Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin - Denny Was Right There… Again

Episode Date: May 25, 2026

Denny Hamlin reacts to a chaotic, rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 weekend after another win slips away from the No. 11 team. From restart battles and losing clean air to pit road frustration and perfectly timed cautions, Denny breaks down exactly why Charlotte felt like another missed opportunity. He also shares his frustration over late-race circumstances, joking about the “poor lifelong Denny Hamlin fans” while explaining how close they were to finally closing one out. The crew also takes a moment to reflect on the heartbreaking loss of Kyle Busch, with Denny sharing memories from their longtime relationship as teammates and competitors and discussing the impact Kyle had on NASCAR and the garage as a whole. Later, Denny explains why NASCAR racing at intermediate tracks has improved so much recently, from tire wear to cleaner grooves and late-race comers and goers. The guys also break down Toyota’s strength at Charlotte, Daniel Suarez’s momentum-building win, NASCAR’s handling of the weather delays, and why Denny still believes the No. 11 team has championship-winning speed despite the recent finishes. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. Hey guys, welcome to Memorial Day. Post-Cola Coca-Cola 580 or so. 30 some laps short, mile and a half. Anyway, the almost 600. Listen, we got in more of our race than the others got in theirs. Man, such a challenging weekend, challenging week. Ready to turn the page here on this Monday.

Obviously, there's been a lot to be said about, you know, Kyle Bush and his impact, and I did a lot of interviews over the week. Not necessarily because I wanted to do him, but I thought it was. It was like, are you honors legacy by getting a story out there? You know, you go on these different shows and morning shows. I think I went on Good Morning America and others. And it was like, you know, these are not typically our fans that would be watching this. So like, let's get the story out there and did Sports Center with Marty Smith.

Me and a few drivers did that as well. But Jared, you didn't get it. interviewed this week or weekend, but obviously you posted on your social kind of the, your favorite moment, which I liked a lot. It was, you know, was that kind of your first interaction with Kyle? It was. So like I, I was with you Thursday afternoon, right, when, we got the news. And then I drove home and was home that night. And I'd posted a few snippets of that, of that moment on my Instagram story. And I went to bed.

And I woke up like a few times throughout the night just like still thinking about that. And I was like, man, I feel like I'm not doing it justice. And I need to share the whole thing, right? The few moments that I put on my story earlier in the evening just like wasn't enough. So yeah, I put that together at, I don't know, it was like 4 a.m. or something. But yeah, it was my first moment. And really, I want to think back to it, it was my first significant moment in NASCAR. You know, like for me, I grew up watching the sport.

I grew up playing all the video games. I knew every driver. I very much was brought up in NASCAR. So like when I started working in it with you, I had a background in it, right? And I looked at all of you guys as these larger-than-life figures. And that moment, I mean, there was championship fours, you, Martin Tricks Jr., Kyle Bush, Kevin Harvick. At the time, you guys are at the four, right? And yeah, and growing up, I only knew Kyle from his persona of Rowdy on Sundays, right?

He was just brash, take no prisoners, was always good for a sound bite. So I'm thinking, like, oh my God, I got to run through New York with this. this guy like this is quite intimidating you know who am i i'm just this young 25 year old uh who doesn't really camera totin yeah who like doesn't really belong here and um yeah Kyle was just he was uh he was super welcoming and i just that that one i when we got back to the hotel i handed my phone i was like okay and i like record like a selfie or something he's like here we are we made it back to the hotel beat these guys it did it here with my my little buddy and i was like like, wow, I just got some recognition from Kyle. It's like, now we're going to go the racetrack

and he's not going to blow me off. Like, now I can say hi to him as we pass. And that never really happened. But yeah, that was my first interaction. And the last one, a few weeks ago, we did a little Hendrick Cars shoot with Kyle Larson. And Kyle was obviously driving the seven spire Hendrik Cars truck or was supposed to drive that truck on Friday here at Sharkey. And so we did a little photo shoot with him. And that was right after he did that interview, or he was talking about you saying he, you know, he didn't still have it, whatever, all of that. So I was thinking, I was like, man, I got to go face to face here with Kyle. I got to, like, walking through what I have planned for him. I got to take his headshot. I'm like, he's probably

going to give me shit. And again, I'm just like a little intimidated because it's Kyle Bush. And he didn't do that at all. He was, he was awesome to work with. He didn't give us a hard time whatsoever. He was great in every way. So that headshot that I posted that, you know, led that story about the pennies and running through New York was the last time that I interacted with with him a few weeks ago here in Charlotte. Yeah, I mean, we were, I was actually surprised to hear that we've been teammates longer

