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Welcome to the Calamity Corner Podcast, your destination for NASCAR analysis, motorsports discussion, race recaps, driver stories, and fan perspectives from across the racing world. Hosted by James and a guest featured every week, each episode dives into the biggest moments from NASCAR Cup Series action, breaking down race results, championship battles, driver performances, controversies, and the stories shaping the sport.
Subscribe and follow Calamity Corner Podcast for weekly NASCAR coverage, motorsports commentary, and everything happening on and off the track.
Speaker 1 0:00
Hello, guys, and welcome back to another episode of Calamity Corner. It's me, James, once again. This is now episode nine, and I'm joined with a different guest this week. His name is Nick. He is the creator of our pick'em league that me and Mike were discussing a few episodes ago. How you doing, Nick?
Speaker 2 0:23
I'm doing really good. Thanks for having me on the show, buddy. Appreciate the invite.
Speaker 1 0:27
Of course.
Speaker 2 0:27
And I just want to start off by saying I listen to this every day at work. I'll throw this on, and then we'll go to another podcast afterwards for a little bit, and then listen to some music, so yeah, I always tune in, and I want to say you're doing a great job, and keep up the great work, buddy.
Speaker 1 0:46
I appreciate that, bud. Appreciate that. Um, so you're from Minnesota, correct?
Speaker 2 0:54
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 0:55
Okay, so you're from Minnesota. What is the racing scene in Minnesota like? Like, I don't. I don't think there's NASCAR out there, right?
Speaker 2 1:03
Uh, we get Arca up here once a year over at Elko Speedway.
Speaker 1 1:08
Okay.
Speaker 2 1:09
Um, yeah, one of the guys in the Pickham League kind of lives, I think, towards in that area, so he usually goes to there. But I'm more of a. We got some like local dirt track stuff up here, so I usually go check that out. I think the closest is 30-540-ish, minutes away from me. So I usually go check that out whenever I get the chance and opportunity to. So I'd say, yeah, there's dirt tracks up here. There's Elko, and then there's I think there's a drag strip a couple hours north of me, or something like that. So
Speaker 1 1:42
yeah, yeah. Because so being in Vegas, we of course everyone knows we have LVMS. So that's NASCAR. Thus sometimes that would be the Truck Series. It'll be the O'Reilly Series and Cup Series. Then there's also like a Bullring short track. So that's for like lower division series, so I just wanted to see and to compare some racing series from where we live.
Speaker 2 2:10
Yeah, yeah, it's mainly dirt tracks up here, which I really enjoy. That's probably my favorite type of racing. I would say, you know, just seeing all the local guys, you know, get at it or whatever, and you know, pretty cool. So, all
Speaker 1 2:25
right. Then I guess my next question will be for you. How did you get your start in being a NASCAR fan?
Speaker 2 2:35
So actually, I got the start of being a NASCAR fan when I was younger, I think I was about five. I think it was 2007 and my grandpa got me watching a race because you know he was he was a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, and I grew up in a family basically with you were either a Dave Earnhardt Jr. fan or you're a Jeff Gordon fan, and I think the first race I watched, you know, Jeff Gordon was up at the front, and you know, just watching him lead a lot of laps and stuff like that. That's who I went with originally, so that was my guy. So yeah, big props to my grandpa for getting me into it. So
Speaker 1 3:13
big props to grandpa. We love the Dell Jr. fans. We love the Jeff Gordon fans. Growing up, I was a Clint Bowyer fan for a little bit, and then when Clint started talking about retiring, or later in his career, I discovered a guy named Kyle Larson, and that has been fun. Sometimes, sometimes it's not.
Speaker 2 3:39
I know it's been a little rough of a stretch lately, but you know, trust me, things they'll get better.
Speaker 1 3:45
Yeah, this season hasn't been the worst, but it also hasn't been the best.
Speaker 2 3:50
Yep,
Speaker 1 3:52
and so your driver, you have a couple of them, right? You were Kyle Busch fan before he unfortunately passed away, and then you like Chase Elliott, is that right?
Speaker 2 4:05
Yes. So after Gordon retired, I was debating on who to root for, and Dale Jr. was still racing. So I went to Junior, and then he retired for a bit, and then I was like, "All right, I'm not gonna have a favorite driver for a little bit. I kind of want to take things slow and figure it out.
