Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin - Rule Changes, Expectations & Daytona 500 Prediction

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

There was no race this weekend but Denny Hamlin and the guys didn’t take the week off. They're back to cover:2:00 - Super Bowl was tough watching with a Chiefs fan7:40 - Xfinity fastest lap is back19:40 - NASCAR trying to put an end to race manipulation27:50 - Damaged Vehicle Policy gets an update31:30 - Big punishment if a driver needs a waiver35:45 - What changes Denny would make to the playoffs47:20 - Why Denny doesn’t like the Open Exemption Provisional57:40 - Expectations for 23XI and drivers racing for new teams in 20251:19:30 - Daytona 500 predictions For more content head over to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@ActionsDetrimental Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Here's a better question. Do we have to change our plans on taping money because Jared has one of his routes to win? We're not. We'll just do it with Adam. Does one of Jared's drivers win? There's already a, what's it called? Contingency plan? There's already a plan in place.

Yeah, always works on that. I'll be here unless Denny wins. The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. I believe that I've been a competitive for 20 years. opinions from tonight's podcast strictly biased you're going to hear from my point of view I'm a fighter no you are not the spoils a victory for Jared Allen he's got better luck the brick and drink to win I know you do two trophies missing from your collection of championship and the most popular driver someone told me that their drinking game is when I say

for sure yeah and I've already said hey guys welcome to action's detrimental pre-day 20500 2025 season preview. I'm going to try to catch you up on all things that happened in this offseason that between the last time we aired. Well, we aired last week after the clash, but, you know, try to catch you up over the last couple months of news and tidbits. There's been a lot of things certainly go on. A lot of moves, a lot of drivers going in different places, crew chiefs in different places.

New teams, things like that, rule changes. It's, there's, this is, this is the most text I've seen in our little shared note here. And we didn't even race. And we didn't race. So where do we want to, where do you all want to start today? You know, the goal obviously is to try to catch you up on things and talk about the current events and really get you geared up for the Daytona 500 coming up this weekend. that's going to be on Fox. Let's start with the most noteworthy event.

Okay. That was a Super Bowl last night. Yeah. Yeah. Last night, if you were checking out my stories, one of my good friends, Greg Fernelli, is a Chief's fanatic. I don't think he's not as much of a fanatic as obviously Travis is to Ohio State.

But Travis and Charlie did show up in just in support of someone who's home team was playing for a championship. We tried to support as long as we could. It lasted about six minutes into the game. I mean, it was, we knew right from the jump. It was just a mismatch. I mean, I was trying to like, you know, rationalize, all right, we get a touchdown here. We're good.

And Denny's looking at me like. It's the start of every drive. We were saying, Greg, hey, look, we're, we got a shot here. We go down, you score. You get it within a couple scores. and then next thing, no, it's the next drive. All right, we go down, we score, we get it within three scores, and then it just kept getting worse.

We made wardrobe changes. We changed where we were sitting. Yep, everyone got up, switched shirts, took their shirts off, moved around. Nothing helped that offensive line. No. I thought the same thing watching. I was like, well, surely if Tom Brady brought his team back from down 24, Patrick Mahomes isn't out of it.

What did I say? I said, yeah, but they were going up against. Atlanta's defense, not Phillies. Phillies defense just obviously way higher rated than what Atlanta's was. Highlight is Greg gives us rousing little pep talk. They're down 10-0-0

and he takes a shot at Tequila. Gronk spikes it. Then they throw a pick 6. It's 17-0. Taylor walks over to let everybody know that they've finalized their halftime performance. It's going to be five minutes. And Greg goes, oh, I'm

thrilled. Exactly. I mean, so whenever we have company over, Taylor always wants to know, are they going to bring their kids, right? Yeah. It's like, you know, entertainment for them.

They want more entertainment. So what happens is we all get together. We watch games or whatever it is. And then they go in the gym and then they work on a performance. And so. Always. Because they like, you know, hey, let me get my minute of attention.

here, right? So, um, their performance actually pretty solid. It was really good. There was an ad break. Oh, my God. Oh, I wish I could play it. Oh, man. It's so good. So they did a basically their own arrows tour of previous Super Bowl halftime shows. So they, they started in 19, no, 2000, like 2007. Okay. They did like, whoever was the, performer say it was Shakira. She did the song that she was doing. And then they would transition. I guess they did it on Instagram.

They did a cap cut or something. This is Taylor and Molly and Luko. This is Taylor and Gigi, which is Greg Starr. So they did a little cap cut and they, so they did like, I don't know, a minute, maybe 30, 45 seconds of a song and then transitioned it into, okay, here's 2009. And it was Beyonce. and then they went to

2013, here is blah, blah, blah. And then they had M&M. Then they had, who else? I know I'll put you on the spot there. Oh, they had Rihanna.

Rihanna. And Taylor even acted like she was pregnant. Yeah, she stuck a ball in her, in her, like they took it serious. They got all the details. So then they transitioned, like as they were transitioning

as one was performing, okay, you had the other wardrobe changing, ready for the next song, And then they would just keep going back and forth. And this was in place of the actual halftime show? Well, this was just, Greg, we've seen enough.

We're going to take over this drive. It was originally supposed to happen after the game. Greg, the Fernelli family realized pretty quickly they were not going to stay for the entirety of the game. Greg, let's say. And then Greg says, all right, if you're going to do this performance, let's do it. Let's get out of here. He goes, Gigi, goes like this. We're not staying for the whole game.

Yeah, we're not staying. I mean, as a dad, you can't be mad at this, right? Your kids spent the first hour and a half of this football game in the most productive way possible. Well, that's what we were mentioning is that, you know, they, we were moaning and growing in over, hey, we got to go downstairs and watch this performance, you know, in the middle of the third quarter, which by then it's blouses. But we did say, and forget who said it, said, yeah, but they were down there for the whole time not bothering. us.

So let's just doing something like an activity, you know? Well, that was an ass kicking. The Chiefs just got their teeth kicked in. It was one in the trenches by mile. They actually stopped Sequin pretty well. But man, their offensive line versus Eagles D was just not a close. I don't think they blitzed all night. It wasn't.

And the secondary wasn't good either. I mean, they were getting big play after big play. Essentially, when you think about J. only hurts one with its arm, right? I mean, which is what's not, it was not in the script, not what everyone was thinking. All right, well, that's our non-N NASCAR segment. Let's talk about some cars going in circles. So we had some off-season, let's go with the latest thing that came out with NASCAR. Zoom, Zoom, fastest lap? Fastest lap. Xfinity. Fastest lap. Xfinity, a great part. partner of 2311. You're going to see them on the race cars quite a bit this year. I thank them for

coming aboard. So Xfinity, there will be a fastest lap now. I guess if you're a new fan or an old fan, this kind of maybe tickles your fancy for both of you. New school, like, you know, F1 has the fastest lap, although I think they are getting rid of that this year. If I'm not mistaking or maybe next year not sure um they're going to reward one playoff point is that right it's a playoff point is it a playoff point or is it just a bonus point oh yeah not a playoff point no i don't think so because a playoff point is steep well we better get our facts correct you'll might want to look this up quickly because i remember seeing a chart saying oh if if you got one point okay there's no the word playoff is not in this article announcing.

Well, Aaron, one additional bonus point. Yeah, the word playoff is not even in the article announcing the. Because I saw a graphic and it was like, oh, if each person got one more point, here's where they would have finished in the regular season championship. Yeah. Yeah, just like a regular season point. Oh, is it because it was a tie with a 545? Yeah.