than anyone else in history of NASCAR. Wow. Yeah. 15 years. There'll be teammates. that passed that down the line, you know, the, eventually like Byron and Elliot and Larson, those guys, they started really young, so I'm sure they'll pass it one day. But, yeah, we were teammates for a very long time, 15 years. And I don't know what our head-to-head record is,

but I can tell you what it felt like. It felt like most weeks we were running second to the 18. And so, which is really, really good. He was one of the very few guests we had on this podcast. to people ask all the time, why don't you have this driver on that driver on? I'm like, yeah, just not a great interviewing guy, but Kyle made it really easy

because it was just like we'd just been cutting it up about all these old stories and stuff. I remember that before he came on, you were like, God, what are we going to talk about? You know, like, and then as soon as he gets on here,

it just happens. It just happens. And you guys had a great hour and a half conversation. Yeah, it's good. And certainly, you know, I saw the transition of him over the years and kind of how, you know, he went from being really young and in my mind kind of immature and to just starting a family and getting married and the evolution of him, his personality on and off the racetrack. It just changed a lot. And it was,

it was definitely a pleasure to see that. And, you know, sometimes you, you become better friends when you're not teammates. So it was like that for me with Tony Stewart and many other my ex-teammates. Just, you know, you just, you don't appreciate them until they're gone. And then, like, then you have that, you know, that, that, that, that, that friendship that, that, that, that bond that starts. And so it was good to, you know, had that, no, last appearance with them there at Dover. I was kind of unexpected, unplanned. He was early, right?

Yeah. Yeah, he was early, and he came on when I did, and I think it was like the trackside with Monica and those guys. So it was good, and, you know, you just never thought, you know, it's such a shock and it's such a, it's so unexpected and doesn't seem real because, you know, I mentioned it when we did TV. It was, you know, you think of these people. people is larger than life. So like surely they're they can't they can't be taken out. Nothing can you know

they're invincible right. And so it's just a crazy unfortunate set of circumstances and you know we're you definitely racing racing his honor from here on now. Yeah I think you said it best in your your interview sports center with a Marty Smith on Sunday and Steve O'Donnell said the same thing is that Kyle Bush is NASCAR. He is NASCAR. What is NASCAR? Well, to the casuals, right? Like, it was just a name that casuals knew.

I knew it, and I was new to the sport. Like, I didn't grow up watching the sport, but I knew Kyle Busch, Eminem's, like you knew who this guy was. Well, because he won. Yeah. And so, you know, when it plays on the ESPN ticker at the bottom, who won the NASCAR race,

Kyle Busch wins. Kyle Busch wins. And he did it 63 times. So it just was a name that like kind of picked up a little bit where, you know, the Jeff Gordon's retired, things like that. Now, as Jeff Gordon's retiring, Kyle's hitting his prime. And it was just a casual name that, a name that casuals knew about NASCAR. Like, hey, name three NASCAR drivers that one of the very first name is Kyle Busch.

So, yeah, it's, you know, the family just showed tremendous courage, you know, coming to the racetrack and subjecting yourselves to being out there. And, yeah, a great moment caught Kyle Arson's son Owen, you know, going up and giving Brexton a hug. So it's just, oh, it's just heart-wrenching for sure. I didn't get to see any of that. I was on the grid, and so, you know, where I'm at, I can't see anything. I had no view of the jumbo-tron there, so couldn't see any of what was going on pre-race.

But obviously saw the highlights on social media. But, yeah, just, you know, we just are going to think about the family. And obviously, Samantha, Brexton, anything that they need from us or me personally, then we're going to go above and beyond. Samantha was one of the first people that helped my mom after the fire. You know, she was able to contribute and reached out and helped us. And so that family is very, very caring, and our thoughts are with her. Well, you know, we did have to do the race this weekend.

You know, we got to do some of the first. of it. Yeah, the first one was the O'Reilly's race. Man, that was the shortest, longest race ever. You know, I just didn't get a whole lot of green flag running

when they did do some green flag running. The race was so good. Oh, so good. Gosh, it was exciting to see them mixing it up and just the platform of that car on that type of race track. It's just wildly entertaining. But just they got thrown so many cautions that stopped the momentum and then the rain comes and that stops it.

