ATYL Live: A Glimpse at the 2025 NASCAR Season | Predicting Darlington

hi welcome to the above the line live stream I started that like we're starting an infomercial or something sorry everybody but good to see you all in the chat of course my name is Taylor kitchen uh host up above BL line doing better Sports media your way we got Adam Dom and Ben joining me to talk about all things NASCAR and just Motorsports related tonight there's been a lot of topics but also we're all we all Tred to match tonight I think we should try to do this moving forward but we have our we have our white shirts on racing related and or not racing related Doms is 100% 100% incredible yeah but Adam shirt I'm jealous of that shirt actually I'm not gonna lie so yeah show it off there you go oh that's a I genuinely thought that was a Rusty Wallace shirt that's sick for K that's what I thought at first too and then I was like oh all right it is a rusty hat though that is bad ass that's cool dang well e about seven years ago see okay this PSA for everyone out there eBay go to eBay to get some of your NASCAR merchandise like it's it literally my eyes have been open the past few weeks and it's now bad so yeah Dom you want to tell us how many cars back there are from eBay that's I'm trying to think right now the junior car is um I see some tint cars I can't remember yeah that's what yeah we've turned a new leaf with that yeah um most of these are tent cars actually um let's see yeah no okay this one's eBay eBay eBay um eBay eBay eBay we love eBay though eBay but yeah thanks everyone for tuning in Matt dang Matt happy you're here yeah somebody off with this um ravaging W Wolverine obviously always good to see you in the comments but we're going to start off with Daytona playoff implications of what occurred at Daytona extra comments and then of course Alexander already is hinting towards this but we're going to talk about the 2025 schedule we'll we'll start with that when we go to our NASCAR news and other things that popped up over the past few days and then of course we have our preview of the Southern 500 I will be at the track this weekend so if you see me stay hey say hey um and we'll we'll see you all there but let's get into the the points what things look like obviously as you can tell by the lovely presentation that I just always love to make um Harrison Burton won this one uh kind of shockingly in a sense do do we feel like there was a win not maybe not this season but based off of their Super Speedway performance did we feel like this was in the cards for them at all no not at all no not at all so total upset complete upset okay total shock yeah Adam you I had a bunch I had a bunch of people over but Adam came over and we were like screaming at the TV as the like the final three laughs were happening and we were it was we were basically on the Urge of getting the cops called from downstairs we were all jumping up and down and doing spinner roonies on the floor it was wild yeah it was wild but we're we're learning things today but yeah it was it was a wild ending of a race to watch and obviously with Harrison Burton's win he locks himself into the playoffs um I believe I got the win this weekend or last weekend but I didn't update the points uh so here's how we stand going into Darlington I feel like Adams pretty much got this in the bag but we're not going to celebrate just yet we'll hold for just a second but let's look at the actual drivers the guys that are behind the wheel every single weekend so Harrison Burton locking himself into the playoffs means that there is less wiggle room and basically the stage is set going into Darlington so bubble Wallace and Ross chest are the first two drivers on the outside looking in that could potentially still make it in on points it's going to be an uphill battle but it's not imposs Chris Bucher plus 21 Ty Gibbs plus 39 and plus 58 Martin Trix Jr um I see the comments in here uh before I read some of your comments crew I want to know your thoughts on the the race in general at Daytona uh the racing we saw because I even think it kind of reminded me of just kind of maybe like an old school feel it it felt refreshing to have the racing that we did at Daytona I think but that's just me I don't know Dom do you want to start off I didn't want to step over anybody go for itna say we're all such good people we were all waiting for each other to go kind like the last lap of Daytona who's getting ready to goon I I did think it was a good race um I watched 80% of it um back and forth but it it was a really good race I liked how much three wide racing there was without any incident um and then it would back down to two wide reminded me of the 2023 Daytona 500 where they were two wide for the entire show um with a couple incidents here and there but um yeah it was a good race really good race and um it was an outright win for Harrison Burton he got the lead early enough in the lap that he had to play a little defense as well so yeah solidified that he's the race winner um it wasn't a fluke finish at the end or just got to the lead when the caution came out out and it was a it was an outright win for him so I have no complaints over it I think he's a he's a deserving winner um it's awesome for Wood Brothers Racing they're they've got such a great story that um unfortunately because they haven't been as competitive it's not as easy to tell um but now that they've got the victory it's it's awesome and uh super proud for that team to have a 100 wins but yeah the racing was great it was reminiscent of old Daytona and uh hopefully we can keep that going 100% go ahead Ben Ben Adam go ahead Ben uh I yeah I'll just rate what Dom said I I watched the tape bag of the race I didn't get a chance to watch it live uh I thought it was a very good race from what I did see uh I'm more so happy for the Wood Brothers uh I've been a fan of theirs forever uh I come from a Ford family and they are like they are the quintessential for team in my opinion um I think I think it's really cool to see them kind of have their moment finally with this because it it's been so long since blay in the 99th win and they've had counting Harris and three guys in the car and they were close a few times and couldn't get it done they had they've had several years where they've regressed back from their years of having Trevor Bane won the 500 and blay be in that car so it's really cool for them uh I think it's it's ni I don't mean this in like a negative way towards other people but it's nice to see a good guy win and I think Harrison at the end of the day is a good guy yeah uh so like it was cool it was and like you said it was it felt very like 2008 is uh 2008 2009 Daytona to me it was very much a race of that style like I couldn't help but and I know I think they brought this up in the broadcast too about how Kyle Bush like in 2009 when he like got killed on that last lap when he was in the interstate barers car and got killed on that wreck on the last lap coming to the Checker I think that was 2009 and I felt like it felt like that race like it felt like that all over again and I was like man this is like a this is a fun race like you had chaos you had names that you never like it felt good too because you had names you never see up there like Parker red SL like Harrison Burton so on so forth so I agree I think that was the best nextg race at Daytona so far 100% yeah it was it was enjoyable from start to finish and the fact that we got to see every lap every green flag lap live yeah yeah bring back bring it back and it also shows that it works um I was looking at some of the uh what was it the the stats or the ratings and whatnot and it looked like it was one of the more watched races because of that fact yeah yeah the side by side definitely worked I think and even too I saw fans complaining there's too many side bys side commercials I'm like well would you rather not see the race or like what we