Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Joey Logano wins 3rd Cup Championship, Ryan Blaney comes in second, NASCAR State of the Sport, and more!

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

On Episode 73 of ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour,’ Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith react to the Championship race at Phoenix! The crew breaks down Joey Logano’s win and explains the significance of his third Cup Series Championship. Then, they highlight the other contenders who came up short, including Ryan Blaney, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick. Next, they discuss the State of the Sport address from NASCAR President Steve Phelps and debate about the playoff format. Finally, Mamba reveals his ‘social sips’ and highlights two first-time champions in the XFinity series and Truck series.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen, there was one guy that you didn't want to let into the final four. We talked about it. It's Joey freaking Lugano. He's a dog, man, when he's got an opportunity at a win like this. And he showed it again. So, you know, it's a three-peat for him. So he's in rare air now. Welcome to Kevin Harvick's happy hour presented by NASCAR on Fox.

I'm Kevin Harvick. And somewhere on the other side of the country is Caitlin Vincy and Momba Smith. I am in quarantine here in Colorado, freezing. Oh, no. Not feeling well. So you guys don't want to be around. You don't want to be around me today anyway. Where's your blanket?

You don't have a blanket there? The blanket's right here. Look. What a wanker I am. No way. Hey, Kev Bob. It's good to see you. It's good to see you.

I'm sorry, you're on the weather, but it's all good. Mom and I just got here a few hours ago from Phoenix. That is true. Red eyes all the way from Arizona. Weather was good. Yeah, it was. It was cold there too, actually. At night.

Yeah, it was chilly. cold it got. It was dry like normal. So I don't love that because you know your boy needs humidity and moisture. I'm a, I'm a Caribbean. I'm a Caribbean. I'm an island baby. I need that. An island baby. I need that moisture. Well, yeah, we survived the Phoenix race weekend. So let's dive into it, guys, because we have three champions have been crowned across all three series in NASCAR. Did the championship race live up to your hopes? Kevin, what do you say? Well, when you look at the other two, the Xfinity and the truck series races, they were fantastic. I think that the way that the cup race ended with all the drama of the way that that caution came out and the 24 cycle into the front of the pack.

And Joey getting that tremendous restart at the end of the race was really what put him in position to win the race. So I think Blaney had the fastest car. I think we all thought that Blaney was going to have the fastest car. and we all thought that Lugano was not going to have the fastest car, and he executed better and wound up being the champ. What do you think? Yeah, no, I mean, obviously I picked the 12th in February, so I was really looking forward to coming on here and just being obnoxious telling Kevin that I am right and I'm the man,

but I'm not right and I am not the man today. No, no, I mean, Ryan and his group, they were fast. They did exactly what we thought they were going to do. They showed up off the truck fast. It looked like a carbon copy from Martinsville, you know, that last run with about 30 laps to go. Here he comes. But listen, there was one guy that you didn't want to let into the final four. We talked about it.

It's Joey freaking Lugano. He's a dog, man, when he's got an opportunity at a win like this. And he showed it again. So, you know, that's a three-peat for him. So he's in rare air now. Rare air. Yeah, I want to dive into the whole Joey Lugano conversation. Kevin, I know you already spoke to him this morning, the champion.

and that interview will be available later this week. We encourage all the subscribers and closers also to keep joining us on YouTube, leaving five-star reviews, all the things. But what did you take from the interview with Joey? What stood out to you the most hearing him reflecting now, not even 24 hours later? Well, when you look back at everything that Joey went through this season, and I point in Blake asked him, and he admitted it, you know, we were terrible to start the season. And I think it's been well documented about his test at North Wilkesboro and then going to the All-Star race.

and winning that race and having success on the shorter tracks and being able to put themselves in a position on those tracks and just consistently working through the year to get better. And, you know, this is a guy that was, this is a team, and we heard him say it after the race. I may not be the best, but I have the best team. And I think that never was that more evident than the way that you saw Sunday play out with Jackman being changed and restarts that Joey got. and the calls and everything that came together throughout the weekend for those guys is exactly what came together throughout the whole year.

And you know, you're talking about a team that was eliminated from the playoffs, eliminated from the round of 12 and then back in. And, you know, one race is to get into the playoffs just by accident, by being in position, to capitalize on situations. And there was a time when I thought that Joey Lagano was going to miss the playoffs. and I think that a couple of those wins that he got in the middle of the year allowed them to put themselves in position, but they just continuously get better.

And it's like we talked before we went to Phoenix. If you give them an opportunity, he's going to do it better than the other three, and they did. Yeah, no, I mean, it was a crazy run that he had. And this is an unpopular opinion right now on social media, but like he won five races. And people are like, well, the All-Star race doesn't count. It's on the schedule and it pays a million bucks.

Right. And it gives you momentum. Yeah, it counts. Like, it counts. And I think one of the other things is that we'd never talk about because he didn't win it, but he was about to win Richmond. So that would have been six. Yeah. So there's a lot of folks that were mad that Larson wasn't in because he had the most wins. Well, Lugano had the second most wins this year.