And it just never could get, never could shake the putting around under caution. And so it just was very choppy race. That's how it kind of felt to me, just very choppy. but great when it was actually green. I could tell you the visibility from the booth, it was, I could not see the cars and turns three by the time that race was ending. Well, Lambert was tweeting there,

and he was like, you can't see anything. Yeah. And I just don't know what they do, right? I mean, do you really stop this thing just short a halfway and then bring them back, I don't know, maybe tomorrow? They have the truck race plan. So where do they fit?

Run them on Monday? Like I just, I get, I mean, sometimes you just, it sucks, but you got to get the thing to the finish line. The problem was that you got to the finish line under caution, so it just felt icky. I get it. Well, I'll tell you that looking at the radar, it didn't seem bad.

And the mist, there was a miss the entire race. So it just was a little heavier during that time. And so I understand them, like, if we want to really go back racing, you have, you, you don't have to. But you need to keep the cars out there running to keep the heat and the racetrack. So if you want any chance of this thing to go, you got to just keep running. And unfortunately, it took it to halfway. and then it was it. And so it was really late.

Yeah, the track got lost. Just, it was unfortunate. I hated it because I, you know, I had fun up there in the booth. And, man, Adam Alexander just makes it so easy to do. I was shocked you stayed around. Yeah, I mean, I was contemplating. whether I was going to stay on the bus on Saturday night or just drive back home.

It doesn't take long to get home. But I said, you know, I'm just going to go home and watch this race anyway. So I might as well just stick around and do it. Watch it, you know, hang around the bus until they say, all right, we're going to go back. And as long as it was within a reasonable hour, I was going to do that. So we did. And, you know, we should play it out a little better. I know the fans feel slighted

and I totally justified for that reason but man, just a hard circumstance that I just don't know how you get out of. I mean, short of just, oh, we're just going to wait this thing out. I mean, yeah,

you know, we'd be, by the way, we'd be trying to get it in right now. It's just left Concord. It's pouring. So it's just I don't know. The first, the The problem was just that the forecast wasn't like, here comes a storm and then the storm will be over.

It's just lingering. It might rain. It might not rain. I feel like we were lucky to get in what we got of the 600 last night. Yeah. The forecast kept getting pushed back, which was really good. Man, I wish it was a way we just moved everything up an hour. Or, you know, not having as long cautions for stages and just. you know, if we could just tidy that up just a little bit. I just think that it would make overall, you know, the fans are tuned in to watch racing, right? And so some of those stage cautions were long. And all three of these races were good. And you just like, that's where you feel like it got stolen because it's like this was going to be great weekend of racing, all three.

Yeah, I mean, at the beginning of the race, I asked Chris to keep me updated on the weather. that that way I can kind of set my intensity of, you know, how hard I push in certain circumstances. And he thought the race would kind of, everything's playing, you know, as planned. Nothing's in the, nothing's coming. It's looking good. Now, they did tell us,

um, pre race, you know, the forecast pre race that, you know, I followed Brad Panovich. I find him to be very reliable. Um,

it was like, you know, yeah, around the 8, 39 o'clock, you can get a pop-up storm. So that's like, okay, that's three hours from the start. Like, I wish we could just give ourselves a little more room on the front side. And I totally understand, you know, you've got the Indy 500 and whatnot.

There still was a few hour gap from the end of the 500 to the beginning of the 600. So I don't know. It's hindsight. It's all hindsight because we didn't, this storm didn't, it did just pop up. It's not like, you know, we saw this thing coming from forever away. So I just, there was lots of delays, even within the race that just couldn't let us quite get in that $600. If there's any silver lining in the truck or Xfinney race getting shorter, I think we learned that a Sunday morning truck race is electric. Give it to me.

And then if it rains on Fridays going forward this weekend, just push the truck race a Sunday morning. Yeah. Lane Riggs winning the truck race, by the way. There was a few trucks that weren't. I think Honeycutt wasn't overly thrilled. I remember watching it. I forget where I was.

I had to watch kind of out of pocket. it and I'm like, oh man, they're in a tough spot now. Caution comes out like three minutes before the drop dead time. And it's like, so are they going to finish this thing under caution? Are they going to say, okay, we're going to give you a green white checkered? Now, if you're leading the race, you're going to be like, what the fuck? No, you told us 12 o'clock is the drop dead time. You can't just add laps because you want to create a show now.

So it was just a very unfortunate set of circumstances on timings of cautions. And boy, did I figure that out on Sunday. Brutal. Awful. I mean, beyond all that, like coming to the end of stages, this happened in Texas, all the kinds of places. Oh, we're going to win this stage. We're caution.