have to compromise we have to be somewhat happy and this was the good compromise so good for NBC NASCAR for making those changes everyone is making the comment in the chat too about like Lee diy's call uh that talk about a guy who can put a story together like instantly um Lee DIY made that incredible call at the end uh with Jeff Burton by his side calling his son to the start Finish Line like that was so cool and I asked Harrison Burton on Wednesday kind of about that moment and got to be like okay so what did your dad like tell you like what was that first conversation you had and he goes well he punched me in the stomach so hard I thought I broke a rib just out of excitement and I was like I mean that feeling seeing that father son celebration was so cool and like now you can carry on the Burton name as Cup Series winner is like that's that's the coolest thing ever but Lee DIY um always an a awesome announcer and um just getting to have him make that call I'm like okay Le dey's back he's back in NASCAR we love this so that was cool too but um Dom you mentioned or Ben Ben Ben mentioned this with Parker rlof right seeing guys up front that we typically don't see let's talk about that real quick um so the way this race ended I I know this is kind of maybe not an old talking point but one that's kind of gotten people's blood boiling a little bit but uh yeah at the end of that race how that happened we had the choose cone rule it was obviously Kyle bus choosing first he chose the inside Harrison Burton chose the outside then Chris Christopher Bell chose the inside behind Kyle Bush and then Parker Retzloff he chose the outside behind Harrison Burton uh apparently there is some Fallout or some internal conflict with how Parker rlof ended that race obviously his second Cup Series start came home with a top 10 finish which is incredible but there was the expectation that he should have helped Kyle Bush get the win um he had a interview with Sirius XM NASCAR radio that said he's not going to go into detail on the consequences of how he raced at the end there to try to get the win for himself and just how he went about it but I wanted to hear your guys's thoughts I've been very vocal about this online myself about the Fallout and the the seeming frustration from Chevrolet and RCR about this so it's a complex issue but it's also not so I wanted to see Ben since you brought up Parker at first I didn't know if he want to start us off there uh sure I can uh this is what happens when you have men in suits try and Run the World um it gets very silly and stupid if you want me to be honest about it yeah I I there's some irony in this too because you mentioned this is his second start in the cup series his first start came in a Ford driving the MBM 66 car like a couple weeks ago so that's comedy uh Parker has nothing to apologize for uh and there's no reason why anyone should be mad at him because he's going for the win there and he he thought Harrison could lead him to a win better than Kyle Bush and there's no other ways about it and I think that Chevrolet you'll never see this because I am a I am a small microscopic spot in the universe let alone in your lives H but Chevrolet you're stupid you're very stupid and that's all I'll say on that because I don't want to get in trouble by Taylor for swearing up here it's it's okay it's all right it's okay we're good you're good you're fine um Adam I think I even uh I might have tweeted this or xed it out or whatever the heck it's called it's SAR not X it's actually Twitter formerly x one of the socials as the young kids say these days um you're going for a win Sky you're going for a win I think on the last lap it's all out the window if you have an opportunity to even be in that position of holy crap I can push a guy out of the way and try to win this thing I think you go all for it um obviously if if Parker would have been in maybe a higher up Chevy because let's be honest he's in a team that only runs maybe four races at Max during a season uh so do they really have all that uh GM support like everyone else uh so like I I feel bad for him getting all this backlash because of it uh I really think he would had saw an opportunity to win even if it wasn't going behind another Chevy you got to shoot your shot so he he was trying to shoot a shot and he ended up almost getting turned coming through the trioval and hitting the wall and not getting that uh not getting second yeah yeah yeah opportunity comes knocking you gotta go yeah sorry I'm just I'm watching back that last lap because I wanted to see I I just thought what I wanted to see um I wanted to see if redoff actually cleared Kyle or not but it looks like it was just a hair too close and then got the run back um listen if if rlof clears him then he's officially the highest running Chevy and he can go for the win himself so regardless if you want him to do something good for Chevy let him go win the race uh that's that's what you want yeah it's not the right guy if you're really gonna make that argument um the one thing I'll say is if you're complaining about F1 having team orders um you shouldn't say anything about this you shouldn't be mad that cush didn't win this race um Parker rof did what he needed to do to try and win for his team because he sees himself pushing the guy to the lead and if he pushes him hard enough he's going to be second and now the race is in a sense in his hands um where he can either cross him up and try to go for the win or maybe they make contact Burton spins and rof is the winner um yeah I'm I have no complaints over what happened here um Parker rof was in a situ sitation where if he backs off to let Kyle get the better run he's going to take a bunch of people out with him and what if the caution comes out and Burton's in the lead so regardless it doesn't happen so there there's way too many variables to be mad at Parker redoff it's way too it's way too fast of a process and a too dangerous high-risk game of chess that we shouldn't be making complaints like this I can see it I can see them being upset if Kyle Bush was leading at let's just let's throw a track out there if he's leading at Texas Kansas we go with Kansas thank you siras let's say Kyle Bush is leading at Kansas roff's about to go a lap down and he chooses to fight to stay on the lead lap and not let Kyle by and Kyle gets caught and someone from another manufacturer wins I can see that being like yeah bro what were you doing yeah but this is he was going for the win why are we mad he was going for the win himself in your equipment he wanted to win too I'm sorry yeah yeah I mean I think the thing that sticks with me is we shouldn't be punishing this driver Parker a driver who's making his second Cup start for a situation he did not cause that situation is RCR has not had a season to put their drivers in the playoffs on points they have not given a two-time Cup Series champion and Kyle Bush the equipment he needs to get into the playoffs that should not be this young driver's problem he should not be the one that is helping you get into the playoffs that should be you if you are a championship caliber team you should have been in at this point and if you're not then you need to race respectfully and I respect the crap out of how Kyle Bush raced that last lap it was it could have been easy to junk somebody out of a win to get it for yourself because we've seen that and there's repercussions for that but for Kyle to race the way he did and afterwards to the media was just kind of like it is what it is we don't know what it was like after he talked to the media but in that moment from Kyle we the hell out of him but the fact that the manufacturer and the team is making it this young kid's problem dumb there's no excuse for it it's I've said too much but any who so it's just like I was like I need to stop while I'm ahead I was gonna say I I wonder to with in Kyle's situation I think part of the reason why