So my question for you is now that you know this, and it's not a playoff point, Is this point going to make all that much difference? No, I mean, no. No, not in the grand scheme of things when you have a big sample size like 26 races. It won't make a huge deal. But it, you know, it's something. You know, you can't. I feel like it's just a better branding opportunity for Xfinity than anything else.

Yeah, I mean, I like it. They've had, you know, they had the Xfinity fastest lap for like the last year or so. They would always kind of show the graphic. I would always see it. It'd be on my feed anyway. And so it's something that you knew that if you got the fastest lap, you got a cool kind of graphic on it. But yeah, there's something, I think there's something to it now.

You can, you know, it's just added as maybe, you know, now a lot of these fastest laps will come at the very beginning of the race by whoever is on the front row. So those who don't know, you know, don't watch lap times, you know, you know, rigorously through the race, you know, that's a very small portion of us. You know, the track is cleanest and coolest when the races start. So typically these fastest laps will come, lap two to three of the actual race. Now, there'll be a few tracks where we'll race from the afternoon, maybe into the evening,

and there's a chance that the track could pick up speed during that time. But typically, the cleaner the track is, the cooler the track is, that's when you're going to have the opportunity. you're going to have people on the front row, you know, kind of battling probably for a couple laps there, trying to, well, not only get track position to lead the race, but to get the fastest lap of the race. Yeah, I guess for the most part, for the regular season, this probably isn't going to make all that much of a difference, much of a difference, but when it will come into play is when there's five races left and you're going into Martinsville. There's a three-point gap separating X driver and Y driver.

And it's like, okay, he could finish two spots better than so-and-so. But he could also just run the fastest lap of the race and get an additional point that way. Yeah. And it's, I can't explain to you how difficult it is to run the fastest lap of the race while not in the lead. The leader just still has a tremendous advantage aerodynamically. And when you think about, you know, I just talked about track heat, what happens is those front cars, you know, they're laying down hot rubber, right? And the further you, the further you are back, the hot.

the hotter the racetrack is, and then when you think about it, say there's, after a restart, four seconds or five seconds between first and last, the track then has time to cool from the very last car going across that strip of asphalt into turn one. They've got another, if you're on a mile and a half, 30 seconds before the leader comes back around. So that track is cooling back off,

and then so then it just accentuates how much faster the lead car is. Now, this doesn't change anything for you guys, though, right? Because your teams are already monitoring the labs in it. It goes into account for qualifying. I mean, just qualifying, right? I mean, that's essentially what sets are starting. Yeah. Which then, yes, it does dictate your pit stall.

So, like, for you guys, though, this really doesn't change any, like, how you operate going forward, or do you think it will? No, this won't change how we operate. It just will be something that we monitor. How often will the guy who qualifies on the pole also be the guy with the fastest lap? Oh. If the fastest slap's going to come at the beginning of the race and you're starting on the pole. I'm thinking about it. The fastest slap coming from, how about this?

Let me just throw out a prediction that's not fact-based whatsoever. Is that whoever is on the front row will set the fastest lap 35% of time. Oh, that's not probable. But it's way higher than, like, if you start 10th, for instance, that's where I qualify every week. I qualify 10th to 12 every week. So Denny's getting zero of these points, fans. That's not true. I got five.

I had five last year. No, I don't know. I thought you would have gotten three. I got five. Are you sure? Yes. All right. Is that right?

I thought I saw that Larson had eight. I was five. Someone else was five. Anyway, if you're, if you start 10th, I think your chances of getting the fastest lap in that given race is, um,

5%. I mean, just, you're going to need the stars to align things like that. Yeah. Just trying to pose this, this fastest slap as a way that fans can, you know,

track it. Like if your driver's on the pole and say, okay, well, you'd be getting one additional bonus point tomorrow in the race. You know, I'm excited about that. But we already said it's not a bonus point. It's just, well, instead of scoring 30 points, you get 30.

It'd be exciting if, like, if you're going to, most likely a lot of times it's going to be decided in the first couple laps, I don't see it exciting. Like, for F1, it's worked because late in the race, a team will then put new tires on and go for that. So when we're talking about just FYI, it's down in the last. list about no playoff changes that's a way you can reward good cars throughout the year because if you look at the people that have run had the most fastest laps do you have the list you'll get it if you look at it it's the guys that dominated the regular season so that's a it'd be a non-corky way to reward guys that can run up front i believe larson would have five was the leader he would have three oh shoot you're right

along with Bell, SVG would have three. Just the fact that you thought they were getting awarded playoff points makes me think that you would have liked to see the drivers be awarded playoff points with this. Sure. It means you're up front. Like a fastest lap is equivalent to a stage win. I mean, that's why, you know, when we initially came out with stages and whatnot

and rewarding points mid-race, I liked the idea because it was such a bummer. And again, people only compare our sports to other when it's convenient to their narrative. But it just feels like to me that we're in a sport that has so many variables that are out of your hand. If you continually run up front, you should be rewarded for that in some kind of way. Because in our sport, at no time when you, let's compare it to football. because this fits my narrative today, is that when you get up 35-0 nothing in a football game,

they don't reset the score with two minutes to go. In our sport, you can have a 35-second lead, and a caution comes out, get wiped out in the green-white checkered, and before stages and points like that, it's like you were never there. It was like you were never there. You got nothing.

You'd leave with a point or two, and it was like, no, we dominated. the day. How to, how, you know, it's not, you can't just take my 35-0-0-0-lead, send me, you know,

reset it with two minutes to go, and the next thing you know, the opponents beat me, 35-0-0, that, that doesn't seem fair, and it, and it wasn't fair. So they fixed it by putting stages in, which also helped TV,

get their ads in. They, TV knew when they were getting breaks and things like that. So, um, stages, you know, the old-school fans, don't love stages, but I mean, we got a taste of what it's like at road courses about

stages, right? It's, ugh, it's a, it's a tough watch if it really gets strung out. Why do you think we're, why do you think we're running the short course at Cota? You know, the track is so big and gets so strung out. I mean, I mean, you better really love racing to, if you want to tune in and watch it, because it's, it's not a great watch when they get strung out all over the track. Now, it's the purest way, but it's just, we have a, you know, the crowd and the audience expects a little something different today.

Yeah. The fastest lap, what you're saying is just isn't a fluke. In order to run the fast lab, you have to be up front. Right. Yeah, qualify well. At a speedway, yes. At a speedway, yes. Because the fastest lap will come from somebody running

way behind the pack. Yeah, they'll try to get a run. I think during the Daytona 500, I think you will see people that are choosing not to race at that point, at some point of the race, go back to the back and try to get fastest lap. You'll keep accordion back and forth. So, you know, we used to do this a long time ago during practice when they were, you know, kind of set in starting order and whatnot.

You lay back from the pack and it's super speedway. He's usually the ones that are fastest usually are either in a long train of cars that are all committed to not passing each other, or you're at the back of the pack and you get a huge suck-up to the draft, and then they'll tell you your lap time, and they get fastest lap? Nope.