Speaker 1 4:20
Yeah.
Speaker 2 4:21
2020 came along, and I mean, back then I did not like Kyle Busch as a kid. Like, you know, he I thought he was just this cocky and arrogant guy, and you know, when he won, he was like, you know, screw you and all that stuff. That was me when I was younger. Yeah, as I grew up, you know, I noticed that Kyle started to mature a lot more, and I was like, okay, starting to like this guy a lot, and yeah, so I went with Kyle Busch. I think 2021 is when I really started pulling for him, and then yeah, unfortunately he passed away, and I was like, all right, well. It's either I don't be a racing fan at all, or I got to pick someone new. And yeah, so now I'm rocking with Chase Elliott. Yes, sir. And I also on the side, I also root for Chase Briscoe a lot too. I tend to like the Chases a lot. They seem super chill with you know, kind of on the down low. They're super cool. So
Speaker 1 5:19
yeah, both chases I would say are easy guys to root for. They not often are they making noise off the track like a certain driver, Carson Elsavar.
Speaker 2 5:32
Oh boy! Yeah, no, but
Speaker 1 5:35
they're also winning races, right? Like Chase Briscoe, he got his big break last year with Joe Gibbs Racing, after Stuart Haas unfortunately got downsized, because I mean they're still kind of racing today, but it's a single car team and they're not very competitive. But you look, you love to see guys like Chase Briscoe get those opportunities because he does have talent, right? And he showed that
Speaker 2 6:01
absolutely.
Speaker 1 6:02
He showed that in the Xfinity series when he was battling. I remember one race he was battling Kyle Busch at Darlington, and he beat him. And that was yeah, that was really my first race that I've like noticed, like took a notice to chase Briscoe. I'm like, damn, this guy is pretty good.
Speaker 2 6:23
Yeah, yeah. That happened twice. I remember when it was called the Xfinity series in 2020 and then the Cup Series in 2024
Speaker 1 6:36
Yep,
Speaker 2 6:37
I think. Yep. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. He just he just held him off, and I was just super impressed because literally after I think it was that last restart, I mean, both him and Bush were gone, like they were five or six seconds ahead of the field. I was like, where did everyone go?
Speaker 1 6:56
Yeah, those guys just took off. It was crazy.
Speaker 2 7:00
That was insane, but that was pretty sweet. So, yeah. All
Speaker 1 7:04
right, so we'll move on to some breaking news of sorts. NASCAR has announced their updated Super Speedway package that will debut on August 29 at the regular season finale at Daytona. So the rear spoiler will now be shortened from seven inches to four inches, which is the same height that is the intermediate tracks like Kansas and Las Vegas. And then, in an effort to reduce drag, they reduced horsepower once again from 510 to 465 What are your thoughts about that, Nick?
Speaker 2 7:52
Uh, like the rear spoiler, I'm all for shortening it, but I mean, reducing the horsepower is. I
Speaker 1 8:00
feel like it
Speaker 2 8:01
just it doesn't sit well with me. So I
Speaker 1 8:05
feel like that's going in an opposite direction of what you would say fans would want. I would say we want more horsepower.
Speaker 2 8:16
Yeah, we all want more horsepower, and you know, like people want, like obviously they want 1000 That's their goal. But you know, NASCAR's got to take that slow steps to progress that way. But I think, I think the only thing most I could see them getting to again is probably maybe the 2014 package. I think it was 850 to 900 So,
Speaker 1 8:43
and that package was amazing.
