Ep. 58 - NASCAR Spring Martinsville and IndyCar Barber Preview

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, my co-host Evan Sager and my guest Noah Altman preview NASCAR action from the paperclip Martinsville Speedway plus we also preview IndyCar’s trip to Barber Motorsports Park where Alex Palou looks to go back to back down in Alabama.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Hey y'all, welcome to today's episode of the Far on the Floor Podcast. I'm your host, Will Ernest. Here today is my co-host Evan Sager, my guest Noah Ullman.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Hello, y'all. What up?

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Um, before we get into uh the IndyCar and uh NASCAR previews, I want to mention quickly a great win for uh motorsports if you will, the Kansas Motorsports Venue Protection Act under uh Kansas State House file 2416, which unanimously passed in the House, uh their house back in uh or back on February 12th, 2026, and it also passed in the Senate with a 38-2 vote on March 19th, 2026. It's now heading to uh the governor's office. This bill, it protect it protects any racetrack or drag strip from uh any complaining homeowners up to a five-mile range, as long as the track was built before like the homeowners moved and stuff. It's very similar to a bill passed back here at home in Iowa, uh, back in May 2025, where uh our current governor, at least for the time being, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, passed Iowa State House file 645, and it's also similar to House Bill 926 in North Carolina, which was enacted into law last October. So a great win for motorsports to protect all these uh racetracks and drag strips and everything. And similar bills are currently being introduced in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma. But um back on track anyways, I want to get started here with uh Indy Carr at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend in uh Alabama. Can Alex Pillow dominate and win again like he did last year at Barber, where he led 81 of 90 laps from the pole on his way to victory? I mean, Pelow's definitely not as strong as he was um to start off like he did last year, but he's still pretty dang competitive. I mean, he won the streets of St. Pete, he made a mistake at Phoenix and wrecked out, and then finished second at Arlington a couple weeks ago, so I mean Pillow, I'm not an avid Indy IndieCar racer by any means.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

But I mean I did watch some pilots from last year's race, and I feel like Pillow could do it. I feel like he could win this race and very well will win this race.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Yeah, for sure. But multiple drivers who have yet to win this season, but have won previously at Barbara Lichta Challenge, including Scott McLaughlin, who won here back-to-back in 23 and 24, Joseph Newgarn, who won here three times in 2015, 17, and 18, and willpower, who also won here back-to-back in 2011 and 2012 willpower. Can he have a strong run at Andretti again? He finished third at Arlington. It seems like he's starting to finally find his footing. Hopefully. Find him at Andretti. Um speaking of Andretti, Kyle Kirkwood, who after his Arlington victory, leads the point standings for the first time in his career. But he only finished 11th at Barber Here last year, and he only has a been a best finish at 10th here in 2024 in just four career starts. So I don't really think he's gonna hold that points lead, but never say never, I guess. I mean that's possible. Yeah. Um also Scott Dixon just in 15 starts here, okay? He has nine podium finishes, but no wins.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

It's like it's Sheldon Creed 2.0. Yeah. But specifically at one track.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah, and he has 20 total career wins on road courses, but not one here. So I don't know. Maybe maybe Dixon steals pillows spotlighted chipkin assid. But Barber is one of the most hilly tracks on the circuit. It's around 80 feet of elevation, which is fourth in IndyCar behind Mid Ohio at 136 feet, Road America 150 feet, and Laguna Sega, which this year is the finale at 180 feet. But however, you you you can't mention Barber Motorsports Park without mentioning its uh particular uh art design placed all around the racetrack, thanks to track founder George W. Barber Jr. Rest in peace after you know he passed away a couple weeks ago. Um, but just all the different sculptures around the track, it makes the track feel almost more like a stroll in the park. Yes rather than just a a hilly road course that that requires precision at every turn, especially that big spider. It's very distracting.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Hey, if you drive the track enough, it might just start to grow on, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Yeah, but Alex Pelow looks to win at Barber just as he did last year in dominating fashion on uh another Sunday drive, if you will. Sunday stroll through the park. Um, and I actually picked Alex Plow for this race. Um, so hopefully he can get uh back-to-back wins at Barber. And his third overall he won in his rookie season in uh 2021. Evan, you went with Pato Ward, who actually won here in 2022. That was a shot in the dark. I'm not gonna lie. You know, I don't blame you. Um Haley went with Alexander Rossi, Stacy went with Joseph Newgarden, who's uh won here three times. Bernardo went with Scott Dixon. Dixon looking for his first win here at Barber. I mean, it wouldn't sho it shock me, but it wouldn't shock me. Because it's Scott Dixon, I mean, you kidding me? And uh Noah you went with Scott McLaughlin.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Yeah, I mean, just besides last year, he won the last two years, 23 and 24. So I mean, I think if he can get a streak back, we're looking good.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Yeah. Um, but getting into Martinsville now, I want to start with O'Reilly's thing. Just as if the O'Reilly series wasn't chaotic enough. I mean, limited track time as O'Reilly's only got their practice session in before qualifying was rained out, so that's yeah, that's sure to be an issue. So it's I mean, we have a completely green track now.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