And then, all right, you'll go back, you'll peel back another second and then try to get another run. So we've done it for a while, and it's a lot of it too is because, like, you talked about, and I realize now that y'all were talking about the metric system of, you know, when you go out to qualify.

so yet fastest slap has always been a part of what we do I just clicked in my brain was like oh yeah because I was trying to figure out why was I trying to run the fastest slap on speedways last year I was like oh that's right because it sets your metric yep for the next week's qualifying order yep so which again could then set you up to run the fastest lap in the following race there you go

yeah no doubt all right well that took a while in the vicinity fast slap but hey my other ones are going to be much quicker. Influencing a race. Jared, can you kind of give us a summary of this? Any member who attempts to improperly influence the outcome of the event or encourages, persuades, or induces others to do so shall be subject to penalties as outlined in sections 10,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Prohibited actions include are not limited to intentional planning or conduct that prioritizes objectives other than achieving the best possible competitive result for their team. Yeah, so what they're trying to do, is, you know, keep us from manipulating races. Keep the manufacturers from manipulating the races. So how is this any different than what we initially had? Well, before there was kind of like 100% rule, or maybe that went away.

I'm not really sure. No one, no one ever got dinged for that that I know of. Maybe Cole Custer member at the Roval. I don't, I have no issues in this whatsoever. I think, you know, something needed to be done. Obviously, this goes beyond. I know it's easy to put the microscope on Martinsville as the big culprit, like it's where we saw it, rear its head. But this, this goes on in other races as well, not just cutoff races.

and it's been going on for years. I remember, you know, not to call a specific team out, but a Bristol cutoff race where one of the competitors had an incident. Next thing you know, all of his teammates had mechanical failures. You know, they're on pit road, like something's broke or, you know, to try to get the positions back for their, like, this has been going on for quite some time. minute and it happens a lot during the playoffs. I think it will be hard to fully stop it because teams still will just kind of get creative

and it will be hard to prove otherwise. But this certainly stops the logjam behind William Byron. This rule is targeted at Martinsville. Is it not? It is. It is. But I'm going to explain that it's. Martinsville wasn't the only

This has been going on for forever. It was a straw that broke the camel's bag. Correct. Right. But we joked on here midway through the season that you and B.J. McLeod traded 25th and 26th with each other. Is this also directed at that? Or is that like, who cares?

I would say no. Because B.J. McLeod and I have no alliance, a legion, no orders, no nothing. So the key word there is orders. Correct. And that's, I just feel like this is, you premeditated, manipulated the finish. You talked about if this happens,

then we're going to do this as a team or a manufacturer or whatever, right? Don't pass this person at the end if we give you a code red or whatever. The BJ McLeod thing with me at Atlanta, I think it was, right? I was limping home to the, yeah, I just got in a wreck off turn four. He sees me, you know, like a three-legged dog trying to get to the start finish line. He checks up and lets me go, right? Is that, A, he's not racing, he wasn't racing for points or anything. I think he was an open car still at the time.

Maybe not. Yeah, no, he was open last year. He's open. Was it last year, though? It was last year. It was. So he had nothing to gain, right, other than a position. And he was paying me back for the minimum.

super speedway races where I see Buddy BJ up there in trouble of losing the draft. He's at the back of the pack. His car's not quick enough to keep up with the pack. So I go back there and I help him keep up. I get behind him, push him back up to the pack.

Or there was an instance where he lost the lead in the green flag cycle. I push him back up there. There was a time I pushed him all the way to the lead at Talladega. And he's like, you know, that is so big for me and my team and morale and, like, sponsors. Like, it's just, again, this is the deposits and withdrawals that you have with your competitors that he recognized that, you know, I deposited a few coins into the help you out friendship bank. And he saw an opportunity to put one in my bank in that instance where it really didn't affect him at all.

So I don't think that that's what this is geared towards stopping. I think it's more the bigger teams and manufacturers having a say in the results. Is it going to apply at Super Speedways? Is there going to be anything to that? I guess that's the slippery slope. I would say no. I would say no just simply because how in the world would you officiate it? We absolutely know that manufacturers play a role in who you draft.

with who you don't teams play a role in who you draft with who you don't i hate all of it just for the record i'd rather use anybody and everybody to my advantage um dale junior and dail earnhart would have never survived in today's super speedway racing wouldn't have done it a they wouldn't have been as successful um because of how super speedy raceing happens today but then to be told you can and can't graph with like it's nonsense but it's it's the world we live in i think also nascars play okay with this at the beginning of the race where in a super speedway where you're sticking with the toyotas or whatever because at the end of the race you're not doing the same stuff and i think that's the big things at the end they need you to race and go out there for the win and not just do a dally around

to help out they're you know i appreciate what they're trying to do and that is keep the integrity of the sport we had this thing the old dam of legitimacy with NASCAR right and and it's got a lot of cracks in it and you're we're just trying to stop the water from flowing here right and so I think this is you know they had seen too much from Martinsville and said we're just it's getting out of control now and you have got gambling bigger than it's ever been so that's a big factor that's a big factor absolutely yeah yeah you're going to have yeah more than likely the gaming commission calling up car saying what the hell like you mean you guys can dictate who finishes where we're not going to set lines for you guys this is this is horrible yeah because some books they pay out on official some pay out officials some pay out both and so books that had to pay out bell getting in and not getting in had to suck yeah i never realized that when it came to sports betting that there's someone who is watching over all these sports and is not happy if uh you know there's any rumors that you know the the finish was manipulated right

Yeah, you know, you're, when you bet on NASCAR, you're, as a consumer, you're, you're hoping that you get the same integrity that you get in the NFL. Now, there's, I mean, there's a question, the person paying out these bets. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's also the people probably making the lines or the, you know, they're basing it off of what a normal played out finish would be. Numbers. And what they think, it's just numbers.

but if they know that people within it can skew that slightly, that it's probably not a good thing for business, for any side, right? No side. Some changes to DVP this year, damage vehicle policy for the Cup Series starting this season, adjusting the rule that damage cars that are either driven or tow to the garage will be out of the race starting in 2025. Cars will be permitted to continue in the race after repairs in the garage. officials will continue to maintain a seven minute time limit eight minutes for Atlanta

for repairs made on pit road any repairs exceeding seven minutes must be made in the garage where no clock is kept teams will then be penalized of car leaves the pit box and rejoins the race if the dbp has expired before reaching pit exit okay so if you kept up with all that the basic change is that you can go back to the garage now take as long as you want to get your car fixed. So before, when you got towed to your pit stall, you had, I'm sorry, you didn't get towed to your pit stall, or he did. We changed that in the middle of playoffs, didn't we?

I can't, again, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't even keep up with it. You either did or did not get towed to your pit stall. They gave you five, seven minutes. I don't even know that. But if you got towed to your pit stall, you could still continue, but if they towed you to the garage. Blaney was towed to the garage at Watkins Glen, race was over. Right.

That's right. And they're saying we can take you to the garage and you can have as long as you want to fix it, but you got one shot when you go back out there to make minimum speed and you can keep going. So when you think about it generally, let's not knee jerk too much. That doesn't change a whole lot when it comes to the finish, right? Because if you go to the garage, you spend more than seven minutes, you go back to the race, you're going to be so many laps. down, it's not going to be a huge deal, folks.

That's just not going to be big. Where this does change things, I guess, is that they're saying they're willing to tow you to your pit stall. Okay. So I think they weren't towing you that your pit stall until after. That's the, plenty of situation happened. No. Talladega, remember they pulled guys into the infield?

Did they take Chase? No, it was Chase Elliott. they brought to his pit stall. Right, there was a huge mess. Some guys went to the pit stall. Some guys got towed to the infield. I know, but they changed because everyone was uproar over, hey, they took him. Right.

I forget what we were, I think it was Talladega where they took chase all the way to his stall. And people were like, what the hell? So anyway, they say they will do that now for everyone. Now, the only kink in this is that it still is going to matter when you get towed. So if there is a multi-car accident where there's more cars wrecked than tow trucks, the order in which you get towed will definitely matter. Right. And that's not changing.

