Inside NASCAR: Heat, G-Forces, And The People Who Win Races In Nine Seconds

200 mph sounds fun until you remember it can be 140 degrees inside the car, your cool suit might fail, and you have to stay laser-focused for four straight hours with zero timeouts. That’s where our NASCAR roundtable starts: are race car drivers athletes, or is the word “athlete” getting stretched too far? I’m joined by Tony Bogan, Mike Worrell, and Dave Frank to argue it out with real examples, from heat exhaustion and mental fatigue to the steering load and G-forces that add up lap after lap.

From there we give the pit crews their flowers. If you’ve never really watched a NASCAR pit stop as a performance, you’re missing one of the wildest parts of the sport. We talk about why so many crews are built like SEC football players, how a nine-second four-tire stop can make or break a race, and why the “over the wall” athletes might be the most underrated stars in racing.

We also dig into how NASCAR safety has evolved since Dale Earnhardt Sr., what the HANS device and safer barriers changed, and why the Gen 7 car brings its own trade-offs. Then we go straight into the fan side: the pull of dirt track racing and the World of Outlaws, the return of classic venues, the road course debate, and the rules that drive us nuts, including stage cautions that drag on and whether races should sometimes end under yellow.

If you’ve got strong NASCAR opinions, you’ll fit right in. Subscribe, share this with a race fan, and leave a review, then tell us your answer: are NASCAR drivers athletes, and what’s the first rule you’d change?

All music brought to you by former guest of the show Speedo

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is as always your host, Mike Bono. I got a special round table for today, one I've been trying to do for a couple of years as a big NASCAR fan myself. We are going to be talking all things NASCAR. I got a panel of guests that we're going to be sitting here and talking all things about it here. I'm going to let them introduce themselves. And gentlemen, you know we can't get through these intros without having some fitty questions to start out with. So I need you to introduce yourself with your name. What is your middle name? And what is your favorite gas station to get gas at? And Tony, we're going to start with you.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Hey, uh, my name's Tony Bogan. My middle name is Lamont, like Lamont Sanford of Sanford and Sun. And my favorite gas station, honestly, my favorite gas station, honestly, is whatever's cheaper. And lately it's been speedway, so speedway.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Gotcha. Next we're gonna Lamont. It just got me. I didn't, I honestly I had no idea, Tony, and that is perfect for you for sure. But next we're gonna go to the GOAT Mike.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Mike Warrell. Middle name is Lee. And out here in Illinois, I rotate my gas between Circle K and Casey's general stores.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Okay. All right. And last but not least, we're gonna go to D Frank.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

My middle name is Alan, and my favorite gas station, like all basic middle class truck driving white dudes, is Sam's Club because it's 30 cents a gallon cheaper than everybody else.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Gotcha. Gotta save that buck when you can. Everybody knows me, Mike Bono, middle name Anthony, the most Italian thing possible with uh my name. Had to be Anthony. Favorite gas station to shop at right now is Speedway because I get those reward points. So I get the 30 cents off a gallon with how much I shop at Speedway and everything I get with the rewards, but it is the cheapest around here in a little town, Zanesville, Ohio, near Columbus. So that's it for me. But we're not here to talk about all that. Well, we might be because we're talking about NASCAR. We're gonna be talking about all that, but we're gonna get into that. And Tony, with you being my resident fan here too, as well. And Mike, I know you are too, but I know Tony's been for a little while here. This has been a big debate for me for being a longtime NASCAR fan. And are race car drivers athletes, in your opinion?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Yes, absolutely. I don't know why that's a debate. I mean, imagine driving for three and a half, four hours in a current 40-degree car. Like you gotta wear gloves. It's not like a typical passenger car where you could just stick your hand out the window and feel a breeze. You gotta actually wear gloves, you gotta wear heat shields. Sometimes your cool suit don't work. So you're potentially you gotta look up the 1998 Auto Care 500. Ricky Rudd won that race. It was like he was boiling in that thing, and it was 98 degrees to boot.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

So I was gonna say you you don't gotta tell me to look that up. I know who won that race. What was going on with that one? I watched that one.

SPEAKER_04 3:21

If I split it, I'm not sorry.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Yeah, I'd say no. I I I I remember watching that one live when it happened. But Mike, let's go to you next.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

I think the NASCAR drivers are athletes in their own way. Like Tony said, it's you know, three and a half to four hours, and especially when it's hot out in the summer in those races. You know, it takes a lot of out of out of a person, and you have to have stamina and be mentally tough to to drive them that long to concentrate and try to not make mistakes. Didn't Stephen A. Smith recently say that the NASCAR drivers were not athletes. I believe he said that, but I think they're athletes in their own way. You know, I think it was Ryan Blaney last week in San Diego. He's heat the cool, whatever it's called in their wife. Yeah, went out and he was they had to take him to the medical center afterwards from the heat exhaustion, so so it's yeah, it can be quite treacherous.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

That that's something we're gonna get into because that's been a sticky point with me these past couple of years, is these cool suits. But D Frank, what about you? Are NASCAR drivers athletes?

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Well, it's a little bit like fishing or bowling, anything that you can do while you're drinking. I don't know that you could really be considered truly an athlete. No, you you know, back in the day when when the NASCAR drivers would be smoking haters while they were driving,

Roundtable Intros And Fun Questions

SPEAKER_03 4:48

you know, I don't really think those guys were tremendous athletes. However, you know, you got guys like Dale Jarrett and some of these guys that were like all-state basketball players, too. And I think most of the guys now are fairly athletic. Now, is being a NASCAR driver being an athlete, I don't know, is a golfer being an athlete? Sure. It's it's more of a skill, I think, than athletics, but that's just me.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

I got you. I'm I am on the athlete train with this one. I've been saying it for years. I mean, just the G forces that they feel in the car going 200 plus miles an hour and being able to control that car. I know what it's like trying to make a turn sometimes when I'm driving and I'm doing 80, 90 miles an hour, and how tough it feels to turn that wheel and how much you have to put behind it. So to be able to control that for two or three hours at 200 miles an hour and not just absolutely plow into the guy in front of you. Like Mike said, mentally tough, like most athletes have to be mentally sharp. The smallest mistake in being off your your line that you're driving could cost you three or four spots, you know, it costs you a couple miles an hour, a couple seconds here and there. As a as a swimmer, I know the timing with how much a tenth of a second, a hundredth of a second could impact the race. And that to me, you know, being able to do that, being able to withstand that G force for that long makes them athletes in my point of time, because you have to be physically tough to be able to sit into that car and experience that. And like you said, I mean, not pass out during the during the race with the with the cool suits. We're gonna get into that.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Mike, looks like you had something to add there, or yeah, I just I was gonna add, I forgot, that uh I I feel like the pit crew guys in these NASCAR teams are maybe more athletic than the drivers. That there's I know there's a lot of ex-college football players.

SPEAKER_04 6:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

You know, they don't they don't talk about every crew each week, but every once in a while they'll focus on a couple. And it seems like every crew has a one or two ex you know, big time college football players on that on that crew.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

A lot of sec teams, athletes, football players are going to NASCAR. I see a lot of Alabama, I see a lot of Georgia, uh, a lot of Floridas

Are NASCAR Drivers Real Athletes?

SPEAKER_02 7:07

in there, big time Division I college athletes that are there. I mean, you're filling a race car full of gas, changing four tires, making a few adjustments here and there with wedge and tire pressure, and that, and you're doing it in nine seconds. I mean, I know how long it takes me to change a tire, it's way longer than nine seconds, and I'm changing one tire. So, like, I I I get that. I like the the pit crews don't get the the love that I think that they they should during these races and that just for what they're able to do. The gas cans, I mean, you're looking at anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds, these guys are carrying around like it's nothing, putting it in the perfect spot to to fill up the gas tank and filling it full of fuel in nine seconds 9.6 seconds this past weekend. I watched was one of the fastest pit stops that we that I saw. And yeah, that was four tires and a full tank of gas. I wish I had that kind of timing. If I'm going to speedway to get some gas, have somebody come in, fill me up full of fuel, and rotate the tires in nine seconds and be in and out of there. That'd be great for me. But one thing that has been sticking with me with them being athletes and everything like that, what like I said, what their bodies are going through, there's been a lot of talk lately. The cool suits, we've been we we mentioned it there with if they're athletes or not, they seem to be failing every week. There's a driver or a team where summer months, these cool suits just aren't holding up. What do you think could be the issue with that? Is it uh is it the is is it the heat? It are these not made well enough? Like what what could possibly be going wrong when we got you know a billion dollar industry in NASCAR and we can't get a cool suit right? And D Frank, let's start with you. You're on mute, D Frank.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Oh shit. Sorry. Uh I I'm still going back to this athlete thing. I'm sorry, Mike. When the pit crew is more athletic than the driver sometimes, I I just I I can't. Can you run that one back for me real quick? I'm sorry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

I mean, the pit crews are, I mean, obviously, they're my opinion, they're the better athletes than the actual drivers. I mean, these guys are tearing tires. Well, what are we talking about? 50 pounds for a tire. I mean, I don't know what a tire waste. I'm not gonna lie to you here. I don't know what a race car tire waste. The gas cans are anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds. They're putting it in a perfect spot. A lot of SEC, a lot of Alabama, a lot of Florida, a lot of Georgias. Former football players that are transitioning over into NASCAR. They're changing four tires, filling full fuel. This past race, you're looking at 9.6 seconds was the slowest pit time that I saw there. So by far, I'm not saying that these pit crew members aren't athletes. I'm not saying that the drivers aren't athletes. I think what their bodies go through makes them you have to be in some type of physical shape to be able to control that car. But the pit crews by far are the better athletes and can make a break a race. Absolutely. Okay, what what about the the cool suits there too, as well? We we're going to transition to that. Yeah, I know we talked about the athletes, but the cool suits seem to fail, like I said, like every race, we're talking about a guy that you hear him on the radio talking to his crew chief and his prick crew. Hey, cool suits not working, it's 140 degrees in here. We need to get me cool so that I can finish this race.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Why do you think cool suits are failing? It's just a little bit of the whussification of America, right? I mean, they they used to ride without them before, and they were fine. I think that, you know, as we've moved closer and closer, you know, the the the equipment's gotten better. It's a little like golf, right? You you know, make these guys go play with you know the stuff that that you know the guys played with in the 50s and you know, see what kind of scores they put up. I I think it's cheating a little bit, but you know, I I think that you know, cool suit or not, they should be able to drive the

Pit Crews And The Nine-Second Stop

SPEAKER_03 11:16

car. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. Tony, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Oh, uh my bad, I was on mute. Yeah, if a pool suit uh fails, that's definitely not good. If it if it fails and it's say 50, 60 degrees outside, that's not that big of a deal. But if it's like 80, 90, 100 degrees out, like if you're racing in Vegas or Darlington or Charlotte, especially during the 600, that could cause an issue or two. And sometimes like the solution will be like throw big bags of ice ice or dump a bunch of ice cubes on them on the driver at the pit stop. So a cool suit being like isn't a deal breaker, but it is it can be. It can definitely be, depending on the temperature and the driver, because Casey Kane had to retire because of sickness, because of something like that.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Yeah, I mean, when you got guys going to the medical center. I mean, I'll give my opinion here in a second, but Mike, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

I don't know that much about them. I just hear the announcers talk about the drivers ha having those. And it was mentioned earlier. I guarantee in the 70s and 80s they they weren't wearing those type of cool suits. Dale Earnhardt didn't even have a full-faced helmet.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

He raced with the open helmet. Yeah, Casey Kane still racing, by the way. He owns a sprint car team and he'll he'll race a few times in the sprint car on dirt, so with the cool suit, I don't Yeah, those longer races when it's eighty like this weekend, I think they're in Atlanta, but it's gonna be hot. Like you know, it's you know, they don't get a break, and you know, when they come in to pick,

Cool Suits And Heat Exhaustion

SPEAKER_01 13:06

go out and go to the bathroom or anything. So they I think it's definitely something they need in those hot, hot races when it's 90 degrees out.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Yeah, the the Charlotte race in the summer, we're we're racing 600 miles, and it's a four and a half, five hour plus race. I mean, at a probably 140 degrees in that car. I mean, it it it it wears on your body last week. Were they San Diego last week? I think it was, where you know, Blaney had to be taken to the medical center for dehydration and and heat exhaustion and everything like that. I mean, obviously, we every sport is moving towards how can we make these athletes safer? How can we make our players safer and it's safe for everybody and for the younger generation? Like, okay, there's been a big lull in youth sports, especially with football, all the CTE that's coming out. Parents aren't wanting to get their kids into contact sports because they don't think it's safe for their kid to play. I I don't think we I think we need to move to a little bit of a safer, but the cool suits, I mean, yeah, it's it's beneficial in the summer months. I don't think they're wearing it in the spring, in the fall. It's mainly those couple of months there in the middle of the season, right in the heart of the when we're making that big playoff push to see who's gonna be racing for a championship, where these drivers need to be cool. I mean, they they Mike mentioned it there. You don't get a break. There's not like, okay, we're gonna have a TV timeout, get a water break, get some fluids in you, and then get back out there and get after it. These guys are are trying to do that while driving, excess of anywhere from 100 to 200 miles an hour, which is insane to me, to be able to do that and make the the perfect turn, the perfect line, being able to draft up to a guy, make a move late in the race, and be able to be cognitive enough to do that. That to me is more beneficial than being physically strong enough to withstand the G-forces and make that turn every every single time and hit those right spots, is to keep the athlete safe. We want we want we nobody wants to see anything bad happen to a driver or a career get cut short because of medical issues and not being able to compete at the highest level. I don't know what's going on with these school suits. I think there needs to be something that that needs to be done with them so that they're not failing. I don't know if it's the technology they're putting into them. Hell, I know back in the early 2000s when I was playing football, they still had the under armor that was four warm weather games that kept you cool. Like, if that worked in from 2001 to 2007 when I was playing football, why can't we get that in NASCAR right now? Why can't we make this work? I never had an issue with any Under Armour failing on me in hot games when I knew it was going to be super hot, and people were looking at me like, How are you wearing sleeves? It's like, well, this is keeping me cool. This isn't like to keep me warm. This is actually keeping me cool and keeping my body temperature regulated while I'm in a game. Why can't we make that happen in NASCAR? Is it just going back to old school ways? Who knows? But that's like Under Armour doesn't sponsor NASCAR, man. They need to, you know. I mean, hell, okay. Michael Jordan owns a team in NASCAR, a a four-car team in NASCAR. You mean to tell me Jordan doesn't have enough money to get Under Armour on board? I know he's with Nike, but like he can't get something like that and get it.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Jordan's his own way, he doesn't need to.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

I mean, he doesn't. I never said he needed to. I'm just saying he can't do it. Like he's he's got he's got two drivers that are gonna be driving for a championship. He's laughing all over the bank.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Potentially a third down the line.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Corey Hunt.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Oh, yeah, yep, that's who it is. Yep, I was saying. I know it's Bubba Wallace and Reddick, who's just been dominant in the start of the season. But yeah, I mean, you got three drivers that are gonna be racist for a championship. You've won a bunch of races, including the the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. Like, we got to have something to be able to make your your driver safe. But D Frank, not to cut you off. What where were you going with that?

SPEAKER_03 17:29

No, just hey, 1.6 billion Arabs, you know, they they're wearing long sleeves the whole time. Like, you know, there's something to that. I coach in football, I started wearing long sleeves all the time, and I've noticed it's it's decidedly cooler. This just real light, long sleeve kind of the the under armored type material. There's something to that.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah, I mean, there's got to be something that these guys can do underneath that that fire suit to to keep them cool for sure. Kind of going off of that too, as well, Mike. Let's let's start with you on this one. Do you think NASCAR and racing in general has gotten safer since Dale Warnhardt Sr.'s death?

SPEAKER_01 18:09

I think so. Yeah, I'm more of a sprint car guy on dirt, world of outlaws, and yeah. You know, some of that's trickled down to you know the the dirt track racing. Yeah, that's when that happened, you know, that's all NASCAR they really talked about for the next two, three years, and safe barriers on the track, you know, through the walls. And although Christopher Bell took a bad one the other you know, a few weeks ago and broke his wrist. And you're still gonna it's a dangerous sport. I mean it's sprint cars and still guys getting hurt all the time. Back in the 70s, my dad raced late 60s, 70s, like guys were getting mainly, you know, a lot of the times, you know, fires, other types of crashes, and even the indie cars I think are are safer, seemed to me as uh like a death trap sixties, seventies, into the eighties. I I think the cars were even designed different the indie cars, but yeah, I think since the earnhardt tragedy, I think all forms of racism are some of the safer.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Yeah, I I I definitely have to rue that. Tony, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 19:26

I would have to say it's become a thousand percent safer, especially given some of the wrecks that we've seen after Stalenhart's passing. Some of those wrecks in the older cars probably would have, if not seriously injured, probably killed some of the drivers. And thankfully we got the Hans device, we've got roll cages and stuff like that. And especially even in even in IndyCar. They've made their safety upgrades. I know this isn't the all things indie car, but it it still ties into racing. Oh, yeah. But I think that racing has gotten, even though there are going to be risks, like even especially with the Gen 7 car, which the way it was designed unfortunately led to Kirk Bush having to retire early and not getting the retirement he deserved. But NASCAR is always, I'll give them credit, they're always trying to innovate in the name of safety, even if they're not perfect, they're doing what they can to at least make sure the drivers are safe.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

I got you.

SPEAKER_02 20:33

Drag round us out on this one.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

All right. So, you know, I agree with you, the Hans device and some of the safety things with the car, I'm 100% okay with. And the day that Dale Earnhardt died was the day that my NASCAR viewership started to wither away on the on the vine. But tomorrow night, and I'm not sure where we're airing this, Mike, but uh uh July 8th is uh the Rick Briggs Memorial sponsored by Dave Warren Power Sports in Bus Die New York, where you can come out and watch the World of Outlaws. Shout out to my guy Beef, who he does the shock for Martin Dynamics. I've gotten so much more interested in watching Dirt Track. It's so fun to watch. And there is a little bit more of that kind of old school cowboy feel to it. And I'm gonna tell you, you know, Tony, I agree with you about all the the safety with the the drivers and everything, but I'm gonna tell you the biggest thing is they're running these cookie-cutter tracks, man. They stopped running some of the classics, you know, where the like North Wilkesboro and some of these like iconic NASCAR tracks that that you know really kind of service the fans too, and they've gotten too corporate by running these big giant oval garbage tracks.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

I agree, I agree. That NASCAR's popularity has dropped, in my opinion, by leaving some of their traditional tracks, which takes away some of their traditional southern fans that have been with them since the fifties. So I I agree that's hurting NASCAR big time. So you're going to the World of Atlantal Late Model Race tomorrow?

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Not gonna make it. I got football, but my old defensive coordinator is is one of the big time dudes that that's pumping all the shocks for all these guys. And so I'll be watching it as soon as they get done. Yeah, I'll be really it's I'll be watching on my dirt vision.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Absolutely. D Frank, not not the not for nothing. This show's airing on the 8th. Like that was the perfect plug. Like this is gonna come out the day that is happening. I hope every I hope it increases the viewership for that for sure. I'm all about dirt track. A lot of these NASCAR guys are coming from these sprint dirt racers. A lot of them are. I love watching the the dirt racers. Just to see somebody

Safety After Dale Earnhardt Sr.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

that literally is looks like like oh dude, he's gonna spin. He's out of it. There's no way he's in control of that car. And to keep that out of control, so entertaining. So entertaining to me. I think going back to the question, it it a thousand percent that that NASCAR has gotten safer, safer barriers, the Hans devices. Everyone says like they were starting to like integrate those, the Hans devices and everything like that. And I can't even think of what it's called, but they're the head restraints that they had to keep the drivers' heads from bouncing around when they when they are wrecking. Earnhardt was supposed to be supposed to have that. And he said he was just that old school racer where he wouldn't want anything like that. And you know what? To each their own. I don't blame him for that. He he had gone his entire life racing without that. So to introduce something that's completely foreign to him was gonna affect the way he drove. But NASCAR is a thousand percent safer. I've I've been to to Daytona, not the 500, the the summer race, a time it was the Coca-Cola 500. I watched a guy come off of turn two completely sideways, hit the apron, flipped 32 times. I watched the chassis and the engine fly out of the car. When it came to a stop, he climbed out, waved to the fans, and walked off under his own power. Like you tell me in the 70s and 80s, if that were to happen, I don't think that guy's walking away from that that easily and waving to the fans and letting them know that he was all right.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Or at least not without some serious cuts and scrapes.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

Yeah, I mean, not didn't look like there was a scratch on him. Like just wave, took his helmet off, let everybody know he was fine, and walked away. I mean, probably with some bumps and bruises, but nothing compared to what it could have been. So these cars are a lot safer. The Gen 7 cars, I mean, they are designed to be safer, they don't crumple like like you're used to seeing in NASCAR. I've I've seen people. Yeah, I've I've seen people just start rubbing and then their their front end is completely you can do a lot more rubbing in these Gen 7 cars, which makes for a lot more aggressive driving, I think, by a lot of these drivers. Uh, because you can bump people, you're not gonna affect your car, you're not gonna affect the aerodynamics of that. Um, I mean, there's there's a lot of downsides to the Gen 7 car with that. I mean, you you sacrifice a little bit of the performance for the safety. Where you got to find that balance. I don't know that the Gen 7 car is it, and I'm sure in the next year or two, we're gonna have the Gen 8 car, and there's gonna be something else new with it, and it's gonna completely change how these guys race. For for this next couple of questions I have here, I want to set this up here. D Frank, how did you get into racing in NASCAR?

SPEAKER_03 25:45

So I worked for Green's Pine Avenue Beer in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Denny Green and Green family racing was was big. I was kind of new to it, and I worked for him in college at a beer distributor, and we used to get all this sweet beer swag that was coming in, all the the the Miller Light Rusty Wallace and all the the you know, obviously the Dale Earnhardt, the eight stuff, and I started following along, and that was kind of I think the height, you know, of it. And then Brian France Jr. came in and just corporatized everything. And my viewership started to go from where I was watching a race every other weekend or so to where you know I was watching just the big ones. It was a little bit, again, like golf where I'm watching the majors. Sure, I'll watch Daytona, sure I'll watch Talladega. But, you know, other than that, it's not appointment viewing for me anymore. And it's really kind of you know, it's shifted to the dirt, man. I I'd much rather go watch a dirt track race than sit around watching an Ascar race on a Sunday night.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

I get I I get that a thousand percent. We mentioned it there in the last topic with uh some of these iconic tracks that they've gotten away from. I was so happy this past weekend that they were racing back at Chicagoland. It's been over a decade since they've raced at Chicagoland. And that's that speedway, it's a mile and a half. It's not a short track, but it's not these big super speedways. There's a lot of bumping. And I mean, you're you're talking about half a car length to decide who wins the race. That that's entertaining racing to me. And to bring that back after almost a decade, and I know Dale Jr. has been doing a lot. He's going to all these older tracks that are just overgrown, they haven't raced there, they haven't kept up with them. I mean, he's restoring a lot of these to bring them back to NASCAR. And I hope they I hope it happens. We we need to bring back these iconic tracks, and I hope Chicagoland is in there because it was an entertaining race. I I'm one of these guys. I'm I'm watching every every Sunday. I don't watch the I don't watch the road courses as much anymore. It's just that's that's I don't know what it is about road courses. I can't get into them. That and there's like three or four drivers, it's just like, you know, they're gonna dominate those. It's like watching Alabama football in the early 2000s. Like, all right, who are they playing in the national championship this year? Who do you think is gonna who's Alabama gonna beat in the national championship? You got the this new guys as Shane Van Ginsburg, SVG, that everyone's been talking about just dominating the road courses and everything like that. It's just it's it's not entertaining racing to me anymore. Uh the road courses, but the big super speedways, obviously Daytona, Talladega, even Vegas now, Charlotte is good racing, but they need to bring back a lot of the old school, old school tracks. But Tony, what about you? How did you get into NASCAR?

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Honestly, when I was a little kid, just watching uh those different colored cars go around in circles. I look up to it, been hooked ever since. And as far as I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with you on the road course thing, I actually look forward to road courses the most because SVG is just a dominating force. He's just that good. Yes, he has super cars background and won three championships, but to come in the first race of your NASCAR career and just straight up win on your first start, that's something that not even some of the best Hall of Fame drivers could pull off. And this guy did it, this New Zealander did it in his first race. And honestly, this may be a hot, this may be a cold take a few years down the line when people listen to this. I think SVG is a dark horse for the Hall of Fame, just for the road course stats alone. And that's restrictor plate races because I like the chaos of restricted plate races.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

Well, who doesn't love the chaos of pack racing where they're all bunched up and if anybody gets loose, it's good to be the big one. Everybody loves restricted plate racing. SVG, don't get me wrong, he's a he's a hell of a road racer. If he can get these mile and a half in these super speedways under wraps, you might be right. I just I don't foresee him doing that. I I don't know a lot of people that are coming from that era and the open wheels that have really made an impact Hall of Fame-wise in NASCAR. I hope you're I hope you're right, Tony.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Do some supercars, he never raced them.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

It's kind of like they're kind of built like NASCAR, but like over in Australia, New Zealand.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Yeah, I got you. Mike, what about you with this? How'd you get into how'd you get into NASCAR and race?

How We Fell In Love With Racing

SPEAKER_01 30:23

SVG's incredible in these road courses. It's unexplainable how he makes he makes everybody else kind of look bad a lot of times when he's winning those races. But I'll disagree with I I I'm not a road course guy for NASCAR. I to me the road courses are more for Formula One and the Indy type cars, but I'll watch them anyway. Anyway, my my dad raced when I was little in Ohio. My uncle owned a sprint car, so we've been going to sprint car races forever. That's what we grew up on. I can't say I'm a NASCAR guy. But I'd watch it, you know. Especially in the summer, there's not much football season starts. I'd watch the NASCAR races, but I I really got into it when the open wheel guys started coming in when Dave Blaine made it. One of my favorite sprint car drivers of all time. So I once he started in '98 or '99. Then I followed it, you know, religiously to watch him. And then, you know, sprint car guys came in. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart. Now there's Kyle Larson, Briscoe, Ricky Stenhouse. I used to watch Ricky Stenhouse's dad race sprint cars back in the late 70s, early 80s. Briscoe's dad used to race. Kevin, Kevin Briscoe. So, you know, followed all the open-wheel sprint car, like Christopher Bell. In fact, we have a racetrack here in town a half mile from the house here at Jacksonville Speedway. I saw Larson here last year won a World War Sprint car race, and Bell was one a few years ago. So that's how I got started last car. I always watch it. You know, you always wanted to see what I'm older than you guys, so you always wanted to see what Daryl Waltrup and Ernhard, Kale Yarbrough was gonna be in. The Allison brothers, like there used to be a lot more fights, Mono.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

Oh, I do I I love the pitfights and all that in the 90s and that. I'd uh that was entertaining debate. Like who's good who's who's beating whose ass right now because they bumped him the wrong way.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

So I love the open-wheel guys coming in, but the true NASCAR fans probably didn't like seeing those type of guys come in to their sport. Like they're not fighters, they're they're they're you know they're not Cal Yardro, Ern Hart Waltrip, Rusty Wall, those type of guys are just a different breed of race drivers. And they're great race drivers, but you know, I think the NASCAR fans want to see would probably like to go back to see the way it used to be, that their type of drivers and controversy, and there's still a little controversy, but not like it was in the 70s and 80s.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

No, there's there's definitely not. There's I I I lived for the the controversy in the pits after the race, just seeing these guys nose and nose and then just start swinging. My favorite was Tony Stewart. He didn't give shit who you were or what it was. I've heard him. I've buddy of mine, senior year after we graduated from high school, we decided we were gonna take our senior trip ourselves, and there was a race in the race was in Pocono, so we decided we were gonna go to the race in Pocono and spend the weekend there for our senior class trip. A couple buddies of mine, and we did we did the whole experience, we got the headsets where we could listen to the drivers and tap into their communications, and I just had to start laughing. I was listening to Tony Stewart's radio, and I was like, dude, flip over to 20 if you want to be entertained for the rest of this race, because he is just giving his crew chief hell the entire time. And I'm gonna apologize for anybody else here, but I'm gonna cuss here and you just deal with it because they were telling him what to do, and they that his spotter and his crew chief just weren't they there was no breath that like they didn't even give him a chance to talk. So finally, when there was a little bit of lull, he hit his radio and he goes, Hey guys, how about you just shut the fuck up and let me drive? Like, how about we do that? And like that type of attitude in NASCAR is what is needed. We need that kind of guy, and I think Austin Cidric can be that guy now. He's one of those races he'll race you clean if you race him clean. But if you you start to race him dirty, he's got a little Tony Stewart in him, and he doesn't care who you are. I think he can bring that old school fire back to the NASCAR, and I'm a Cidric fan for that reason.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

I say Carson Hoseverse.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Hose of our getting there.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

He's already got the black number 77, and he uh he will he rode the dent to the win of Talladega.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Absolutely. Mike, what you got? I was gonna say, like a lot of guys hit the big time in Nasdaq, they they then race like where their roots were a lot of them, you know, their local tracks, whether it be asphalt or dirt track racing, but you know, Kyle Larson will still race thirty to forty sprint car races a year, usually during the week during the week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday races when NASCAR is off. In fact, he won three straight sprint car races about a month ago in Wisconsin. But those you know, that's where like him and Tony Stone would still race sprint cars during the midweek. Yeah, that's where those guys became legends. They still You should have seen the fans out here in Larson rolled in the last couple years on a Wednesday night. The world outlaw race. The local track, those guys were still still like wanting to race dirt tracks when they grew up what they grew up doing, but they a lot a lot of them just get to the big time, but you know, I understand that's all they want to do is focus on their NASCAR career. Some of the guys still go back to the roots are very soon.

SPEAKER_02 36:27

Yeah, and I Larson uh he he's a hard-nosed driver, but something about him just pisses me off, like to no extent. Like he could be driving, it could just be four wheels and just a steering wheel, and he'll be like four laps down with 10 laps to go and somehow finish in the top five. I don't know how this man does it, I don't know what he what deal he's made, but for somehow, like he always finds himself in the front of the pack when when it matters, and his cars are destroyed. Like, how are you this good at racing? And Mike, I think you you make a great point. Like, he's just sticks to his roots, he still races dirt, he still races sprint, and it just the dude just doesn't have a day off. Like he's uh he's forever racing, and I think that helps him out, and I think that keeps him him gritty. What's that?

SPEAKER_00 37:20

He did the double as well, raced it indie and harlot. Tony Stewart did the double as well. Yeah, Kurt Bush attempted the double.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

I know this not a lot of success in the double, but to be able to do it is is a feat and of its own. To do the Indy 500 and then the the 600 right after that. That's impressive.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

It was a thrown-together effort, but Catherine Lake not only became the first woman, but the oldest driver to do the double.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Yeah. This year her being able to do that was an impressive feat. Guys, I want to round out this episode here with this last question here. And D Frank, we're gonna start to you. And are you a fan of just going to races in general? It doesn't have to be NASCAR, but are you a fan of actually being live at the races?

SPEAKER_03 38:11

Yeah, you know, it's one of those things like some people think baseball's boring. I think NASCAR is infinitely better to go watch in person. I think it's just one of those things where the the nuances and watching the speed and you know, especially if you know what's going on, a little like hockey too. You know, it's it's a much better game to go watch in person than to watch on TV. And, you know, and I think you get more of a flavor and the personality, and it goes all the way back to, you know, you know, handsome Harry and the skull bandit, and and you go into to guys like Dale Jarrett, all the way, you know, until NASCAR died, in my opinion, when they let Jimmy Johnson win every race. You know, so that that was, I think, such a big thing. I saw the Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. I can remember exactly where I was. I can remember how drunk I was on Keystone Ice and how beautiful it was. You know, like a perfect 80-degree day. And it's just one of those things that, yeah, absolutely in person over on TV. Absolutely. Tony, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 39:14

I went uh or me and my mom went to one race and we couldn't stand the smells. This was when the Cleveland Grand Prix was a thing. We were down there for like maybe an hour, couldn't stand the smell, and left. If I had a chance to, now that I'm older, possibly see if I could cover something like the Cleveland Grand Prix, I'd do it. But I've just mainly 99.999% of all the racing that I've seen over the 25 years, I've just watched on TV or looked up old clips on YouTube. So until I actually go see a race in person, I will probably just say it's better on TV. Okay. Mike, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 39:59

100% agree it's a prank. Like it's totally different in person uh watching a race. I get the dirt vision and flow racing, so I can watch you know, all the world of outlaw stuff. Spread cars, late models, the modified. And the only NASCAR adventure is qualified up in Chicago in what three or four straight years. And then you have a dirt track and a drag strip right across all that complex of the outlaws would race that night. Sprint cars. We go watch qualifying NASCAR. And have one or two cars on the track, NASCAR, as loud as one car is. I can't imagine the the noise when 40 cars are going at one time. But the sprint cars, the the noise, the the fumes coming out of the car, like I like watching them on TV and that, but if you haven't experienced it in person, there's nothing like it. I'd also like to throw in the hockey comment. I've never watched a hockey game in my life. Three years ago, both my daughters are in St. Louis. They started going to St. Louis Blues games. We've been to a couple each year since then. I kid you not. I'm an NFL fan, MBA. That's the best crowd of any pro sports event I've ever been to. It's a St. Louis Blues game. It's incredible. And you know, I watch turn the game on TV, I can't even see the puck. So I you know, I can't stand watching it. But in person you can see everything. It's incredible. So the same as the race, like you know, the horsepower of NASCAR, sprint cars, and and all that. And one race I'd like to go to, and this is off NASCAR. My brothers went to the Indy 500 last three years. He said it's unbelievable. 350,000 people there this past year, and he he's gonna go every year now uh to that. I'd like to attend that, but I would like to go to a NASCAR race, seen the qualifying like three times, but I almost went to St. Louis when they were down there this year and didn't make it, but or last year. So I'm gonna hit at least one NASCAR race before I'm gone.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Yeah, it's it's an experience. I've been to Pocono and I've been to Daytona. Just the the the roar of the engines, that you could feel it in your chest. The the best thing for me was being at Daytona. We were right off of turn two, coming down the back stretch where we were, where our seats were. We were sitting up high to start out with, and there was a little bit of a rain delay. It was like one of the last couple days of a family vacation, one of the last ones we took before everyone was all grown and moved away. And I I still remember my daddy goes, the amount of money I

Watching Live Vs Watching On TV

SPEAKER_02 42:45

spent on these tickets, we're staying. I don't care how long this race goes, we are staying until this thing is over. A lot of people left, and we moved down to the front just to get the full experience of 35 cars coming screaming by you at 200 miles an hour. And I gotta tell you, what blew me the most is I remember watching them go by real quick and like, huh? I thought it'd be windier now. Look back, and then that wind comes like a second or two later and then just smacks you in the face when you're down there. That's an experience. And also, somebody told me, and I didn't believe them until I actually tried it, is if you set your drink down, no matter what it is, in the cup holder, when the cars go by, if the lid's not on it, you could actually watch your drink float out of the cup and then fall back in when they're done, just from the sheer horsepower that going by. And if I didn't try it myself, I wouldn't have believed them. I saw it firsthand. It's an awesome experience being at a track. But you gotta be sitting up high. Like most people are like, Oh, I don't want these nosebleed seats. No, NASCAR, those are the good seats, those are the most expensive seats because you can see the whole track, you can see what's going on. But for me, thousand, thousand percent being at a NASCAR event is or a race in general live is ten times better.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

I do have a couple pet peeves a NASCAR I like to throw in here before we're done.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 44:07

One is the stage things I don't like. I just want to throw that in. And then after like a stage one, they'll go like six laps with seven before they throw the green again. Like a fresh car race now. They they go yellow. The car that's final, they get it out, they're back to green pretty quick. NASCAR takes then the commercials on TV, and then the it takes them forever to get back going again. That's my peeve pet peeves right there.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

I agree. Keep the stages, but like get rid of the cautions. I'm fine with the stages, but also a caveat: add in some points from perks for leading the lap. Add a point for the poll, points for leading a lap, points for leading the most laps. Like I still don't I still don't understand the point system.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

I tell you the the point system they they they they they've gone off the rails with the points. I'm glad they're back to the chase format where just because you win a race doesn't automatically mean you're in the playoff. I like that because you were getting these guys that would that would luck into a win and be in the playoff and be out in the first round. And it's it's it it's not doesn't make for good racing for that. I like the stages. You're absolutely right, Mike. There are way too many damn caution laps after the stage. Let's stage win. Like, okay, cool. You won the stage. We're gonna give you two laps to get in, fuel up, get your pits in, get your tires right, and then we're back racing. So that's one lap to get into the pits, one more lap to get everybody lined back up, and then we're off. Like, we don't need six or seven caution laps under after a stage. I agree. If they got to clean some stuff off the track, oil, dirt, whatever it is that from a big wreck, I understand that. If that's if it's a stage, if it if it's a stage end, no. We're you're you're getting two, and we're done.

SPEAKER_00 46:07

I will if it's a stage end, you keep racing. You just get on your top ten, you start the next stage. Continuing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Okay. I I don't hate I don't hate that either. I I don't hate that. Let's keep racing.

SPEAKER_01 46:20

I will say mono, those six lap cautions or whatever, does give me time to go get them out and do them, go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

I will say it's a makes me I can go get a new Mick Ultra, you know what I mean? Trying to watch, I'm trying to watch the dad bot a little bit, you know what I mean? Uh so we're we're trying to keep that locale beer uh here at the mono household. Um not like D Frank crushing bushlights during the during the whole show there, which I have I approve so much. I approve of that.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

Apples, baby.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

But yeah, that's that that's I I like the that's not that's not through the caution. I never even thought of that. Okay, you you won the stage. We're we're still racing. Like the the stage is okay. Stage is over. We got our top 10. Let's keep racing unless there's unless there's a wreck or something like that. We're gonna have green flag stops in some of these stages, anyways. Let's just continue with the green flag stops. That adds a whole new strategy to that. I can have a whole other show. Go go ahead. Go ahead, Dave Frag, you got something.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

No, I I just I guess I wanted to make sure that one thing got said here in closing, and that is I'm as casual of a NASCAR fan as you're gonna find. And I while I enjoy it, until they start getting some of the big personalities and some of the the getting ripping off some of the corporate garbage. You know, Tony Stewart was the last John Wayne in this town. And I hope you guys are right that that some of these young guys are coming up and they got a little uh got a little piss on them because it it became boring. And uh and it just it was the super speedways and Jimmy Johnson and every weekend. It was like, you know, uh it was like watching WWE. So I I I sorry, I just I I felt like I needed to say that because Mike, you have great fans out here, and these people need to know that that let's let's bring back NASCAR, let's bring back Darlington, let's bring back North Wilkesbury, uh Wilkesboro, let's bring back all the classic tracks, and let's bring back a little fire.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

And I got one more thing to add on to that. D. Frank, you're right. Let's put the all-star race back at Charlotte, the clash at Daytona. And honestly, controversial take. Caution races can end under yellow. None of this green white checkered stuff. It ends at the schedule distance, and if fans want to boo-hoo and cry, well, maybe hey, you had two or some three or some odd laps to be clean. If there's a caution with two to go, oh well, you had 298 laps. You chose still 299 to wreck. Oh well, boo-hoo. You you should have thought about that.

SPEAKER_02 48:48

I I don't hate that.

Fixing NASCAR Rules, Stages, And Cautions

SPEAKER_02 48:50

Races used to end under caution all the time back in the day. I don't hate that. I can I could have a whole show just on the damn rules and everything like that. Mike, last words, and then we're gonna get out of here.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

No caution count, all green flag laps. Oh, that's it. I like that one. All green flag. No, no caution laughs. Go Ryan Blaney.

SPEAKER_02 49:18

Absolutely. I'm I'm a Blaney fan. Um I'm rooting for Blaney every year now. I watched his dad growing up, but I like I said, I if I keep talking, we're gonna get the show into two hours, and that's just not gonna be good for anybody here. But so on that note, that is gonna do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. I want to thank all my guests, the GOAT, Mike Warrell, Tony Bogan, and D Frank, for joining the show here. A lot of fun to talk NASCAR. I could talk about NASCAR all day long, but as always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend. Tell a friend. If you didn't, tell them anyways, they're gonna like it just because you didn't. That's gonna do it for me, and I will see y'all next week.