Ep. 54 - NASCAR Spring Las Vegas and IndyCar Arlington Recap

About the Podcast: The Throttle to the Floor Podcast is a motorsports podcast where me (William Earnest) and Evan Sager co-host and sit down with guests each week to talk about what is happening in the world of NASCAR, IndyCar, and NHRA plus we take frequent looks at other racing under the motorsports umbrella.

About the Episode: On this episode of the Throttle to the Floor Podcast, me and my co-host Evan Sager recap NASCAR Cup and O'Reilly's action from Las Vegas and IndyCar's debut from the streets of Arlington in the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Hello, welcome to today's episode of Final Forder Podcast. I'm your host, Will Ernest, here today with my co-host Evan Sager.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hello, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Um, we're gonna jump right in before we get into Las Vegas uh recap and also Arlington recap, which Arlington for IndyCar was definitely the best race of the weekend for sure. But first, just Alex Bowman. Call this rough deal.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

I'm gonna say is I call this, and I mean it's an unfortunate situation, but I did call it, unfortunately. He's gonna be out for three more weeks? Yes, all that crackers.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Three three more races at least, three more Cup Series races at Darlington, Martinsville, and then uh Bristol uh after the uh Easter off week with Justin Algar replacing him once again in the 48 car, and Bowman is also slated to miss his scheduled O'Reilly series start in the uh 88 at Darlington this weekend, and Larson is gonna jump back in for him after uh winning at Vegas in the same car this past week, as we'll get to. Also, Daniel Dye has been indefinitely suspended by NASA after making uh offensive remarks during a live stream towards uh indie car driver David Malucas. He'll have to complete sensitivity training before reinstatement is considered.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

I don't think he's gonna be reinstated.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Another case. I mean, I don't know, I don't know why this this keeps happening.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Another case of stupidity, that's really what it comes down to.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Another another case of uh Kyle Larson, as we just mentioned.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Kyle Larson, Noah Gregson, yeah, there's this is a name a couple um Kyle Bush a few times. But getting into uh IndyCar, the uh entertainment of the weekend. Literally, because uh uh NASCAR, just a preview of what's coming up. NASCAR at Las Vegas was quite the snooze fest, I'm not gonna lie to you. As as much as I love NASCAR, I t turn on to turn to the different channel and watch the uh raptology, I'm not gonna lie to you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

I mean it wasn't the worst racing I've ever watched, but it wasn't good.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Yeah, it wasn't it's not as bad as 550 package, I'll say that.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

550 well, 550 package was good at certain races. Yes, so Chicago hit. Okay. That was about it. Yes. But uh getting into any car, Marcus Ericsson secured his first pull award in 116 starts. He led in much of the early part of the race, and then uh Alex pull up took control thanks to uh Andretti having absolutely garbage pit stops all day by everybody.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Yeah, Andretti, I don't know what y'all what what y'all doing over there. Andretti, do you need uh do you need some uh fix a flight over there, bud?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

We need and Andretti had the 2311 Pickfurt.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Yes. Or uh never mind, I'm gonna shut up because you'll you'll clap back at me for that one. Go ahead, say it. 2019 homestead?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yes. 2019 homestead for both Trurex and Hamlin.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Hey, so we both suffered.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yeah, so to be fair, I guess that's a burn on both of us, but still horrible, horrible pit pit road. Whatever.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

But yeah, um all those uh mistakes by Andretti let Polo get out there, and then uh Will Power tried to run long on an ultimate strategy, it ended up working out for him.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Um yeah, also a couple guys coming from the back, Scott McLaughlin started dead last after wrecking and qualifying, made it up all the way to 11th, and Scott Dixon made it up to ninth after starting all the way back to 20th, which granted Arlington, we talked about it uh last week. It was definitely different for a street course. I mean, you had a back straightaway almost a mile long, you hit like 190 miles an hour. Um, but still it's a street race, it's difficult to pass on a street course.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

I will say I like the glare of the track. I kind of like that miles long long pond straightaway, I guess like you can say.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

I mean, just Arlington was what indie car street races should be, and just the activation and the fan turnout and the enthusiasm, that's how an indie car race should be, yes. Should be, and it was actually rumored that uh Denver is gonna get an IndyCar street race as soon as next year, which my guess is it's probably gonna replace Washington because that's just kind of a one-off deal, it seems, but for the most part, most likely, which I would guess is probably similar for like NASCAR and San Diego, but I think I also think the Denver Street Course actually turned out really well, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

With the different with the altitude change for one. And then probably the ups and downs of the hills in this in that city, from I've heard. I feel like it kind of depends on what what what layout they do, honestly, too.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Because it could be it could be really good going up uh hills and stuff with the mountain backdrop, or they could just do it in uh Empowered Fields parking lot, and it's boring. True. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

But either way, I mean the altitude will definitely play a factor in that no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Um yeah, but Kyle Kirkwood, he ran out Pelow down and passed him with under 15 to go. That daring pass down in turn 14, about gave me cardiac arrest. Um I can imagine why here in a second we'll talk about. Yes, yes, yes, we will we will talk about that. Um yeah, just I when Kirkwood completed that pass, I thought, I mean, if Pillow didn't give him if Pillow gave Kirkwood any less room than he did, they would have both wrecked, and that would have ended their days.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Yes, and that would have been really sad.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Um then I thought Pillow was gonna cut Kirkwood's tires, and that would have been really sad for me. Yeah. Um but yeah, it worked out. Um, and then Will Power and Marcus Erickson was third and fourth sign trade, despite all those terrible pit issues, had all three of their cars in the top four. So great day for them. And then Christian Ratchinson lost power at the exit right at the exit at Pit Lane and brought up the caution with three to go, which uh second cardiac arrest on the day. Um it wasn't the only one of the weekend. Um, but then in the one-lap restart, it was a one-lap shootout uh Dennis Hauger and Nolan Siegel. They wrecked right in turn 14. Right on the restart before they barely ever got going. And yeah, Kyle Kyle Kirkwood wins under caution over Alex Flow for his sixth for win fifth on a street course. The exception was Gateway last year. I remember that race. Newgarden got his own commercial and then promptly flipped 20 seconds later.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yes, I remember that race pretty well, actually. I think that's like the one one of the times I actually watched an IndyCar race.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

I'm I'm not gonna lie. I mean, I like I love NASCAR death. It's my favorite racing of all time. But IndyCar's grown on me. I'm not gonna lie. IndyCar, I like IndyCar. Has IndyCar grown on you, or have I just like shoved it on you? Yes and yes.

unknown 6:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

I mean, if okay, let's put it this way. If IndyCar's on and there's nothing else on, I'll tune it in.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

It's on main fox for every single race. It's not that hard to tune in.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Well, I know. I'm just saying have some of them at work when they're rac racing. That's that's the only problem.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

But I mean if such thing is called the IndyCar app by entity data.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yeah, but see, by the time I'm on break, it they haven't started yet, and by the time I get off, it's already almost over. It's just whatever.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

But anyways, besides that point, um, Alex Pillow finished second, and Wolf Power ended up third for his uh his first podium for a team, other than Team Penske, for the first time since 2008. I was like, barely even born.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Little golf clap for them. Give him give him a little golf clap. Nice job. Give you that. Nice job.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Good job, Wolf Power, for not making an embarrassment of yourself. Okay, I wouldn't say that, but he's he's he's adjusted finally. Yes. What needs adjustment uh for all of Andretti is your pit crew. Because despite having all three of your cars in your top in the in the top four, the pit crews all failed.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Yeah, the pit crew, you need you need fire.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

The only reason Kyle Kirkwood won that race is because his car was so blindingly fast. And the only reason he qualified seventh instead of the poll was a mistake that he made in qualifying and he admitted it himself. Yes. So I f I felt good about picking Kyle Kirkwood, and yeah, it turned out. But before we get to that, I want to quickly mention some great TV news, at least for IndyCar's standards. They pulled 1.336 million viewers for Arlington, which means that the first three races of the year for IndyCar have all topped one million viewers, and that's the first time since the IRL champ car reunification in 2008. Also when I was barely more. Shout out IndyCar. Shout out IndyCar. Um, yeah, I mean technically NASCAR still had more viewers, but they need help, as we'll also mentioned, um, towards the end of the episode. But standings after Arlington, um, I of course lead, uh, you'll understand that in about 20 seconds. I lead by 70 over Bernardo, 82 over you, 100 over Stacy, 132 over Haley, and 137 over No. You might be wondering, Will, why do you lead the standings by so much DMCAR after three races? Well, I've won all three of them. Because I picked Kyle Kirkwood, who finished tied with the most lap sled, and actually, uh, you did as well. I did, yes. And so did uh third place finisher Will Power, and Marcus Eriksson was one behind in 15 lapsteads. So really just the whole race was controlled by those four. Yes. Um, yeah, I won the race with Kirkwood, you picked Pillow, who finished second, uh Haley with Alexander Rossi, quiet day in ninth. Um, but good day, at least for him on the s on the side on the ECR side, um, being the race and the Grand Prix was sponsored by Java House. We don't talk about Chris Ratcheston with the power going out. Um Stacy with McLaughlin finished 11th after starting dead last, as we mentioned. Um Bernardo with uh David Malucas finishing sixth. Boy, does that uh get more uncomfortable to say as we've learned of uh recent events. It's Daniel Dyke. Daniel Dyke. And uh Noah Noah Pecks Scott Dixon, who uh finished up in uh eighth, uh had the fastest slap of the race. That's about it. Something to hang your head on. Yeah. Um NASCAR did not have something to hang their head on. It's Las Vegas coverage. Oh boy. I don't know what happened this weekend. I really don't. Okay, look, the O'Reilly's race wasn't terrible. No, the Cups rays. The Cubs race race was really bad. Yeah. But we'll we'll start with O'Reilly's, and I want to start with uh Sam Mayer had a pretty uh tough day. He finished second at the end of stage one after starting on pole, but then had a power issue or like a fuel pickup issue, and uh put you six laps down, never really recovered.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

You finished like four laps down in 30 fifths, so yeah, that takes my uh O'Reilly's run. Cause I feel like if that didn't happen, Sam Mayer really had a shot for the five.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Oh yeah, Sam Mayer would have finished top five easy.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

He would have had a shot for the switch race. I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Hey, maybe Sam Mayer could have worked together with Sheldon Craig instead of Sheldon Craig doing things he did later in the race that we'll talk about. Um getting back to the race, Justin Augar, he dominated for the most part in this race, won uh stage one and stage two, and then the start of stage three. Um Chase Briscoe had a bad restart and then got into the wall, got a flat tire, and actually missed pit rug due to the cars behind him because he didn't want to cause a stack up.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Oh my god, Ty Dylan, take notes.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah. Connor Zillage take notes. Oh my god. Connor Zillage and the Cup race take notes.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Literally.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah, and then Algar and Jesse Love, they swapped for the lead in stage three. Um, and then Love, while he was in the lead, had a safety violation due to one of his crew members. Actually, I thought it was his crew chief because one of his crew members was late. But whoever whoever it was, uh, they fell over the wall trying to get the tire. Um, and yeah, got a safety violation from the lead. So ended up in the back, but managed to come back and finish sixth. But yeah, and then like for a minute it looked like Corey Day could have won this race. Oh my god. Um as he passed Taylor Gray with the lead for 50-90 goes. It was the first lapse that Corey Day led in his O'Reilly series career. For once, Corey Day did not actually uh wreck everybody. He didn't turn Austin Hill. Nor was Austin Hill. It was actually Sheldon Creed today. Oh my god. He cut into Taylor Gray and wrecked him from second right at the entrance of turn three. Why would you why would you make contact or pack the air on him right at the entrance of turn three? What did you think was gonna happen?

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Question we may never know.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

It's not like there was two to go. There was fifty-nine, or the well, there wasn't fifty-nine to go, but like there there was still plenty of laps to go.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

You know, but just a question we and that may never be answered.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

I guess. And then on the restart, it was pretty crazy from like fourth back to twelfth. I was on the phone with Haley, and she's like, What's happening? I'm like, you should have been here watching.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