he wasn't more aggressive going for the win I mean he was he double faked Harrison trying to get by he did he threw everything but the kitchen sink at him but because of certain events recently Richard shr racing is under a microscope and they know any sort of rule Bend or rule interpretation sit scenario they're not going to win that argument so um that probably had something to do with it I mean he raced him so clean which is so respectful for respectable for a two-time Cup champion who has had the situation of blocking and instead of backing out of it and trying to see it to the Finish just cleaning the guy out and Kyle being wrecked by Tony Stewart in 2009 has been eluded uh shout out um yeah he he raced he raced clean to the line and he came close he was still side by side with him coming to the line he came close but um yeah I I appreciated his answers at the end it's like there's a right way and a wrong way to do it but second place pays a lot of good points yeah yes so obviously going into Darlington looking at the point situation again before we before we kind of move on to a different conversation here uh Kyle Bush has been in a must-win situation for the past so many weeks he still is going into this race but I wouldn't say that a win could be out of his reach obviously it depends on how RCR you know unloads their cars this weekend how they do like yeah go ahead I honestly think he's been on a must-win since Phoenix yeah he had a really good races and then collapsed yeah starting Phoenix that's fair yeah and I think RCR I mean Kyle Bush even said like for Richmond the number three car went kind of off the path of what they were doing and they found something and they were like all right I guess we'll kind of go to what the three cars doing and hopefully it helps us and it it seems to have helped at least at Daytona for Kyle uh hopefully it'll help at Darlington but yeah as well yeah 100% so yeah Point situation heading into Darlington again bubble Wallace Ross chest stainer below that cuto off line right now what's really what's going to be really fun about this race is all all of those drivers that can get in on points this is a good track for them so we should see some really good racing this weekend for the southern 500 obviously to the xinity series at the track this weekend so it'll be a really good time but we will get to that don't you worry uh now we're going to go to some NASCAR news and we we're just going to start right off by talking about the schedule because it's it's the thing we all want to talk about it was released today uh and there's there's good and some bad we're going to start with the cup series go to the exfinity series and truck series and the I think the Xfinity and truck series kind of overlap a little bit in terms of like cool news and excitement and schedules and everything like that so uh Cup Series hopefully I've made this graphic to where it can be legible okay uh so it cut off Daytona for the regular season finale but that's fine that's cool I'm the regular season finale you have to do NASCAR trivia to get into the playoffs that's the final event for these drivers that's itz yeah um but yeah so the key takeaways for the Cup Series schedule what what are what were they for you all since we'll go left to right so we'll start with Don what's one thing that you kind of noticed with this schedule I know we've already talked about some of the big changes that have been released but some things you noticed Kota week three is kind of kind of nuts yeah no agree I agree course right out of the gate um yeah we do two super Speedways and then a road course I mean my goodness so that that's pretty pretty gnarly I would say uh homestead's been early in the season before so we've seen it been we've seen it done before so I'm I've kind of I'm okay with that um I just feel bad it's not the last race of the year but I I think that ship has officially sailed I don't think they're ever going back for the championship there poor um yeah I mean it's all pretty pretty standard looks good um North bsbo still got the All-Star uh 600's good Nash Nashville after the 600 is good I think maybe let's get there before it gets too too hot so I know about that buddy but okay Mis Mis in June um I mean at this point they're just it doesn't matter when they go it's going to rain so yeah everyone was saying oh well they're moving it to June maybe for better weather well the last time they raced in June was 2019 and 2018 and it rained both times there uh so it's also the state of Michigan so yeah nothing nothing good ever happens there um Mexico City obviously we all know um yeah if you want to see where my bias is coming from here it is oh IO let's go we don't cheat our way to success but that's for another stream um yeah still I'm still not in love with Chicago I really am not because you've got such a great facility out in the outskirts of the city that's just rotting right now um somoma after I mean Atlanta Chicago Street Sonoma is a is a wild Trio that is a wild Trio and then do in the summer in July is pretty wild um but other than that I mean it's pretty pretty solid Iowa getting moved to August we'll we'll see with that if that changes anything I really don't think it does though um but yeah no pretty solid Ben uh the schedule kind of has uh a little bit of everything for everyone really you've got the hardcore fans that get back Bowman gry and wboro uh again which I think is cool for them as well as the continue out their tracks you have them trying some new stuff with Mexico City which I think will be a really good way to grow the brand and everything I'm interested to see uh how Gateway does in the playoffs that's kind of a weird move but sure like why not uh I'm interested to see a couple different things the biggest thing I'm curious of now seeing this fully laid out in repertoire in front of me is I'm interested to see that summer stretch between Charlotte and IND apis with how Prime and TNT do coverage because you've got some very big races in there you've got the Koch 600 you've got Mexico City you've got Chicago on TNT and you've got Indianapolis like one of arguably one of the ground Jewels depending on who you are uh four big races there for two new TV providers I'm interested to see how all of that goes uh other than that like Dom said it's pretty it's pretty tight it's pretty solid um happy they get an off weekend there for Easter I think that's important um yeah solid schedule overall I'm Happy New Hampshire's back in the playoffs it just feels right it feels like the chase that's what I really like about it feels very like Chase for the cup stuff which I really enjoy that uh yeah that's about it Adam what do you think about I know this is kind of like old news but now confirmed Talladega in the playoffs um y'all get your popcorn [Laughter] ready that race that race we could have eight cars finishing that race honestly that's generous yeah I think eight well let's put this way two unscathed everybody else uh lots of lots of duct tape and bear Bond um one thing I want to take note of is the stretch from Texas to Nashville those those that's a lot of cookie cutter tracks minus the All-Star Race uh that that could be a fun stretch of races honestly uh even Even Adam Michigan into it as well because Michigan's Michigan always puts out bangers um yeah uh Kota moving to to early March that could be a really cold race now that I think of it uh Texas is still fing out at that point of the year yeah so that that that could be interesting uh cold breaks Cold Track cold air cold everything could be uh could be interesting uh Sonoma moving also um the race moving that having two road course races back to back that that's a first um yeah should be should be interesting I'm not crazy about moving gateway to the uh playoffs uh that was a strange move I'd rather have Iowa in there personally um yeah honestly New Hampshire being in the playoffs that's where