That's only gonna get a little bit of rubber before the race tomorrow night, thanks to uh tough practice and qualifying tomorrow, but still, I mean, just uh I mean if if this year's race looks like last year's Spring Martin Zoo Riley's race, we are in trouble. Uh for those who don't remember, Taylor Gray led into turn three before Sammy Smith just bulldozed him from like four car links back, and just everybody else piled in except for Austin Hill, who only causes all the mayhem. Austin Hill was not the record. Yeah, he came to the records to score the victory. But don't worry, Taylor Gray did eventually get his first O'Reilly series win, and it came at Martinsville just last fall. Um, but Justin Allgayer, he wins the poll via the uh metric thanks to his win at Darlington last weekend. So hopefully the O'Reilly series doesn't kill each other again.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

But if they do it's Martinsville, it's gonna be an interesting short track race for sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

It's the paper clip, I mean. Clippy. If you saw SS Greenlight. Shout out Garrett Smithly.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

If you saw the SS Greenlight ride, you'll understand Clippy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

That's all I'm gonna say.

unknown 7:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Shout out Garrett Smithley with that banger of a scheme, but our picks for Martin Zoo in the O'Reilly series. Uh I am picking Taylor Gray. I hope that uh he's able to double up from his win last fall and also get revenge from last spring. Um Evan, you went with Austin Hill. Hopefully to actually double up in last spring. Yeah, you never know. I mean, it's clippy. Yeah. Um Haley went with Brandon Jones, who finished a strong second last week in Darlington. Um Stacy went with Jesse Love, which I mean, I remember a couple years packed. Sheldon Creed in that two-car almost beat all Geyer. That was another crazy finish. Something about the O'Reilly series at Martinsville with just these crazy finishes.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

It's just a different race.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Yeah. Um Bernardo went with Sam Mayer. Noah, you went with Sammy Smith. Please don't bulldoze the whole field.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

But for a good result, please do, so I can get another win. Okay. Um, so maybe not.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Okay. Let's let's be honest. Uh, I think we know that it's either gonna be Austin Hill or Corey Day bulldozing the whole field.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

So it's short traffic. I mean, anything's possible. Yeah. We saw last year.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah. I mean, you know, Corey Day's been good lately, but getting into uh Cup wise, uh Cup and also O'Reilly's they're running the same tire setup as last fall when Goodyear introduced a new left side tire to increase tire fall-off. I mean, it worked last fall, but at the same time, it didn't. It fired back. Yeah. Um, William Byron, he won that race from the pull up deleting 304 of the 500 laps. He's seeking his fourth Martin Zill grandfather clock on Sunday. There's also Ryan Blaney, who finished second last fall to Byron after leading 177 laps of his own. So uh for those counting at home, that's 481 of the 500 laps led last fall were between those two guys, and they finished one-two. So the tire fall-off worked, but the tire fall-off did not work at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Darlington.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yeah. It it felt like Darlington last fall at Marinsville, but um he Blaney also won the fall race in both 23 and 24, so I mean I thought he was gonna win last fall, and here comes Byron just steamrolling everybody. Um also Chase Elliott, despite just one win at Martinsville back in the fall of 2020, feels like ancient times at this point. Um almost like five and a half years ago, but he scored four straight top fives here. He's come agonizingly close to a second grandfather clock trophy in the past two years. Um, so we'll see if he can get it done. And I want to mention Tyler Reddick for a second. If Tyler Reddick even finishes remotely good this weekend, uh we might all be smeared. Short tracks are like his worst track.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

We need the tinfoil hats.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Okay, I don't know if I'm not I'm not a believer in that kind of stuff, but you know, whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Um I'll wear a tinfoil hat next episode.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Okay, that that's a little far.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Just throwing it out there. Just just maybe a step too.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Throwing it out there. But he is he's pretty horrendous here at Martinsville, just two top tens and an average finish of 19.4, but Reddick said in himself, if he wins this weekend at Martinsville, the world's gonna end.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Oh. So, I mean, we'll we'll see what happens. I mean wrong. With with the current with the current situation of the world right now, wouldn't surprise me at this point.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Um, yeah, but then there's uh Reddick's uh co-owner, at least the driver anyways, uh Denny Hamlin, the dominant uh Virginia native from last spring. He's the defending Marnsell Spring winner after leading 274 of the 400 laps last year. He's going for his seventh grandfather clock, which if he could pull it off would tie him for fifth all time on the Marnsell win list with Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. And I sure hope so.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