Speaker 2 8:46
Yes, that package was amazing. Like, I think that was really the first full season I watched entirely, and I was just, I was amazed. You know, I mean, it was basically Henrik versus Penske the entire time. Oh yeah, you know, Kevin Harvick made a splash there at the end, and yeah, ultimately I thought it was a really good season. We had a couple upsets too with the dinger and Aric Almirola, so that was pretty sweet. So, yeah, so I thought that was super entertaining. I I hope they can go back that route, but you know, knowing the, I don't know, knowing the next gen car, I don't know if it's gonna, it's not gonna be anything like that. But you know, yeah,
Speaker 1 9:29
it's a very, for me personally, I have a very love hate relationship with the next gen car, because usually if you're on like a like a one and a half mile track, some fans would call it cookie cutters. I see that the racing is probably the best on those tracks, and then you get to short tracks, which they are coming up to next this upcoming weekend. But you can't pass. You gotta like move drivers out of the way, and I just like as a fan, that isn't really fun to watch. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 10:11
Yeah, yeah, no, I I agree with you. I think it's been a struggle, obviously, for the short tracks with the package and everything, and then that's why they came out with all these like tires that last for like what 4050, laps and a certain amount of weather and like I'm all for that. That's that's entertaining. I don't know why some fans got to complain about that, you know, when you can't pass or anything like that. But you know, I think as of right now, you just gotta take what you can get and just kind of enjoy the product. I I try to not complain too much, but you know, I think my my biggest complaint is obviously the fuel savings at like Daytona and Talladega. Like they gotta fix that. Yeah, that's rough.
Speaker 1 11:00
And they tried with like flipping the stages, with like making the first stage the longest, right? But I don't feel like that worked.
Speaker 2 11:09
No, it didn't work at all because I think there was, I think it was the Fords that saved more fuel, and they got to the end of this stage, and then like next thing you know, big crash and like half the field's gone.
Speaker 1 11:24
Yeah, half the field is gone by stage two, and then at that point it's just surviving, which isn't really fun. But back to back to the intermediate package. So they're saying that this change comes with an attempt to improve super speedway racing at NASCAR's top level, after adjustments made to do the same at other track types, and then Denny Hamlin, of course, had something to say about it as he is on the competition committee for the drivers. He said, "As you've seen with NASCAR over the years, since the next gen, they're not afraid to just keep fine tuning it and getting it good at all these tracks. We've seen some horsepower adjustments on the short tracks in order to make those and road courses better. Intermediates obviously speak for themselves; they don't need a whole lot with how well the next gen race is there. But then the next step is okay. Let's work on our super speedway package from here on out. So I think this was a great collaborative effort to get the racing product as good as it can be for the fans. So since Jenny is keeping us fans on mind. Would you, would you say that you agree with any, with his thoughts on the change?
Speaker 2 12:53
Um, I don't know. I, I feel like for me personally, I feel like I kind of want to see this how it plays out first before I make any assumptions. But obviously, you know, he said keep working on the super speedway package. Which yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, keep working on it, and you know, we got. I mean, they're gonna work on it for Daytona Thunder back coming up in January, which I'm excited about. It's coming back. I I hope they really put that on like Fox Sports or Fox Sports One or something like that. Like, give me something to watch, you know. So it's not like football all the time, but you know, it's I don't hate football, but you know, just you know,
Speaker 1 13:35
just miss racing too much.
Speaker 3 13:38
Yeah,
Speaker 1 13:38
yeah. Any racing, I would say, is good racing. Even though I don't think NASCAR's off season is that long, but last year it felt
Speaker 2 13:51
like an eternity for me.
Speaker 1 13:53
For real, I bet Hamlin wanted it to go longer the way he lost that title, but that's a discussion for another time. All right. So last thing, last thing on this package. So they said, what comes next? Officials anticipate is maneuverability that allows drivers to reclaim their star power by entering their way back through the field on the track, rather than pitch strategy. So, since they bring this up, do you feel like teams would still consider fuel savings, or would that have to lead to them making a bigger change, like getting rid of the stages?
Speaker 4 14:41
Um. I
Speaker 2 14:45
feel like we'll still see some fuel saving. I feel like that's gonna still be a part of it. Unfortunately, um, what I hope they do is because I know they don't practice for any of the super speeds. I hope they do get like a. Practice session are two thrown in there, so we can kind of, kind of assume what's gonna happen before the race even happens. Yeah,
Speaker 1 15:08
like the only practice sessions we get for super speedways is for the Daytona 500 and that's
Speaker 2 15:14
it. Yep. Yeah, I, I wish every you know super speedway race still had at least some sort of practice, you know, because I guarantee you, the fans they don't want to go there and just see qualifying and then watch an O'Reilly or a truck race and then go home and then go back the next day just to watch the cup, which you know everybody wants to do that. But you know they want to they want to see more they want to see more action on the track instead of just qualifying. Yeah, for sure. I I think NASCAR should consider bringing a practice session back at least. So
Speaker 1 15:49
I would say I'd agree with that because I would say it's tough for the teams to like unload and then do a lap or two of qualifying and then have to be ready for the race, right? Because you never know what you have until it's on track.
