Breaking down the 2024 NASCAR Playoff picture | Around the Track

[Music] the world's best stock car driver getting ready to turn it loose we know what to do do our job from here this is when the best meet the best so any little mistake at all shows up big we're going to go give them hell and if we wreck we wreck and if we win we win you don't want to point your way you don't want to be safe you have to be aggressive and at the end of the day you need to be chasing that checkered flag and that's it all right Bo say our day let's go get it feels like playoff energy down here let's go let's get it fellas here we [Music] go welcome to around the track presented by mol Tre mobile I'm Kim alongside Ryan Flores and while the three top national series do have a couple weeks off for the Olympics that does not mean that they are checked out because some of these teams as we get closer to the playoffs are sweating it wondering if they're going to get in absolutely the playoff race in all three series as tighter as ever been and I'm super excited to see who's able to punch their way in only one more race for the trucks six more for xinity and four more for the cup series but one more for the trucks let's dive right into the truck series yeah we had a little bit of a points flip after IRP and now Tanner gray finds himself in the final spot but he's only five points to the good and then below that line Daniel D minus five and then Stuart fzza minus 16 he still has a lot of potential to make it in on points yeah the the points you know with Stage points that can be flipped right on it head especially going to Richmond there'll be a chance to be able to stay out and gain points or pit the one guy I'm looking at though is Matt Crafton right three time champ of the series three time champ and he's never missed the playoffs since the playoff form was um brought to the truck series so man he's going to have to win if he wants to get in but that's something he can do another thing that's important to talk about because Carson hos ofar won this race last year at Richmond is any Cup Series driver they cannot run the truck series regular season finale so it's going to be up to the the truckers to figure out who makes it into the playoffs Yeah you mentioned mcraft and he currently s minus 43 to your point he likely needs a win to get in I I don't even know if it's mathematically possible it probably is but it would take a lot of other guys to have a bad day and Matt to just go out and win the race but like you mentioned he has never missed the playoffs since the Inception of this format in 2016 not only that he's never finished outside the top nine in points since 2006 so we're looking at the potential for for him to have one of his poorest Seasons not a former Champion but his truck has won championships and that's Lane rigs in that front R motorsports entry yeah he's a short track guy he's going to a short track to try to punch his ticket he's 75 points out so he's going to have to win but the other thing I want to give him some slack because the other thing that that 38 team lost yes is Chris Lawson right Chris Lawson leaving the 38 team was was a big loss and you've seen it be a big gain for Rick wear racing as Justin Haley's performance has picked up so they have not like I want to give him some slack because yes he's in the 38 truck but he has a different team behind them they've had a tough go this year but hey he's a short track guy like I said and he could win this race at Richmond so again lots of truck series drivers that are going to be on edge as they head to Richmond and as we talk about these weeks off the exfinity series has an extra week off they will not run Richmond the next time we'll see them on track is Michigan so they actually have the longest runway before their playoff start six races left but all of those tracks very different we're going to see two Super Speedway style races in there in Daytona and Atlanta they've got a road course Watkins Glenn is out of the playoffs it's actually a regular season race for them there's a short track in there Bristol so lots of Runway but lots of unknowns with the different types of tracks they're going to be visiting when I look at the top of the standings Shane vangas Bergen right now with the most playoff points and we're going to another road course he has been unbeatable at these road courses does he have a shot to win this Championship I think so and I don't know that I would have said that pre Indie but came out got a top five finish there on an oval that's a track that takes a lot of discipline from a driver so I think we're slowly seeing him start to figure out these ovals so I don't know that we have seen just a dominant team in the Xfinity series for 2024 we've seen you know peaks of light from different teams for a while at the beginning of the Season it was Austin Hill making a run and then you know Justin aly's had strong weeks we've Sam Sam Mayer but there's nobody that just is outright like in past years's oh my gosh he is the guy I think is going to be the champion but I think Cole kuster and this double zero team have taken a a little step forward from the field we saw their win in Pocono and then we saw how strong they were at Indie you know started from the poll ultimately ended up second to his teammate Riley herbs and then all the good energy around Cole too he's announced that he's going back to cup next year and so I think we're going to see this positive momentum and Surge from this team and they're going to be able to separate themselves from the field make Saturdays a lot of fun Saturday's a lot of fun Sundays are going to be interesting too the Cup Series only has four races left until their playoffs start yeah and it's as tight as it's ever been so let's take a look at the action from earlier this season blocking on and they're crashing caution is on the speedway the white flag was in the airace be 24 let's go here they come to the flag photo finish how awesome was that Kyle Larson scores his 24th career win that's an N kicking tell yeah boys White Flag this time Christopher Bell off the final corner and he wins in Phoenix White Flag one more Denny Hamlin it's going to win Bristol another one William Byron to The Checkered Flag yes sir hell yeah win a drive tyy R him up the race TR a little bit home track win for Hamlin William Byron comes to the flag and wins oh yeah boy Byron turns the one W behind you keep coming cautions out it's over Chase Elliot is your winner folks Ric steals one oh my [Music] God coming to the Checker Hamlin wins the worth 400 hell yeah boys great work D coming to the line crash together we get it do we get it we did not dang it hold on it may be the five five is our winner Larson buer has a problem's pitting the six back to the lead Brad keslowski wins the goodye 400 nice work flag the Coca-Cola 600 is official Christopher Bell is the winner something's wrong Austin syri oh my gosh what is happening Austin syri wins in St Louis Kyle lson scores his 26th career win oh yeah good job guys it's not over till it's over Ryan BL is winless no more in 2024 everybody man near Darkness on a damp racetrack he sweeps the weekend how about that boys L sweep it's going to be tight but Joey Lano hangs on and wins at the Nashville Super Speedway Alex Bowman has won in the streets of Chicago hell yeah buddy that's what I'm talking about Ryan blany will go to Victory Lane at the Pocono Raceway yeah baby awesome job guys hell yeah boy Larson will win the Brickyard 400 Brickyard 400 baby hell [Applause] yeah so like I mentioned four races left until the Nascar Cup series playoffs start that means the four drivers currently in on points are not safe now while it is a stretch to think we'll see four new winners it's not out of the box oh I've been part of this and it is so uh it's just Dem man is stressful it's demanding it is it's just make you pull your hair out so in 2022 with Ry with with blay right we were right there on the cusp and what this does is like playoff racing it just like eats at your nerves and basically your Playoff starts five or six weeks before the playoffs actually start and you're not only worried about yourself you're worried about everybody else and you're hoping somebody doesn't come and spoil the party so when we look at the schedule ahead right that's a great point because Tai Gibbs is only you know he he's 42 up from the cut line Martin TRX 108 so Tai Gibbs is within Striking Distance of Martin Trix why that's important is if there's two more winners then Martin and and say Martin has a couple rough weeks Ty has a couple good weeks and that Gap is closed then you don't really know and when I look at the schedule ahead Richmond option tire that's going to present a lot of variables and a lot of opportunities for people to take big swings and we go to Daytona who knows yep who knows and then Darlington after thaton I can't help but think of Eric Jones in that 43 team right nobody had them Peg to win and that is a crazy race and it's somewhere that we've seen like when uh Kyle Bush blew a motor under caution like it is just a place where wild things happen that's why Southern 500 is one of our crown jewels but I want to go back to Tyler reic you mentioned the run that they've been on in the last six races they have five finishes of six or better and then three top three finishes in the last four races he has been so close to wins multiple times you know he got that win back in Talladega but they've shown consistency that I think surprises some people and then on the same note we've seen consistency recently from Bubba the points Gap he's made up over the last three races is incredible at one point I think he was 30 or 40 points I think 45 points outside of the playoff picture now he finds himself just minus seven yeah and you could see how excited he was after that big stage went at Indie the one team on the other hand a big downfall you you see that they have not had great weeks they've been just not getting stage points not finishing well getting the crashes another guy who's had a dismal year is Kyle bus but you don't pull on Superman's capee this guy is the winningest NASCAR driver of all time throughout the national series if he finds a little bit of speed or he can sniff the front I look for kfb to maybe punch his way into the playoffs in the Victory Lane and really like spoil this for a lot of people and continue his win streak I I forget what number we're at like 17 years straight of win something like that but this is the longest winless streak of his career and I saw some glimmers of Hope at Indie from them you know they didn't have the qualifying they wanted he overd drove turn four but then they were able to by strategy and some outright speed get up there Randle Bernett took a gamble at one point with keeping him out when everybody else came in but ultimately it got reshuffled but I did think that they had a good Indie race relative to the rest of the races in the summer for them one thing is for sure there's going to be no shortage of storylines for these next four weeks no shortage of drama either and after the break I'm catching up with Erica she's going to give playoff odds as we get closer to to the championship run hey race fans Cory The Joy here join Ryan Flores and myself for stacking pennies each week I'll break down my race and explain what happened right out of my windshield plus we award the dogs of the week for the best pit cruise and go in- depth on all the money stops Pit Road mistakes and penalties and we've got a ton of guests we have SVG stoping by we had Ricky Sten house after he punched Kyle Bush in the face we've had Bubba we've had all sorts of guys in here in the nonsense garage so you do not want to miss it check us out on sirusxm channel 90 YouTube or wherever you find your podcast each and every week stack of pennies so what's up all right it's time to welcome in Eric car resident sports betting analyst for easy money with E and Erica since NASCAR's National 3 Series are off there's no races to bet on so we thought we might revisit Championship odds so I am eager to know who your rising stars are to win the title that's a really great idea and I um my first Rising Star if you will is Christopher Bell Kim who opened up the season at plus 10,000 to win the Cup Series championship but now with only a few more races to go he is at plus 375 and I cannot overstate Kim everyone out there watching how I wish that I had been smart enough to be in on SE bill at plus 1,000 when the season opened because of course a lot of drivers odds move throughout the year that's sports betting for you but he's a driver who I actually think has a legitimate chance at winning so if you're watching Chris Bell I would definitely throw some money on him now you know we saw him in back toback Championship four appearances it was heartbreak last season at Phoenix but maybe third 's a charm yeah I I hope so so typically I would think that there has to be a Hendrick driver in your Championship picks is there anyone in particular you're looking at well yeah because you know you can never count out a Hendrick driver no matter what and Alex Bowman is the one that I looking at now he did open the season at plus 5,000 to win it all and he has moved from plus 5,000 to plus 3,000 Kim that's has a huge swing and since he's already in I would say if he's your guy then maybe throw a couple of bucks on him because you want to get in on him if he's your guy before that five that has moved to three gets even smaller I'm not convinced yet but I I wouldn't be opposed to throwing a couple bucks on Alex Bowman all right $2 literally $2 K yeah and I have to ask about your guy Denny Hamlin he always seems to be in the championship conversation is he still in your Championship bet conversation Danny Hamlin is a th% still in my Championship conversation he opened the year at plus 800 he's now moved to plus 375 that should surprise no one obviously the more consistently you run the more the more races you win the shorter your odds are going to get and that's exactly what Hamlin has done this year he on the other hand is one of the most bet drivers at one particular sports book to make the championship for and handle and in ticket so drivers when it comes to drivers betters are feeling Denny Hamlin and I'm like a lot of betters I'm feeling him too so throw some money on Denny if you haven't already okay so betters are feeling Belle Bowman and Hamlin who should we be shying away from maybe for Championship bets you know I'm on my fade Kyle Bush campaign and interestingly enough though Kim his over under his win total over under is one and a half so that essentially means for that over to hit he would have to win two races well we all know at this point in the season he hasn't won any races so he's got a long way to go but even though he hasn't won any races he at one particular sports book is the most betet driver to go over his win total so ericon a fade Kyle Bush campaign but a lot of betters out there are not I do not know what you guys are thinking about but uh back away from Kyle Bush very slowly please all right any other driver names we should be keeping in mind champion ship wise so at the beginning of the season I was on Daniel sorz especially after he won at my home track in Atlanta he opened the season at plus 5,000 to win it all and now he's at plus 15,000 now I already had that ticket in my hand I'm not going to sell it you know I spent a few dollars on it no big deal but he's a driver who I would say at this point I wouldn't not back him to win it all not not because I don't think he can do it eventually but I think the 2024 season would be his year um then I got one more Bubba Wallace who definitely closed the Gap a little bit in points um by having that top five finish at Indie he's another driver whose odds have basically moved identically to Daniel Suarez is he opened up the season at plus 5,000 he's moved to plus 15,000 I know I always talk about liking longer odds and when it comes to longer odds it's always tempting to throw a dollar $2 $5 on it so if that's your thing for Suarez and for Bubba go for it but those are two drivers who unfortunately I would fade at this point when it comes to winning the Cup Series championship another bet we looked at before the season kicked off was the season over under for outright wins and it was my favorite bet I think that we talked about before the season started so let's catch up and see where some of those numbers stand well Kim you actually cashed a bet on this one because you were taking the um the over of William Byer and his preseason win total was two and a half so kudos to you I hope that you put some money on that bet because girl you got some cash coming into your account if you did love it um so yeah um then we have Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson who both have hit their overs Denny Hamlin's preseason win total was two and a half he's got three wins so far Kyle Larson was three and a half he's got four wins so far after he kissed the bricks at Indie now two drivers who have not yet hit their over are Ty Gibbs and Tyler reic Ty Gibbs was 0.5 and he hasn't won a race yet he just needs to win one One race to Eclipse his over and then um Tyler edic was 1.5 and he's got one win one more win and he eclipses is over I'm surprised we haven't seen more wins from Tyler reick but he has been so close recently so I think it's safe to say we'll see him in Victory land again all right I know fans are super eager to put money wherever they can and without a race this weekend I thought it might be fun to play some money on some Olympic bets so I want to get your favorite Olympic bets yeah it sucks not having a race but thank God for the Olympics and so therefore I want to put a couple of bucks on two different um Wagers and one is Steph Curry to lead Team USA the men's basketball team um and all scores at plus 350 and then the other one I want to put a little bit of money on Asia Wilson from the Las Vegas Aces who is one of the starters for team USA's Women's Basketball team I want to put money on her to be the leading leading score for Team USA at plus 220 love it gives us an extra reason to watch the Olympics and we appreciate all your Insight this week can I can't wait to get the low down as the cup series heads to Richmond next week so we'll see you next week to get your previews as they have an option tire and after the break Ryan and I will give you a little look at the Rookie of the Year candidates in the NASCAR Cub Series driver from Portage Michigan Carson hos ofar nice to see the rookie in the top 10 here this guy's got some Firepower he's fun to talk to fun to be around always smiling joking to check really good job right there man way to fight Asberry goes back to the lead gives the race lead to F and he'll lead into turn three Ferry gets a good run and actually pulls away by a carl2 there nice job great job guys Zane Smith making the move on the high side checker flag right there Checker P2 good job proud of a second place Top three in the cup series is uh is awesome all right Kim Let's Take a look at these rookies one thing I look at this graphic Zane Smith has the best finish out of everybody had a dismal start him and Steve dor with that 71 car but they were able to use great strategy and capitalize on some late race chaos in Nashville to finish second Josh Barry also was able to finish on the podium in third and Carson josar with two top 10 what stands out to you of our rookies this year well I just think as we look at dnfs Carson josar only has one whereas Barry has six Zayn has four and so if we're talking consistency to me it's finishing races maybe not leading laps but finishing all the laps in a race so you're learning as much as possible and so I think that's why I put a star next to Carson host far but you mentioned Zayn Smith and his crew chief Steve Doran you know he's also a rookie meaning that he's never crew chiefed a car and so we're seeing kind of this growth from both zaye Smith as a rookie driver and Steven Dorne as a rookie crew chief I feel like they're slowly starting to find their footing we saw the gamble they took in Nashville to get that second place finish and then we also saw them gamble a little bit in Indie at one point towards the end of the race they were running top three before things got shook up some more and so I'm looking for big things from them the second half of the season and then I look at Carson host right Carson josar has been nothing short of aggressive right he is the aggressive rookie with Luke Lambert on the box they have had some great runs they really outp punt their coverage the one person who has not who has paid the price this year like you said is Josh Barry with 60 n FS he has double the top 10 of the other rookies but almost triple the dnfs so he has speed though they're going to try to look to go out with a bang with that with stor hos yeah you know 14 more races and Stor hos will be closed and that 14 will go away so up next is the White Flag I got a good one for you all right I'm Steve lart join myself and Todd Gordon each week on NASCAR inside the race presented by Consumer Cellular we will break down exactly how the race was won plus we'll dive into the data and go in depth on penalties race strategies point standings and rules changes and we have all kinds of fun tools to show off to provide all the minute details catch NASCAR inside the race each Tuesday on NASCAR's YouTube channel well Kim a little Shameless plug here I to mention it August 3rd this coming weekend Bowman Gray Stadium I will be back in the 79 car running the 100 laap feature there so make sure if you can't come out to Bowman Gray that you talk log in your flow racing app and check that out but we're talking about old racetracks right oh God and there is a racetrack that we are going to go to and the original name of the track was the Atlantic rural Fairgrounds Atlantic rural track is that we still race at it today okay Atlant so it's somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic I would guess uh is it can I ask some questions sure is it a track that we still are going to visit before the end of the year yeah okay uh Richmond Richmond there you go hey that's a great segue because that is where we are going next week option tires a lot to talk about a lot on the line so make sure you join us right here at around the track we'll take you through all things Richmond race