So, and he did it in the pressure. Like, he did it during the playoffs. he had three during the playoffs and won the championship race. Like, yeah, his finish throughout the year was like, I think I average is 17 or whatever, but who cares? He won when it mattered. Yeah, how do you think he's able to do that, Kevin? Joey, rising to the occasion in these very high pressure situations,

I think I heard him saying to you that he actually really enjoys that kind of pressure as a competitor. Yeah, it was very interesting to hear him talk about putting more pressure on himself. And we always talk from the management side of things. how do we make our drivers comfortable being uncomfortable? And that was never more true than what Joe Ligano said. He's like, I said some things in the media center. He's like, I just love it.

I love the pressure. And as a competitor, there's nothing better than having your back against the wall or having all that pressure and all the eyes on you and succeeding in those moments. There is nothing more rewarding than being able to succeed in those moments. And Joey just thrives on it. And he figures out a way to take it to a different level, even to his own admission than he does in the regular season in the last 10 weeks in the

playoff start. So he's got a special talent, special gift to be able to balance all that. You know, I think when you look at the balance that he has on his life with his family, he's very grounded with his team and who he is as a person, very confident, he's, he's dangerous. And they let this guy back into the championship chase. and he just, he capitalized on every single moment that they kept handing him. Yeah. And the other thing is we talked about Kevin throughout the year, you know, they weren't very strong at the beginning of the year.

But now this is three years in a row that Team Penske is strong when it matters most. See, it's like Coke 600 happens and it's like, all right, now back to the script. Like, let's go figure it out. And it's worked. And people were kind of mad at it. But like, you know, like Team Hendrick is so fast in Toyota and the Toyota, are so fast at Gibbs, 2311, but they're fast at the beginning to middle. And Team Penske just has figured out how to be fast middle to end.

Now, I also think that these races stack up really well for them, and we're about to have an adjustment in the playoffs of how these races land. So when that happens, we'll see if they can continue this success. But right now, it's theirs. And you referenced something, Mamba, the fact that people were kind of questioning, you know, Joey in the championship four race. This has sparked a little bit of a debate as well. So Joey addressed the media after he won the title on this exact topic.

Take a listen to what Joey had to say. This is something that everyone knows the rules when the season starts. And, you know, we figured out how to do it the best and figured out how to win. It's what our team's been able to do for the last three years. So I don't like people talking that way. you know what I mean? Because if the rules were the old way, we would play it out differently, wouldn't we?

So I just think that's just a bunch of hearsay back there and people I just got to accept what the times are. Times change, right? Kevin, I think, I want to ask you something. I think there's a little bit of fatigue from winners' fatigue. We had this with Jimmy when Jimmy won five, right? And people were like, oh, God, here he's winning again. Now, Lugano, a lot of people don't like Joey.

You either love Joey Lugano or you hate Joey Ligano, a lot of the fans. And now Penske's won three in a row. Do you think that some of the criticism is winners fatigue and they're ready to see somebody else win? Well, first, I agree with Joey on not going back to Winston Cup point standings. Like, that is those days are gone. There's an entertainment value that has to come with the last 10 weeks and the things that we do. I think the big question is, what is the weight of the regular season and where does that regular season champion fall? We talked about putting them in championship four.

And I think, you know, after we started a conversation last week that was fun and intriguing to me. And I think that when you come back and look at those things, maybe that champion goes into the final eight, maybe not the final four and having to earn your way to the end. I think it's definitely not, if we could make the regular season more meaningful, that's really the accomplishment that I'd like to see made over the first 26 weeks to have that weighted to what it is. Because it's not like other sports. You can't compare this to football and baseball and basketball. And this team got eliminated and that team got eliminated. Well, let's also remember those teams are getting three out of five or four out of seven chances to get eliminated.

It's not a single race. It's not a single game outside of football. I mean, football is more along the lines of what we do. But basketball and baseball, hockey, all those sports are settled differently. So I agree with Joey on the regular season, not having the whole season be weighted like it was with the old school point standing. You have to have some sort of playoff format. But I think the biggest thing is figuring out how to wait that regular season to make it matter as much as possible. reaction to that

no I agree I mean we were on this show last week talking about an adjustment to the playoffs I think the playoffs are needed I think there's a happy medium between what traditionally and what we did

and I think that's the regular season you know you win that you get you get to advance you know whatever many rounds it is I'm fine with it being all the way to the championship round because like Caitlin and I talked about Kevin which is now it's a different set of problems

Like now you've got to stay locked in for nine weeks just to get ready for Phoenix. So, you know, we'll talk about momentum here all the time. Like, if you can't stay locked in, like, you're going to be harder. It's going to be harder to stay locked in when you're not competing like that. You know, I think that that's one reason to put them into the final eight instead of the championship four. Because then you have to stay locked in because you want to win races. You want to gain those points. So it keeps that, that champion locked into racing through the round of 16 and the round of 12 because you want those championship points.

so that when you're in the round of eight, you're ready. So Joey Lugano obviously was able to get it done, one, the championship, but it wasn't without some adversity thrown his way in this race. Pick Road is what I'm thinking of specifically. Slower stops. And then I don't know if I've seen this in quite some time. The Jackman on the team actually fell very ill in the middle of the race. So they had to make a swap for him.

So as the driver, Kevin, when all of this is unfolding, what's kind of the mindset when you're seeing all these things going wrong and sort of unusual things at that. Yeah. And, you know, I think it's, I think it's, it's very interesting because I asked Joey, you know, what were you thinking? And he was, he was like, I didn't know. They didn't, they didn't tell him. And he, he didn't ask until after the race. So I thought that was, that was interesting. But it's like Joey and I talked. I mean, it's, it's, it's pretty intriguing to see how quickly, how quickly all those pieces fell. And it shows you the structure organization and the plan that Penske had put in place because it was, it was boom, boom, boom. We had three team jackmans changed. And Joey's car never

missed a beat and they had great pit stops for the rest of the day. And I think that says a lot about from Joey's words, it says a lot about the system that Penske has and the culture of keeping things as much as the same as possible. And that Jackman and the system that they used for their pit stops went ride in and perform well. I mean, we talk about it, right? This sport is one of the, if not the ultimate team sport. Everybody has to do their job and be ready and next man up. And that's how we operate here.

And for that guy to step in at the biggest stage and perform flawlessly, unexpectedly after, you know what I mean? That's insane. And the Jackman may be the most critical piece to the pit crew. now because he's doing so many different things because he also has to hang a tire. He's carrying the jack, jumping around like he's doing a lot of things at once.

Not even, not to mention sometimes they do a no-look jackdrop. Like when they do that, that's insane. So we're at an age where the pit crew are so important and that showed up in the championship and it took everybody. It did take everybody. Now I want to give obviously some credit and talk about the other three who are in the hunt and kind of walk through their days. And I'll start with Ryan Blaney,

who you guys referenced thought, had the fastest car. Kevin, were you, do you think there's anything Ryan could have done differently in the closing laps of that race? Because, I mean, he seemed like he gave it everything he could. He was visibly exhausted when he got out of the car. What did you see? Well, I think that the biggest thing for Blaney is he could have had a better restart at the end. That's really where Joey beat him was just having that restart and being able to get to the lead. And I know that the 24 had only one lap on his tires, but stickers to one lap scuffs is a, big difference when you fire off on the restart. And they just, they just drove around him. And so the

biggest trouble that Blaney had was, was getting through the five car and the 24 car. He just, they held him up for a tremendous amount of time. And he lost so much ground, you know, to Lugano that he was just never able to make it up. He by far had the best car, but it all came down to that restart with about 50 laps to go and being able to execute and put yourself in position at that particular time. And Joey Ligano did it. He put himself in position to go out and, you and get the lead. And, you know, I think when you, when you look at the 24, he was just a fourth or fifth place car.

The 45 was a 10th place car. So it was really coming down to the 12 and the 22 when it was all said and done. I was sitting with my buddy Dale from Production Alliance watching this race. And it was like 80 to go. And I looked at him, I'm like, this is probably the worst situation for the 12. Because around 80 ago, before that last pit stop, Ryan was tracking Joey, right? And like, they were running about the same thing. but Ryan was obviously faster,

but getting around a teammate at that stage, like, I was like, if he doesn't jump him on the cycle, then they're going to have a problem. And it kind of, like, for him to win. And it made it so hard. You could see Ryan was searching to get around him.

He really wasn't trying to use the bumper. He really was, and Joey's like, I say it all the time. He's a dog. He's like one of the hardest guys to pass. So he's going to put you in a bad situation. And on top of that, it's your teammate. So I felt,

I felt, I felt, like if in this instant, if Ryan was on a different team and not team Penske, it might have ended up differently, but he was trying to pass the right way and not take both cars out of contention. Kevin, I mean, that's got to be one of the hardest situations, I feel like. Yeah. And, you know, I think that both of those guys knew the respect level that needed to come with how they raced each other. So when you look at the scenario where they were racing each other, I mean, it made me nervous, you know, before that, that last run. I was, I was like, man, this is, this is tight racing.

And as a team owner from Roger Penske's standpoint, I can't imagine how nervous that would make him because we've seen these cars just slip out from underneath you, just all of the sudden. And they just, they did it very respectfully. And, you know, I think that I don't know that that would have been as respectful if Blaney could have ever actually got to him. I think he would have been a little bit more aggressive, but I don't think it would have been over the top.

Yeah, I agree. So William Byron, you guys referenced the fact that he had some unique strategy with Rudy Fugel having him pit later than the other three contenders. It allowed him to take the race lead in stage three, but was not able to maintain it. Where did you feel like that group just kind of lost it? Well, they got lucky right there. Yeah. I mean, they got lucky with where the caution came out. And they were really, you know, one lap away from being super lucky.

But they got the lead. they got the track position that they needed, but they just never had the speed. They haven't had the speed the second half of the season that they had in the first half of the season. We saw the five even kind of taper off compared to the competition as far as the advantage that they had early in the season.

But the 24 has to figure out how to make it happen in the playoff, in the championship race. They got to figure out what they need to do to be that dog like Mama's talking about, like Joey the Gano, and be able to have the play. the speed that they need at that particular racetrack. So they just didn't have it. They didn't have the speed from the time that they got there.

They were a fourth or fifth place car, never made any noise. I expect William Byron and Rudy Fugel and that whole group to be in a champ for a lot over the next three, four years. But to Kevin's point, they got to figure out how to get it done at the champ four. And it just wasn't their day. I don't know if they've ever really been super fast at Phoenix. So as this system and everything evolves, and we might have a different, you know, championship race, maybe that'll play into more of their hand.

But it was just unfortunate for them. They needed Kyle to get in between him and the two Penske cars. I think that would have helped a lot. It would have saved him some time, maybe. But Kyle wasn't quite able to get there. And then Joey had him dead to right. So they put in a great effort. They can't be mad about their season.

They won races and, you know, through the middle of the year were kind of a miss, but got it right when it mattered. And it just wasn't quite enough. So it wasn't William Byron's day. It also wasn't Tyler Reddick's day, Kevin. You know, and they'd had a couple weeks to prepare, obviously, for this race. Were you surprised you didn't see more strength out of them? Because they were not in the conversation as far as the lead went for most of the whole race. Yeah, I was not.

I was not surprised. I, you know, I think that all four of these guys are capable of showing. up with something that could be dominant. But when the 45 was a 10th place car, it didn't surprise me. And it's kind of the same as the William Byron argument. And we talked about this, how can Tyler Reddick perform at the level that he was at Homestead? How can William Byron perform at the level that he was at when he was winning races at the beginning of the year? Because in my opinion, And these guys and these teams can't dot the eyes and cross the T's and motivate themselves like Joey Ligano.

Joey Ligano can find another gear. He can find another way to succeed other than being the fastest car. And he just beats them by moving the pieces around the board better than everybody else. And having that high level intensity of focus is something that those two guys need to find and need to be capable of making their cars faster, crew guys, you know, as well. I mean, they got to be able to know that, you know, you need to go to this level.

But if you're going to win, you've got to go up here. You've got to go off the charts because if not, you're going to get beat by Joey Lugano and Ryan Blaney when they're given the chance. So I just, you know, that Tyler Reddick that was at homestead at the end of that race and trying to make something happen, I mean, he did try to make something happen on a couple restarts. starts, but I think a lot of that comes down to having a faster car and the team get more out of the car so that he can do the things that he did at Homestead.

So they got to figure out how to find another gear compared to Joey Lagano. Yeah, and let's, you know, let's not act like the whole lead up when you're a championship contender, all the media, all the extra prep. Like there's a lot of extra things going on that they haven't had to deal with before. And so this is an experience that they needed to have. and, you know, they say you got to lose one to win one, and a lot of times that's true. So I think Tyler is going to find his way back there. And again, they're shaking up the schedule.

And if the schedule lands at a mile and a half for Tyler Redick for the champ race, that's going to be a dog to have to go beat. Speaking of a lose one to win one, Christopher Bell and Kyle Arson did not hold back in this race. Not that they should, you know, be racing the champ for guys any differently. But I just, as I'm watching this race, unfold. I was like, damn, they're, they don't care. They're going after their win as well. Did you, did you think the same thing, Kevin?

Well, I think this leads up to what happened getting to this point, right? Like, what happened at Martin'sville, who got knocked out of the way, who's, who's not happy with who? And it was fairly obvious to me that the 24 and mostly the five were, they were racing Blaney like there was no tomorrow. They did not want to see Ryan Blaney get by to them. So they were, they were, they were definitely racing harder against Blaney than they were everybody else. And they made it very difficult. And that's what that's what caused Ryan to get so far behind and not have a chance to win. Yeah. No, I mean, I think, I think they knew that he was the class of the field. And if their best chance to win was to try and make him use the stuff up and the longer he stayed behind

them, the better chance that was. I love it though, man. I do too. I want, I want these guys to, I want these guys to go after. They got something to prove. And they're like, yeah, we weren't here. But if we were, you know what I mean? Like, we could have won this thing too. So I think that's important when you look at the totality of a season and the momentum going into next year. And it kind of gives you a little fire.

Like, yeah, those guys might have beat us to get there. But we outclassed them on track at that day. So I think it's important. Speaking of not outclassed, the pace car. Leave my man alone. Mama, did you let you drive the pace car? No, I didn't drive it. Delena texted us and was like, is that you?

Leave my man alone. Let him live. I think Chase Elliott bumped him a little bit. I don't know what happened here, but it was pretty entertaining. Kevin, I don't know how. Go ahead. Was the traction control off? It sure looks like it was because that thing just spun out. You shouldn't be able to spin a street car out like that.

Well, that's so I'm a little confused. Like, that's a front wheel drive vehicle. Yeah. Right. So for him to be able to get it so sideways like that, I was a little surprised. Chase said he didn't hit him, though. Chase said I did not touch the pace car. So I don't know what happened there, but MJ, I don't think MJ's ever seen anything like it. And he was just dying. Yeah. Everybody kind of was. I mean, there's certain things you just can't script this.

And there's a first for everything. Yeah. Kevin, I'm glad they read flagged it, though, because it was going to take a little while. So I'm glad they read flagged it and didn't like take laps off the board. Yeah, I mean, I've seen the pace car catch on fire. I've seen F1 base cars spin out in the rain, but never just spent out on a 75-degree day in Phoenix turning on to pit road. That was an epic failure. Total epic failure. Come on, man.

That's your friend, right? There's no way to hide it. I mean, does he get fired? I mean, is he evicted from the base car driving duties? Yeah, he just, like, impacted the championship race. Yeah, maybe he has to go into the flag stand and be the flagman now. Maybe so. Yeah.

That was bad. One other thing I want to hit on is the Martin Trex Jr. story, kind of pay that off. Obviously, he announced quite some time ago retiring from full-time competition. Got the poll out there for the race, which was neat to see MTJ do that. Unfortunately, finished 17th in the race. Great career he's had, Hall of Fameworthy at that. Just final thoughts on Martin from you, Kevin. Well, I'm glad Martin went out somewhat competitively with the pole and having his last race and doing all the things that he did. I think he's obviously looking forward to spending more time on his boat and doing a little more fishing and not having to deal with the pressure. And that's one thing for me as I've gone through the year, not having to deal with the pressure and everything that comes with the week-to-week grind. I mean, I still like being busy and being involved in things, but there is nothing like that week-to-week grind. And, you know, when you're, when you're racing against the 20-year-olds and early 30s, when you get into your 40s and have kids and Martin doesn't have any kids, but when you have a life outside of racing, it becomes much more difficult to balance everything.

So I think he was just at the point where he was done with it. I hope he doesn't come back and race, honestly. You know, I think that, I think that, you know, when we see Jimmy Johnson come back and race, it's not the Jimmy Johnson that we're used to seeing, you know, up front, competitive, doing the things that he did. And I hope Martin just, if he's going to race, not race the cup car. I just hope that, you know, he can keep his career intact and the way that everybody thinks about him with the performances that he had over the last several years and being

competitive. Yeah, I would love to see him run an exfini race because I think Ryan Trix, his brother, so them two on track together would be pretty cool. I don't think that's ever happened. I do want to just say I got drug because being from New England, I watched Martin and his family race all the time. And so I'm like, as a New England guy, as a New England race fan, like I love that one of our guys from that area, the Northeast area.

Calm down, everybody. Made it and like was successful. And they drug me because they're like, he's from New Jersey, not New England. I'm like, I know he's from New Jersey, but where he raised was all New England. Calm down everybody. I know. It's okay. You were trying to give the man a combo.

I just wanted to give him a couple, that's a guy. That's a homie. That's cool. Yeah. Way to piss everybody off, Mom. We did some more after that too. Well, congratulations to Martin on a great career.

It was so fun to watch him. And those 78 days, he was, it was pretty cool to see that car, that Matt Black, orange. And the page scheme this weekend was badass. It was. Very cool. It was. It was bad.

Wishing Martin the best. Okay, guys. So something that happens every single season, is kind of a state of the sport address. And of course, that's from the NASCAR president, Steve Phelps, and the chief operating officer, Steve O'Donnell. So they always go speak to the media, address different topics that are current and important in the sport at the time.

I thought, you know, there was a couple interesting things and highlights that came out of this year's session. One of them being, they said there's a thousand percent chance that next season would include new rules to address the race manipulation type things going on with manufacturers, which since our last show, We've obviously seen those penalties handed down from what occurred at Martinsville. So your reaction to hearing that that will probably change and how do they go about changing? What is the answer here, really, Kevin?

Well, you know, I think that they just have to be clear with the manufacturers of how they expect things to go. The manufacturers put a ton of pressure on the teams and drivers to do things that are, as we talk about, outside of your comfort zone. And that's really a, you know, it's kind of a, you know, it's kind of a creature of the system, I guess you could say, of how it operates and how important every single point is and put you in the position to have to deal with the Martinsville type situations. But I just can't believe that the teams are so out of touch with the world that they want to talk about everything on the radio. If you really want to fix it, just tell your teams to use their freaking head and not talk about it on the radio. That would pretty much fix all the problems. You know, you can you can have

a plan. But if you're going to have people that aren't smart enough to talk about it on the radio, you need to find new people. Yes, I agree with that. Better code words and like sidebar conversations that don't take place on the main channel. Yeah, I don't think you need any code words. You're just like not talk about it. Like, you know the situation going in.

Hey, do you know the deal, man? I know the deal. Know the deal. Are you sure they do? Put that on a t-shirt. But yeah, no, I'm glad they're doing that. There's an important. We can't be having that.

No, we can't. So it'll be interesting to see kind of what conclusions are reached in the off-season and how they address this. They also said they're close on a new OE coming into the sport, new manufacturer, which could be exciting, right? Kevin? Yeah, I mean, we've heard a lot of rumors about Honda coming into the sport, and whether it's them or not, I don't know that to be true.

But, you know, they keep bringing up the fact that there's a new manufacturer coming into the sport. And I want to see it. I mean, I think that if we can get another manufacturer to come into the sport, it just opens up opportunities for so many different teams. And when Toyota came into the sport, you know, the CEO of General Motors was talking in a group and somebody asked, why, what are we going to do about Toyota coming into truck racing?

He said, well, we're going to make them see our back bumper. So on the flip side of that, they had to go out and start finding truck teams. I wound up with a truck team that General Motors started with us to go out and compete against the Toyotas, and that's really how full-time KHA truck racing started. So bringing another manufacturer in opens up the competition between the manufacturers, but it also opens up the pocketbook between the manufacturers for the manufacturers to spend more money, maybe with less teams. And then you have a new manufacturer coming in, and it's going to change the scope of what that particular team that they choose to be their lead team is. And we saw what it did with Joe Gibbs racing

when Toyota came in. You know, you had Bill Davis racing on the truck side, but it changed a lot for KHAI, just because Chevrolet didn't want to get beat by Toyota. Yeah, no, I think it'd be amazing. Like Kevin says, I'd like to see it happen more sooner than, sooner than not. I think four, Kevin, I think four manufacturers is great. Five makes it, I think, to where there's no, like, C teams.

like everyone's an A team or B team basically. So the quality of equipment and the quality of race teams that you're putting on the racetrack becomes more. And that's only better for racing. And better for guys to get opportunities. Because that's the other thing that happens is when Toyota came in, they made a real development program. And it forced a lot of other people, the other manufacturers to do that as well. So that's really important. Okay.

So we'll continue to follow that story of a new potential manufacturer in the sport. So they addressed a lot of different things. one of them being to they are open to potentially tweaking the playoff format. I know we've already kind of talked about this guys and what, you know, a potential solution could be for that. But they also talked about improving, you know, the short track racing package, the officiating and how that all goes. What do you think should maybe be one of the primary focuses for NASCAR in the offseason, Kevin?

Yeah, I think the officiating has to be better. I think it was awful in certain situations. So they just, they have to be, they have to be more proactive in putting people in the right positions to try to get in front of things instead of reacting to things when they're wrong. Now, on the flip side of that, they've done a great job of saying, hey, we screwed up. I think Elton Sawyer and NASCAR in general have done a great job of admitting things, but far too many things have to be admitted as we've gone throughout the season and some of the late caution calls and just using that as an example, you know, just need to be cleaned up.

So I think that, you know, that I still think that we can make the point system a little bit stronger from the regular season standpoint and what that regular season champ and maybe two and three get. So they got a lot of work to do, but I think that that's typical for any off season. The short track racing package is definitely needs to be as high on the priority list as anything. They've spent millions of dollars on Arrow and all the things that go with it and shifting. not shifting and in the end it's just that the car just doesn't race very good on the short tracks. We've had some good short track races, but yesterday wasn't off the charts by any means, and it was definitely difficult to pass, and we just, we haven't had that. Now, we've moved the needle the most by the tires and the things that Goodyear has been able to put in place, and I think

that, you know, what they thought was soft is not soft enough. And, and, you know, you know, you look at Bristol and you look at some of these places, there's still a lot of room for improvement on the tire to cover up, you know, the inefficiencies with the cars. So, you know, the simplest thing would be to keep trampling down the road of the tires and being aggressive on that side. Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, shout to Goodyear for what they did. Without the big mistake that happened at Bristol, we do not, like we talked about here, that was Kevin said, I think you said it was the best accident that ever happened. because it forced us into this a whole different arena. And I think that was great.

And, you know, NASCAR has admitted more times than recent memory that they were wrong or we didn't get this right. And so you got to tip the cap of them for knowing. But also now let's do something about it. You know what I mean? Let's make sure that we're taking the right steps. I would love to see some type of program for officials. Like maybe that starts in like the regional series. I know that we do some of that.

but start people younger if they want to be in the sport. Like give them an avenue to be officials right out of college or right, you know, whatever at a high school. And you start training them up because that's how you become good in later years. So, and then they also said that unequivocally we're not going away from the playoff system. So anyone that wants to, you guys can keep talking about the old system and this, that and the other, it's not going away. Go forward, not backwards.

So let's just leave that. Let's have a fun conversation about it. But let's just just leave it in the past and somehow create a system that's somewhere in the middle. Yeah. I'm tired of hearing the Winston Company. I think it's clearly here to stay, but they've said they still might change it a little bit. I think they listen to this show a little bit. Maybe so.

Kevin might get something. I respect the leadership of Steve Phelps and Steve O'Donnell very much and that they're always so receptive, I think, to what the fans have to say and are open to making changes. So I'll be curious kind of what the offseason will bring as we approach 2025. Hey, Kevin, you got to see Chief Hype in his element. right? You got to see him on TV doing his deal this weekend, right? Oh, yeah. I was laying on the couch, waiting for the pre-race to start, listening to the pre-race, and all of a sudden, we get the chief hype announcement on the television, the chief hype officer on television to introduce the final four. So big moment for Mamba.

It was. That was it for you in your spot. You know? No, no, I didn't mess up the TV part. I might have been. We might have. We might have messed up the on non-TV part. How so? Well, it's just the way that the guys got to the stage, they were all backed up. And like, so they were all together. So when I started announcing one, there was three more of them, like, standing there. Usually they hold them and then they don't go until, like, I start.

But so they're all there. And they're all visible to the crowd. So it just, I felt like it wasn't my best performance because I was trying to rush through them. But then when the lights were brightest. I felt like it definitely wasn't your best performance. Listen, wait, wait, no, when the lights were brightest, that's what it was my best. That's what I was not my best. Kevin's a tough critic, you know.

Yeah, he's a tough critic. He just wants you to be better. That's right. He elevates everybody's, you know, performances here. Yeah, that's why I elevate his shoe game because, you know, he's going to elevate my... I think we should retitle you to, instead of cheap hype officer, you should be vice president of driver introductions. There you go. Who's the president?

I don't know, but I mean, vice president of anything is better than Chief Hype. C-H-O over here. C-H-H-H-O, okay. Maybe director. How about director of? Chief Hype does sound very made-up in Kevin's defense. It is very made-up.

I made it up. It's clearly not a real job. I needed a title. I made myself one. Also, Kevin, I'm wearing your shoes, by the way. So I appreciate this. Oh, I like them. They look good.

I know they do. I'm me. I'm wearing Jordans today. This is a final, you know, tribute to Michael Jordan. Let's see your shoes. I can't turn my foot that way. She's stepping up her shooting. You know me.

It only took episode, what are we? 72 million. She's going through her notes. Let me just find out an episode. 73. Thank you, Tyler. Yeah, thanks, Tyler. Okay, so the reason I brought up chief hype is because it's now it's your turn.

We have some other champions to talk about and give some flowers to as well in the other series here in NASCAR. America. welcome to your favorite segment. Mamba Social Sips with Kevin Harvick Knot in studio. So it's even better. So I don't have to stare them in the eyes. All right. So listen, we're going to start.

Let's, I'm kind of kind of go backwards, I guess, because anyway, don't worry about it. You can't see my notes. That's what it says in the rundown. I'm going to stop. I'm going to go with Justin Algeyer, right? So Justin won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Justin is a fan favorite, a garage favorite. It's been around for a long time

and has been very close multiple times. Now, Kevin, he about choked this thing away like three times. I didn't realize, so Justin, this is after this restart, and he gangster this restart. But when he turned down below

the start finish line early, when he came down, pit road, I was like, oh, he's a lap down, and then he sped. I thought he was two down. He didn't quit. And so, Kevin, because he came out in front of the leaders on the first penalty. It allowed him only to stay one lap down on the second penalty. And when the caution came out, he was able to get his lap back.

Well, I know one thing. You will never be able to screw up that many times in a cup race and win. But that was, my goodness, that is definitely not a quitter driving that seven car. He did a great job of never laying down and got himself back in position and played it smart right here with Riley coming to the checkered flag. And Riley passing him for the, the win, but, you know, Justin Allgaier is a great person. Obviously, Dale and Kelly do so much for the Xfinity Series and racing in general. So to see them win was pretty awesome to be able to finally get that championship under a guy who's put so much into the Xfinity series. But, wow, there were a lot of moments that I was thinking to myself, he is absolutely done. And I guess

that was the biggest moment was when he had the violation and then the speeding penalty. And it's like, well, he's definitely out of this. But they found a way and put themselves in position to come back. And that is after they crash their primary car in practice when with an engine failure, there was like five or six cars that crashed in practice. Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy. It was crazy. And we talked about the manufacturers. Just touching on that real quick is the Fords didn't have enough bullets up front and the Chevys started ganging it up on coal and that really allowed Justin to get a run at him

so those are the type of things that we talk about too when it's going on and shout out real quick to Riley Herbs winning the race. Last win for Stuart Haas racing really cool for Riley and really cool for the whole organization Tony was out there he was jacked up and he sat out on the back of the tailgate on Sunday night and gave everyone a speech I was there I might have cried a little bit

Yeah. And we were there yesterday when I saw all the Stuart Haas employees kind of gathering outside their haulers and just like having a moment together. I should have brought that story up sooner because it's like the end of an era for sure for all the Stewart Haas people and everything they achieved. Kevin, of course, yourself included leading it for so many years. Yeah. So great, great way to end the year. It's somewhat surreal with everything that has happened this year. And when you look at Stewart House racing just gone, right? Today it's gone. Now, those guys, they aren't even allowed back in the shop. They had to drop their computers off. They took their company vehicles and won't even, you know, they'll never go back in the shop. So they've been, they had their offices cleaned out for a couple weeks.

And now they, in a weird circumstance like this, all those guys are starting at their new jobs tomorrow and Wednesday. So it's been, it's been hard to kind of take all that in and really realize that that Stuart House racing is gone. I'm glad Tony was there to be able to talk to everybody and be a part of the last event. And also, you know, for Riley to go to Victory Lane, what a way to what a way to end that. And now, you know, it transfers over to Haas factory team and we'll see if, you know, if it's the same type of successful organization that it has been for so many years. So what a special place with the environment and everything that came with Stuart Haas Racing. It wasn't like anywhere else. It was a racer's mentality and everything that we did.

And, you know, allowed me to win a championship and work with a lot of great people for a decade. So it was hard to believe that it's gone today. Tough. That place taught me how to do stuff at an elite level and how to be a professional. And I'll never forget it for sure, especially that championship. Never forget that one. Another champion that we crowned, Ty Majeski for Thorisport. It's kind of crazy because store sport throughout this season isn't really, wasn't really that fast.

And they have figured out a way to win championships. I think it's three years in a row now. They're kind of like the Joey Lagano. They're kind of like Team Penske. I don't know. Like the Ford's, they kind of figured something out here. And Ty did a great job. Ty's story is amazing.

It is. He is Wisconsin, probably a Wisconsin legend already in Short Track World. And there's one snowball derby and has done all these things in late. model racing. And then he got an opportunity with Ford at Roush. And it was him, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Sindrick. And all them boys did in the 60 car and the X-Money car

was wreck. That was it. That was all they did. And they all almost lost their opportunities, to be honest. And Ty was in the worst position out of all of them. And he got an opportunity to be an engineer at Thorisport, had a couple races, made it happen.

And, you know, the Thorson family, they're amazing and give people opportunities still. And it turned into a championship. And Kevin, I think that this one for Ty, this is for all the racers. This is for all the guys that want to be in this situation and feel like if they get an opportunity, you can do it. And Ty's eye racing setup was just a steering wheel attached to a desk.

Like, that was it. You know what I mean? And so I'm so happy for Ty and the Thoris and family. It's great. Yeah. And when you look at his success, he's had so much success in the late model world. with the super late models and everything that he's been able to accomplish and to be able to take that working mentality and put it into the next step of his career

on a truck team. And that's really, in my opinion, the reason that that team is successful is because of him being able to be so involved in the team and be able to help Joe make those changes on the truck and everything that comes with on a weekly basis. So they did a great job. And Thor Sport has been a fixture in the in the truck series for, I don't even know how long now, but a long time. And they continue to figure out,

they continue to figure out how to be successful and get back to Victory Lane. So it's good when you see good people win. Yeah. And the funny thing about this, so put a little bow on it is Christian Eck is move Taylor Gray at Martinsville. If Taylor would have won that race, he would have been in the final four. Ty would have been out.

Tye was only really strong at short tracks under a mile. And he got in because his competitor, like it's kind of crazy how this whole thing works out sometimes. It is crazy how these, we've seen that in all the series. You know all of it. So a full circle moment. And now we have to grade Joy Lagano's championship burnout. And the donuts are tight right here. A lot of smoke.

Kevin, I don't know. I know Kevin's tough on these. Yeah, is it better than his All-Star win that people say don't count, but I think it counts because it's a million dollars. Yeah, the hard part for me is I'm a little biased on the All-Star win because I was in the booth and it rattled all the windows out of the booth. So, you know, this one was pretty good in front of his team. I think when he came over to the start-finish line right here,

Joey's just good at burnouts. He's good at you can hear him manage in the throttle as he's going through those through those burnouts. So Joey's burnouts are always good, but it wasn't better than the All-Star race. Okay. There you have it. So this one, this one still ranks. This is probably pretty good, but, you know, it's probably not going to make the award ceremony. I don't think that'll be one of the options. No, I don't think so. I think the other one is so much better. Okay. I think we still have a spot for potentially one more burnout if we want to put it on there. Okay. This one's pretty good, It is. I feel like it deserves to be a nominee at least.

And no one knows what we're talking about. Yeah, you'll figure it out. Let me go ahead and address that. I love the reaction too of Joey, just the pure emotion right there. Okay, so guys, we have two more shows left this year. Kevin, your interview, as I referenced earlier, with Joey Lagano. The champion will be available on Thursday. Looking forward to that conversation.

We've already heard it. It's very good. We're doing a happy hour award show next Tuesday, handing out some awards for some very specific categories. So the closers, you guys can vote. on each award on social media, of course, at Harvick Happy Pod. And on NASCAR on Fox, just look, you'll be able to find all of this easily. So the awards will be giving out. Let me tell the categories.

We have Best Word of the Week, of course, referencing Kevin's words that Mamba would deliver to him every week to say on them broadcast. There's some really good ones. When we were looking back on them, I can't wait to vote on these. Best burnout, as we reference. Best viral moment. There are a number of those. Crazy is Finish. Driver of the Year.

and biggest story of the year. So Kevin, Mamba, myself, we will all place a vote as well and we will compare that to the closers vote. And the fans will have the tie breaker in the event that we need a tie. And I just want to thank all the closers all year.

All year, I've been to the races all year long and you guys come up to me and you tell me how much you appreciate the show and I let Kevin and Caitlin know. So thank you guys so much for all the love and support we've had all year. And we're gonna we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna have some bubbly.

Yeah. Are you going to wear a tubs? Kevin for this? You're going to wear like the awards show? Yeah, you have to. No, Dwayna said you have to. That'll be, no. I'm not wearing it. You have to.

Hey, he does a Calnotton Jr. Tuxedo T-shirt. Yeah, do a t-shirt t-shirt. I don't think so. Carrying on. Tell day and nights. Listen, all right, all right, Kevin, how many retweets will it take for you to wear either a tux or suit for the award show?

I've already dressed up. I wore a Ricky Bobby outfit that looked like I was stuffed in a blet. That was your idea. This is my idea. Now it's different. So she didn't dress up. So she should have to dress up for the finale. She's going to dress up.

She's going to have like an evening gown. Okay. Yeah. So how many retweets, Kevin? Come on. I'm not dressing up. He has spoken on this. We've already got him to do some pretty out there things this year.

So we've done pretty good with him. Delane is going to be disappointed. Maybe so. That's okay. It won't be the first time. Yeah, we look forward to that. All right. Again, Kevin's interview with the champion in the Cup series,

Joe Lugano will be available on Thursday. Thank you again to our audience and our closers for tuning in throughout the season. We got two more shows to go, one more with the three of us. So make sure you go vote for the award show, and we will see all of you guys in one week.