Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Corey Heim Wins, Hocevar Flips Him Off & Gilly Wins a Milly

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

Corey Heim makes history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, becoming the youngest Brickyard 400 winner since Jeff Gordon in 1994! Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith break down Heim’s incredible drive, Toyota’s dominant top-5 showing, and the escalating Heim vs. Carson Hocevar feud after Hocevar flipped the bird down pit road. Plus, Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland takes home $1,000,000 in the In-Season Challenge, Alex Bowman announces his 2027 retirement, Kyle Larson speaks out on race lengths, and Carson Kvapil breaks through for his first NASCAR O’Reilly Series win at IMS! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When your name is next to AJ Foyt and you won at the brickyard, that's kind of gangster. I think the scary part right now for the rest of the field is where is that 22 at? Is that why you've been in the gym? Do you think she'd be impressed with your brick picking up abilities? I mean, the guy that would be the fastest in it's Carson Hosebar. He's the safest bet. Now, he's a handful. Maybe he's not a hindered guy.

Welcome to Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour, presented by NASCAR on Fox. I'm Kevin Harvick, Caitlin Vincy, Mamba Smith. in the house back top button and that secured and a fox pole. Do you have more than one chain? Yeah but I only wear the one usually. Okay. Yeah. Looking sharp. Did you find

the one and only person then had their top button buttoned or did you make them buttoned their button? Are you talking about Billy? Yeah. Billy felt no Billy that had it done already. He did. Yeah, well no. I just helped him. His fingers were too big to get the top button. That could be tricky, yeah. Trying to maneuver that. Yeah. If you got fat fingers,

Is that technically, is it, what do we classify this? Is it preppy? Is it, I think it looks good. That's okay. You know, I, you know, here's the thing. It's part of it too is I've always had necklaces. My mom always bought me a necklace. And so I always wear that one underneath, but I don't wear it out.

So it reminds me of my mom. It's kind of like a, would they call that a choker? No, no, Kevin. Yeah, this is not like it. This is not like it's choking you. Caitlin, were you? Will you help Uncle Kevin, please? This is a stylish piece of jewelry here.

I'm glad you're back on the team, though. I know. I know. I've been here every week. You got your Fox shirt on. Oh, yeah, that's true. Yep in the Fox shirt. Welcome in to Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour.

Episode 39. We have, gosh, a lot to talk about leaving the brickyard. All the news and notes and things happening in the sport. We're approaching an off week, so we will not be previewing anywhere else because we get a little vacation for once. Yeah, that's nice. It's nice. Well, you guys do. He's racing in Colorado.

How was your final weekend out at the racetrack for now? Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. So, I mean, it was fun. Five weeks. It goes by really fast. I mean, our Fox portion, I feel like it feels like it goes by long. It seems like it was last year.

Yeah, it seems like it was a while ago. And this portion goes by so quick. And then the Amazon portion, too, is the same. And they kind of run into each other because we use a lot of the same people on both. but like it's also very different, but it was fun. We got to do a lot of it. They started that, oh,

where's mom a segment. Yes, you were out in the, out and about. Yeah. What was going on there in that stream? Well, you know,

that's where they, to get your shoes wet? No, no, no, no, no. I made sure I was in the right spot. But that's where they dumped all the bricks. Yes.

And people still go over there and collect them. The teams, sometimes when they win, they sneak over there. There's also some golf balls over there. Yeah. Well, I didn't bring it home. Why?

Why did I not bring it home? Couldn't fit it in a back. Because it wasn't mine. Well, who's is it? Somebody else fished out. Oh, you gave it to them? Yeah, let them have it. We just used it.

You didn't want to get your hands dirty. Well, they got pretty hands. Yeah, you might have to do your nails. I do, I do need to get them redone. Wait, you do your nails? Yeah. What does that mean? Oh, look, here he is.

This is Mamba and Where's Momba. Honestly, I've never seen this because my jerk cam wouldn't work, so I have no idea what it was like. And they made you look like where's Waldo. Yeah, I don't know. They made you look like Waldo. I know, Sponge loves that. Our producer love that. This is kind of dicey.

Are you just balancing on a rock? I'm balancing on two rocks, kind of over the creek. Dang, that's impressive. With the pack on? With the pack on. I'm going to tell you what. That shirt made my arms like real good. I did think that when you were in Victory Lane.

I was like he looks like he's been working out. It's a little tight on your belly, though. Oh, my God. Maybe you should go from a medium to a large show. Well, maybe, but that's just because I'm jacked. Now, can't even look at it. Look at his pipes. Good form. Out there in the stream. I like it. You're okay.

Glad you didn't fall in. That's where your golf ball would be anyway. Dude, I don't want to talk about the golf. Did you golf? Yes, he had a little mini. Yeah. Is that where your ball was? No, no, no.

Or did you quit before that long? No, I had three swings. And I did it with the pack on. And I'm going to tell you what, this swing. I didn't see that on camera. Yeah, no, it was. It was. It made it on air. It definitely made it on air.

Oh, boy. It was tough. The hard part was La Tart was in my ear Commentating about my swing And I've never had anyone talking while I'm swinging And he was just yapping, yapping, yapping Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's he played two, three times a week?

At least, he's got to, maybe more. It's pretty good. Yeah, he's fun. Yeah, he is, I love Steve. I love Steve. We need to get Steve in here one of these days. That'd be fun. Yeah, that's a good idea.

That's a good idea. Mama coming in with a hot idea right out of the gate. Okay, we're ready to rip here on a hour. We're ready to go. And we got to start with the winner of the Cup Series race. Corey Heim, this is unbelievable. Two wins and 15 races.

And I guess, like, we've always talked about, like, how do these guys from the lower series get acclimated quickly to Cup? I mean, his skill set has transferred pretty fast. Yeah, he's definitely blown the 100 race theory right out of the water. Two for 15. Not bad. And not to mention two of the marquee events this year with San Diego and the Brickyard. But the fashion that he did it in, his car wasn't ideal.

He beat Denny Hamlin on a restart. and then held on by not making any mistakes with not an ideal handling condition. He was super loose at the end of that race, but kept his car on the bottom of the racetrack where it needed to be, didn't make any big mistakes. He made a lot of little mistakes and covered him up by keeping them under control. So kids good. I mean, I don't know any other way, any other way to phrase it,

but he's going to come right out of the gate next year being a contender. You see it there, the stat 15 career race. for someone to get two wins within is AJ Foyt. That dates back to 1965. We're talking 61 years since somebody has done that. It's pretty impressive. When your name is next to A.J. Foyt doing pretty good. And you won at the brickyard?

That's kind of gangster. Look, he's really good. He's so good. I mean, I think we talked about it when he filled in for Legacy. It was like, oh, this is at Dover. So you're filling in at the top series of Premier series of NASCAR, right, with the best drivers in the world that do it, and with a team that wasn't performing all that well in legacy at that point. And he ran 20th with that stuff right

then. And I'm like, he might have something. And then you just see the progression, when is the truck championship? And the way he went about it, like how mature he was in the truck season last year doing it. Like, you could tell that he was, he just had something different. And I think the work ethic that he puts in, and he's focused. Like, he is late. He is. laser focused and the way he talks about his race car and the things that he's trying to do within the race car. I know a lot of people were like on social, like, well, all he had to do is hold the lead because they couldn't pass. Yeah, but still had to make the pass on the restart. Right.

And he had to hold the lead. And drive the whole day. The whole day. Yeah. Make a pit stop and do all the details and everything that comes with it. I mean, he qualified seventh. And just to put himself in that position from a qualifying standpoint says a lot about the preparation and things that he did. But here's the thing that's really intriguing to me about this whole situation.

Corey Hymn dominates the truck series, goes out and did what he did in the few cup races that he ran, never wavered on wanting to be at 2311 and putting himself in a position with an organization and people and manufacturer that he thought was right. I'm sure he could have gone to Toyota in 2311 and say, hey, I can go drive for Team X. And I think that I need to go do this just to try to get in a cup car. but he waited and he let them put the pieces together to put him in a really good situation. And I think that him winning these races, them building a program around the sponsorship that they need, you see different partners.

You saw Field and Stream on that car this week that we hadn't seen before. But now winning two races, I mean, people are signing up to join a superstar program. And that to me is the most impressive thing is he came off of what he did in the truck. series and probably could have went somewhere else, but he didn't because he knew that this was a good situation for him. And having Denny Hamlin, I know he beat Denny Hamlin and Denny was probably like, a little asshole rammy in the weeds. Right there. I know he didn't say that after the race, but that is definitely the way that he felt. And, you know, I think if that's anybody else, he probably winds up backwards in the fence. But you've got to know who you're racing. But I don't think it changes

him trying to make that move to try to win the race. I still think he does it. And no matter even if it isn't, Denny Hamelin, I still think that he's going to be aggressive. But he's so calculated. All you hear from people is his work ethic and the things that he does off the racetrack. And when you talk to him, like he's a grown man. He's grown man.

Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty unreal to see a talent like that do what he's done so far in Cup. I want to give a shout out to his crew chief booty barker. We saw him there in that footage, obviously. And listening to some of the engineers saying that he's really helped them become better strategists and things. I love that to see Booty Barker having success like that, too. For sure.

He's a lifelonger in the garage. He's been in it forever. And with a lot of teams that weren't perennial winners are really capable of winning weekend and week out or even yearly, right? And to go to a program like 2311, Booty's such a great dude. And Kevin, you were just talking about that move on the restart against Denny. That is the first time. maybe in a little while that somebody has put Denny in a bad spot that came out on the better side of it. Usually Denny's the one putting them in the bad spot.

And I just, I'm like, well, you're teaching. This is the guy that you've picked. Right. He's learning from you. And so one hand to your point, he's probably like, damn, that's my move. He looks pretty dejected, I thought. He was pretty, you know. All the whole of the pushes.

I mean, look at it. I mean, this is a race that Denny Hamlin hasn't won. I mean, there's not many things that you can say Denny Hamlin has not won. And when you look at a crown jewel race like the brickyard at the Oval, it is definitely one that he wants to win. And he was in a prime position to win that race. And they just didn't get organized on that last restart to all those Gibbs cars on the bottom and didn't get into turn one well. And Joey Lagano was able to push Corey Haim by for the lead. And he made it happen with that block.

So, yeah. And, I mean, if Denny is really going to retire at the end of next year, if that's the case, he's got one more shot. Yeah, you go one more opportunity. Caitlin, one more thing. I will let you guys know talking to some of the other younger drivers this weekend, like, they took what, this is even before the race. Some of the O'Reilly's guys were like, I'm looking at what Corey's done. He's taking his time, like, to get into the right situation instead of just getting up there. And the person that told me that, I was like, you're thinking ahead.

Like, that's the right way to do it. Because if you just want to go cup racing, if it's not the right deal, like we've seen with some of the other guys that we think are really good. Zillich. Zilich, it's been a struggle. And once your teeth get kicked in, it's really hard. But, you know, you look at what Corey's done and the direction and being patient. Take note, boys and girls. Yes, that's right.

Speaking of being patient, what about Christopher Bell, qualified 23rd, but was able to make his way through the field? He's finished in the top five four in the last five races with an injury. What do you think that says about his determination and grit? Well, I think it says a lot about him. and I think it says a lot about his team. I mean, they've got the speed, and it's, I mean, it's just hard. Cup racing to have those days get put together.

Even when you have the fastest car, he probably had the fastest car at the end. He just couldn't maneuver himself into a position where he could just get position on the left or a quarter panel of that 67 car. So, look, I think that Christopher Bell is going to be a, I mean, he's going to be a playoff or a chase contender as we go towards the last 10 weeks.

I think that for them mentally, they need to win, right? Just to really kind of have that pressure taken off of themselves and feel like that they're not cursed, you know, as far as getting to victory lane this year. But it goes that way sometimes. Like sometimes it's just you've got good enough cars to win and you just, it never works out. And you go through those years.

And when you finally do break that barrier down, that's when the momentum starts to roll against. But they're in it. They've got the speed to be able to be in it. and have overcome a lot this year, inconsistent a lot at the beginning of the year, than the injury. So they just need a couple good things to happen.

It's just about getting hot at the right time. Now he has another week off to kind of rest that injury before we go to Iowa. Your pick. Good job, dude. Another runner up. You knew he wasn't going to finish better than seconds. I don't even want to talk about that right now. Yes, I did pick him,

but I did pick him to win the championship at the beginning of the year. And that was based off of when he came across the stage last year, you know, championship race, he wasn't in the final four. And he looked at me in a row and state. And he goes, this really sucks. Not being, not having a shot at a championship. It seemed like that was going to drive him all the way through the off season into the beginning of this season. And it just was like hit or miss.

It just didn't seem like they were on all cylinders. And then he got hurt. And something about that injury really focused you in because when you get told that you got to sit out. Someone else gets in your car. Someone else is going to do your job. Yeah. And your stuff. It lights a fire.

Listen, when the Patriots drafted Jimmy Garapolo, Tom Brady, the goat, the greatest of all time, kind of lit a fire under his ass too. So like sometimes it helps. Yeah. Well, I'd say if he had to do that scenario over again at San Diego, he'd just suffer through it the way it worked out. Yeah.

Yeah, probably so. Speaking of fire under the rear, Joey Lugano, he's been moving and shaken in the last two weeks. Obviously, he got the win at North Wilkesboro. Now he follows it up with another good performance. He also is very complimentary of Corey Haim, saying the driver was spectacular. He's got it. We will be battling him forever.

Yeah. For the forever part of the rest of his career. Yeah, that's right. He's definitely going to have to deal with that. But I think the thing with Joey Lagano is the fact that two weeks in a row, short track, flat, big track like Indy, they were able to keep themselves in contention to have a chance to win at the end of the race. And last year, you know, he had the leading the race and the flat tire. at the end. So he's another one that has just not been able to do all the things at indie that he wants to do, but is capable. And I think the scary part right now for the rest of the field is

where is that 22 at? Right? Like you let him in the picture. Dominated last week. He's got himself to where he's pretty much out of the conversation as far as making the chase. He's put himself pretty deep into making the chase. And now, even on the big, big flat track, they were competitive and now you're going to you got to go to New Hampshire, you got to Richmond, a lot of these short track places that that they run good at, Daytona. So, I mean, he could

theoretically creep his way into the top 10 in those standings and keep himself at least in the conversation. To Kevin's point, when we spoke to him a few weeks ago, he feels pretty confident about this stretch for his group coming up as we make a final push to the postseason. Yeah, that's Penske as a whole. Team Penske as a whole.

I mean, Ryan's won at Iowa. They've ran really good at Richmond. Joey's good at Richmond. You know, Loudon is always a good one for them. And then obviously we got Daytona. So like, who knows? These four weeks, and now these four weeks, these racetracks are usually the ones in the schedule when Penske is running well all year. You're like, we've got to start picking them. You know what I mean? So this is going back into their wheelhouse. And if they're feeling good about it, I know there was a kind of a little adjustment with the nose of the car with the splitter

that they feel like might help their program out a little bit when it comes to down for us. So we'll see. But do not, do not. Can't count them out. Do not let him hang around. Yeah. You let people hang around that you're supposed to be. And then they end up coming back and smack you in the face and then it's too late.

You know what I mean? A lot of championship experience on Joy Lagano's side. Someone who has not won a championship yet is Carson Hosebar. God, I have to transition. Somehow. That's a long list. He is forever in the news. And he would not be denied once again being a.

major focal point in the race after he flipped Corey Hymne the bird when Corey Hime was coming down pit lane these two this feud whatever this is still going on Cory Hime asked about it after the race he kind of diffused it saying like you guys care way too much about someone who finishes ninth I won the race so basically like F you but what do you think of this and that's how Cory Himes's going to handle it and I think run a ninth I mean Carson's aware that he needed some attention at that point because he wasn't going to win so he flipped him to bird Jimmy Johnson says I'm so glad flipping the birds back.

He did. That was awesome. I mean, I know that that was a media center response. But the TV response from Corey Haim was, nope, I didn't see it. I just handed them back in L. Yeah. It's not that he defused it. I think this feud, this whatever, I don't care what it is.

Even adding the Zane Smith part to it, it's great. This is good for us to talk about. It's good for the fans to talk about having people that you love and people you hate on track, not as people, but just like on track. I think it's fantastic for a sport. We need rivalries. We need these type of things. And it helps. The biggest thing is, this is the first one we're having a little while where the guys are winning. You need, like a lot of times, it's not, well, I mean, host ofers not plural. Have won recently. Yeah. Yeah. Have one.

They have potential to win quite a bit. They host a little bit. They can't take away his speed and performance. I mean, he's got the speed and he is not scared. of anything. He's either not smart or not scared. I don't know where it lies. Either way, it's fun for us. It is fun for us.

Have you seen his TikTok lady partner, whatever? Tabitha. Yeah, we were talking about her earlier. Yeah. Now, what's her? Who is she? Can you explain for those of us? No, I cannot, because I'm not on that platform.

You don't TikTok? No, she seems like she's a lovely, lovely lady. I've seen her at the racetrack a little bit. She waited until after all of his post-race interview, she was right there. So, you know. She was right there to start the race, too. She was at a start it and then. She helps him select his coffees, we've learned, on TikTok.

Oh, is that what? It was like some fancy oat latte situation. You don't have TikTok? I have it, I have it, but I don't live on it. It's not a dating app so he doesn't get on it. Honestly, there's a lot of dating that goes on on TikTok, I think, but not. Apparently, we're learning this. Are you still using this dating app?

Raya? Yeah. Yeah. You still use it. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. I don't know how else I'm going to find Florence Pugh if I don't have that app.

Oh, we're still working on that one. She's over in London. Is she? Okay. We need to get back stateside. Maybe you should try something besides the dating app to get a hold of her. Well, I'm trying to use this right now. I don't know if it's going to work.

We're going to see. We're going to see, you know. Is that why you've been in the gym, trying to impress her? Well, yeah. Do you think she'd be impressed with your brick picking up abilities? I didn't know why he was done. I was like, where we go to this? Yeah, because it's not your golf swing.

No, no, the golf swing, it looked good. It just didn't do anything. Okay. Yeah, like visually, because, you know, I've been in the gym, so, like, my back swing looked good, everything looked good. He's on the up and up. Speaking of in the gym, Ryan Priest, in the top ten, Bradkins is not in the gym. That's not in the gym.

That's not the same way. That's not in the gym. He's like a strong stout kid, is my point, right? He's farm strong. Yeah, he is that, country strength. What's the name of the farm again? What was it? Like?

Oh, freeloader farm. Yes, thank you, John, our producer. Okay, RFK, though, showing some strength and a number of their teammates, picking up points as well because they know that clock is ticking four to go. Yeah, and, you know, priests on the outside looking in, and I was looking at it this morning, and I think back to that penalty, I hope it doesn't come down to 25 points or less. Brother. That'll be real tough.

That'd be a kick in the teeth. That'll be real. That's not the kick I was thinking of, but it would not be great. Um, the Kevin, into the race, priest is leading, uh, they come down pit road. The decision, I'm not quite, I, being a crew chief is probably one of the most nerve wracking. I don't think I have the stones for that, but to make the call four tires, two tires or no tires, um, in that situation for you, do you think keeping the lead would have been different if they took no tires for them or where, what was your perspective? I, I don't, I mean, I don't know what their tire was. or any of that was.

So it's hard to, it's hard to, I think that the, the main thing you want to do there is keep your track position. I think that's the most important thing, as, as we saw with Corey Heim at the end. I mean, he had, he didn't have the superior car, but he got the track position and got himself into a spot where he didn't make any mistakes and they couldn't pass him. So, I mean, that's always been indie, right? Like, you got to have track position at the end to be able to, to win the race. So I think it's definitely, you know, in that scenario, you definitely want the, the track

position to be in your favor. Yeah, I hate to Monday morning crew chief because that's what we're here for. But, you know, that's what you're here for. I'm not smart enough for that. I can't do that. The old Monday morning crew chiefeing. Yeah.

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is a must see. FX's The Shards. Streaming August 5th on Hulu on Disney Plus. Sign up now at Disneyplus.com. So let's talk about Hendrik Motorsports for a second because two of their front runners, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, had tires go down. Larson's recent finishes have been a tale of two seasons.

Top fives at San Diego and Sonoma. 15th are worse the rest of the way. A lot of misfortune for them has dropped two points in the spot in the standings. How does Huntering Motorsports regroup with this off weekend ahead and try to really get this ship righted? That's a great question because I think if they would have firmly had their arms wrapped around what they needed to be doing, I think they would have done it. I think that the five car was at least in the game this week.

You see right there the contact from North Wilkesboro with I think on the days when it's going okay, it just seems like they either make a mistake or something happens like this week and you blow. a tire and I don't know they're they're still off as a whole I you know Larson was in the mix this week as far as being in the conversation yep and the other three cars I mean the nine was kind of okay the other two cars were nowhere to really be found and and so that that makes it tough when when you're having these these moments of inconsistency throughout the team it really shows you that you know they they they don't have their arms wrapped around what they need or they'd all be running good like they normally are. So it's definitely hit or miss,

and it's usually just with one car. So it's, it's, Kyle Arson is not by any means out of the game. He put himself into a spot where he's falling back to six into points and right on the cusp of getting swallowed up by some, some guys behind him in the point standing. So it's just trying to protect what you have right now, because if he can finish fifth or sixth into points, he's still in this thing. If they can get their arms wrapped around with. their race cars need. Sure, they're hoping the Mulligans are just behind them at this point, and things start to move on the upward trajectory. They're buying Mulligans at this point. Oh, man. They've used up the ones they had. I mean, the other thing is, is, you know,

usually we've seen the team, the Hendrick team, the Chevroles, if we want to say it like that, at the beginning of the year, they usually start pretty hot. And then the Toyotas kind of take over the next little bit, like probably right about race seven or eight. They start getting on their run. and then we get middle of the year, and it seems like Team Penske shows up. Well, the fact that the Toyotas have been so far out in front for so long, and now it's not just JGR, it's JGR and 2311. They're both running out front.

You've got to wonder if that front running is going to keep them from pushing to keep their stuff up front and if the gap is going to close. Because realistically, you need Team Hendrick and the Team Penske cars to apply the pressure to make. make those other groups keep working. Because if they feel like they have you in a stranglehold and you're not applying the pressure to where you're pushing them for wins and pushing them for top five and stuff, then they're just going to beat you into submission.

So they need to, in this next four races, they need to apply that pressure to make someone do something different. And let's talk about Todd Gillen now because he got the million dollars. Todd father. You've been following this whole adventure from the beginning. How happy you for this? Gilly for Gilly. I like that.

Millie for Gilly. That's what Keelan kept saying. A millie for gilly. Yeah. Adam Alexander said it. When he said, I about fell out. I was dire laughing. That's good.

The in-season challenge, I really love the end-season challenge. I think it was really great. I loved it for Todd. Because, you know, the dog days of summer are, you know, they are wild, right? They get long. And so it breaks it up,

gives everyone something else to look at and look forward to, especially at this point, there's a lot of teams that are out. of their chase contention. So, like, this is one thing that'll kind of rejuvenate. Rejuvenate. Like, hey, we won something.

And a million bucks is a little bit more than something. Now, Kevin, I do think it should be more than a million dollars. Well, here's what I can tell you how much it means. And this is not a knock on John Probes. But John Proops handed the trophy to Todd Gillen. We're waiting for you to continue. I'm not. I'm just not.

I mean, if it's that big a deal, the president or somebody should hand it to you, right? typically so I mean you can't sell it as a big deal if you don't make it a big deal John's you know John's moving up the ladder and but sometimes you got to look at the significance of a situation by who hands you the trophy that's fair that's fair I'm super happy for Todd and his team to win the million dollars and I like the end season challenge but sometimes perception is taken in different ways by people observing he said and Todd said one of the coolest things was just seeing his team you know reacting to it the intensity ramping up as they kept making it through the rounds, you know,

and it just sort of pushed everybody to a new level. I'm not going to lie to you. They said that as much as they wanted to win it, they were more excited to rip it away from Team Penske. I was going to say, Ryan Blaney was the challenger on that. Yeah. I mean, well, it's just your underdog, and that's a true, they're a true underdog in that one.

Like, and Ty Gibbs won it last year. He beat Ty Dillon, and that was an underdog and, you know, more of a Titan team. So it's good for the sport. We just, I think there's some more tweets. fine tuning this indie isn't probably the best for it right yeah well i mean you go to one of the crown jewel races and then you you know you go from indianapolis victory lane and everything that's going on to the you know to the the the in-season challenge winner right like it's just too many things at at one of those marquee events and in my opinion but sometimes that's just the time

into the way things is how it worked out yeah times that's how it works last year we started with Echo Park Speedway and people were mad because their guys got wrecked in lap 5. You know what I mean? You can just see where like it's getting better and we I hope we keep it. I like the concept. Yeah, I hope we keep it. I like the concept. So add-a-boy

for Todd Gillen and company and so too for Josh Barry whose future we're still waiting to hear what all that will look like. He had a top 10 performance, his first since March at Martinsville. So good for him. Yeah and I think this is just a really unique scenario as far as the Josh Barry and whole Woodbrother

car. It's like when they need to show up, they figure out how to show up and win a race. The same thing happened with Harrison Burton last year, when they started with Josh Barry last year. And Ryan Blaney's really been the only scenario that saw that car consistently go around. So I hope, you know, for Jesse Love, when he drives it, that they can figure out how to make this car consistently run like the Penske cars because it just, it never does. And I love the Woodbrothers and I love the whole scenario. But it just seems like that car. never has the consistency of a Penske car, and that's where these cars are taken care of. So, you know, it's never good until it needs to be good.

And everything in between, it just seems like, you know, is all over the place from a, from a consistency standpoint. Yeah, it's one of those deals. Like, you know, Team Penske hasn't been great this year. They've been solid. The 12 has been really good. And obviously, Austin Sindrick and Joy Lagano, they've been below average for what we expect. out of them and so that trickles down and you know Josh doesn't have as many laps uh many um races

under his belt in the cup series as these guys do and seeing these places so that is going to show up the most you would think with that group and it's kind of it kind of sucks and you even you even see dale junior you know he talked about my thought here keep going yeah yeah he talked about uh Josh barry um and how important it is for for to win to stay in this deal and he he looks at cars and quaple the same way he looks at Josh barry it's guys that he really supports and loves and so you know it's tough because you want a guy like that to succeed you mentioned ryan blaney i do want to remind the listeners on those who are locked in now moving on to the chase officially denny hamlin tyler reddick ryan blaney and tie gibbs joined

the list so i'm still looking guys yeah no worries what do you need keep talking well i'm looking at i'm just i was looking at pit crew stuff oh i started i started looking at pick crew stuff and and um where that's affecting berry is that we're you're saying? No, I was just looking to see who wasn't there. His pit crew is actually pretty good. They're ranked let's see. They're not that good. 33rd.

Yeah. Not that good. Which, you know, as I looked at that earlier today, I didn't look up Josh Barry's pick crew. I was just looking through the pit crew notes and I think that there was a couple things. Blaney's crew is still not great and neither was host of ours. And I think as we get into the last 10 weeks, those things

those are the types of things that are going to start to expose themselves as you get into the grind of racing for that championship and those key moments. So I know Blaney has had the speed. I know Hosevar has had the speed. But both of those guys have had problems when they get to pit road as far as the speed of their pit crew and some of the mistakes that they make. Execution. Four more weeks to clean those up before the chase begins. So a big story that came out just a few days ago was the fact that Alex Bowman will be racing in the 48. car in 2027, but beyond that, he plans to retire from full-time Cup Series competition. So some of the

reasons he gave was obviously the injuries. He wants to start a family. He talked about the grind of the sport, just some of the things you face being a public figure and an athlete in the industry. What did you think about the announcement and his reasons for stepping away? Well, I think I think the injuries are one thing, and I think he's just not having fun. Like it just doesn't seem like he's interested in any of the things that have happened for himself over over the last several years because it's hard, right? Like it's hard when you're getting criticized all the time. You're not having the results that you want and then you have those injuries. And, you know, I think if he took a year off, I think he probably would be saying to him.

He'll be saying to himself, I probably shouldn't have done that. But I think I don't know the extent of his injuries and how bad that that. are or what the situation is. But if they were that bad, you wouldn't race next year, right? And you would have been done. So, you know, I think it's just completely beat down at this particular point and frustrated with everything that's going on. But, I mean, you have to respect somebody's decision when they're to that point.

You aren't able to perform like you need to perform in the race car to get the most out of yourself on a week-to-week basis and have the confidence to do it. If you're worried about getting hurt or you're, you have injuries and they could be really damaging the next time, then, you know, you should be done, right? Like, because you're just not going to drive at the level that it's going to take to win these races and risk it all. And, you know, I think listening to him talk about lifestyles and wanting to start a family. And when you're, when you're in that mindset, you're in the, in the driver's the wrong place to be. So I'd say that if he's truly at that point and it just doesn't need some time off, then, you know, that's a good,

good decision for him. He insinuated that he had kind of thought about this for some time, that he had pre-planned in his mind that mid-30s he wanted to be done. Yeah, I think this is definitely I think he's wanting to be done now because obviously won the injuries. I think that's a real, that's a real thing and getting her again, not only like the concussions part, but also like the back breaking. Like, and that's a whole other thing. So, but I think he's had this planned for a while as far as when he wanted to end, it kind of comes a little faster when it's not fun anymore. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, they're not having a good time with the 48. It seems like that whole group needs a little bit of a reconstruction. But at the same time, he's able to go out on his own chord as far, for the most part. Like, this is his decision. Like, a lot of people are like, oh, I'm sure that they offered him. If he was offered two years, that he'd be, you know, coming back doing two years. No, he was done.

Like, he was going to be done after next year. Like, that's what he decided he wanted to do. So good for Alex for being able to do that. We'll see what that means as far as the fallout. Not necessarily the fallout, but what comes next? The future of the 48. If it even stays the 48, because a lot of times Hendrik does this thing, which I kind of appreciate, where they attach a number more to a driver outside of the 24.

everyone else has kind of been moving their numbers around in the 48. But the 24 started with Chase Elliott, right? And they switched it to the 9. Yeah, right. No, exactly. And they switched that. So, like, they kind of, you know, it's interesting how they do that. So we'll see how that works.

And who's going to go into it next? Like, that's the question next year. All next year is, okay, we know Alex is out, but who's going in it next? And that, that'll be interesting. The front runner on that conversation, obviously, has been Connor Zillage, but there is the Corey Day piece of it. We actually spoke to Justin Marks earlier today and asked him about, that and and Justin said he just wants to put him basically in a position where he can

succeed like what's going to be best for Connor yeah he couldn't reveal obviously much well I mean he did I mean his contract he's told us his contract goes to the end of next year and and he didn't really give us any indication that he was worried about anything after that so you know I think that but when you look at that situation with with the 48 and you you look at Corey Day I don't think he's quite ready to to go in the cup race and obviously had a rough go at it because when I look at Connor Zillich's situation on an oval theoretically he should be just as good as SVG in my opinion so I think that even when you compare

it team to team and you look at the things that the 88 car has done on the ovals still not really near his two teammates and that's the part that concerns me about that so if it were me and I was Hendrick Motorsports, I would be super patient because you just don't know who's going to come out of the woodworks to have that opportunity that you didn't even expect when you know that that car is open. So very interesting scenario because that is a marquee spot. Yes, it is. That needs to be filled. And you have to be able to, you've got to decide, are you going for a Mark Martin type situation or, you know, something that fills it for a couple of years to just have fun with it? Or are you going for something long term to build it from the

round up like you would with Zillich a day. I think if I am in the Cup series and I feel like I want even have an inkling that I might want to move teams between now and probably about this time next year, you got probably about 12 months because these things get done in the spring quite a bit early usually. You have about 12 months to really lock in as a guy that can fill that ride because you know it's open. And just because we think it's going to be... Next Y, and Z.

This guy or this person doesn't mean it is and things will change. And if you can get some more sponsorship dollars or whatever it may be, if you can bring some more value and you show up on the racetrack, then you might have a shot. Well, I think the other thing that you have to look at, too, is... And right now, the Chevroletes and Hendrik are in this spot where they're struggling to get the cars balance right, right? They got a new car and they got the balance.

And I'll go as far back. And I've said this on here before. I still think for Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon was the glue that held all that together. He was the guy at Hendrick Motorsports that held all of that together. When something was off, he was the one that figured it out. And Chad Canouse was there. But he was the guy in the engine shop or wherever it was. Jimmy could drive him really fast and do all those things.

But the moment that Jeff Gordon retired, that was when the bottom fell out for Jimmy Johnson, correct? Yeah, yeah. And right now they're in a position to where they need guidance. Well, who is that? And of their drivers. Within the organization at Hendrick, you got Kyle Larson who publicly talks about, you know, he just tells them what the car is doing, doesn't know about anything that's going on. Is it William Byron?

I mean, it doesn't seem like it because they're not as good as the five. It's not to say it's not. It's not, you know, I think he's the one that is the most, I mean, he would be the one highest on the pedestal as to who. who's going to guide the ship when things are wrong like they are right now. But if you bring in another Corey Day or somebody, do you go out and get a Joey Legano or? Look at him stirring this pot. I like. No, but you got to look at who's just saying.

What is what it is, right? Yeah. And, you know, I think there's just a, there's a number of things that could happen at the end of 27 with you got Denny Hamlin retiring. You've got, I mean, I'm just saying. if you're really looking to turn all this stuff around who's the guy that's going to help you consistently who's the veteran in the crew it'll it's it's just in this type of scenario

it opens up things that you would never even think about when you have a shot to go be with the top team and they come knocking at your door and the deal a lot you entertain that conversation and what it might be and I I know this one's kind of outlier kind of out there, but I have thought this all year, because I've, from what I've understood, like, I knew that Alex was going to retire or going to announce that he was

going to be done. A.J. Almondinger is a glue guy. Everywhere he goes, he makes that organization better. He's an adult in the room, and he's going to give you everything he's got, and he hasn't been at a top team in a very long time, but it's doing overachieving massively at college. But they're never going to take a chance on AJ Elman. They're not, but you, I would, I think that if you don't know what to do and you're not sure about your young guys and you're not sure about your future, a one-year flyer on an AJ Almondinger does not seem like a terrible option. I disagree. I think it'd be great. I think he'd win three, four races. I think you're crazy. I know, but

I love AJ Almondoninger. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that would be, I think that would be a little far-fetched. Momba Smith to the 48, mark it down. No. Yeah. No, maybe if they had an O'Reilly car. They took a 48 O'Reilly's car. Put me in that thing. The cup car? Nah, them boys are Who's the best O'Reilly driver? Like, who is? That's the best part. Like, the best is

Justin O'Geyer. But you're not putting in there. He's already been in there. So now you're looking at now you're looking at what, like Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer. No. No. Jesse Love is already going to the 21. Man. Man. Right? Like, Austin Hill is That's why you don't rush into things.

Jesse Love. And we talked about Corey Day and him being patient and waiting and doing the things that it took to make sure that he winds or Corey Heim winds up in the right spot. Right. And making sure your situation is correct. And you talked about it. And just imagine if Jesse Love was a little more patient. And, you know, it's just, I don't know, already in the Chevrolet family and now you're in a 21 car. Like man it's a wild

There's not in between right It's like young guys And then like all the vets Yeah Like there's not like a good Middle ground Like a middle ground person That you would really be like

Really good about it for a three year contract Yeah I mean the guy that would be the fastest in it's Carson Hosevar Right And they already have all that They already have all that tied together I mean he's the safest bet Now he's a handful

and maybe he's not a Hendrick guy. And maybe he's, no way. You know, too wild and all those types of things. But, I mean, the relationship that they have right there and taking... You are wild. I think that's crazier than A.J. Almonddigger. I'm just saying, who's faster? Yeah, but he don't get to be...

Who's faster? But the problem is, I feel like, yes, that would make sense from an on-track standpoint, but the off-track... What Tim Richmond drive? Yeah, but... We're a long way from Tim Richmond, brother. Are we? Yeah. I mean, I would, I think that would, it sounds cool.

But if he can't be Carson Holsavar, I think he'd slow down. If he can't be the guy that he is out of the car, I think he'd slow down. And I think that wouldn't be great. Kyle Busch drove there. Yeah, but that's, yeah, you got, he got kind of, it kind of threw him out of him too. I'm just saying, quick. I'm just saying, don't take anything off the table. All scenarios are.

This, this scenario right here is, is wild. I mean, it's a wild. It could be a wild scenario. They can keep it simple and boring or they could blow it out of the water. They could blow it out of the water. They can literally do whatever they want. I mean, to the point where, so Scotty Mac might be driving for Team Penske in Indycar, but he drives a Chevrolet. Like, like, there are a lot, there are so many different options that they can go in there. It's just not a normal situation with when you talk about 48. It's the best team in NASCAR. Yeah. And, you know, I mean, over. No, over the course of the history. The course of the history of the ask car. Yeah, yeah. It's a, it's a wide open situation if they want it to be. You know what they should do? What's that?

I'll bet you $12 million get Kevin Harvick back in that thing. I literally was thinking that earlier. I was like, hey, Kevin did. Kevin did that. Hey, Delana. You know? It'll help things out. Okay, so there's several other topics that have been very newsworthy over the last few days.

One of them being shortening of races and where people stand on this. Kevin, what are your thoughts? We'll start with you. I say no. I think that we've shortened enough races. I say that we need to get our button gear and figure out how to get the cautions to be faster. Get them under control.

We got stage breaks that take forever. We had 30 minutes this week in two green flag laps. I don't know where I wrote it down. But we had two green flag laps in 30 minutes. And one was for Debris. 12 minute debris caution.

That was a piece of flying plastic. And then Ryan Blaney wrecked right after that. That sequence took 30 minutes. There's a debris right there. But we just got to get better at efficiency of running the race and make things happen quicker. Because right now, I mean, it can't take 12 minutes to make a debris caution. Like we've got to change the rules to make these things happen faster. We don't need to shorten the length of the race.

We just need to make the race more efficient. Right. That makes a lot of sense. And I definitely don't think you should shorten the crown jewels. Do I think they could experiment with shortening some of them? Maybe. We were talking about it earlier. I think if they're trying to tap into the young fan base,

they don't have the attention span to sit there for four hours. You don't think so? I think that if you're going to shorten races, then you're going to have to get rid of stage racing. Okay. Right. I don't think, and I don't think, I keep hearing that, like the casual fan or whatever, whatever.

I don't think that's really what it is. I mean, maybe, because I'm not a casual fan. But, like, I don't feel like the length of the races is what it is. I think the length of the cautions, of the time of the caution. But the time it takes to complete everything. I also don't think that the stage cautions are the problem either. I think the length of them time-wise is the problem. So we got to clean that up.

Like Kevin says, like it shouldn't take so long. But you shorten it. There's a reason why the races are as long as they are. That's what people pay for by people being the broadcasters and the TV, like the sponsors. Now, we can, sure, we can shorten it. but are you going to take a pay cut? Because that's what comes next is the pay. Like, that's how that works.

I don't think we need to shorten it. I think we just need to speed up the process of the cautions. Yeah. And it's like when we get to the end of these stages, right? Like, it's, and then you know that the stage is going to end. And then we've got to run three caution laps to get to the end of the stage. And then we got to get the pits open. And then we have to do all these things that we're doing.

Like, sometimes, hey, if, like, for a first, in a rain delay and we need to get the or we think rain is coming, there should be no cautions at the end of the stages. When the stage ends, hey, green flags, it's still out. We're in hurry up mode. We need to, we're going to race right through the stage. Whoever's a leader, whatever the finishing position is on that lap, you're going to get your stage points, but we aren't throwing the caution. We're in hurry up mode because we got to get things going. So I just think that there's, there's, I don't think the races need to be shortened. I think the efficiency of the needs to be fixed.

Also, also, I think it was Pete was done. Someone, I think it was him. But somebody took the averages of the finishes and posted them. Like the average time, it's like three hours and like 15 minutes. It's like, it's not crazy. Yeah, but just think if we clean that up like 30 minutes. No, that's what I'm saying. It's like the length of the races.

That would solve the issue. It's the length of the stage. And then if you're worried about how long it is, just add 15 minutes to when the race starts. And you can catch the green flag. And so you're 45 minutes right there. I was like this sounds like World Cup. This is a good solution, though, because then it still appeases their traditional fans who don't believe they should shorten them. It's just they need to make it more efficient.

They need to make it more efficient. I mean, World Cup took forever. We had a hydration break. Brother, World Cup. What we should do is stop for a P break. The halfs, the 45 minute halves, hydration break. And then they have an arbitrary number of time. they throw on the end of it.

We do not need to shorten these races. I hate that conversation. We just need to clean up the process. Okay. That's it. There you go. Send us an email or a voicemail to share your opinion. Dun committee is on fire right now. Kevin's, a lot of the ideas he proposes, we've noticed they sometimes do happen.

So the other conversation was the Crown Jule debate and where everybody stands. We just heard Austin Sindrick talking about this and basically indicating different races have different importance to different people. So how do we, how do you guys feel? I mean, especially you. Yeah.

Well, look, I grew up watching the Indy 500 and going to the brickyard and know the significance of what it means to win the brickyard and, you know, have had those celebrations and things. And I think it's, you know, it's been considered a crown jewel, which I agree with. And I think our four crown jewels are that, you know, the Southern 500, Coke 600, and the Daytona 500. And, you know, I think that we should completely wipe out. all the years that we ran backwards

down the front straightaway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the road course because if they are those considered brickyard champions? I don't know. You won at the brickyard but you didn't win the brickyard 400 so I think it is different I do

the trope, I don't quote me on this but I do think it is view different. It better be. I think the guys that won on it obviously they're excited that they won at Indy like that's special no matter what but even AJ I think talks about it like yeah it's not the same as winning the actual right you know going on the oval so yeah I think you're right on that what you said you said Daytona 500

the ones we have the ones we have 600 southern 500 as a as a as a mechanic and someone on the team I'll tell you that there are five times you get an opportunity to get a ring it's those four in a championship that's it so like as a team guy matters it matters a lot when you win those races because that's something that, yeah, you might have won the other ones and you can get replica trophies and like maybe a Dover one is cool because a trophy's cool and that's how people judge it, like how cool is the trophy, right? Yeah. But a ring matter, that's going in their trophy case, that's paying pass down to your kids and the whole thing like that one matters. When I look at mine and I see a brickyard 400 on it, I am hyped about that. And I totally disagree

with, you know, what, you know, Austin Cendrick said earlier and, and just, you know, saying that the fans say that, you know, this one at Kansas, he totally dodged. Yeah. Well, because it's about the driver, right? It's about what you guys view. You know, I think that, but I think that, I think that, you know, you hear, and I heard Kyle Petty's opinion about it. And, you know, I think that, you know, he talked about the racetrack not being there

since, you know, the beginning of time. And, you know, but when I look at that and referencing that the brickyard, Indianapolis Motor Speedway to a Kansas Speedway, Indianaapolis Motor Speedway, Indianaapolis Motor Speedway has been there longer than all of them. So, you know, if you can win on that oval, it's pretty prestigious no matter what it is. Yeah, don't get me wrong. They don't even let everybody race on the Oval. Right, right.

That's a whole other thing. But like, you know, take Ryan Priest, Ryan Priest or MTJ, they win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. For those fans, that is the biggest win that they will ever see because one of their hometown guys won. Like, yeah, I understand that part of it. Yeah. But as far as the industry and how we view it, those four. Two different things.

There's four. Like, Bristol Night Race is cool, but it ain't, it ain't into your Daytona 500 Coke. It's just not the same. See, he's one at all. He knows the deal. He does know. That's why he's the expert. And so are you, duh.

He's a barely expert. So we referenced that interview with Austin Sidrig. You can see it later this week on the YouTube page. Okay, golly, day. This has been a long day. Time now for Mamba Social Sips. Okay. You get to take over her.

Real cool. Before I go to the Sips, I just want to throw one other thing out there. I wish the O'Reilly series would go back to IRP. Couldn't agree more. Where it belongs. It's like I just said. They only let certain things race on the Oval. And it should be Cup and Indy cars.

The Indy 500. Yeah. So I'm going to get off my soapbox and get into my drink. We're going to need them. I just want to let you guys know. The closers, they just keep. They were out and about and about and they were on the fence line. Make sure you let Kevin know.

No, mom is social tips. It's the best in the universe. And you damn right it is. Let's get into it. And happy, I mean, this is about the only happy thing that's happened to him all season. Happy birthday to our boy Connor Zillich, 20 years old now. And Jim Zillich, I've told you all before it. If you want a good follow, follow Jim Zillich.

He has some really funny photos that he posted on here. This isn't even the best one. No, we need the real one on here. Yeah. So the best one is, the best one is he's had a. restaurant that has been no longer really around anymore. Hooters. A little kid surrounded by the Hooters waitress is hysterical.

This might have been 10 years ago because obviously he's only 20. It wasn't that long ago. But it was awesome. So happy birthday, Conner Zillich, and Jim, please keep giving us the fire. Love this mug. We love it. Some of our fans, we have fans and we have super fans. The super duper fans.

Super duper. This is a super duper fan. He has number 20. Chevrolet Cavalier. Oh, wow. It hits me in my soul because my first car was a Chevy Cavalier.

Okay. Replica of William Byron's Raptor scheme. That's fun. Have you ever seen any of your you probably seen a call? Yeah. Well, we showed them on the show

not too long. Yeah, yeah, that's right. We were driving around the streets of Texas, remember? That's right. That's right. That's right. And then also, there was one in,

so at the NASCAR Sunday's New York party, there's a 07 Jack Daniels one. I saw that. Yeah, which is pretty cool. I don't know if it's Clint or Dave Blaney. I don't know. It's probably Dave's.

You know, no one wants to drive Clint's car, so it's probably Dave's. Yeah, but super, super cool. That is cool. I love when that happens. What else do we got this week? Jimmy Johnson. Jimmy Yam. Yeah.

What is the Walk of Fame? Yeah, he announced that he's going, he's getting a star. He's one of only a few athletes. I thought the stars were a movie stars. Just got winning. I'm confused. You're going to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Super cool news.

What an interesting twist, interesting surprise. Certainly been in and around the stars on the walk, and I can't believe, you know, I'll have a star there. So a huge thank you to everyone involved in the process. I think I'm the first race car driver to have a star on the walk of fame and the seventh in the sports category. So I'm a number's guy and number seven keeps following me around. Thank you, everybody.

That's cool. I think Paul Newman has one. But he was an actor. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so, but it is interesting. I didn't know they had opened it up to athletes. I was not aware of that. I was aware.

I run out of actors. One of seven. Actresses. Good ones, anyway. Yeah, all the good ones are already there. All the good ones are taking. Can't find it anymore. That's we got to go get Jimmy.

I'm a real assing. Oh, man, it's awesome. I love it because it's not towards me. It's towards everybody. Yeah. But you're not towards our fans. And like I said, we have super, fans super duper fans and this is one too

one of our fans a man of his word he said if Todd Gillen won the Millie that he was going to go running through his yard and so as a true man of his word Todd wins here

and promises and promises there he is look at him he's running oh my great form I'm very impressed I was waiting for him to fall down to or like hit a phone pole Yeah, well, but, you know, those are those are the sips this week. Who is the guy?

I don't know. Lyle. Lyle on the track, it says. Lyle on the track. Good for him. I think he might be a photographer. I think in his profile picture, it looks like he's wearing a vest. Do you see Blaney eat that pickle this week?

I sent the pickle video because I was like, this is too good to not show. He didn't really eat it, though. The grill is pickled thing. That's what creeped me out. It was kind of weird. It was part. It was there and that it wasn't there. You know, a little weird.

I mean, yeah. He wasn't even the right pickle, apparently. Mustache looked like a rake on that pickle. Dude, the mustache, bro, the mustache is at least worth two-tenths, though. It's at least two-tenths, though. You think? Yeah, he needed them this week. Yeah.

So, any longer. Ladies and gentlemen, that is it for Mamba's social sips. Good job. Who loves your baby? Okay. Time now, guys, for the last call. And this is where we will go ahead and grade the burnout for Mr. Corey, after the big win at the brickyard.

What did you think of this one, Kevin? I thought it was very respectful. She did not go over the bricks. And the day before in the O'Reilly race, it was over the bricks. Not good. Not good. Didn't you do it over the bricks?

No, sir. Not that I remember. Yeah. I might have. Either way, you learn. You learn. But he burned his thing down. And perfectly.

And the great part about India is the straight. way it's really flat. So you can do those good straight line, just hold the breakdown and mash the gas and the car will barely creep along like it is right there. I'm standing right there and I was watching because right at the end

he's starting to get close to this. He ends up right in front of me and I'm like okay you're good. I'm like this, like don't go any further. Like I was worried about it. But yeah, because the Carson thing, he felt bad. You got a drug. Yeah, that was a bad deal. Yeah. Obviously what they're referring to is he had already unplugged his radio

and didn't get the memo about not doing the burnout on the famed yard of bricks. So what do you want to give for the grade? That would give it a B. A B. Really? Yeah, maybe a C plus B. Yeah, I mean, I feel like B's a little high

just for a, you know what I mean? Like, he won a second out of his 15th cup of it. Yeah, that counts for something. At the brickyard. That does matter. We're going to bump in a lot. Okay. All right, Corey.

You're at the brickyard. And honestly, he has his own six. signature like celebrate I know I mean that does got a little flare to it yeah okay I'll give it to you

got a little flare yeah yeah how many times do you think he's gonna do that in his career about it's starting to shape up to be a lot yeah okay guys

time now to look at the standings and we don't have to make a selection this week we will wait until I will race week we're gonna wait till yeah right there's no race next week yeah no but

yeah but we still got to pick Oh, well, maybe we do. No, we definitely have to pick. I'm not ready. We have to pick. See what I'm going to be picking on a fly. You see what these two are trying to do? They're trying to get out of it and wait and pick a winner's there.

I told you I picked that one. Okay, where are we racing? Iowa. Iowa. Okay, I think I have mine already. I've been able to, okay. Well, the point is Kevin is at 107 right now leading still. God, I thought I was going to win too.

Mamba did pick up some points for Christopher Bell. Yeah. And I picked. I cannot believe how many times I've finished second this year. I feel like Casey Kane. This is ridiculous. Yeah. And you're still in last.

Okay, so Iowa is up next. Des Moines. What do we say? I'm top of the board this week. Y'all pick first. Who was last? You? Oh, yeah, you were last.

I didn't have a chance to prepare. Oh, you got to go with your deck. Well, I'm going with Christopher Bell on this one. Oh. Christopher Bell, that's who I was going to pick. Oh, no. No, was it? Yeah, was it?

You don't want to pick Denny Hamelin? That's your guy. I don't think so there. Notebook's not that thick there. Ryan Blaney, I was going to say, but I just picked him, and I swear every time I pick him something bad. So, nope. Are you going with Bell? Actually, I am.

Yeah, okay. I'll stick with this. I'm going to go with Bell, too. There you go. What you got? You should go with Bell, too. No, no. You know, Blaney's won there.

The inaugural race. Yeah. For Cup. And we're right in that time with like Joey Lagonal's kind of got some momentum. All right, Joey, don't let me doubt. Joey Ligano. I didn't know where you were going there. This is a dangerous pick.

I'm going to be honest. I could finish second or I can finish about 30th. I like it. That's the thing you just don't know about where they are right now. I don't know. They've had two weeks in a row, but on two totally different tracks. I know. The notebook, though, here for them is good.

Past history tells you that end of the year is way better for the 22. Okay. Well, we'll have to see how these picks do in two weeks. Thank you so much to the closers. Make sure you subscribe to us on our YouTube channel at Harvard HappyPod. Follow us there.

We'll see you guys next week.