Speaker 2 16:05
Exactly.
Speaker 1 16:08
All right, so we'll move on to the next segment of the podcast. After we got Nick's introduction, we talked about the updated Super Speedway package. Now we're gonna get into Atlanta a little bit. I would say that was a pretty good race. We got pack racing. We got aggressive moves. We even got a little bit of overtime, and then we got some big controversy after your checkered flag. What are your thoughts about that?
Speaker 2 16:46
Um, where should I start? What would be a good place? Obviously, you know, the first stage surprised me with you know how everyone was so oh
Speaker 1 16:55
yeah
Speaker 2 16:56
separated from each other. I was like, whoa, this is kind of like older Atlanta. This isn't like what I'm used to seeing, so I was a little intrigued on that. And it looked like for a while it was going to be Penske versus Larson and Reddick and Hosovar, maybe in there. So and then they ended stage one, and Blaney dominated that, and then you know they all bunched together up in stage two, and you know that was that was more what I expected to see. And then you know, honestly, overall I thought it was great racing. I mean, yeah, a lot of lot of controversy around our good friend Bubba Wallace there at the end there, so you know getting to it with Ty Gibbs and then his move if it was legal or not or whatever and yeah so
Speaker 1 17:53
poor Sheldon he was fighting for his life in the group chat trying to prove his case. I'm like we're not the NASCAR committee, bro. We can't change the result. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 18:02
God, poor Mike for picking Bubba too, man. I feel bad for him. So yeah,
Speaker 1 18:08
Mike's having a rough pick'em season for sure.
Speaker 2 18:12
Yeah, I I know someone who's having a much worse time than he is, but you know, yikes,
Speaker 1 18:17
real, real. All right, so this race stretched into Monday morning on the East Coast after a four-hour weather delay, but I would say that the wait was worth it. So getting into the race a little bit, Ryan Blaney absolutely dominated. He started from the pole. He led 170-one out of 260-three laps. He survived the late race chaos, and then he won in overtime. And then he this was his second win of the season, in his 19th career Cup Series victory. So for this win, would you say that's a turning point for Ford a little bit. Are we not there yet?
Speaker 2 19:06
Um, I'm more convinced for Blaney. If anything, I mean, you know, Logano was up there for a bit, and then he wasn't to be seen at all during Stage Two, and then Sendrick. I same same with him, you know. And I saw something this morning that the last six Ford wins were by all Ryan Blaney. So I'm I'm more convinced that this is the turning point for Blaney season. But you know Logano and Cedric they've got to step it up. Like they haven't they haven't shown me anything, and it seems like you know Cendrick is kind of like mid to average, you know, stuff like that, and then you got Cedric, who's just all over the border. You never know what's going to happen with him. So,
Speaker 1 19:50
and I feel like it's those same two guys that are fighting for the chase cutoff spot with Erik Jones and SVG and guys like that. Usually run mid-pack if it's not on a road course, or super speedway. So I feel like that would be fun to watch for the rest of the season, or at least until it starts.
Speaker 2 20:12
Yeah, yeah, I think that's a lot more entertaining. I think Jones holds the last spot by eight or nine points right now, or something like that. So that should get interesting. SVG, he's been improving a lot this year. I mean, where'd he finish on Sunday? Sixth again, yeah. Yeah, he's good
Speaker 1 20:31
at this racetrack. I would say.
Speaker 2 20:34
I mean, yeah, and I would say also behind him, as I'm looking at the points here, Ross Chastain is slowly creeping up into the picture, so if trackhouse can turn a corner or something and get some wins,
Speaker 1 20:49
yeah,
Speaker 2 20:50
I could see Chastain making it and sneaking a spot away from, you know, Erik Jones or Joey Logano or Syndrik.
Speaker 1 20:58
I feel like there's going to be a couple big names that are not going to make the chase this year, and I feel like Logano is going to be one of them.