10 to go, 8 to go, whatever it is. I don't know how lifelong Denny Hamlin fans. fans do it because I'm only in it for year four and the fucking unlucky that you have happened. Like it's, I, let me ask you though. Am I, in my truly getting unlucky or am I not executing perfect races? I mean, I can't, you can't do anything about keeping Catherine legs tire on the car. Or the timing of the, I'm about to pass Suarez. Yeah, you were what? Like, a couple seconds, two seconds, three, like, that's what I'm saying is, Like there's nothing you could have done.

And so as a fan, I'm like, Jesus, is this what it's been like to root for you all? Yes. Some of my fan accounts would tell you yes. Like, my God, the Denny Hanlon fans, the ones that have been lifelong, God bless you. Permission to go against the Denny Bros for a second, though? Go ahead. If you just hold the lead on a restart, we wouldn't have these problems. My last three restarts were fine.

They were fine, but you weren't leading. The ones that you were leading. we're not fine. When did I lose? I don't know if you ever had the lead on a restart. I don't think so either. Because cars stayed outer. No, I was always third on the bottom lane, jammed up.

No, there was definitely one restart somewhere in stage two that you controlled. I actually won a restart. I did control a restart and came out first. I know you're very tainted and I am too. I had one really bad one. where I washed up the racetrack and just, I mean, the freight train of cars were going around on the outside. I'm like, God, dang.

But like then two laps later, I get two more spots back. Like, I don't think that was a game changer. I don't think that it was a game changer. I thought, I hear what you're saying. And again, I'm working on it. But the last few that really, really matter. Now, again, mother. I miss beating the 20 off pit road by like that much.

I saw that hurt. Twice. Twice. And one of the times, I had them, but then I hit all that crap and the pit box in front of me from the car that caught on fire.

Oh, for fun. And so I'm leaving. I'm like, we're good, we're good. And I hit the stuff and I'd lose it. And then here comes to the, I mean, I'm telling me, Travis, collectively, we lost the race off pit road by like four inches. combined twice. And that either is I'm starting on the front row with Suarez both those times,

or I'm having to try to push bell. So, I mean, it's just these little freaking things that, I mean, surely I have a role in that can get better. But, I mean, I'm telling you, we ran that entire race planning for the last 100, the last 50. We had it right when it really mattered. But, the race didn't finish. Like we were fast. We were going to be like my car was fast on restarts. I mean, they were everyone, I thought the field was going to have their hands full with us for the last,

last run. Lap 2.15, by the way, is the one that I'm referring to. You started in front. Brisco goes alongside you. He and Reddick get around you. You eventually get back to the lead. That's when you were. Right.

So what, that doesn't... But then Redick repasses you. It just feels like if you controlled the restart, you clear everyone. You might have been able to check out. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that's not the case. Listen, I feel like I'm the harshest critic, and I can't take that. I can't side with you on that one, Jared.

You're not going to lead every lap, Jared, right? I mean, there was a time in the race when they were like, what do you need? I said, I'm pretty good. It just, they're good too. Like, I think it was the 45. I never let anyone get very far out. I was always kind of stalking someone if they were leading. But, like, we're not going to just have a head and shoulders advantage over the field every single week.

It's not like over every week or the previous 25 laps you were forced, you checked out. So it's like if you ever could just keep the clean air. I get it. I know. You're right. You're right. But that was. stage two,

though, Jared, and then stage three, the track changed. I get it, but after that restart and never

truly had control of the clean air anymore. Now it was, I got to get it back from this guy, got to get it back from this guy.

It was always a different guy. It was a 19, then it was a 45, then it was the 20. I think they all took turns at being really good and we were really good

to, I mean, we were the most consistently, Absolutely. I'm just clicking through this YouTube video of highlights and you're always one, two or three. No matter which spot I click.

I get it. I want to be faster in the first 15 laps of a run, but I think I will give up speed being faster late and passing is much easier when it's late than it is right after restart. That just opens up the luck thing, right? It does. because when you get the caution is up,

now we're not going to be the fastest again for a few laps. Like, I get it. And that, you know, that is NASCAR racing, right? You've got to be good. These things more and more come out to shootouts more times than not. I have a question. So stage one, you're probably going to win. Chase Rex.

Is that the one where I was running down with Zane? Yeah. Are you, are you, after stage one ends, are you happy or are you upset? Because the fan of me says Chase just lost one of your competitors is out so I'm okay losing a couple stage points. Because of the overall points?

Yeah. I don't really look at it that way. I was more looking at it to the fact that I was like we're about to win a stage you know we're gaining points. So going from winning, you know, going to win a stage to being fourth. Same thing in Texas.