I do too. I don't care if you get points.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Yeah, you're a Hamlin fan, but I'm a Hamlin, you know, I picked him. Um yeah, I picked Jenny Hamlin. So uh for those keeping track at home, I picked Alex Pillow, who won Barber last year, I picked Taylor Gray, who won Martinzel last fall, and I picked uh Hamlin who won Martinzel last spring. So, yeah, would you say it's Chuck? Sure. But if you look at it like this, late stage March Madness usually is Chuck. Of course, you know Shadow Shadow Iowa. Sh Shadow Iowa, um, Elite Eight Run. Gonna go farther than that. They're gonna beat Illinois tomorrow night. But we got the better corn. Evan, you went with Chase Briscoe.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Yeah. In hindsight, that was not a great pick.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

Hindsight 2020.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

You know, I you took Hamlin, I was pretty mad about that, I'm not gonna lie. I did call out in the previews themselves and picked Hamlin, but I let them go. So I'm like, you know what, we're gonna go Briscoe.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Hey, so you picked Hamlin last year and you won last year for your first win of the year. So I mean, you want to go again?

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

You know, I don't blame you, but uh Haley uh picked William Byron. Uh if you remember, she picked Byron last fall and she beat us. Completely destroyed us. Um if Haley would have like if I had known if I had just known Haley for the whole year last year, and she ran full season, um, like she she would have clinched the championship with that Byron win. Yes. Not not quite, but um yeah. Stacy picked Joey Logano. When is he gonna show up? Never. Never Ford needs the overhaul. Ford needs an overhaul except for Blaney and uh RFK. Yes. Sindrick is making me question myself after that top five um last week at Darlington, but I'm not sold. Ligano, I don't know. Logano ran 34th last week at Darlington. Not because he got wrecked. That's because he was raw speed. That was his raw speed. He was slow. Raw speed, I think, is an understatement. He was more like raw slowness. It's it's like he forgot to show up or something, but yeah. Bernardo, on the other hand, picked Ryan Blaney, who, as we mentioned, won the fall race in 23 and 24 and finished second to Byron last fall. Um, not a bad pick.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Uh we'll see if the rest of Ford decides to show up on Sunday. Same with Hendrick, honestly. Besides Byron Elliott, Lar, where's Larson been?

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Yeah, where has Larson been?

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Larson's been in Irising again.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Okay, it's a little far. Um we don't talk about the 48 car either. Oh yeah, that that's that car is special. That's like a that that the the we just put it out of our misery. It's just it's excluded. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Um it's a three-car Hindu team right now. Yeah. With a uh junior motorsports fourth car.

unknown 14:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Yeah. Just where is Larson? I don't know. Where where is he? I mean, he went at Martinsville in the spring of 23, but I don't know. It's not like Martinsville toad when you think of tracks that Larson's really good at, Martinsville doesn't jump off the page. I mean he's won here, but it doesn't it doesn't jump off the page for him. But I mean you think like Vegas, Vegas jumps off the page for him, and like he ran Okay. He ran okay, but like you know, I don't know. Uh Noah, you picked Carson Hosevart. Um You really tried to have Carson Hosevart turn into Dale Earnhardt. He's trying to carry the Intimidente theme into Martinsville. I mean, Dale Earnhardt, at least senior anyways, won six Martinsville grandfather clocks. So I mean Carson Hosevart first way to Martinsville by bulldozing the whole field. Wouldn't surprise me.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Wouldn't be the first time.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Probably won't be the last.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yeah. Came from 36, started dead last at Darlington, drove all the way to fourth.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

Yeah. I'll give him some credit.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Yeah. Give him some credit last week. Don't know about this week.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

Depends on how much he can continue. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Um, but uh got Marnesville and Barber action this weekend. Hopefully, uh Cup and O'Reilly's don't turn into a bunch of hot dogs, although I could use a Marnsville hot dog for myself. Um I think everyone could. Yeah. But uh we'll recap all the action on Monday, but that's all we got for uh today's uh shortened episode of the Throttle Floor Podcast. Make sure you uh tune in and listen and watch and download on uh Spotify Podcast YouTube. Check out the Joe Photography and Thor Four Podcasts, Instagrams and TikToks, and uh yeah, that's all we got tonight. Um go Iowa, they're beating Illinois. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Iowa's got the better corn. Have a good night, y'all.