it should always be the Fall New Hampshire race always felt better than the summer New Hampshire race M uh Homestead once again getting booted earlier in the season I don't like that I don't like that Mo no but it makes sense not really not really you need a warm weather track that you know you're not going to get snow or like rain at and that's always a solid bet I know but I don't wantan to I don't want to admit that I mean yeah I don't either um uh sorry I interrupted you continue yeah that's that's about all I have for cup I mean I was kind of expecting these tracks to be there and yeah um the the dates that's what I I actually had a spreadsheet I think I shared with you Taylor uh I was trying to oh yeah I was trying to get whatever dates to line up with either other series racing at the tracks and uh and it was pretty close the only thing I had messed up I believe was the whole Mexico City in Michigan um and somoma I had those ones all out of place but other than that it was pretty accurate I was gonna say you got pretty close honestly we I'm more excited about uh the the other series especially the trucks getting ready to talk about them here in a little bit yeah Ben I have two one's a statement one's a question uh the first one I keep like can we leave Kota behind already I'm tired of this feeling I'm tired of this feeling a shoehorned in thing at the end of the day and it feels like we're just throwing it in to throw it in now it's like the it's like the one thing that stands out in this lineup still and it bothers me that's my first thing my second thing is kind of a question that kind of leads towards what Dom made comment at earlier uh so there have been a lot of rumors this week about the street course moving a couple different spots Cincinnati's one of them San Diego is another would you be okay with the street course if it moved to a different city or are you just fully against it all together I I'm more so I I don't understand why we want to be in that market and we have a facility that is designed just like a Kansas that has the last five races put on showstoppers MH yeah no contest showstoppers and we'd rather race in the street and I've got relatives that live in the city of Chicago that says when NASCAR starts getting ready for the race weekend it ruins the city it just makes traffic a nightmare and it's just annoying so fair um yeah like a San Diego because now there isn't ATT track there because they're still building whatever's going on in Fontana um not Cincinnati don't even do that no Manti doesn't make sense chili baby because faity close to it my argument for Cincinnati would be well then just go to Kentucky thank Youk they would also they would also have to do a lot of work to Kentucky because they ruined it on the reconfiguration yeah that's the thing 100% but yeah it's more so like Chicago lands so good but we want to put a circus on instead somebody called Dale Jr to get the weed whackers out we'll go Chicagoland yeah I'm I'm in the same boat with you Dom it's we have perfectly good tracks that are around the area where we're wanting to put these Street courses so why not just go there I think there's a positivity in bringing NASCAR to people but if it's in a major city where it can be disruptive like it was in Chicago I don't know if the benefit of trying to get people there to like NASCAR outweighs the cons of we're going to annoy you so then you have to pay attention it's kind of like how it feels sometimes but I mean to be fair though too like it's brought a lot of like new fans into the sport it's been a really cool event uh so there's pros and cons to it but yeah like I look at when when somebody said Cincinnati I said are you losing your mind that's the first thing I thought of I was like have you driven through Cincinnati there is no way that NASCAR could host a street course there there's no way absolutely no way just like I guess this is just like I've had bad experiences going through Cincinnati but it's just like do it you can do it I just feel like this like it's too narrow I guess you could do it you can do it I've I've talked about this as someone who as someone who frequent Cincinnati and was literally up there on Tuesday night for a concert like you can do it you could figure it out you could do it right there by the riverfront right there by Red's ballpark wouldn't that' be cool payor Stadium you could do it do you want them to though yeah I I think I'm gonna swear I think they' be kickass go yeah okay I think it'd be incredible to bring a race like that and if you want to get cool block off the second not I it's not uh I can't remember the bridge names block off the second bridge and have him run back into Kentucky and then run right back over cross the bridge into the Newport come right back you know what bring Joe burrow out to the race yeah Bengals crossover that's a market that's on the up and up I don't why could fa want to race in Ohio Adam do you think we should go back to the Cleveland Airport oh baby let's go goodness wide open places the three season Ohio all potentials um or just go to Mid Ohio that's a great idea that's too easy though I don't think you could handle a cup race they could not handle a cup race all barely handle an Arco race yeah yeah I love that track the facility is so great but they don't have the infrastructure to handle it so Adam got beamed up it's okay we're hopefully he'll beam back in when we move to the exfinity series yeah xinity series xinity series let's talk about that uh yeah so here we have uh Rockingham obviously Rock I don't think that was that funny but sure uh sorry I was just throw the I'm rock and roll and Rumble beds into the truck series announcement um that was the main takeaway for me with the xinity series schedule quite honestly otherwise I don't know if there were major differences I noticed besides just like dates moving around like I don't know yeah no it's exact it's just like the big is Rockingham but everything else is very much the same as the cup week Cup race schedule I did have one big gripe though that I wanted to mention here um Chicago Street no no no no no um Portland Portland love that track awesome track really cool but the past few years because of rain and this is mostly just due to weather so take this with a grain assault but it's something that I'm very passionate about talking about I'm knowing how frustrating this is for the teams uh teams have struggled to make the turnarounds from Charlotte to Portland so now we're doing Daytona to Portland opposite sides of the country and we're going to say okay have fun uh Daytona you know in August probably rain but have fun I'm like we're making this problem worse for the teams so scheduling wise there I was like o but also granted there's some other scheduling things where I'm like the travel is going to be a quick turnaround but that's just that was the other thing I noticed but Rockingham 100% key ticket item on this schedule right here so I think the other thing too is um gateway's on schedule this year for Xfinity it's only been truck to so uh good to see them going back there yeah Carl Edwards and Brad Kowski in that race that's all I ask they got they gotta be the pace car drivers he ain't gonna kill my boy kill my boy everyone's so ready for rock him um let's let's go to the truck series because there's not I mean not to say that it's a bad thing that we don't have a lot to say about the Xfinity series but I feel like there's a lot to say about the truck series because just personal opinion inserted into here uh it's a banger I feel like the truck series schedule was fantastic for 2025 uh so let's let's give it a let's give it a look here we have it um I don't know does anyone want to go ad don't know maybe I'm still not here I don't think that's okay the Rock and the lime rock lime rockers they rocks exactly the The Lime Rock snag is actually really cool I this is a fun road course um I think this will be really exciting um I'm looking forward to that one and I know Rob's excited about this one too because that's just another race in the Northeast um that area has been PL like drought of NASCAR racing for the last handful of years so get another race up there for sure um but other than that youo uh schedule looks good um we'll let we'll let Adam talk about the playoffs portion of the schedule whenever he comes back but um yeah no I think obviously Rockingham is great but uh lime rock is a really awesome uh pickup yeah 100% 100% yeah everyone seems to be excited about Lime Rock I thought that was a really cool g yeah and just giv to just going back to Rob he's not here to speak um on the show but I will speak for him he wants more NASCAR in the New England area every show I feel like he talks about it because it needs to happen there are such passionate race fans up there and you have the mods and that's really cool but like there's also really big NASCAR fans there too so I think the fact that they're getting another race I know it's not xinity or cup but it's it's trucks like that's still really cool like that's awesome so I I think that's a really cool grab for all the fans up there I know with that means you know we're moving kind of away from the West Coast with some of these races and just in general right uh but you know what there's a lot more race fans I think in the New England area than there are in like California so why not um but Adam we've reached your portion of the schedule where from Alien Mothership oh we love that wow wow H they told me that uh they moved Portland oh we're on trucks sorry um last is there a delay uh anyway as we were as we were uh talking uh yeah the truck um what do you want me to talk about I left the playoffs just for you buddy yeah playoffs are all for you really okay let's get to well let's start off with the light beatings of Darlington Bristol and finally returning to the Northeast at New Hampshire great uh great track for the trucks um shout out to our our comrade Rob branding who's gonna get a lot of work uh this season and then we get to the blood bath uh the round of yeah of blood bath the Ral the goog round yes this is the goog blood bath everything all above uh interesting that we're going to the roval um yeah going from having one road course race this season to having now what is it going to be two yeah well no three Lime Rock right Watkins Glenn uhuh so uh kind of kind of interested and intrigued by it um we'll see how the new Ral layout works this season um then you go to D Talladega and good luck to you and Martinsville another Banger so it it that that is going to be crucial those three races will make or break a lot um yeah yeah it's GNA be rough but excited about Lime Rock Park that is a fun little road course that is fast uh that's going to be cool that whole stretch from that their whole their whole schedule that that schedule rocks yeah notice how I said rocks I love that I caught it I got you yep yeah this schedule is so good for this Series this year and I will I will say I maybe Lime Rock could have been a potential replacement for um maybe mid Ohio if there was even a chance that it would come back on the schedule this year but I highly doubt it but it is just thinking in with me now that Mid Ohio was not on the schedule so that kind of sucks but also very much understood love that track but it just truck series I think is too big to be there at this point go to Dakota this year yeah I like that move first time since 2019 trucks are going to Martinsville twice too which is Big the races at martville for trucks good I didn't either it was two races up until I was because I was thinking about it I was like we haven't been there in a while like twice yeah farthest west race is Vegas and then I guess canas I think that's good though I think you need this I think you need this series to be an East Coast short track series or an East Coast a quirky track series I don't know what you'd call it like throw Lime Rock in there get some South Boston in there at some point in time you know go to these like we're quirky we're cool we're having fun though we're going to Road Atlanta next you know just like something like that I think it'd be fun Ben don't don't even don't even flirt that idea because I just got goosebumps you say in Road Atlanta I'm glad I can help thank you my one suggestion is if we're going to go to Vegas let's run the bull ring oh let's run the B ring for the h of it why not yeah because I was gonna say the only two West Coast races we have which correct me if I'm wrong here um just Phoenix and Vegas yes is that it yeah yeah because at this point it's like then why are we even going to Vegas just make Phoenix the one trip we go out to the West Coast put another track Vegas's spot we need to make money I know but like money money a girl can dream right she can dream no it's all right would have been cool to have the trucks go to Portland freed from disease imprisoned by capitalism yeah Portland would be pretty cool wow what a time yeah I'm actually send them to Sharon Speedway yeah Pik PE there's so many trucks that they could go to um but yeah I will I am kind ofc Beach that they're going to the rille oh resurrect that no man that's gone that's long gone longone she's gone send back to Dora if you're gonna do anything Goofy with him so any other comments on the schedule hold on I'm thinking was like hold on I got something for this I am excited that the roel is the like the truck series will be going to the roal will it be a cool show who knows but like the fact that it's a c off race for Xfinity and cup and it's the beginning of a round of the playoff for the truck series I think makes that a fun kind of storyline weekend thinking of it from a media perspective um but I'm also just really curious how the trucks are going to run there I I suspect it'll be shout out truck series for having a race on my birthday this coming year as always oh oh they've got are they doing two Bristol races this year they've got two Bristols they oh dog go let's go to race refence and see oh we are wait a second I can find it first I'm just kidding I probably can't uh they did Bristol dirt so this 2013 they did Bristol dirt and then Bristol so we are doing a double Bristol this year so no they did double Bristol this year too okay all right they did Bristol Christian eeky won Bristol in the spring and then Christian Eis will probably win the Bristol race here in a few weeks wow yeah John I we see I see Jon's comment here about Elora I don't even know if truck will ever go back to that sorry John I don't know you personally but I'm sure you're a good guy let it go it's not don't crush John's dreams like that I'll buy you a beer if I ever meet you in person John I promise but this was one you kind of gotta let it go yeah that that that'll never happen again yeah oh you didn't meet John at Charlotte because you were working yeah oh yeah that's right which I won't be doing next year foreshadowing kids love that wow so much so much stuff next year but let's get to some more NASCAR news um I know the schedule took uh took a bit because there's a lot to digest there uh but somebody mentioned this so let's sorry hold on first I went on the internet and I found this I went on the internet and I found some really cool facts you guys I found some really cool news and things on toy.com check out toy.com for all your latest NASCAR news um we're gonna keep this brief because I'm kind of done talking about this I'm not going to lie uh Austin Dylan's penalty the final appeal officer uh denied an appeal or basically he he lost the appeal again yeah I was like the data presented today from smt and idas systems indicate that more likely than not a rule violation did occur at Richmond Raceway so um so so yeah that happened and I don't want to talk about it we're going to move on I just want to let you know if you didn't know