I was going to win that stage. caution comes out late, I think I finished fourth. The 45 restart merchant was, you know, went right around me, you know, goes from wherever he was going to run, you know, third, fourth, fifth to, you know, has an amazing restart. It's fast in the short run and passes me. So things are working out great for them in that sense. But, I mean, the overall speed, like I think we're a little better. Yeah, I agree.

So going down the stretch here, you're, I cut you off. to go back and talk about your restarts. But going down the stretch, you liked your car. You had set it up for the last 50, 100 laps. Yeah, it's just, you know, we have been through so many Coca-Cola 600s. And so I just kind of know where this thing's going to go and we're prepared for that. We're willing to make some sacrifices, you know, to our car to try to be good at the end of the race. and I just thought that they nailed the balance really well.

I could just tell those last few restarts kind of what I had there. I was finally able to rip the top with really good speed. So then I get the big runs off where I was kind of really just only making speed on the bottom on the other restarts. So it made me a little bit more versatile. And so I just thought, man, damn, I just needed like three or four laps of solid green. running and just couldn't get it. And then just, yeah, there was a one run where I get beside the seven off of turn two, but then the 20 is still there.

And so if the 20 is not there, I can side draft the seven, pulling back and clear them into three. But I'm still racing the 20. It was just not great set of circumstances. for us to win. There was one, I think, where I was beside the 20. I tried to clear him into turn one. I was clear for a moment, tried to move up.

He's starting to get a run back up on me. I want to leave him room. I don't want to put him up in the fence. So I back off there. He reclares me. Now we've got to build another run up. That takes another two laps. We had our chances.

just, you know, there was a few corners maybe I would execute slightly differently, like take a different line or instead of trying to slide job to 20, just run a really good corner on the bottom. And, you know, because that wasted a lap and a half of me trying to get that momentum back that I lost when I checked up off of two

to give them the room. So there's room to be had, improvements to be had. I mean, the restarts weren't as bad as Texas. I did have a couple that were not great, but I thought at the end of the race when I needed good restarts, I did. There was when we restarted 8th, I think, in line, and got right to the top 4 pretty quickly. So we're right there.

I mean, certainly on speed, we'd have a lot of wins this year. But there's a lot of things that you don't plan for that sometimes you take two tires and you win it like Daniel Swares. Is that, and this is no slouch to the 17, but is that only a call that a team running outside the top 10 can make? Yes. Yeah. At that time. You're at the tail end of the lead lap and running 20, I think, first. 14th when they made that.

Yeah. I think his average running position was in the 20s. so sometimes when you're not good it gives you opportunities to just try something different stage 1 12th stage 2 30th stage 3 21st yeah uh i don't know did the tires matter that much they mattered i mean he was struggling but me and the 20 were just slowing each other down so much running side by side that uh we we just we bought them enough time for that rain to come. Do they do they, like how long does it take for them to even out, right?

Because he has to execute two reasons. They're never going to even out. Like, not with as many lapses he had on his left side tires. They were never going to even out. If anything, his advantage is going to be the first few corners when he's got the clean air. If he ever falls back in traffic, I mean, he'll fall like a rock. It'll be really, really tough.

But I think that. they were planning on like we're going to take two here maybe we run 10 laps if the caution comes out then we've just got some track position so it was a great call by Ryan Sparks Larson also helped him on one of the restart I was stunned I thought Larson's going to make a three wide immediately if it was us who would have um she pushed him I think I think what Larson's strategy was and I could be wrong. But Larson was really good about carving the bottom. The one restart I was behind, I think McDowell. That was the one where I started behind him, cleared the outside lane and I shot to the outside because I'm like, well, I got to keep my momentum. Well, of course, the 71 slides up the racetrack.

That's when the five, that was one I lost, you know. So then the five hugs the bottom really well and then clears me and him. So I think Larson was actually, if I'm him and kind of what I saw out of his car, I was thinking he's probably just planning on the seven going in and turn one and two, sliding up. Now, Larson now becomes in clean air on the bottom. But yes, very surprised.

Now, I didn't, I haven't seen like, whether he just gave him a really good initial, shove or did he push him all the way in a turn one? I'm really not sure. I haven't seen that. But usually when Larson's attached to you, he's going to look to go three wide somewhere.

I'm still clicking through these highlights and as an 11 fan, it's brutal to watch. Thanks, Jared. One, two more laps and you're taking the lead on two different occasions here. Forget two more laps. I said one, two. It would be like two seconds.

at one turn. I was there, guys. I saw. And then I'm like, oh, then at the time of scoring had you third. I thought you'll least for a second and get the front. I did too. I couldn't figure that on out. I thought one of the cautions I'm like, oh, I'm definitely ahead.

That first one, I thought you were a second. Man, if we ever finish how we are on speed, like, we couldn't end up winning a lot of races one day. one day you can sign a contract extension no no um per auto racing and analytics oh okay you don't want to reference this to go ahead what is it there are five cars you know the thing where if this race went blah blah blah blah there there his algorithms a little off though by the way like I saw him like is it like based on fourth quarter median speed like I look at the graphics sometimes I'm like no that's not that's not right

optimal lap model for every lap i don't know it's got you ahead by a whole whole corner oh over who the 45 45 was good for a few laps um definitely good in clean air definitely good on restarts um seemed like the long run is kind of where they're i think i get a little bit better um but yeah i mean tyler keeps a minute gosh she's so good at restarts and picking the lanes that that pop up open and um but i thought yeah i mean all the toyotos were fast i mean the 54 was good 20 obviously was good 19 i mean the end of stage there was i mean i i i know this because they i'm in the race and i see it but like that was the closest or the most challenged honestly that's that right that's the most challenged i felt on a mile and a half this

year from you know someone else i mean we haven't won um many of the races but i you know i can just tell on speed are we faster everyone else or not and um that certainly there there was times where I'm running second and third saying, I don't need a lot. I don't need much out of my car here. They're just, they're good. They're good. So, oh well.

I mean, that end of stage three might have been some of the best racing. We've seen it a long time. When you're driving, are you able to, like, I'm guessing you can't really appreciate it because you're just thinking, you know, what your next move is? No, I am appreciating it. Like there was one where it was the,

uh, the bell one where he was coming on late at the end of the stage. I ran down the 19, or was the 50, 45, one of them. And then I went to the bottom and went from third to battling Bell, I think, off a turn two for the lead and, uh, ended up clearing going to first. And it was like, I knew at that time, I was like, man, I bet this is a fun show on TV or in the stands. it just it seems like good year's got into a place with their intermediate tire which i absolutely love and i think that that's that's some of it too is that you know we're these tires are

more consistent now than they've ever been so this i call it the kansas tire you know they're running on all these big tracks so i've got such a understanding of that tire um it's it's it's easy for me to kind of replicate the feel at multiple different racetracks with this particular tire. But what makes this tire so good is that it really won't last a fuel run. Like we could go on a tank of gas, you know, almost 70 laps. Tires won't go that far. Tires could go like 60. And so that is why you're seeing at the end of these stages, the pack,

it spreads and then it comes all back together. We catch the back of the pack. The leader starts struggling. You start showing cords on your right front or right rear, whatever your balance is. And then that's the moment at the end of these stages where you see a large discrepancy of speed between cars. And it's because of the tire is wearing out and finally wearing out of rubber.

And so, you know, after years and years and years of begging, good year to get softer on their compounds, things like that. Like they just really have gotten to a good place where you need, you need tires before you need fuel. And that's why you're seeing the racing improve so much. And we get to go back here in the fall. That's fantastic. And we get another racing.

Great news. Let's talk about this Daniel Suarez window, because he did have to hold off a bunch of sharks in the water to get this one. and obviously very meaningful for him and that team. Yeah, I mean, especially kind of in the points position they were in, right? They were kind of, we were talking about, well, do they have enough real speed to keep it in the top 16? And I know that it feels like to me, and I don't have any stats to back this up, but what it feels like to me is that they qualify really well,

and the race, their pace is not not been great. and then so they've been, it feels like they've been living a little bit in the got good track position thing. And then the minute they kind of get shuffled out of that track position, then it's like, oh, where are they really at on speed? Now they're just kind of hanging on at that point. So it was, I always felt that they were very vulnerable with their points position. But with the new format now and how they're rewarding,

wins with more points like this really catapulted him now into the top 10 and uh certainly probably lets him take a breath of of the bubble talk you know what I mean maybe for at least for a few weeks or two um so I think that you know they're they got enough speed that the 77 shows week in week out um you know kind of where the speed usually is for the spy cars but Daniel's not been too far behind and McDowell's right there as well so They definitely have, you know, decent enough speed that I think all of their cars are capable in speed of making the playoffs. I just, I don't know if they will or not.

I think they got some one of the teams, got some pick crew issues and, you know, that's always going to be the challenge when you don't. And when you don't, if you rely on Hendrick that much, you know, they're going to put their best guys on their cars and they're going to constantly take your guys as they see you know pit crew starts being really really good they're going to take guys and they're going to put them on a house car so that's the the a little bit of the issue of being the little brother um that you could potentially lower your ceiling a little bit now just talking about pit crews you know Hendrick has got a ton of pick crew members like a lot so they're always going to have a lot of really good people

but just remember it's they're they're not going to be okay if your pick crews are outrunning their house cars they're that's that's not the deal um that's why you get your pick crew at a you know a more budgeted price uh it's because hendricks the one investing uh in these people and so they want the best on their cars. So you're always going to be... You're going to have the fifth best. You're going to have the fifth best. Most times. But that's also the beauty of this new points format, right? Is that it rewards execution. And then if you execute at your average, and then occasionally

beyond your average, that's how you put yourself top 10 points. Yep. Yep. And I think that's what the seven team is doing or has done so far this year is that their pace has been. And like I say, it's average. It's not, you know, if you look at just pace, it's like, I think they look average. Sorry, I unhooked myself. I need to plug myself back in. Death taxes. Huh?

Death taxes, did you end up in the corner? We're going to get so many YouTube comments about our wire situation here, Travis. That's okay. But that's, the bottle is average. That's so. you're kind of right there but it's if you're one of their teams one of the bubble teams like the seven team has been most of the year nights like last night or like a hell yeah yeah especially in this format it gives you gives you some breathing room and 10th and points after 13 races is

nothing to sneeze about either it's it's as high as daniel's been in points maybe yeah maybe ever after 13. I'm not sure. Feels like it. What about this win for Daniel himself, though, in his connection to trial? Well, you saw the emotion. Like, he went from instant celebrating

to emotion really quickly. And you just know it means so much to him. And Daniel's a really, really good guy. And he's a great team guy. They talk about him a lot within his organization of him being the glug. guy between, you know, Carson and McDowell and, you know, how different their personalities are. Daniel's kind of right in the middle. And so, you know, this is great.

Daniels, listen, Daniels bounced around a few teams here and there. But this, it seemed like he's finding the most success as of right now, the first 13 races at his home at Spire. I think one of the beautiful things, too, from this weekend is you really got to see the connection that Kyle had to every driver in this field because whether it was Daniel or the 20 team or you or Ty or Reddick. The roots run so deep. Yeah, any one of the guys win, you're going to tell the story of how Kyle played a role in that person's career.

That's how important Kyle was to NASCAR racing. The storyline was going to be easy to tell no matter who won it because Kyle affected everyone. Yeah. Yeah, as far as, you know, he like you did a bunch of interviews beforehand and really touched on their relationship and how important he, Kyle was to Daniel's growth and where he got to in the sport. Yep. We talked about the O'Reilly race. We didn't mention the winner. Ross Chastain. I thought when I was up there and I was looking at it, just, to put a bow on that race. Like, I wonder how damage his car was after hitting the wall after the 35 blew up because he had concrete in the wheel. And if you get concrete in the wheel of one of those cars, like usually you've got some

decent suspension damage. So, wow, what a chain of events that was. The entire field just pounding the wall into turn one. It was like Daytona when the rain hit. How did you see that? I looked outside. Oh, interesting. not through the monitor

I was looking at the monitor 90% of the time and they have a monitor actually that's quite nice that has probably 20 cameras on it and so you kind of you see

if you ever hear us talking about I think there was contact in the turn three it's because we're watching it before they actually show it on TV. Like, they've already got the replay, like, going right away. And so there's lots of little, there's lots of boxes of cameras that are all around the racetrack. It's very, very hard to see everything.

But, yeah, there was, I looked outside a little bit. I did. It was funny, though, watching them all at the wall. look like a video game racing. It did. I mean, they went in the corner thinking everything's fine, and I can tell you, when there's oil on the track, you've got no control over your car at all.

And that was wild to see all those cars pound the fence. Maybe too early to talk about this, but five of the final 10 races this year are a mile and a half, and clearly the Toyotas have something that the other manufacturers don't. Do you think they'll even out at some point? I do. The whole, the sport always goes and ebbs and flows.

And even when rules remain the same and whatnot, like nothing has changed from last year or this year. You know, Chevy changed a little bit of their body. We changed a few of the aerodynamics on tracks like Darlington, Dover, Bristol. But not much else has changed. So it's just we're in the cycle right now of being fast. and then when does the cycle go away and another team finds something that picks their speed up.

It just, this has been NASCAR racing for a long time. Does it worry you, though, that right now you guys have the speed and you're not capitalizing with the wins? Well, it doesn't worry me, it just bothers me. It doesn't worry me at all, but just bothers them because, you know, you just every oval were just so quick and just are not getting trophies. Are you looking at the points at all on that 120 point advantage that Redick has and thinking, I got to get there? Or is it more just, if I maintain my...

I'm not planning on getting there, no. I think it would... I mean, again, his worst finish is 15. They've had no issues at all when it comes to like, you know, really bad finishes. They've overcome the adversity that they have been thrown. So I'm not, I'm not planning on it. And if you look at like where we were at after that five race stretch, we've, we've scored the same amount of points. Like we've been the same.

It's just when he wins five and I only win one, there's going to be an offset of points there that just, until we win more races, it's just not going to happen. So I'm more looking at making sure I stay in that position. You know, we can win the championship from second. I got a review here from ZY Rush 48. I've been listening to this show since the first episode. And I've got to say, I love the way you three mesh so well.

Jared is like a casual fan asking questions. I feel like most fans have. That's exactly what I am. Denny is absolutely the race car driver who answers them to the best of his ability and breaks it down from a driver and owner perspective. And trav is just trav. He's kind of in the middle and it's just such a vibe. Taylor's here or my other child's here. I really couldn't hear what you were saying.

I was saying tell them how we found the decision process on how we were going to pick Jerry for the podcast. Oh, she's been on this for a few weeks now. She has? Yeah. about how we picked you to be the co-ho? Oh, yeah. Yes. She said, the summary is that it was between Greg and I.

Greg. Freneli? What? Not a chance. We were all coming up with mock things and my mom goes, what about Greg? And the dad was like, no. What about Jared? And I was like, Jared, like, your video guy?

And he was like, yeah. And like, okay. And I got to say. Can the people hear that or no? Probably somewhat. Now, Jordan wanted Scotty. You don't have enough bleat buttons for Scotty. I've never met Scotty, but.

Oh, Lord. He's in the chat. Scotty, to be fair, Scottie would be electric, but it would not be the same show. No. no no no no I said we got to pick someone who's in the sport I said we got to pick someone who your friend who is it was all your idea

we got it yeah we got it um yeah I mean I don't have anything else trying to enjoy this Memorial Day everyone just want to say thank you to all of our troops by the way those that are serving and the families

it's one thing that I do love about our sport is you know week and week out we do salute our militaries. We have a troop to the track program that they usually announce during the driver's meeting. You know, they usually get an ovation. And then, you know, we have weekends like this that are very special that the track, you know, Marcus Smith, SMI, the whole Charlotte Motor Speedway team just does it a fantastic job of their salute of the military during this Memorial Day weekend. So I had Sergeant Alice on our car, got actually his family.

We got to meet his sisters. And he actually got awarded the Medal of Honor this past year. So great to represent them and get to know some of these military family stories and whatnot. And so one thing we don't want to forget is honoring our military here on this special day. off to Nashville are we running it back what part uh Broadway are you gonna go you got space absolutely all right let's do it so we're hosting by the way better because last year I got 10 minutes of a those that are those that are listening are invited to a 2311 party on friday night at chiefs oh open in the public a friend eric yep y'all are y'all are like besties

you're just cutting it up at his bar last year Charlie TMZ over there Charlie's not afraid to break like that's why I couldn't understand I know this show was over five minutes ago but how was he you know so upset at me grabbing the camera when he was hanging off that tree

in the in the lake was like he's the first one that grabs the camera if the rolls reversed he would have had the whole thing. I know. He can give it, can't take it. That's right. That's right.

He plays both sides, as Ron Herbert would say. Well, yeah, let's run it back in Nashville. I mean, should we go? I don't know of Taylor's here, but like, should we go Thursday? Like, I won't really get a, I won't get to have a fun night just, Friday because I got practice on Saturday. So then I could if we went Thursday. Go Thursday night? Like Thursday like right.

536. Right. Yeah. Practice is at 3.30 central for what it's worth on Saturday. Saturday? Yeah, but I still can't. No, no, no. We've got to we got a W. Right. Right. I've seen in the in the chat like, he's got curfew. I was just plug in in 330 Central. Travis. Travis definitely rider dies on the, are we winning or not? Like, I was worried about him calling the race Saturday night and not getting enough sleep. I can tell you, I did not get enough sleep Saturday night. I was, I was tired. You're welcome, CW.

You cost us a W. Dad, dad, no factor in the finish. All right, well, appreciate y'all tuning in, and we'll see you next week.