And like, you should have just just turned on the TV, you'll understand.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Something, but uh Corey Day, he briefly took the lead back and then he started dropping like a rock, and looked like he was gonna wreck about 40 times. Because he had that thing sideways, and it's like, uh, you're driving in the O'Reilly's race, you're not driving a Highland, a sprint car, as he also was doing that weekend. Um yeah, he was taking cardiac arrest like four times. He was gonna he was getting to practice in. I guess apparently. And then Briscoe, despite having a flat tire earlier, was able to thread through lap traffic to pass uh Sheldon Creed for second. He tried to run down Larson in the 88, but to no avail. Kyle Larson he hanged on to win the O'Reilly Series race at Las Vegas' second O'Reilly Series win in Vegas his 18th career O'Reilly Series win. Briscoe finished second, Creed third, all guard fourth after sweeping the stages, and Sammy Smith rounds out the top five. And that's about where the fun ends. The cup race. Why? Is it so boring? But before we get to the cup race and why it was so boring, if I can scroll my laptop down.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

We're about to start talking points for the viewers.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Um yeah, Stacy uh now leads Bernardo by three points, and me by ten points, so pretty tight at the top of the O'Reilly series standings, and I guess it's pretty tight at the bottom of the O'Reilly series standings, is uh Evan, you're a hundred and eight back, uh Noah's 110 back, and Haley's 112 back. So I was to me, I wouldn't look at it as you're a hundred points back. I'd look at it as the battle for fourth place and points is separated by four points. Yes. That's how I'd I how I'd look at it. And hey, you're better than all of me in the truck seasons.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

If Sam Mayer doesn't have that issue, I feel like I'd be probably 70 points back, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Yeah, probably. Something like that. Or if you would have won, it'd be completely different.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Yeah, that would be we would be talking a whole different ballgame.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Yeah, a whole different ballgame. Um, our picks for Vegas. I picked Corey Day, if you can't tell. He finished eighth and led nine laps. He somehow should have finished better than that, but also worse than that. Because he was driving like a rocket thing.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

He's also trying to drift, he becomes a drift card.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

He was getting some he was like, I can't win this. Let's practice some high limit racing for tonight. Um, Evan picked Sam Mayer.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

We all know how that ended.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Yeah, hey, I mean you still scored like 16 points despite finishing 35th.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Hey, we'll take we take the dubs we can take.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

You had the fastest lap on like lap two, and then uh you won the poll as well, and that's about where your fun ended.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Hey, we'll we'll take the dubs when we can take the dubs, is all I gotta say.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

I think uh Haley who picked Austin Hill to finish 10th. I think this might quite literally be like the quietest Austin Hill race ever.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Literally I I didn't hear anything coming out.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

I didn't hear I didn't hear a single mention of Austin Hill, like the entire race almost. I mean, it was a pretty quiet day for Austin Hill somehow on a day on, you know, with a guy that doesn't really do a whole lot of quiet days. Um Stacy picked Jesse Love, came back to finish sixth after, you know, led 36 laps, and then the safety violation late in the race, but managed to come back to finish sixth. And then uh Bernardo picked Connor Zilich in seventh, Connor Zilich in that one car, that you know, the Carolina Carport sponsorship, which all those cars looked like that nice uh Sam Bass tribute with that Earnhardt style-ish game. He was looking like Earnhardt wrecked Jeremy Clement's on lap two. True! Um had tons of damage, uh well not tons of damage, but damage on his car for like the entire race, and still finished seventh. Not sure how. And then Noah picked Austin Green, who did nothing. I didn't finish 28.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Yeah, okay. You do you, no, is all I gotta say on that one. You do you. Hey, hey, we gotta cut himself. We gotta come a little bit of slack. But I never mind, I'm just gonna shut up.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

Hey, he still finished ten positions better than Sam Mayer. Hey, in my defense, who had the who had the pull and the fastest lap though. I mean, yeah, but qualifying isn't how you win the race, it's how you win the race from start to a finish. Well, he can't help the mechanical issues.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

That's not his fault.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

It's the crew's fault. But hey, NASCAR is a team effort.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Just just like IndyCar, Andre, fire your pick row.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Please fire your pick row. Um, yeah, uh boring cup race. Um, Christopher Bell led from the pole and won stage one, and that's about it.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

And uh, you know who uh took up the slack?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Okay, yeah, we'll get to the case.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Dennis Dennis Hamlin.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Okay, we'll we'll we'll get to that. But um I want to mention Chase Briscoe, speeding penalty in stage one. That was not the first down speeding uh infraction he had uh this weekend. He got pulled over before the race. So uh this is the second time he caught speeding this week this past weekend.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

But um Me too, Chase Briscoe, me too. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

And then Larson took the lead in stage two before Byron passed him and won stage two, and that's about all we heard from William Byron. Um and then uh Danny Hamlin, he took the lead back in stage three, and then Connor Zodge did his best, tied the only impression, trying to get to pit road, got into the back of Ricky Stenhouse while he tried to pit. That was the only caution for incident in this entire race.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yes, it was very sleepwashed. But hey, at least I stayed through and saw Hamlin win, so we take those. We take the dubs.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Yeah, um, but before we get to that, Briscoe managed to get back on the lead lap due to that one caution for incident, thanks to his earlier speeding penalty, and then uh Bell was back to the lead off of pit road, and then Hamlin took it back and took off.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

And then uh probably one of the most boring and mid-races that I can remember. I mean, trust me, I've watched more boring races. Oh, I guess I've got to be. I've watched more boring races in person. But Texas. I'm not saying a year, just Texas in general. Hey, there's some Texas races that were uh Okay. There's some Texas races that weren't boring, they just weren't boring for the wrong reasons. Yes. Texas Fall 2022. Um yeah, Denny Hamlin secured his 61st career win and his third win at Las Vegas, his second straight at Las Vegas after uh last fall at broke a tie with Kevin Harvard for 10th on the all-time Cup Series win list. Hamlin became the fifth driver to win in 20 different seasons. He joins uh Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dalen Hart Sr., and Jeff Gordon, and plus Hamlin becomes the 11th driver all time to record 250 top fives in Cup Series history. Uh Toyota wins four of the first five races for the first time in their history, and it's the first time that a manufacturer other than Chevrolet has won at least four of the first five races in a season since Ford in 1992. Um as we mentioned, cup TV ratings not good. Yeah, they're not great. Not great. Uh 2.771 million viewers, which, oh yeah, sure, it's better than IndyCar, and IndyCar was on Maine Fox, and you know, Cup was on cable and FS1. Uh, who cares? Um, well, I mean, some people cared, but whatever. But it's still down eight percent from three point oh one one million viewers on last year's race, so Yeah, I I I I mean the only thing I can think of is the March Madness brackets are coming out, so it didn't help me.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Help a little bit, but still it's not great numbers. Even considering it's on FS1, that's still not great numbers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

I mean, and they try to say, oh, it's similar to, you know, normal F1 viewership. Or not F1 viewership, FS1 viewership, excuse me, but just it's still down eight percent. Down is down.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Numbers are down. Yeah. You gotta fix it.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Let's see what Darlington does this weekend. Ugh. Especially no more throwback weekend. I will say there's still quite a few cup teams doing throwbacks.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Okay, there's still some throwbacks, but they're not required. Here's the thing. It's like I love that some teams are still doing throwbacks, but what almost demoralizes me even more is when, like, for example, Carson Hospar is doing that great uh, you know, early eighties Earnhardt throwback, but McDowell and Suarez are doing nothing. Yeah, I I like it's like you either you either do every car on your team or nobody.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Yeah, I don't I don't quite get that.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Like part. And it's like, you know, they tried to say, Oh, throwback weight and kind of ran its course. Here's the thing it's like NASCAR suggested that it was required. Mm hmm. Like just require it. Like at least like if the sponsors want to complain, at least do it like at least do it to where it's like Cindrix from last year where it was like it was still the regular freight line logo, but on top of the Ur the Urnhardt throwback, you know? Like at least that. Like if everybody runs a throwback, then it feels like more of a vibe.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

And also it doesn't it doesn't help that. How should I put this? It's not requirement number one. Also it's not Mother's Day weekend anymore. Yeah, yeah, it's yeah. I feel like that is kind of and I feel like it's also kinda lost its novelty to it, if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I love the throwbacks games. I love them to death. But as you said, I mean, it kinda has run its course. Don't get me wrong. We've been doing what for six no more than that.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

It's been since 2015.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

11 years almost.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

It was the Southern 500 and then they moved it to the Spring Race. Honestly, they should have just kept it at the Southern 500 and not brought back the Spring Race.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

I I don't get why they did it.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

The Spring Race might be gone after this year, to be honest. They might put Rocky on the schedule, but I wouldn't be mad at that, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Darlington, it's got its moments. It's called Lady of Life for a reason.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

But I feel like One Race a year is perfect for One Race at Darlington is that that's just what feels right to me. Yeah anyways. And honestly, a lot of tracks on the schedule. One race at the end. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

For example, Poke well, Pocano and whenever I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Pocono's been at One Race.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah. I don't know why I said Pocono. Don't mind that. Bristol. Bristol. Ah, yes and no.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Bristol is. Okay, sometimes the spring race is good, but a lot of times the spring race is bad. Yes. I mean, they ran it on dirt for three years to try and fix it. It didn't really work. It didn't do anything. It didn't really work. No.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

There's only there's only a select few that have two, which I'm okay with. Daytona, Talladega, Kansas. Las Vegas has its moments.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Las Vegas is iffy. Phoenix. But to be fair, Vegas started out as a spring race, and then, you know, Las Vegas started out as a spring race and then ended up as just they added the fall race, but I don't know. I feel like Vegas for now is fine at two. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

That's me though.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

But our new standings uh for Las Vegas, uh Stacy Leeds and me by 31 points, Bernardo by 60, Haley by 88, Noah by 111, and uh Evan by 119. So if you want to go back to back in championships, you got some work to do.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, if because what's funny is, I mean, okay, we'll talk about our picks. Yes, I picked Ty Gibbs. He did finish fifth. I'll give him some credit. I should have picked Hamlin, I should have trusted my gut.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

And I Yeah, now you can't even pick him next week.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

I know. Sucks. I've really this weekend for all. Yeah, technically now because it's Tuesday. But I really was gonna pick Hamlin too. I something told me my gut, I'm like, man, I should pick Hamlin. But I'm like, I already did it last week. I'm like, I don't think he'll be that I mean, yes, he won the previous week, but that was different circumstances. A lot different. Going lock lock himself into the championship four if he wins, so I feel like that was different. And I picked Ty Gibbs because I mean like he's showing real potential. I as much as I hate to say this, I think he's gonna get his first career win this year.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

If he keeps running how he's running currently right now, I think that's a big yes. Yes. If it depends on how he gets to the summer months. That's when he starts to fall apart. That's when he starts to fall apart. That's when we get to the summer.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Where do you think he could win if he's going to win?

SPEAKER_00 25:27

I think he's gonna win an either in intermediate intermediate track or short track. I feel like Bristol is a good shot for him. I feel like Michigan is a good shot for him.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

I feel like maybe Pokono if his engine doesn't explode and turn into chocolate milk again.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

That too.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

I was gonna say indie for a hot second because of the in-season challenge, but then I'm like, no. No, there's no way.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

I mean, Bubba I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Bubba Bubba Wallace had a good card, Indy. He had a good cart. I mean, he managed to stretch it through that overtime. Um so yeah, that that was a great win. Yes. Oh I was there and you know, when they said on social media they were chanting bubba, like that was real. Yes. That was real. I was right there. He's like, I can confirm this accurate information. Like the those social media posts showing like the victory podium and stuff, and when like I was just outside that frame. Yeah. I I swear. Um yeah, our picks for Vegas. Uh I picked Larson who finished seventh, basically turned into Corey Day in stage three from the Aurelius race, uh, let laps, and then he fell off on that last run.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

He disappeared.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Um fell back to eighth, but then repassed Briscoe for seventh towards the end. Evan, as you mentioned, you picked Ty Gibbs finishing fifth. Somehow Ty Gibbs is running good. I just I don't know how.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

I don't I don't either.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

I don't know. Does it have something related due to the ongoing lawsuit? Maybe maybe maybe we'll never know. Well, not yet. Um that that's like the hearings and stuff, they're trying to push it more towards the end of March, so um yeah, Martinsville weekend. Future future episode. Future episode, maybe. Depends on how interesting it gets. Depends on how crazy it may or may not get. But yeah, um Haley picked Logano, finished 15th. Even your Logano has not showed up yet.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Yeah, besides Brian Blainey, where has Ford been?

unknown 27:29

Really?

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Yeah, that's a good point. Well, RFK was pretty good. Okay, okay. RFK RFK as a RFK is kind of there.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Yeah. Busher is pretty there. Keslowski, not so much.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

I mean Keslowski finished up there at Vegas, but I mean, he's still recovering from his broken leg, so we kind of gotta give him some slack. And Priest, he's he's been running alright and he won the clash. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

So we'll we'll give them some Busher, though, has been running pretty well. I guess I'll give him a little bit of a.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

The true eye test for me is this week at Darlington. Busher has been overdue for a couple years for you know that Darlington win, and Priest has the capability, you know, especially since getting to RFK, he has the capability to win almost anywhere, just pop off and crank off a top ten or a top five, you know. And of course, Brad, his last win was almost two years ago, and it came at Darlington. I forgot about that. It's been like two years basically, so I forget that he did win that Darlington race. Yeah, and that was the and that was the race where Reddick and Busher got together. Oh, yeah, that is the okay. Yeah. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Damn, that's almost two years ago.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yeah, so that to me, that's the eye test for RFK, at least at least RFK, not necessarily Ford, but like if Ford's still struggling like this by Michigan in June, they're in trouble. And I say Michigan because like, you know, it's you know, it's just it's Ford's backyard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

It's their home track.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

If they don't perform well, they have problems.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

If they don't perform well there, they have problems. They they might own they might barely get any entries into the chase. Yeah, Ryan Blaney's been the only bright spot besides Busher and Yeah, like Blaney, a little bit of Busher, a little bit of priests and because Loxy has flashes.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

I wouldn't say it's inconsistency and flashes.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah, just a little a little just Blaney and a little bit of RFK. Yeah. That's about it for Ford so far.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Yeah, I don't know where Logano, Cinderick's been. I don't know where Barry's been.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

I mean, like, Barry uh was not able to fall follow up his win from last year. Not even close.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

I still don't know how he won that race last year. That is still mind-boggling to me.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Just some Vegas luck, just house money, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Um Stacy uh was the big winner, picked Hamlin, who led half the race and had the fastest slap. Just regrets from a Hamlin fan not picking Hamlin.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Yes. Withdrawals.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Withdrawals, yeah. Hey, we've both had stronger.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

We we've been there. We both have been there.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

We've been there. Uh Bernardo picked Bell, who finished fourth, led 31 laps, led from the pole, uh, tried to take the lead back late, and then Hamlin just Hamlin had the best card, just powered around and played on that restart and took off.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

I will say, I know we're about to talk about staying or the finishing, but Chase Elliott.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Yeah, I was gonna mention that because Noah picked Chase Elliott, finished second. How did Chase Elliott manage to finish second? I don't know. One of his worst tracks. Las Vegas, one of his worst tracks.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

I don't know how. I really don't. He just kind of just snuck up there and just kind of stayed there.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

I mean, Hendrick had speed all day. Yeah, Hendrik was pretty good all day. Byron was good, Elliott was good, Larson was good. We don't talk about the 48 car.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

That was that was not null void.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

But honestly, I mean, where did Allgar finish? Like 25th, I think. Yeah. I mean, on it for you know, pretty respectable uh for Allgard and that 48 car. So, I mean, you know, just no no no complaints there, at least for me. But Hendrik had speed as a whole, pretty pretty, pretty much as a whole organization for like a full race for me for like pretty much the first time this year. So um, yeah, and I tried to capitalize on that and I failed. Um but yeah, um we we head into uh Darlington um this weekend. And then uh yeah, so just a cup and O'Reilly's and truck, and we also got NHRA at Phoenix um this weekend. Tomorrow we'll uh early we'll release the uh special interview I did with Topfield driver Sean Reed that I did um back on Monday. It's like almost basically the same length as a normal episode, but we talked about his big Seattle crash um from last year, and we talked about IHRA too. They bought a bunch of stuff as we talked about a bunch back in the back in the office season. But yeah, so we got NHRA at Phoenix uh this weekend. We got Darlington for all three top series, Indy Cars off for a week, and they return at the end of March at uh Barbon River Sports Park in Alabama. But um, yeah, that's all we got for today's episode of the Throttle Floor Podcast. Make sure you uh tune in and listen and download on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, check out the chill photography and throttle floor podcast, Instagrams and TikToks, and uh yeah, that's all we got for today's episode.