They are going to just tow based on whatever. Or they drive up to. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I would make friends with the tow truck. People. Yeah.

When you're doing your driver intro and you're going around the show. So you always have the safety vehicles. They have their crews outside of wherever they're positioned. So say they're on the inside of the wall of turn two and turn three and turn four. So all the safety crews come out and give us a wave as we're doing our driver intros. Got to give them the old tip of the hat. Get me first. Some $20 handshakes or something.

Get me first. Yeah. Yeah. These guys are starting to get tips this year. That's right. Waivers. Competition officials grant a waiver for playoff eligibility in some circumstances that driver will forfeit

playoff points in the regular season. Driver then would start with. There's a lot of words here, but if you're granted a waiver, you are losing your playoff points. Non-medical. Right. Non-medical.

If you choose to race in another, let's just sum it up. If you choose to race in another series or whatever or miss for a reason, not listed, then you will lose your, you will forfeit your playoff points that you've earned up until that point, correct? Because I think I, uh, maybe Bob Prokras cleared up that clarification or someone did that maybe it was gluck that you, you can then restart your bid to reset, you know,

to get more points. So if this happens in race five and you've lost no playoff points, then you really ain't lost anything, right? And then you can go on a march to try to get some playoff points from that point on. So you forfeit anything you've accumulated up until that point. Yep. But as Travis said, a medical absence missing a race for birth of a child could come into play for you this year, family emergency, none of which would bring the waiver into play. What about, so Chase Elliott famously got suspended for right hook in you. Do you think that this rule could,

will deter drivers from doing something like that knowing the suspension? Yes. Yeah, I think it very much could, will play a role in whether you decide to retaliate intentionally. So if you get suspended by NASCAR for a race, you would then need a waiver and potentially for,

you'll need a waiver. You'll get a waiver. Right. But you were going to lose any playoff points that you had to accumulate. Okay, so that's new then. This is part of now getting suspended by NASCAR, you will lose your playoff points. Yeah, because I think the argument was that it's, hey, it's just a vacation. At that point, you know, your, Chase Elliott, trust me, wanted to be at the next race.

It was in the middle of summer, but he got a week's vacation, right? He didn't get to race, and he really didn't lose anything other than how many points he would accumulate it on the next week. Now they're saying that you're going to have to lose all your points and start over again. Yeah, which is significant. A suspension has occurred now in what two of the last three years? Bubba was suspended. Yeah. I guess that was in the playoffs at the end of the season.

But yeah, if this was a thing, is this a thing in the other series? Because I feel like, but the difference is in like the trucks and Xfinity, the intentional wrecks happen I feel like a lot more like the right rear hooking thing but it's usually not drivers that are that they got a bunch of points right

you know it's usually the guys in the back that are fighting and clawing for 20th that are pissed off at each other um it to me will it play a factor likely not but it will definitely

put a seed in your mind of you better you better check yourself. And when you have those split second reactions, it's not beneficial. You've got

to learn to take a breath and think about it. No changes to the playoffs. That's a... Yeah, I was a little disappointed in that, but I guess I understand it. You know, they

they'd rather just, if they're going to do something, make a real change and then make it when they have more time or input. Obviously, their offseason probably was really filled with trying to deal with all these other rule changes. I mean, when they came out with this plethora of rule changes on this one specific day, I mean, they didn't just dream it up that week, right? They've been working on this for some time. More than likely, you know, they want to spend this season really diving into what do we change for the 2026 playoffs. And I am confident they will change something for the 2026 playoffs. Yeah, I like their explanation that they didn't want to get into the habit of making small tweaks to the playoffs.

Yeah. What's the one change if you could to? the playoffs that you would make? I think you should double all the playoff points. Just, I mean, if I just double the playoff points. Just double everything. What does that mean?

So instead of Kyle Larson going into the playoffs with 45 bonus points, he's got 90, I don't know. He earned it. How does that change the? Because someone that just squeaks in now, listen, I'm talking about kind of crowning a change. There's many, many changes.

Many, many changes. I would love to see. This is the first time you're mentioning this, double the playoff points. I'm just saying when it comes to how are you going to start the playoffs, right? We talked about this with Latar. I said double all the playoff points and then run it 10 races out. Okay, so that's a bigger change than doubling the playoff points.

It's just run 10 races. Yeah. We're not going to, I don't think we're going to get rid of the elimination. I think that that's probably here to stay. but do you reward the win and you're in? I think that's not leaving either. I think the closest thing you could get to a playoff change is that maybe you'll get a three race.

I would love that. Championship round. Absolutely. It deserves it. I believe the championship deserves a round. One race, it's got to be the small sample size of all sports. You could sell NASCAR on that you can then market three races as.

And don't tell me the Super Bowl's one, one event. It's one verse one, not one verse 36 in the Super Bowl. So I think, yes, the championship deserves this own round. If I had to play it perfectly in my mind, it'd be 12 drivers, three races, three races, three races, three races, three races, you know what I mean? So I think I would double the playoff points And in the playoffs Well, I'm just saying I think all the playoffs

All the points, the playoff points that you acquire During the regular season should be doubled Just simply because it will really reward those That have excellence throughout the entire season. I think if you lower the playoff field to 12, it would stop the 29th place car for making the playoffs because they won a race, well, let's just say maybe on fuel mileage or I'm not, that's not pointed to anyone. I'm just saying, I'm trying not to say because you won a Super Speedway race.

You know what I mean? It just, I think that it really forces you to be on your game the entire season. And what I'm really fighting for in this is that, make the regular season great again in the sense of like make it matter because for the last three years the regular season had no bearing the champion did very unimpressive things during the regular season so why would you why would you tune in if it if it's proven three years in a row you don't have to be good during the regular season you can just get in Just get in.

You can just be average at best. That's been the formula that's won it. Just get hot the last couple of races and you're fine. That's not, I don't think that's the right way to crown a champion in a sport where there's so many variables. Isn't it synonymous though with other sports? Like you want to compare it to other sports when it fits your narrative. Can't a team get into the playoffs with a 9 and 7 record, that would be an okay regular season and then be good for four weeks? And win the championship?

So there was some 9 and 7 teams that didn't make the playoffs this year. Okay. And 9 and 7 means you have a winning record. Okay. You're getting into the playoffs with a winning season. When it's happened, though, they've won their division. They were the best team. That was about what I was supposed to say.

Yeah, but they beat everyone else in their division. They played against them and they beat them. Sure. So just because their record is not 12 and 4, it doesn't matter. They beat the teams in their division. So they won. They have a winning record. You're not seeing seven and nine teams make the playoffs.

I mean, you have, but we have. But then in those seven games, they beat the teams in their division, right? I'm just saying teams can get into the playoffs having an okay season. If you get into the playoffs with a nine and seven record, that's an okay season. Correct. But when they went head to head, right? with the with the with the 14 and 2 team right they they beat them on that that particular day right but they beat them one on one they didn't beat them because they made it on fuel mileage and the guys

that led 99% of the race didn't make it right i just i'm just saying i don't think i'm saying our sport in general has so many variables you got to make the sample size bigger and better to crown what, in my opinion, would be your best driver and team that year. I think that's what we're just trying to. Crown the best driver and team over the year. I agree. Like, how can you argue that the five team was not the best driver and team in 2025 or 2024, right? He didn't even make the final four.

That shows a flawed system. I don't care how you break it up. That's a flawed system. So you just got two things you got to fix. You got to make it so the best driver's going to the regular season make the final four are more like... 2020. Huh? Right.

You have to make it so the guys who are good in the regular season have a better chance of making the final four. But then also you get a bigger, larger sample size for the final four itself. There you go. You've got it. You summed up what I wish would happen. Because if you just double playoff points, Joey Lagano can still make the final four and win that single race. less likely but still possible he would have to do what he did right which is when he won in every he won in the first round he did not win in the second round no he won in the second no he didn't

he got in his bowman and he was out but then Bowman's weight issue got him back in and then he won then he won yep um it just I I think he played it perfect and then truly when it counted at Phoenix, he was the best. I don't care what metric you look at. He did the best on that final restart. Him and the 12 were the fastest two cars on that day, and he outdrove him in that last sequence.

And so he won the championship. So that was very deserving because they knew the system, they played the system and he performed in the moment that mattered on the restart that mattered at Phoenix, right? Right. But I'm saying give the guys that showed you continued excellence for the first 26 races a bigger buffer to get, you know, get them along because crazy things can happen. We have mechanical failures. Like as a quarterback, you're ahead of a team. You don't just say, oh my shoe lace broke I'm out of the game right

I mean we could have this you know what I mean it just doesn't seem like there's there's an easy way to do that you double playoff points well then you're taking every you're taking so many drivers out of the equation of the playoffs you might as well

just make the playoffs only eight drivers because if you're doubling the playoff points and Kyle Larson that's why I said 12 I want 12 drivers 16 we needed that long time ago when the sponsor The sponsors and the teams were the one bitching and complaining about how many drivers were in the playoffs. Oh, we should be part of the playoffs.

Like our sponsors really, they wanted to be, you know, shown. Right. And so NASCAR gave in to them and said, all right, we'll expand the field. So that's just my point. Let's recap it. We're going to have 12 drivers. We're going to double all the playoff points that you get during the regular season. We're going to eliminate 3, 3, 3, 3.

and we're going to have four racing in a three race championship playoff, correct? That's basically what we're saying. So that's what you're saying. I've heard a dirty rumor and someone from NASCAR said it that maybe we expand the championship race to five drivers. Like, no, you're going the wrong direction. Please don't do that.

You're just watering this down more. Stop making it easier. Make it harder. Make it harder to get to, You got to build the prestige of the people. Don't keep opening it up to more places, more spots, more opportunity. No, you got to make it special. Even if that would have let you get into the championship five now?

No, no, stop it. Don't let's not even support that narrative. Let's just say that's a terrible idea and you're going the wrong way. When you compare it to other sports, if you created a three race championship final, how's that any different than a seven-game series, you know? If a driver wins a championship after race two, think about that.

You never need a game five or six. You're saying that a seven-game series, hockey has, what, a five-game series, right? Like, they play one. No, they go seven hockey. Okay. One verse one seven times to decide the champ. Right.

To take out the fact. We have to battle one verse 36 one time. Like, that is. ludicrous. Right. The other sports are actively taking out any possible variables. Correct. And so that's why we had 10 races back in the day. That was our 10 race series. Yeah. Because there was enough races to where if you, if the baddest driver in the world, Jimmy Johnson, which he did it many times, had he stubbed his toe one or two races in that 10 races, he could still go win six and be the champ because he deserved it. He was the best. Yeah. right one other rule change and this will segue into detona is the open exemption provisional pretty much

what this means is if there's a noteworthy driver outside of nascar that wants to race in the daytona 500 they will give them the open provisional like ilio castroneves but they will not necessarily need to race their way in however if they are given their provisional they will not be awarded money from the race and or points but they're probably not racing for points anyway. I mean, you heard my opinion on this in the media center, and I actually got, you know, I got a lot of flack from,

I think Larry McReynolds on this, on Sirius. Not, I think he was fair to me. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. And that is, I get asked a question from a reporter, what is your opinion of this? And so at that point, I have to decide. And it's the same thing. Damn, that's loud.

It's the same thing that we're doing in here, right? I get paid to come in here and give my opinion on certain topics. Right. And you don't have to agree with them, but I guarantee you you're going to get my authentic truth. And it's my authentic truth. It doesn't mean that it's right or wrong, but it's what I'm being told to do. And it's what our NASCAR fans have asked NASCAR. drivers to do. Be authentic.

Show yourself. Give your opinion. We want to know. You can't get mad at, you get mad at a driver that it doesn't say anything and they get mad at me. Larry was getting mad on like me going in there. What did you want me to do then? Just sit there and say, no, it didn't like it. They're going to say, why? What about it? Don't you like? And then what do I do? Do I just make up something?

So I'm, so it makes it sound better? No, I'm going to give you my true and authentic opinion. And then it's up for you guys to debate whether that opinion is right or wrong. Right. And so I hope fans and other media members understand I'm just doing my job and I'm just being true and authentic to myself when I give opinions on certain things. And my opinion on this was that it was desperate. I didn't like it.

I just thought that you're really. you know, doing everything you can to try to get a headline. And I still believe it to be true. I do. I, you know, NASCAR is the highest form of motorsports in the U.S.

So why can't we act like the big boys and say, if you want to come over here and run with us, show me what you got. Go qualify in the race. Right. I also think it's not, it won't be that hard. And to me,

as a car owner, we just talked about these playoff scenarios in which, you know, things can happen. Things out of your control can happen. I was one David Star break rotor away from winning a championship in Phoenix one year. But that's the brakes, right? So I'm wondering if David Starr had to, you know, say there was more than, let's just pretend David's, and this is not a knock on David Starr, this is an equipment problem, not a David Star problem. His equipment broke.

He was in a car that was not fit to make it all 312 laps, okay? Let's just say, because there's been 40 cars in the last Phoenix race. David Starr was Aalio, right? And he got in, and he played a factor in who won the race that day because of his name. He got in, and maybe he didn't blow a brake rotor. He went in there, and on a restart, he made. any mistake and he wiped out one of the contenders. The old rule, he wouldn't even

been in the race because he didn't qualify into the race. Now you're just saying Tom Cruise can go in there and just because he says he raced in days of thunder can come in there and can compete on Sunday with the big boys. I don't agree with that. And that's just my opinion

on it. It also limits the storyline. Yes, you're granting a storyline that so-and-so driver will be in the Daytona 500 no matter what, but you're limiting that storyline because I don't think I've ever seen a guy more over the moon about qualifying for the Daytona 500 than Travis Pastrana last year. He was genuinely excited because it was not a given that he was going to go down there and race in the Great American race. It was not a given. So after the

duel, you think Castro Neves is going to be jumping for joy after the race? No, he will not be. He already knows he's in the race. He knows he's in the race. That's right. Yeah, you don't see any 500 saying here, Kyle Larson have your spot yet. He had to go make. it. It's, that's the normal protocol in professional sports. We're one of the few sports where if you got enough cash, you can, you can go to the top. This is not an indictment on him whatsoever. I, I hate that he's getting the brunt of this because he had a no role in it whatsoever. I love him and his attitude. I, I hope some of his avid fans come watch the Daytona 500 because you wouldn't have otherwise. That's what this is trying to do, right?

Maybe you get some new eyeballs that follow this person to come in and you're going to tune in to see how they do and maybe you can keep them latched on for a longer period, you know, longer period. That's what this is aimed to do. And I understand that. I just think you lose, you put a crack in the dam of legitimacy. I just believe it. I believe it does. Yeah, I think there's more to gain from having these superstars come into the 500 and try to qualify their way in naturally. Because like you said, for the most part of the time, they're probably going to do it.

They're going to come to the Daytona 500 with a great car, right, with a great team. They're going to run a fast lap. The chances of them getting in are pretty good. They don't need to... Yeah, this year is going to be tougher. But for the most part, they've got a pretty good chance. I agree, but it was, you know, I think we're going to... have a compelling qualifying duels whatever this year anyway.

Absolutely. But it certainly would have added to it. No doubt about it. But listen, we can't back the ship up, right? It is what it is. And I think it, you know, hopefully we'll only come into play in the 500. And after that, it's a mute point, right? I think we're probably making more of it than it actually is.

but it will be a big deal to somebody for sure right right here's our stack lineup of open cars competing for two spots in the Daytona 500 we've got cash in numbers we already mentioned that he will be the exemption so he is in no matter what then the remaining of these drivers are competing for two spots martin trix junior where are you looking at this uh is it on your own yeah okay yeah yeah okay martin trix junior j jayley jay mc mcclis Chandler Smith, Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoy, and Jimmy Johnson. Okay.

So, because it is a super speedway and all kinds of things that can happen, I think one or two of the big names don't make it. And I think one or two underdogs does make it. when I include the underdog, I wish I had this list. It's on the top of our new. Is it? Yeah.

Okay, great. Okay. So when I say it's really, really tough to predict, I'll throw out a prediction, but I'm going to say Castro Neves does not risk his race car trying to race hard and a duel. I think that's silly. That's probably a bad financial decision. So I don't think he's going to race hard at all. He's going to be locked in, okay? We know that.

Would he have made it on speed? Not sure. All right, so I'll go with my underdog taking a spot from a big dog as Alfredo. Is he in the 62? He is. Beard Motorsport. What's JJ in? The 44 New York Racing.

Is it 44? It's easy to count him out or, you know, the team not having enough speed. Like, they damn near did it last year. Remember it was the last lap past. Him and Johnson, right? Jimmy, yeah. I mean, if you're going just straight chalk, right? I mean, you're going to say, you know, based off of the fastest four cars,

I think Corey LaJoy and Rick Ware, just simply because of, I think, the Ford's are, are obviously fast on the speedways. Truex, Algar, JJ. Although Toyota's suspected best had been in qualifying. That's just the biggest four names, teams that are going to make it. But I just have a feeling that on speed,

we're going, Algeier, and I'm going to switch. Algar and Truex. And then who races their way in is Alfredo and Corey LaJoy. That's my final name. answer. I think that's a that's a solid prediction. Two, two solid in, two lower teams out. Okay. All right. Um, new, you know, faces, places,

you know, what do we expect? You got a list here for me. Um, let's start with 2311. Your driver, new driver. Ryla Herp's coming in. Uh, we're bringing in his, um, exfinity crew chief. Um, they got great chemistry together. Uh, I, you know, they didn't, make the main in the clash. They had a mechanical failure that kind of is on us. But I really feel confident that Riley will outperform expectations this year. I think he's very hungry. I think he's very focused and very underrated in the talent side of things. So I'm expecting good things from him. I'm very, very careful with expectations. But I think he's going to be a person that will contend inside the top 20 on most weeks.

Do you have expectations or is this a guy where your expectation is to see growth from race one to race 36? Well, that's what I'm saying it's growth, right? I mean, like, you know, my expectations of Tyler, of Bubba continue. They change year after year after year because I expect them to keep getting better. Right. The minute you see a plateau, then it's a, uh, all right, how far can they really take this, take us, right?

Um, and so I've seen everything I need to see as far as, growth from those two so far. And so for Riley, you have to be realistic with the expectations of a rookie coming in, new team. And I just feel as though I believe he's going to continue to get better and better as the year goes on. And my expectation is what I've said before. Right. But your expectations for Bubba and Tyler are to make the playoffs and then advance in the playoffs.

That's right. I can't imagine your expectations for Riley are to make the playoffs. therefore statistically. Expectation to make it. I think that would be very lofty. I think that it's hard. It's hard and it's tough out there. But it's, you know, as a rookie,

he's just going to be up against it when it comes to, you know, we've all got, those who are not rookies, have three or four years of next gen experience now and know what makes these cars run fast at each particular racetrack. And he's going to be learning that week after, after week like oh like i can't emphasize how much an advantage having experience and knowing how to make speed at next gen on certain tracks will matter versus a rookie it will definitely play a factor yeah

you do you want to see him finish in the top 20 of owner points top 25 doesn't matter there's just not one number i'm looking at and saying it's a success or failure right show me that you're capable first, which we believe he is. That's why we hired him. And then see a progression of speed and performance and results, results being the big one throughout the year. You have a new teammate in the 19 car, Chase Briscoe? Yeah, I think Chase Chase will be good. I certainly think that he's going with a really solid team and James Small there. I think just a fantastic team. And I think there are going to be obviously playoff guys that can go as deep as, I mean, deep as they want. I mean, there's certainly, I don't think anything holding Chase or that team back from being a

Final Four contender. AJ Almondanger returns to the 16 and Ty Dillon will drive the 10 car. Yeah, I think that AJ could be kind of a backdoor playoff team driver. Like, you know, one of these races that SVG or, you know, there's been other cars, you know, normal, you're William Byron, you're Kyle Larson's that are good on the road courses. There'll be a race where they kind of stub their toes, and I think AJ is solid enough that he always knows how to get himself in position at road courses, that he could sneak in and get a road course win and put that team in the playoffs. Wood Brothers, Josh. possible. I'm not saying it's probable. It's possible. Josh Barry driving the 21 car for the Wood Brothers?

I think I like Josh. This was a playoff team last year. I know. I understand. I just, I only worry because I don't know the specifics, but it just feels like to me, right, that, you know, it's a development Penske. team, right? So when they're developing, they're developing mechanics. They're developing pit crew members. They're developing crew chiefs. They're developing engineers. And you start on the

21 and then you work your way into a house car. So if you, and I don't know this is fact. So please, if you're on the team, don't take this the wrong way. I don't know that do they have all of pieces to be like legit contenders i i don't know right i mean surely if you're within the penske organization you're going to be very competent and capable but it's more than likely you're probably have either been with a team for the really really long time or you're just now starting and and you're getting developed now this goes with pit crew members as well like are they i've never seen on a statistic that the 21 pit crew has been

really fast at any point, but they eventually transition a few of the members onto the housecars. So is this a development team, straight development team for Penske? I don't know, which makes me apprehensive to

give them a high expectation. Right. I was saying the playoff team a bit facetiously, right, because they made the playoffs on Harrison Burton's Daytona win. I get it. I was going to jump off the... He didn't take the base. I didn't take it.

He didn't take the bait. Yeah. Noah Gregson, driving the four car for front row, as well as Zane Smith and the 38 car. Just real quick, I think front row's got an excellent young stable of drivers. I believe in their future and certainly think that they've got a fantastic lineup of drivers there. But can they contend inside the top five, top ten regularly? They're going to have to step up their performance. a little bit more than what I've seen so far.

This is interesting that all these guys. Which is possible, by the way. They have, I think that, you know, they have a new investment from Bob Jenkins. They're part of this Penske alliance. I think they switched it from RFK to Penske last year. So does another year of that relationship start to show fruit? Certainly their driver lineup I'm impressed with. I don't know how the inner workings of that.

how the inner workings of teams go, drivers working together. But I think it's interesting that their drivers all grew up together. Zane grew up with Noah. They all came up through the ranks together. All the relatively the same age, that dynamic is interesting. It is. Haas in the 41 car? Cole Custer.

Give your opinion. I don't know. The expectations can't be higher than what SHR was last year. Yeah. Yeah, you nailed it there. Yeah, I agree. Let's just pretend that it was, everyone from SHR was still there

and it's just one single SHR car now. Is your expectation really for them to make the playoffs? Probably not, even if it was straight. It may be. I mean, if it was like an all-star cast. Right, you still, yeah, there you go. That would be cool, but it's not. It's probably,

However, there are probably some pretty loyal people that have worked for Tony and Gene that stayed on there with Joe Custer and said, you know, we're going to help support Cole here. I just, the only issue I see is kind of they're not doing it on their own. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. Like, they have an alliance now, right? So they're going to get secondhand information from, I think it's RFK. so again I kind of temper expectations a little bit I got one for you who runs better

21 or 41 yeah that's one of the thing I like doing the little match of here 21 or 41 I would put my money on the 21 it's close but I'm going to go 21 are you given the edge here's the question though now are you given the edge

just simply because that's an in-house It's an in-house car from Penske where I just think that the Haas team is a little bit on an island. Okay, so you think the equipment for the 21 is just going to be a little bit better than the equipment for the 41? A little bit, yeah. Okay, who runs better than 4 or 38?

Ooh, that's tough. And that's Noah versus Zane, right? Yep. I say Zane. Zane by hair. That's a good over-rinder. Does Todd Gillen outperform all of them? based on his numbers last year, I would say, yes.

I'd say so, too. Just a little, just a little bit. It's close. That three team, that might be the closest three team, like, and who's going to be the best, be the lead dog at the team. That would be fun to watch. Right. I like this game of, like, who we think is going to be better.

All right. Cody, we're in the 51 car. Nothing really new there. This was talked about to be Corey LaJoy's car. I know this episode is running along. But, you're good. This is what we had, you know, we're trying to get the people some, I don't know what you all are doing.

Like, you know, whether you're placing bets with your friends or whatnot, we're trying to give you some insight here. You know, the, Cody, where in the 51, the guy averaged like a 20-second place finish at the end of last year. He ran better than people expected. And I thought I was pretty impressed personally with, you know, how he ran in the last half of the season. So I expect probably they'll run the same, maybe, yeah, the same, ish.

Here's a Cody Ware stat from our Tampa Timps, and four Daytona next gen starts. Cody Ware's average 10.3 and never finished worse than 17th. Yeah. I mean. So he just finds a way to. Yeah, a lot of it is you choose to run at the back. I mean, you're never going to win the race doing that. You know, not in the next gen era anyway, but it allows you to get a good finish.

It's pretty cool. That's a cool stat, though, because you've adopted his strategy here of late. It hasn't worked out, but you've tried. Thanks. Moving on. Michael McDonnell is 71. I think a lot of people have high expectations of this. I think people have high expectations of this.

have high expectations of Spire in general. Okay. I got one for you. Michael McDowell or the best running front row car. McDowell. I'll take the best running front row car. I'll take the odds. I'll take the best running.

Not on any given day. As friends, we say, okay, you know, you take this. When it comes to the end of the year, I'll take the best front road car over McGowan. down the 71. That's just, that's my prediction. It doesn't mean McDowell's not going to go out there and win a race. Maybe the best front row car does as well, but that's just my, I think it's going to be close, but I see, I don't see this move for McDowell.

I think he did it for the right reasons for himself, which he absolutely should have. He had more, he got offered more stability, probably more money. I think it's a, it's a lateral move, but it's, it's for, far as performance in the short term, I think he's probably thinking, and which would be a correct thing to think, that Spires on the rise, so I'm going to bank on them in the long term. But does having- Which is probably the right thing to think. Does having Rodney Childers in the building for Spire elevate the 71 car? You like to think so, but I heard an interview with Rodney Childers on Sirius, and he said,

he just keeps to himself. They asked him, they said, so how are you getting along with the crew chiefs and all this other stuff. He's like, yeah, you know, I'll answer a question if they got one, but I just keep to myself. I'll worry about my own team. I was like, oh, all right. Interesting. So you like to think so that more than likely whatever one person finds that is good for them,

that, you know, everyone's going to see it. So certainly have a talent like Childers in the building. It's never a bad thing. Ryan Preece in the 60 car for RFK I have no idea what to expect here that was my one if I had to put a star next to a driver

and say what am I going to get it's this one's hard to this one's going to be hard to predict just simply because is this a better is this a better situation than what he had at SHR yes or no

anyone else have an opinion on us? You say yes. I would say yes. Why? Just based on that RFK has won races in the past few years. And what Brad's built there. Yeah. They're on the ride.

I got you. You're convinced to me. Okay. So what you guys were saying then is that RFK was slightly better speed, execution, whatever it is better than SHR over the last two years, RFK has been better. 100%.

Yeah, I believe it. Okay. You convinced me then. I saw it as like, man, I don't know. Is it? But I guess I see your point, right? I mean, the 17 car

one race last year could have won multiple. The 6 won a race. Probably could have won multiple. Yeah, see your point. So what's Ryan Priest going to do? Is he going to perform? perform better? Okay, is he going to perform better or worse than the six and the 17? Oh, not better. No, yeah, zero chance. Not better. Um, but it'll be

interesting to see if he can put himself in the same ballpark as those guys. I think those two drivers. So I think he runs good, but does he run significantly better than he did last year? I, I don't know about that. you know you are you know listen i i can attest from my standpoint on you know when you when you start a new team right you're you're getting different people they're all meshing together it's pre-s finished 26th in points last year yeah yeah i can see it being a little better than that i think it has to be better than that because your teammates have already proven let's just say that that's our prediction he's going to be or you guys are saying yes he's in a better situation.

I agree with you based off the arguments that you said, we're going to take under 26 for Ryan Priest this year. If he doesn't finish better, I think Brad Kozlowski in an honest moment would say he didn't meet expectations. Yeah. Well, it's a good opportunity for Ryan and good to see him that, you know,

get into a new team there. And when there was a lot of questions on where the SHR driver's going to go, you know, all of them landing on their feet was good. And then lastly, SVG and the 88 car for trackhouse. I mean, I think the expectation is he's in there because they think he can win a race, and that's probably true.

Does he win more than one race? No, I don't think so. How many road course races are there? Is it six? Five or six? I think others are getting better. He's still, in my opinion, the best.

I think the gap between him and the field will lessen slightly. I think the field learns and they find ways to get better. He's with a new team. I don't know that that really matters much. I think he's going to get speed

out of whatever car he drives. So my expectation is the same. I think he wins a race. I don't think multiple. It's very possible. It's absolutely very possible. Let's talk about more about, I think everyone across the board would have the same opinion. He's going to win a race. Therefore, he'll get himself in the playoffs. I just want to know that race win. Real quick, what's happening quicker? The pace at which the rest of the field is catching up to his ability, the rest of the field is getting better at road course racing, catching up to his ability to road course race or is he getting more comfortable in a cup car which is

fields getting better fields getting better so the gap is not getting wider it's getting smaller i believe it will get smaller i don't see him oh i'm really comfortable with the next i know how to make speed i've been out the guy can make unbelievable speed he made unbelievable speed his very first time there wasn't that much left on the table so generally speaking you would bet on the field to learn from that. Well, how's he making that speed? Hmm. All right.

Well, let me try this because that's what I see him doing. I think the gap tightens up. Therefore, him going out and dominating a road course race is less likely. Is less likely time after time and time again. But I still think he does do it. The question for me is, what are we going to expect out of the 88 on ovals? mid-pack car so if you're going to say mid-pack you're saying 18th

anywhere from 18th to 22nd I mean that's where Suarez was at last year is he but okay I love this game who runs better on Oval's then if that's the case SVG or Swarance oh it's got to be Suarez okay then then yeah I guess when you put it that way

you realize that the top 16 drivers is a really competitive field. And that 18 through 22 is still fairly competitive. Like, you know, there's only a handful of guys behind those drivers. I think, see, this is where the tables now flip, where SVG has more to gain on the ovals than the field. You got me? Because it's, he's going to get more track time. So I think the expectation should be lower on the ovals. What I, I think he did a, phenomenal job at the clash.

I mean, you didn't hear from him much other than when TV was giving him praise, which was 100% deserved because he ran in the top 10, 12, all day, got a great finish. Like, he ran really well. He is an exceptional talent that will adapt. So I'm going to give my prediction that SVG runs 23rd to 28th. on ovals to start the season. I'm just saying as a average running position,

he could finish better than that. There's going to be Rex who could better finish. Average 23rd to 28th, and by the end of the year, that moves 18th to 22nd, which is a significant jump, significant jump. Yeah.

Yeah, if you finish this year running 18 to 22nd and you make a bit of progress, next year, all of a sudden you're a legitimate playoff threat contender. He already is, right, because he's going to have a handful of races that we talked about that he's going to be the favorite.

I just think that he's got tons of room to improve on Oval's and he's going to. Right. I just mean if you're... Because I've seen it in Xfin. If by the end of this year he's running in the 18 range at ovals, that next year, if he improves on that, he's no

longer just a guy who they're thrown in there to win a road course race because now if he can compete a little better than 18 at the ovals then he's in the picture yeah man okay so last last prediction here who wins who wins the 500 um i can't say myself um i mean you can if you want to if you want to call your shot to start the year go for man um austin syndrick gets his second dayton of 500 okay i was going to make this question easier for you and ask if we were going to see a repeat winner or like a perennial driver win it or a new winner like we've seen in the last few years. Next gen is a game of chance on Super Sway's more than any other professional sport and history.

I just, you can't argue the results of, you know, what we've seen in it. And so you look at, If you look at the drivers that find ways to be up front, I think, to me, Cendrick would be the one that stands out as giving himself the most opportunities in next gen on Super Speedways. Here's a better question. Do we have to change our plans on taping money because Jared has one of his routes to win? We're not. We'll just do it with that. Does one of Jared's drivers win? There's already a, what's it called a contingency plan?

There's already a plan in place. I'll be here unless Denny wins. All right. Well, we got some new stuff coming out. That's kind of a recap on the season. Well, of the new drivers. Hopefully we talked about your favorite driver and now you are a little bit more informed

of what to expect. We didn't bring up, we did leave out one. Ty Dillon replaces Hemrick driving the 10. I want to make sure we try to be. we've got to be fair to everyone and try to talk about him. So Ty Dillon, he says this is his best opportunity yet. Expectations. Run higher up in the field than the car has done in the past.

So you say he will, where was him? 29th in points. So I think that'll be tough. Right. That's what I said. There's a lot of new teens, good team. I think that'll be tough. Colleg racing in general is going to have to show me more than what they did last year as far as speed.

I don't think it's, you know, we're not throwing anyone out of the bus, but it's, that's just the facts. And that's what we're here to do is give our opinion and collard racing, show me more. That would have to be, if you want me to say, that Ty Dillon will be better than 29th. They're going to need to find some speed at their stuff. This field's competitive, you know, as we just talked about, anywhere from 20 to 30th in the field is tight. And yeah, and by the way, that follows my expectations,

like for Almondinger or whoever on Ovalds as well. Like I said, you know, Almondinger could go win a road course race. I think driver means more than equipment on road course races. So I put this with AJ as well. Like I think until they get more speed out of their cars, I think it's going to be a struggle for all of them until they get to turning right. So but listen, teams don't like to just sit on their hands in the offseason.

They go to work and I guarantee you they aren't happy with the results and they're going to find a way to, be better. And, you know, can you, the key, though, is can you get better than the other teams that are trying to get better with, and those other teams got lots and lots of resources. So, you know, that's what makes this, this business real tough. Dirty Mo Media is launching a new e-commerce merch line. I just checked out some of this merch on my way over here. I've got a bunch of stuff from every show. You get your Dirty Mo Media merch. You can get action's detrimental merch. I love the gavel on one of the t-shirts.

And so what's it, Rule 12.2-B-B-exclamation point. I don't know. I'm not really sure. But, yeah, the guys at Dirty Mo Media, they did some great stuff with some new merch. So go check out it online. It's at Dirtymo. Shop.Dirtymohmedia.com. Shop.

Dot dirtymoedia.com. I think we need to get a red vest shirt up there next. Oh, let's not do that. Why not? The fans need it, Denny. If the fans want it, why not? He's already playing into this too much. It's just too much for me.

Are you afraid that he's going to sell more shirts? I think it's a given. That would be a good over-under. Get a Denny shirt up there and see which one sells more. Another thing we are doing, if you're in Daytona, come see me. Please. Maybe you're going to linger around after the Dale Jr. download. He's from, what time?

Three to four. Three to four. He's going to have an hour and a half. It's on Thursday. And then he's going to keep the stage warm and then I'm going to come on right after, right? So he's on from three to four and then you are coming on in that four to four 30. Yeah, so maybe I just crash his early. Yes, it's going to be in the fan zone on Thursday.

Dale, Jeff Gluck, Jordan Bianchi. star-studded lineup. And Andrew Curlin, the biggest name. And then you're coming on afterwards. So hopefully the fans will linger. Is Jared not joining me? He's my blankie. I'll be somewhere down in front.

If Jared wants to join, I don't think anyone's saying no to that. Oh, I think we, without a doubt, had to have him on stage. I know his job is to, you know, take pictures and filter the f*** out of them, but like, we got a, we got a, we got, I want him on stage answering questions from the crowd. All right. I'm, I'm going to let the, the folks know. Jared, you better block your calendar off.

Great. And I want the flyer updated. With his photo. Yes. All right. So it's going to be me and who? You're on serious XM people. So Jeff and Jordan.

No, no, no, no. No, not Jeff. From 4 to 430, it's a cross. over Sirius XM Oh, okay. All right. Well, I mean, you can grab my podcast

on Sirius XM. So we're going to do a little joint with them. We're going to be on right after Dale Jr. So mark that down for Thursday. Three o'clock to 4.30, you're basically hanging out with all of us in the infield at in the fan zone

on Thursday. We've got a review here from The List, Mom. Mm-hmm. Okay. Love the show. Insights on the. the previous week's race are awesome.

My kid was curious when he saw you wearing a PSG jacket in the live interview, Bowman Gray. Are you a big soccer fan now? I'm a big fan of their bomber jackets, or just their jackets. That's part of the Nike shipments that come in, and it's like, oh, a trench jacket. I'm in. That's actually one of my oldest jackets, though. Well, it's Jordan Brand, isn't it?

Jordan Brand is PSG. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So that's right. I got that.

So to answer your question, unfortunately not. I couldn't name one player. But they got a great jacket. Thank you for tuning in. Thanks for the review there, Mom. And we'll see you guys after Daytona, after we've crowned another champ. Hopefully delayed on Monday when we can. Yeah.

Hopefully I don't talk to you. out to like Tuesday. That'd be nice. That'd be cool. See ya. You got your