moving on to some theories now so maybe tin foil hatot or maybe not um so there could be another a new there could be a new um streaming channel for NASCAR called Fast instead of speed fast um somebody kind of sleuth this out there was a job posting a few days ago on the NASCAR website or not the NASCAR website but like on indeed or something like that um saying hey we're looking for this person to help manage the NASCAR Channel called Fast and so then like ask this whole question of will we have a new streaming platform what does that look like so my question to you because none of this is confirmed NASCAR didn't issue anything confirming that this will happen more so just confirming the job is legitimate uh are you guys down for like a streaming service for NASCAR really quickly uh I I don't think it's going to be called fast fast is an acronym in streaming free ad Ed streaming television so interesting okay i' I've I've dealt with it before with some of the stuff that we did at station for OT or over the toop streaming stuff so I just wanted to clarify that before we got deep into it so we'll go for it so oh you want me to go oh [ __ ] yeah go for it too no no no go for it like if we do get a streaming service based off of this like I I think it's it's one of these things that like uh it's cool and it's going to be very cool for us who are very the Target demographic uh but if you don't care about the sport it's not going to matter to you at the end of the day uh because my mind is okay you gotta bu you can build it but you got to fill it and what are you gonna fill it with content Feed the Beast yes but like what like who's who's making this content at the end of the day you know like obviously you we've got NASCAR Classics which they could totally make a whole sub category of on this channel with and that'd be awesome I would love that and that's probably what they're going to do with it but like what like is this going to be are you gonna do stacking Pennies on here live are you gonna do I don't know whatever other NASCAR Rand podcasts that they have that Arizon I don't know um I don't listen to podcast anymore I just listen to albums I'm old um I love that though what if I but like you know you can build this but what are you going to fill it with and what's going to keep people coming back it's not surprising that this is going to exist because you have so many other things like this that exist already so I mean heck Chick-fil-A is looking to make their own streaming service apparently so anything's possible I got nothing on that one the whole thing I present you division 247 this Channel's PG so I'll just I'll hold my fire yeah hold your fire hold your fire ease up I I agree with Ben though like this was this is kind of one of those like not that it was inevitable but it's just like okay that makes perfect sense that they're doing this because they're just keeping up with where all the other Trends are going so I hope it works out because I loved Speed Channel um but also Speed Channel had more than just NASCAR it had yeah an it was a car enthusiasts Paradise Speed Channel um which I know MAV TV has really done has kind of picked up the scrap of what Speed Channel was without all the racing on it the big the big dogs of racing and they've got racing on there uh just not like NASCAR but no it's it was something that makes sense that they're they're going to do um hopefully more information comes out about it in yeah due time yeah so it kind of clarifies what it actually is they're thinking about doing uh it seems intriguing but um we we'll see what they're actually planning to do with it because they can go a lot of different Avenues with this yeah Adam before we move on to a piece of news that I I want you to talk about um what I'll I'll I'll basically Te You the piece of news and you can just go with it anything else you want to say about uh the streaming potential maybe uh I'm game for it uh just be interesting to see what they put on it that's all I got uh one thing one last thing I'll add on to the streaming thing go for it uh and this has nothing to do with NASCAR but somewhat to do with NASCAR so earlier this week uh the Anaheim Ducks the NHL team announced that they're changing their broadcast rights to where all of their game home games will be streamed 100% free locally on Victory plus which is like a new streaming channel for sports Al together as well as they'll be aired on local affiliate channels like like uh fox plus and channel 13 in the Anaheim area so I could if this gets to a point where obviously we know NASCAR is building this big new production facility or it's already done one of the two I beautiful yeah so like if this gets to a point where they can do inhouse stuff then you've got you've got the Avenue right there you can walk right through the door and do your own thing and you've got full control over the ball and it's in your court uh so it just something that occurred to me this week with this Anaheim Duck stuff was like oh maybe this is the Avenue they're looking to take couple years down line once the TV deals kind of reset and things get moved over or maybe they'll do NASCAR kids broadcast like they do F1 who knows and that's a good point Ben because um yeah while Xfinity is going to be moved to the CW that whole Productions coming out of the the Concord Building yeah so while it is CW it is fully produced by NASCAR so that's honestly that is honestly the beta test for what could be coming so that that was a good call outat good call the facility 2 is great state-ofthe-art equipment um I believe MRN is now in that facility as well too so um doing a lot there uh but the next piece of news I want to get to before we move on to our preview unless I missed some things and we can talk about it too um Adam this revolves around you a little bit because it's SVG related uh so obviously uh we had the announcement that Shane Van gisbergen is moving to the cup series next year at track house racing in the number 88 um Justin marks got the blessing from Dale Jr to use the number just Mark said you know we don't take the choice for our numbers lightly we know the history that they have with the 99 and the one and they wanted to continue on the legacy of another number and they chose the 88 which I think is pretty cool the day before that announcement they announced that Zay Smith will not be returning as a track house driver in 2025 so he can pursue opportunities immediately and so as a reminder too obviously Zay Smith is driving for Spire this year but he's contracted under track house so uh he's going to be we don't know doing whatever next year but apparently yes potentially we're just gonna roll past that you but apparently according to Kevin Harvick the likely landing spot that he had maybe at front row Motorsports which is where he won his truck series uh championship in might not welcome him back apparently how he left Ford did not really go well or Ford didn't like the way he left so that door might not even be open so zaye Smith might have a tougher time than originally thought for finding his next ride but ad sbg's your guy how do you feel about that I'm going to cup uh I I knew something had have been uh coming especially over the last week when they announced that he was going to run the majority of the rest of the uh Cup schedule in the 16 car uh so that had me really intrigued and then when I heard oh yeah he's going full-time yes but when they announced the number I I'll be honest I kind of was shocked at the number it it had my head spinning but um I mean the end goal for SVG uh after winning um Chicago last year the end goal was to eventually get to the cup series and not not take forever to get to it so um sounds like mission accomplished we got to the cup series it only took two seasons technically yeah so um mean it it was going to happen maybe it's happening too fast maybe it's not uh he's an older guy he's got a lot of experience um it's carried over somewhat he's still you know learning how to run ovals um so that that's the only part that's going to draw me back a little bit and be a little anxious and nervous next season but the cup card Drive is completely different than than the xinity car and ovals so it it might be nothing to worry about it might be easier might be harder I think he's definitely capable being able to have a successful season and uh maybe get track house back back into the Winter Circle it's been a rough season um for them honestly ever since the lucky win at Atlanta uh it's it's been rough so maybe having three cars that'll that'll enhance their program I know sometimes when teams do increase their size there's a little drop um the performance comes down but uh I I think I think it'll be I think it'll be a good thing overall good thing Ben Yes No Maybe Mr fraud that's all I got Dom anything you want to add I'm happy for SVG I I think his uh his exfinity season this year has been solid uh he's been good at finishing the races obviously his road course prowess doesn't even need to be analyzed at all you know he's going to kick butt there because that is what he's been I mean he made a living winning road courses against the best road course Racers so what did you think was going to happen when he got into an xinity car uh so I do think we're in for some excitement next year I I I just hope that um you know I think it's great he's running Darlington this weekend because it's a real trial by fire on on an oval um it really is like this is a worst case scenario ovil for the year so this just take this in and know that this is the worst and then know that the ovals get a little easier each each week uh so I'm glad we're starting them off with Darlington it'll be a real trial by fire for him but no he's got good sponsor backing he he's a good guy um just super happy all the time and uh my gosh can he race on road courses yeah I'm excited to see him take on the cup series full-time next year AJ almond Dinger uh well no sorry won't be his teammate because almond Dinger is at colag and I still get them I still get it confused to where I'm like okay but sbg's with colag this year so he's going to collag in the cup series next year there'll be a track house driver black house number on the coll car it's so confusing the 97 will not exist next year Smith will always be a fraud though wow these are the things we carry D's gonna get your address and come to your house Ben yeah sure we'll have a beer and I'll tell him to his face you'll answer the I see we've been upgraded to a fraud warning a fraud is imminent a fraud is imminent I do hope he finds a good place to land he has had an awful rookie season not at all what was expected I even remember during the press conference for Zay Smith they were like the goal is 2025 would get him in a track house uh car and then with Z with um SVG the thought process was we'll see where this goes and now it just totally flipped like the exact wording was Zay Smith 2025 should be driving for us and it's just tot I mean this is what happens when you have SVG come out and show off as he has but then you've also got the hottest hot shoe in all of racing right now and Connor's illich ready to go at a moment's noce like seats are fulling yeah hold on fraud oh my goodness any other pieces of news that we did not talk about in the schedule now that we can think of that we need to address on the show thought of something I'm probably overthinking this being a little conspiracy theorist but what if so SVG is running the 88 what if Connor zillich runs the track house font 88 on his Junior Motorsports Infinity car next year could you imagine uh We've hit tin foil status everybody get get your hats get your hats I don't have one readily available and I'm not going to put a shopping bag over my head suffocate myself oh the poor M&M's are getting crushed crispy M&M's oh that's gonna hurt if that falls I swear you guys were professionals we work in I swear just do that how's that how that rap album coming over there buddy his next hit fraud let Dom cook let Dom cook let him cook honestly that's actually a really good point I like this Theory I like this thinking it's it's not gonna that works it's it's co we Tred it's okay I guess there would be one more maybe I don't know conspir not even conspiracy but the mystery final Charter where's it going yeah is it go to RFK which apparently is going to get uh sponsorship from Kroger do they have the backing or is it going to go to 2311 does the rumor still stand that RCR might grab it we don't know maybe a team's already grabbed it but they haven't announced it I think it's going to Taylor kitchen oh yeah we're gonna start we're gonna start a a cup team just from nothing nothing at all they didn't Days of Thunder I don't see why we can't do it honestly let's D of Thunder Thunder Thunder that I'm too excited about the I can't talk wow for a team I mean the cautions out but my goodness was that for the wall and you saved it our expectations were low but whoa yeah talking's fun sharing ideas is really fun everything's fun it's fine speaking of fun and things being fine our preview of Darlington oh what a segue good job taylor high five all right so let's go be right back yeah sure we're talking in the third person now Ben thinks this is a good idea I'm off my rocker say I'm sorry okay Dom projected top we can say in the third person here's Dom's projected top 10 presented by Dom oh I love how reck's already on his side I could not F good grief I could not when I did these Graphics yesterday the normal version of his car so this is what we had to go with all right shout out you you tried um that's just so funny to me I'm sorry um yeah so here we go this is um Southern 500 stats um not total Darlington stats this is only the southern 500 numbers uh for these drivers and this is your top 10 or or your 10 most likely uh winning candidates um I'm going to start from the back I'm going to start with Eric Jones this is the best sleeper pick you can have for this weekend he has very hard he has an average finish of 8.7 in the southern 500 he won in 2019 and 2022 uh only one dnf and he's been running this race since 2017 four top fives two top 10 I'll read you all of his finishes is so the reason why he's all the way down in 10th is he's not a good qualifier in the southern 500 his average star to 17th and the one dnf doesn't help either but these are his finishes with that will exclude the one dnf that was a 32 fifth eth 1 fourth first 10th those are his finishes in the southern 500 one dnf so yeah it's just you got to pick Eric Jones because I know you've got extra picks left for Eric Jones so put the 43 in your lineup is oh go ahead sorry oh I was gonna say like the other thing too which we've already discussed is this is one of the toughest tracks it's a veterans race track and to know that Eric Jones has been able to win before in that number sky's the limit potentially but no true if you have picks left over and you have them for Eric Jones put him in your lineup put him in your garage something that's crazy that people will forget is when he won his second Darlington or his second Southern 500 the name of the team was petty GMS yeah GMS it's like a fever dream uh so let's go let's go back up to the front um I mean the numbers shout Denny Hamlin and first of all that pain scheme is hot for this race looks really good um with with the flying 11 uh yeah he has the best average start I mean he's been running this race since 2006 and he still has the best average start of 7.8 eight he has an 8.3 average finish he's won this race in 2010 2017 with a little bit of controversy and 2021 so he's a three-time winner of the Southern 500 he's got a poll position as well he has led more laps in the southern 500 than any active driver 9910 laps LED in the southern 500 and he has nine top fives four top 10 so if you're if you're looking for anyone to bet on this weekend Denny Hamlin's your guy uh second is Brad keslowski the 2018 champion of the Southern 500 uh he has a 9.9 average finish so another guy in the single digits for average finish uh one pole position is well four top fives five top 10 so a very consistent Brad kazlowski and again your first two guys are two guys that have for as tough of a race as this is they've never dnfed the southern 500 crazy third is I mean you want to talk about a guy that has just been on a tear in this race Kyle lson um if you're not picking Denny you got to pick the five uh Larson's the defending winner of the Southern 500 he's been running this race since 2014 and he has an average finish of 6.1 uh the winner in 2023 five top fives two top 10 let me go through his finishing numbers uh eighth 10th 3rd 14th 3rd 2 2 12 first so yeah just disgusting numbers for Kyle LS um looking at his uh he has an average start of 9.9 so he single digits on both ends of this uh one poll or no poll positions though he's never started on poll he's got 71 laps LED he and Denny have led the most laps three different times which is second on the board someone has done it four times we'll get to them in a moment uh and again no dnfs for Kyle lson so another very very solid pick in that number five car uh someone that needs this win more than anyone else is Kyle Bush and he's fourth on the board the 2008 champion of the Southern 500 uh he has completed more laps than anyone else in the southern 500 6,629 laps completed he has two dnfs which goes against him but he's got 871 laps LED he's led the most laps four times which is more than any other active driver four top fives seven top 10 uh for Kyle bus um if he's ever needed a win it it's it's this weekend um I know 2020 got a little scary there he didn't get his first win of the year until Texas at the end of the season but I mean if he doesn't get it here we're in international waters for Kyle bus um we're in trouble um so he's for on the board Joey Lano I think just sheer consistency is what puts him fifth on our board here one pull position he does have a dnf uh five top fives three top 10 um he's got 5400 laps completed he's LED 167 laps as well uh so not too bad but um his average numbers aren't too uh extraordinary 10.1 average start uh 13.9 average finish so uh just kind of w in the middle there but um consistency is key and he gets you that uh so sixth is uh Ben's hero Martin TRX Jr the 2016 Southern 500 champ uh beautiful looking race car too that's an awesome bass propane scheme uh what do I have for him yeah the 2016 winner he has one dnf which puts him down to six uh three top fives four top 10 um he's got that win which helps him out a lot uh he's LED 477 laps and has led the laps once um he's right there with Kyle uh 6,200 laps completed but that one dnf unfortunately went against him uh on his side is Tyler reck in seventh um hopefully he doesn't finish like that um if Chris busher has anything to say about it nice Tyler reic has only four Southern 500 starts and his finishes are his last two have been much better he started with 23rd and 18th in his uh two starts with RC R and now his um or his yeah so he had three starts with RCR 2020 2021 2022 right yeah I believe so so he is three so 23rd 18th and third and then his first one with 231 was a second there it is upper deck yeah thank you you're welcome this must have been uploaded today lovely yeah so he's got two top fives that that helps him out a lot um only four starts though so not a lot to go off of here um average start is in the singles of 9.5 um other than that he's got 90 laps uh LED but only 1,400 laps completed so not as experienced as the um rest all right that's enough of the side the side and above shot of Tyler reck let's go to eighth on the board which would be pause for effect pause for effect wait for it Harrison Burton and here we are not a heater Harrison Burton's sort of teammate Ryan blay nice segue the defending Cup champion Ryan bla he put some respect on that name yes thank you the Ohio native proud Buckeye fan and Cleveland Guardians fan Ryan blay is ath on the board one pole position but only one top 10 for him uh 3200 laps completed and no dnf 17 laps LED for him uh has a good average starting spot of 10.3 but an 18.9 average finish hurts him um they just need consistency out of the 12 and he's very good at delivering that so uh trust Ryan BL to get a good finish for that team um and if there's Carnage he could be there to steal the victory uh Christopher Bell is ninth in the ream number 20 uh one pull position which I believe came last year if I remember correctly um it didn't so why'd you have to lie Dominic um or did it yes it did all right so I lied to myself um I was reading the wrong I was looking at finishes so yeah he got his poll last year um but his finishes yeah are 34th 20th 5th and 23 so one top five there um a little bit more to be had from him um the only other stat leaders that weren't in the top 10 was the dnfs and our man with the most dnfs is Michael Mcdowell with six um ouch your notables outside the top 10 Austin Dylan's the first one out in 11th William Byron 12th Chase Elliott 13th Chris busher 14th Ross Chastain 15th Alex Bowman 16th Bubba Wallace 17th um Tai Gibbs 21st but that's only with two Southern 500 starts um Daniel Suarez 23rd and yeah that's about it for guys with a fair amount of starts the rest of these guys are getting maybe their third or second start um in the southern 500 so experience pays dividends here 100% 100% before we close out the show any thoughts going into the Darlington weekend even too expended this weekend every Point match loo is running the 15 for Am racing in the Xfinity Series so got like Championship four is running the Infinity Series race what's that all like the championship 4 last year running the exfinity series race oh no they are running was that who hold on oh wait a minute it maybe two years ago Championship 4 Joey Chase Chris running it Gregson and Chastain okay so we're thinking more Circa like 2023 we're close way there's there's quite a few cup guys out there look I'll just leave I'm head out all right I'm head out I'm a head out any loano Elliott Christopher Bell Noah Gregson and Ross Chastain those are the cup guys yeah okay cool should be an exciting race cool beans lots of story lines let's go get sun poisoning down at Darlington this weekend guys yeah it's gonna be it's gonna be fun I don't want to put this into the world but weather it's okay it'll be okay okay yeah there there might be a brief shower but it's not GNA rain the thing out okay that's good we'll get the race in cool all right Saturday or Sunday both of them we'll get it in sounds good and happy labor day everyone safe travels you go have fun laboring on Labor Day I go to a Red's game pretty much yeah yeah I'm going to go from my bed to my couch I wish man that sounds lovely yeah everyone stay safe this weekend where sunscreen if you're gonna go to the racetrack that's important there it is H there it is there it is everyone hydrate of course as always thank you so much for joining us for this live stream go to Toby christ.com for all of your NASCAR news as things pop up the weekend I'll be writing stories and obviously Toby as always will be writing Joseph the whole Toby Chrissy team will be making content this weekend on the website so make sure to check it out also of course go to above theol line.com for more about us your at merch and ways to find our social media profiles also I did a really cool interview with Harrison Burton with racing America you should all check that out go to racing America's profiles as well to give them a follow support them they make excellent content at the short track level to the NASCAR cuup series level so pretty cool there I don't think I'm forgetting anything I will see you at the track this weekend if you're going to be there everyone stay safe happy traveling and