Speaker 2 21:08
Yeah, I mean, you know, I thought going into this season it was going to be a little bit of a better year for him, but
Speaker 1 21:14
yeah,
Speaker 2 21:15
not horribly much. I mean, two top fives and six top 10s through 20 races,
Speaker 1 21:24
that's not. That sounds like the Logano that can't benefit from a win and win anymore. And
Speaker 2 21:31
yeah,
Speaker 1 21:32
he has to feel like he has to change his driving style a little bit.
Speaker 2 21:37
Oh yeah, absolutely. All
Speaker 1 21:40
right. So for the last segment of this episode of Calamity Corner, we're gonna get into the Bubba Wallace penalty, and I feel like this is gonna be the biggest story. It's gonna dominate NASCAR conversation all week. Fans love to debate whether you like Bubba, you don't like Bubba, yeah. I feel like everyone's gonna have an opinion on it. So for those of you that don't know, Bubba Wallace he crossed the finish line in second place, but this was before, this was after he made a move on Carson Osavar. He went below the white and yellow line. NASCAR says that's not allowed. If you gain position that way, you will have a penalty. And I feel like since this happened on the last lap, NASCAR just dropped his position to the last car on the lead lap, and that was what 29th Yeah, it was 29th Okay, so and then Wallace argued that he only went below the line to avoid crashing into Hosovar, and didn't intentionally gain an advantage, which it might have not been intentional, but that line, the lane that he had was very big, and I was talking about this in the group chat. Like maybe if Hosevar was on Blaney's door and gave Bubba like a half lane more, maybe he wouldn't have gone down the line. Cause did you see that run? That run was massive that he had.
Speaker 2 23:22
Yeah, it was a huge run, and I personally thought he was gonna. I thought he was gonna take the win away from everyone, and I was like, "Whoa, he's gonna take the win from everyone. And then all of a sudden, I see him go below the line, and Dale Jr. immediately said on the broadcast, "Yep, that's gonna be a penalty. I was like, "Yep, whatever Dale Jr. says,
Speaker 1 23:39
yeah,
Speaker 2 23:40
you're gonna listen to Dale Jr. I
Speaker 1 23:42
mean, technically, Dale Jr. wasn't even incorrect because the way I see it, um, he did get ahead of Carson a little bit. Um, he says he lifted. I don't think SMT agrees with what he said because he said he tried to give it back, but I don't think it was enough, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 24:03
My thing is, if he tried to give it back, he would have been he would have been easily behind Josephar. But
Speaker 1 24:09
yeah, like if you know, just not up behind Josephar, that's a different conversation. I don't think NASCAR would have looked at it
Speaker 2 24:16
exactly, and obviously, like you said, it looked like he he just had like a little fender out in front of him a little bit. So, and I do agree with that. I ultimately I agree with the call. You know, I mean, we've had this horrible controversy the last I don't know how many years of it. I mean, I I go way back. I mean, 2008 with Tony Stewart, you know, or who was it? Regan's is it Tony? Yes, it was Tony. Yeah,
Speaker 2 24:47
I think Regan threw a block on Tony, or Tony went below the line, or whatever, and then they penalized Regan Smith for it, and Tony forcefully went below the line. So ultimately, Tony. Shouldn't have won that race, but knowing the name, yeah, they they give it to him, and then 2020 with Denny Hamlin at Talladega with that crap shoot on the last corner there of Mayam or whatever, you know, me pulling for Matt to Benedetto to get his first career win, and then I see Denny Hamlin just all four wheels below the line, and he's got like above, like in the picture you see a like there's a lane you can use that's above the yellow line that you can pass them both and win, but you know it's unfortunate
Speaker 1 25:34
the way it happens sometimes.
Speaker 2 25:37
Yeah, yeah, it's very unfortunate. So
Speaker 1 25:40
some fans like Shelton are left heartbroken, and some fans like Christopher Bell fans, I would say Dave benefited from that. And yeah, that's basically that's basically the story of the Bubba Wallace penalty. I want to thank you, Nick, for coming on this episode of Calamity Corner. It's been great having you on, and I can't wait to have you on for the next one.
Speaker 2 26:10
Yeah, thank you for having me again. Super fun, and I'm gonna continue to listen every day. So
Speaker 1 26:15
appreciate that. All right, we'll see you guys in the next episode.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai