new lawsuit slash other, I guess, Spire Motorsports news.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: The judge in the Spire Motorsports Jokers Racing slash Chris Gabehardt case ordered them to both uh provide each other their final race setups for both last season and this season thus far, along with Spire providing all competition meeting notes from cup races that Gabe heart has attended this season.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like this lawsuit, just like the NASCAR 2311 Front Row Motorsports Antitrust lawsuit that finally settled in trial this January is going to trial as well as there is little desire to settle.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the trial is currently scheduled to begin on February 1st, which is dangerously close to Daytona Speed Weeks, but we'll see what happens.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um iTray listed 12 of their tracks up for auction as their implosion commences onwards.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a whole mess with iTray and whatnot.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Notably, as you know, uh Mapleg Raceway is not on there as they've since reopened under new ownership.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but out of those 12 tracks, it does include Rockingham Speedway as well.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's notable on the NASCAR side of things.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is why Rockingham will not return next year with O'Reilly's or trucks or RP East or whatever um on Easter weekend or at all.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're wondering about Rockingham Dragway across the street, which a couple weeks ago just hosted their first full-fledged NHRA event.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, NHRA owns Rockingham Dragway across the street, IHRA owns Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham Speedway is what's up for auction.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, but the uh it's a public auction and uh all the bids are due by November 17th.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of these tracks were already ran by the NHRA and then closed over the past few years.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Atlanta Dragwa is on that list.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um Heartland Motorsports Park in Kansas is on that list as well.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, just mmm.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see if anybody buys up the tracks.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see if anybody actually wants to restore the tracks or if they just get bought up and then fully demolished and turned into more real estate.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But uh also in WRC News on the heels of an exciting and historic championship last week in Italy.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: The 2027 schedule is out for one, it's the largest schedule since 2008 with 15 events.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: For two, it's the debut of Rally Scotland and the return to UK since 2019.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And for three, and perhaps most importantly, WRC will go back to the United States having the date officially set for August 26th to the 29th of 2027.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's expected to be in stages of eastern Tennessee and Kentucky in the southern Appalachian Mountains, but we'll know more details by the end of this month.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So very exciting there.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh MSA News and another Road Atlanta wreck fest in the Imsa season finale with a record 16 full course cautions.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: The 29th annual Petit Le Mans was finally claimed overall by Porsche as after 21 prior Rolex 24 at Daytona overall wins 20 at the 12 hours of C ring and 19 at the 24 hours of Le Mans.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: They finally claimed the crown jewel they were missing in the race that was inspired by the 24 hours of Le Mans.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know, Petit is just tiny in French, and it's a 10-hour race instead of the full 24-hour race that happens in France.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Lawrence Vanthor, Kevin Estray, and Matt Campbell guided the number 6 Porsche Pensky Motorsport, Porsche 963 to not only the overall victory but also top honors in the Grand Touring prototype GTP class.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: But it was Jack Aiden claiming the GTP drivers championship, his 31 Cadillac claiming the team championship, and Cadillac locking up the manufacturer's title.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Imsa, of course, will return next January with the Rolex 24 festivities at Daytona.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: But on to the Cars Tour, Z Max Cars Tour.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: They raced for the first time at Newport Speedway in Tennessee for the second to last race of the 2026 season.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: In the late model stock cars, it was Caden Quapple grabbing his fourth late model stock car win of the season, sweeping the two Tennessee races after winning at the National Fairgrounds back on April 11th, but more importantly, clinching the Cars Tour late model stock championship for 2026, which is one race to go.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Quopple also becomes the first driver ever to win the late model stock championship in the card store, the Valley Star Crowd Union threatened at Martinsville, and the Virginia Triple Crown in the same season.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: So pretty good there.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um in the pro-late models, there's points later Mason Walters extending his narrow six-point lead with a Newport victory.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't he did not lock up the title but set himself up in a great position in a couple weeks at South Boston for the championship as Walters now leads Connor Jones by 13 points, who finished second on Saturday night behind Walters.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: But Z Max Car Store will conclude their 2026 season on October 17th at South Boston Speedway in Virginia.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: But next year is definitely close as uh well the 2027 Car Store schedule has been released.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we knew that Cladius McFarlane's track, the Freedom Factory in uh Florida would kick off the season February 6th, and South Boston again wraps up the championship on October 16th.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So good to see there.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure why um they're returning they're returning to Newport next year, but it's in late September, so they're gonna have Newport clash with the Valley Star Credit Union 300 in Martinsville.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not really sure why um you would do that scheduling-wise, but whatever.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um on to NHRA.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: NHRA went to St.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Louis this past weekend at Worldwide Technology Raceway for race three of six of the NHRA countdown with the Napa Auto Parts Midwest Nats.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was there last year.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I technically renewed my ticket last year, which is how I got my 75th anniversary ring.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was not able to make it this year, so that sucked.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the third and final leg of three straight weeks to open the countdown, some things just never changed apparently in the NHRA, like in top field where Sean Lane continues to absolutely dominate this countdown in likes we haven't seen since Steve Torrance swept all six races back in 2018.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Langon beat first-time finalist Will Smith, who suffered tire smoke early in the run with a 373-2 at 335.90 miles per hour to score his fourth event win in a row, including the first three races of the countdown, his eighth win this year, and his 30th career win.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: But the point situation is a lot rougher for everybody else at this point as Langan's teammate and reigning world champion Doug Coletta got bounced in round one by Sean Reed, who's a good friend of ours on the Throttle Four podcast, and who's been on a tear lately, making it to back-to-back semifinals at Rocky Ham and now St.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Louis.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so couple that with Langon's fourth straight victory, and Langan now holds a 116-point lead over teammate Coletta and a humongous 225-point lead over Tony Stewart with just three races to go.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's not looking good for the competition.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Langdon is definitely the favorite to pick up his second top field world championship after winning his first back in 2013.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, it's it's not looking good for everybody else.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Which speaking of which, on the funny car side, it was two-time reigning world champion Austin Proc finally collecting his second win of the season after winning in Maryland back in May.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: The funny car field does not want to hear me say that.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um Proc took down his old ride, now driven by Jordan Vandegriff with a 390 with a nine at 332.84 miles per hour to beat Vandegriff's 392.6 at 325.37 miles per hour for career win number 23.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: This win jumps Proc to third in the standings, 106 back of points later, Matt Hagen, who still leads uh Vandegruff by 72 points.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean Proc still definitely has some work to do, but he's back in contention now and could go on a tear in the back half of the countdown to possibly win a third straight funny card title, which if you would have told me that at Gainesville, uh when Proc D ⁇ Q'd at Gainesville to start the year, or if you'd have told me um heading into Chicago, which I did go to Chicago when Proc finally got a round win for the first time this year and made it to the semifinals.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: But if you'd have told me entering Chicago that Proc would pick up would finally pick up a couple wins and be in contention in the back half of the countdown to potentially win a third straight funny car world title, I would have thought you were lying.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because I mean the first like the first five races, Pronc looked absolutely awful.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: D and Q'd at Gainesville, and then four straight first round losses.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: But proc has definitely turned it around.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: In Pro Stock Elite Motorsports, they've also turned it around in the countdown.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's three races in the countdown and three wins.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: This time it was Aaron Stanfield taking out the points leader and his father Greg Stanfield, who won last week in Rockingham.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron went 655-6 at 209.20 miles per hour to win on a whole shot with an 18 reaction time to beat Father Greg's 654-7 at 209.85 miles per hour.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: It gives Aaron Stanfield three wins on the year and 17.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a 17th career win.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Father Greg builds his points lead to 71 points over reigning world champion Dallas Glenn by 81 points over Matt Hartford.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And in per stock motorcycle, it was Gage Herrera collecting his fourth straight win at Gateway, defeating teammate and reigning world champion Richard Gatson with a 671-0 at 200 at 200.98 miles per hour to defeat Gatson's 676-3 at 200.08 miles per hour.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Gatson still has the points laid, but it's now down to just 32 points over Herrera with three races to go.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: So could the Pro Stock Motorcycle World Championship come down to Pomona again?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was so tight entering the N trade finals last year, it was only like a one-point difference, or it might have been a little more than that, but it was less than a round difference, and it was probably gonna come down to whoever went farthest um at Pomona.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: It could have been a winner-take all just like it was with Doug Cleta and Leah Prue in the top field uh championship back in 2023.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: But of course, the NHRA finals at Pomona last year got washed out from existence.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, hopefully that does not happen again.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: But one other notable thing, NHRA in St.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Louis this past weekend, it was on Fox, it was the NFL adjacent broadcast this year.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: It became the second most watched NHRA broadcast in history, pulling in 1.896 million viewers on average.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: But NHRA is off this week.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: However, next week they will conclude the Stampede Speed Festival with um the most or with the event that pulled the most watched NHRA broadcast in history.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was last year's NFL and Fox adjacent broadcast.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals from NS Texas, the fourth of six races in the countdown to the championship.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: But while NHRA doesn't race in Las Vegas for a few more weeks, NASCAR returned to Vegas this past weekend, so we'll move on to them.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Arca West raced Friday night at the Las Vegas Middle Speedway, bull rang the paved short track next to the big mile and a half track for the inaugural Cobbish Classic, and it certainly lived up to his name as Taylor Mayhews scored his first career Arca West victory on a last lap pass, and he didn't even get to qualify in the car either.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: After a broken clutch, so he had a start from the rear of the field and just his fourth Arca West start, but he got the job done.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And crazy enough, it's not only the seventh different Arca West winner in the last seven races, but the last four races have all seen a last lap pass for the win as well.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: So cool to see there.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like in Arca, it's either like a last lap pass or somebody wins from the pole and leads every lap.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, whether it's Arca West, Arca East, or main Arca.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um in O'Reillys, it was the Corey Day shows despite a late charge from Carson Quapple, Day was able to hold him off and literally banged the wall a few times, but kept the car straight um to score the victory, led 136 laps in the process, win number three on the year.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's also his third career win, all of them coming this year after winning at Talladega back in the spring, as well as Doer.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Quapple in second, Jesse Love third, and then Joga's racing teammates Brent Cruz and Taylor Gray, fourth and fifth.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sheldon Creed still leads the O'Reilly series point standings, even though he's leaving Haas Factory team at the end of the year for Sam Hunt racing in a surprising move.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I get why Sam Mayer would want to return to junior motorsports as he's had more success over there.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: But Sheldon Creed leaving for Sam Hunt racing after, I mean, I mean, I would understand if like he did it like heading into this year, but like he's gotten his first three O'Reilly series victories, including just a couple weeks ago at Bristol.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's won two of he won two of the first three chase races.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: He literally leads the O'Reilly Series point standings.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: He might win the O'Reilly Series Championship and then lead to go to Sam Hunt Racing.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Although I guess it's not the first time we've seen an O'Reilly's competition before.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Tyler Reddick won the 2018 championship with Junior Motorsports and then left for RCR and won it again in 2019.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess it wouldn't be the first time, but Creed leads the standings by 19 over Kwople, 21 over Love, and by 30 points over Justin Algayer, who was taken out in the early rec.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Days win launches him up to 5th in the standings, 41 back.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: O'Reilly's championship is looking pretty tight.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty wide open.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, with how narrow the points gaps are.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Cup definitely can't stay the same.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Our updated picks and standings, I still leave the points by 69 over Stacy, 163 over Haley, 356 over Evan, 505 over Bernardo, 635 over Noah, 673 over Zayn, 788 over Ethan.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, picks-wise, I did pick Justin Allgar.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: I thought he was gonna run better, but I also didn't think he would be taken out by Brandon Jones over correcting into me, which it turns out Brandon Jones actually got disqualified from having four lug nuts unsafe and secure.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, but it doesn't really change all that much as he finished th he originally finished 35th, so just bumps him down one spot.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: However, Brandon Jones did score stage points in stage one, so he vacates those as well.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um Evan with Sammy Smith ends up 15th.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Haley with Jesse Love ends up third, Stacey with Austin Hill ends up ninth, Noah with Joey Gase ends up 27th, Ethan with Roger Cruth ends up 11th, leads a couple laps, and Zane with Carson Kwaple ends up second, leading three laps.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: I thought Kwappa would have had it, not only running day down, but also uh Corey Day just hitting the wall.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: I thought Kwapa would have got by it, but nope.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: It just it wasn't there.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, um yeah, that's it there.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um cup side of things, it looked like it would be Joe Gibbs racing show as for the first time ever as an organization.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: They qualified one, two, three, four, but three of them uh they just straight up busted out.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start with Danny Hamlin, who qualified on pole looking for his third straight win in Vegas, and while he controlled the field for about the opening 40 laps, he would spin by himself late in stage one, not drawing the caution, which was interesting at first, but if you think about it, he spun down the track, he didn't hit anything, there wasn't any debris, there wasn't really anybody nearby.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: He got the car fired up again and limped around for the last couple laps of stage one, so there really wasn't a point in throwing the caution.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but due to splitter damage from hitting the apron, that spin, um, or after that spin, he could only get back to 16th place at the end of the day.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then Ty Gibbs, he tried to become the fourth driver to win on their birthday all-time in the NASCAR Cup series.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Kelly Arbor did it twice in 1977, 1983 at North Wolksburg, Atlanta.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: The late Kyle Bush did it twice in 2009 and 2021 at Richmond and Kansas, and Matt Kansas did it once in 2013, ironically, in Las Vegas.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Gibbs turned 24 on race day Sunday, but had a speeding penalty early and ended up in 17th.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Chris Rebell, he looked good early in this race as well, but um in the back half of this race, ended up losing power steering, had to pit to try and correct it, but ended up coming home in 23rd place.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't all loss for JGRs.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Their fourth car driven by Chase Briscoe ran away with this race, leading 175 laps and holding off Kyle Larson, who overcame a 26-second pit stop in stage one.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace for the victory that honestly could save Briscoe's season.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Larson and Reddick ended up crashing coming to the checkered, but they hang on the second and third.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: On top of Larson's bad pit stop to start the race.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Redick, um, just like when he won at work Darlington in the spring, he had to change an alternator mid-race, but managed to recover and challenge for the win.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's Briscoe's second win of the year after winning at Chicago lane back in July, another mile and a half, a seventh career win, and first in Vegas.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: I noticed that uh High Limit mentioned it.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: In March, Corey Day and uh Kyle Larson, they won High Limit features on the dirt track.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um as that was the start of High Limit season, and then they return in October and they both provide exciting finishes for Henrik River Sports.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Corey Day winning the O'Reilly's race, Larson coming up just short in that um Kyle Bush uh Bristol 2007 throwback scheme, which of course uh Las Vegas being Kyle Bush's home track, the Bush brothers' home track.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and they also mentioned, of course, that uh Chase Briscoe, owning Chase Briscoe racing, um Brent Marks not too long ago, won the midweek series title at Kokomo, and then Briscoe goes out and um wins at Vegas.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's been an interesting little stretch.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, High Limit was off this week.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: They returned next week at Lakeside in Kansas City.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: They only got four races left um in their season.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk more next week as Rico Aber could end up clinching the championship after the this weekend, but we'll see.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Getting back to Vegas wise, Austin Cindrick, another great run, picking up 15 stage points and finishing fourth after a second last week in Kansas.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Teammates Ryan Blainey, Joey Logano end up fifth and tenth, so good results for team Pence Count a track type that they aren't particularly strong at.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're not particularly strong on the mile and a half, so they're just waiting until they can get to Phoenix and Talladega and Martinsville.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they're they'll definitely try and make one last push for this championship.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see what they can do.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Also, Carson Osbar for one, he finally got his mail truck that he's been looking for for months.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: But two, despite his helmet blower failing 10 laps into the race, and despite Tabitha being there, he actually runs a clean race and comes home in 12th, which I never thought I'd say that again.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: That that's served a golf clap.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Good job, Osbar.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Larson he goes out and extends his points lead by 40 points over Denny Hamlin after his spin.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hamlin was looking to get his third straight win in Vegas and try and uh flip the script on the points, and instead he ends up in a deeper hole.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And um Larson leads the points by 55 over Bell with the power steering issues.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Bell with the win goes to s or excuse me, Briscoe with the win goes to sixth in the standings, 84 back.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: Our updated picks and standings.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: I lead the points by 185 over Haley, 277 over Evan, 397 over Stacey, 714 over Bernardo, 724 over Ethan, 744 over number, 832 over Zane.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting pretty tight fifth and standings, way back there in the basement.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Picks-wise, I did pick Hamlin, who ended up 16th.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was looking good.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: I won the poll for the race, and I had the fastest lap, but just that self-induced spin, it cost me stage points, it cost me track position, it cost me probably a top five finish, at least a top 10 finish.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I mean 16th is not the worst finish in the world, but it's also not great either.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: I uh lose some ground on my points lead.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Evan picked Briscoe and goes out and wins.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's the second year in a row.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: He's won the fall Las Vegas race.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Leads 175 laps, which is the most laps, of course.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Haley with Joey Logano ends up 10th.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Stacy Orion Blaney ends up fifth, leads 10 laps under strategy again, and once again, Blaney's strategy ends up working again for a second straight fifth place finish.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: No Ricky Stanouts ends up 32nd.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Ethan with Christopher Bell ends up 23rd.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh lead eight laps under pit cycle, but just that power steering is what Tid Bell end.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Zane with Chase Elliott ends up seventh, just a quiet day for him.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: But um, that'll do it for today's episode of the Thorn 4 Podcast.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you tune in, listen, watch, and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, check out the chill photography on the Army 4 Podcast, Instagrams, and TikToks, and we will see y'all next time.