Podcasts about freak nation

Austin Cindric pops in with Freak Nation to talk about his all-in approach to NASCAR. From racing in triple digits to shooting triple digits on the green, the Team Penske driver gets candid about detaching from his phone by hitting the golf course. In typical Austin fashion, he also gets a little philosophical on the state of the Gen-7 car and how to improve the quality of racing (or if it's even needed).

Buckle up, Freak Nation! The crew, led by Kenny and Crash, break down what they unanimously felt was the best road course race in the Next-Gen era at COTA. With C-Bell going back-to-back (courtesy of the infamous SpeedFreaks mojo), topics such as parity and the legitimacy of NASCAR's current playoff format come to head. Following a wild IndyCar season opener at St. Pete, hear from the race winner and reigning champ Alex Palou, as the Freaks debate whether FOX's marketing was a success out the gates. Motorsports G.O.A.T. Mario Andretti also stops by ahead of his 85th birthday to talk about his journey to racing immortality in America. Find out who won the motorsports movie draft from 'Horsepower Humpday' (live on Youtube at 5 p.m. ET Wednesdays), as well as who came out on top for Beat the Freaks this week!

The Freaks are fired up, following a wild race NASCAR at Atlanta! The crew debates the antics of runner-up finisher Carson Hocevar, another controversial last-lap decision and Austin Hill's dominance in the Peach State. Hear Kenny's interview with winner Christopher Bell from the prior weekend at Daytona and IndyCar's New Zealand "hair-throb" Marcus Armstrong. Friend of Freak Nation and multi-time NHRA World Champion Antron Brown joins the show, as SpeedFreaks celebrates Black History Month. Stay for the "Boring" Byron and Sabrina Carpenter banter.

The Freaks are back in action -- Well, Kenny, Crash and Richie, to discuss and debate the NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray, while Cole is M.I.A. Longtime friend of Freak Nation and NHRA Funny Car Champion Ron Capps catches up with a crew, as well as Malcolm Stewart on site from the SuperCross in Glendale.

NHRA Drag Racing Champions Ron Capps and Gary Scelzi Share Memories with The Statt Mann and The Freaks. Ron Capps won the NHRA Funny Car championship in 2016, 2021 and 2022, the last coming in his first year as a team owner. Scelzi went on to win three Top Fuel championships. Scelzi unseated the John Force Racing dynasty, defeating John Force and Robert Hight to win the 2005 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car Championship, making it the first time since 1992 (Miner Bros Racing) with Cruz Pedregon driving, a team other than John Force Racing had won the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship. That championship also made him only the second person in NHRA history to win championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Both drivers are Friends of The Freaks and wanted to be in The Freak Nation when Statt Mann announced his retirement. Listen...

2024 NHRA Top Fuel Champion Antron Brown won his fourth championship Sunday night. Then he talked with The Freak Nation a couple days later after he'd had time to think about the historic title. Brown is now ahead of NHRA legends Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Larry Dixon, Gary Scelzi and, even, his teammate Angelle Sampey who won her titles in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. In addition to his four titles Antron has 80 event wins, 851 round wins and last Sunday's Finals victory, settling his first championship as a team owner. Now, though, he must deal with the loss of former driver and last season's Crew Chief Mark Oswald who's leaving for retirement. Antron said Oswald is more than a crew chief to him and his team. Listen...

2024 NHRA Pro Stock Champion Greg Anderson returned to The Freak Nation minutes after his sixth championship tying him with his former boss Warren Johnson and current driver Erica Enders. Anderson won three straight titles from 2003 to 2005 then returned with championships in 2010 and 2021. Now 2024 is on his resume. Anderson stepped outside his celebrations at the dragstrip in Pomona, California to talk with The Freaks. Listen...

Endurocross Idaho Falls Winner Jonny Walker talked with The Freaks Sunday night as he waited to board an airplane that would take him back home in the UK. Walker explained he was only here to run two Endurocross events then added two more, including the won he won in Idaho Saturday night and seen on MAVTV. Walker said his Triumph needed considerable development and that included a bone stock engine that was about 100cc smaller than his competitor bikes. Walker's first visit to The Freak Nation was a fun one. Listen...

Endurocross Colorado Springs Winner Trystan Hart came into The Freak Nation hours after winning the first event of the Endurocross 2024 season that will be broadcast on MAVTV. Hart has won world championships in the challenging sport of euduro racing and endurocross. The events include seven minute sprints inside an arena and seven hour battles with the forests and rocks of Romania. The Canadian rides with the target of a champion. But he told The Freaks he'd rather chase someone else for the challenge that creates. Listen...

Three-Time Crandon Champion Keegan Kincaid returned to The Freak Nation before next week's Labor Day race at the Wisconsin track. Crandon International Off-Road Raceway has become the most important event in short course off-road racing. And Kincaid is among the favored drivers to win the event even though he no longer races full-time in off-road. He explains... Listen...

Executive Vice President General Manager World Wide Technology Raceway Chris Blair was in The Freak Nation late Sunday night. In addition to giving The Freaks some background on Saturday night's IndyCar race at WWTR. Blair also had some background on legendary dirt track racer Scott Bloomquist who Friday in a plane crash on his family's farm in Mooresburg, Tennessee. He was 60. Bloomquist is considered the greatest dirt track racer of all time. The plane that Bloomquist was flying crashed into a barn, and the remains of its sole occupant are believed to be that of Bloomquist, the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Federal agents are investigating. Listen...

MotoAmerica Brainerd Double Winner Bobby Fong came into The Freak Nation after a great weekend on the track. Fong won both Super Bike races at Brainerd this weekend. the races leave him on top of the season points standings ahead of some major headlines in the Super Bike series. Fong is a great conversation from racing momentum to music. Listen...

IndyCar Detroit Winner Scott Dixon made a brief stop over in The Freak Nation before racing to get a flight home. Dixon led a Honda parade to the finish outside the GM/Chevrolet headquarters in Detroit. The first three finishers were in Honda powered cars. Dixon spent much of the race in midfield before taking over the point after a series of pit stops. Dixon's expertise, stretching his fuel at the end of a race, led him into Victory Lane. Listen...

Heartland of America Showdown Winner Brad Sweet came into The Freak Nation after his big win over business partner and brother-in-law Kyle Larson. Sweet and Larson are co-owners of High Limit Racing, a sprint car series just launched by the pair. Sweet, in fact, just won the Heartland of America Showdown at Lakeside Speedway outside Kansas City. The $50,000 win was important for Sweet, a driver for Kasey Kahne Racing. Listen...

2024 Supercross 250 West Champion RJ Hampshire came into The Freak Nation after his win in Salt Lake City Saturday night. Hampshire was emotional after what he called a "truly special" night in Salt Lake City. It was his first 250 West championship after years of battling in Supercross. He was able to win in front of his wife and two little girls. But the celebration won't come until later when everyone gets home to Florida. Listen...

NHRA Charlotte 4-Wide Nationals Funny Car Winner Matt Hagan returned to The Freak Nation after his first win of the season. It was an important win for Hagan, his 50th in a very successful career. Hagan is known for his brutal workout and his incredible conditioning. But his new team at Tony Stewart Racing and his business interests away from the track has seen those workout diminish. Listen...

NASCAR Texas Cup Winner Chase Elliott came into The Freak Nation a couple hours after his win Sunday. Elliott won the Cup Series championship in 2020. He's also won the Most Popular Driver title six times. But this is Elliott's first Cup Series win in 42 races. Needless to say he was relieved to get the win in Texas. Still, getting home was turning out to be a problem. Listen...

Chase Elliott Crew Chief Alan Gustafson followed Elliott into The Freak Nation Sunday night. Gustafson has a unique perspective on drivers. He hears them at their worst, their best and when their concentration can drift in the middle of a race. His perspective on drivers was unique for The Freak Nation, especially his insight into NASCAR's most popular driver. Listen...

Daytona Arenacross Winner Crockett Myers came into The Freak Nation before his big win in Daytona. It was as if he capitalized on some SpeedFreaks Mojo in Daytona this weekend. Myers is a great conversation what went everywhere even looking at his prize possessions on his traveling RV. What would he save if the RV caught fire? Listen...

Winningest Motocross Racer of All Time Ricky Carmichael returned to The Freak Nation Sunday night. The 15-Time AMA Champion is having success in his post competition career. He's back in the Supercross broadcast booth on NBC plus he's had success developing racing bikes for Triumph Motorcycles. Carmichael will be broadcasting with Leigh Diffey and his longtime friend and competitor James Stewart. But Ricky's history with The Freak Nation goes back to our fourth show nearly 24 years ago when Carmichael was just building his GOAT career. Listen...

Six-time 2023 NHRA Top Fuel Winner Justin Ashley returned to The Freak Nation while working the aisles at the PRI Show in Indianapolis. Ashley's six wins had him the points leader heading into the final six-race Countdown to the Championship. But the momentum stopped and Ashley finished fourth in the final points standings. It was a tough end to the promise of the regular season. And it leaves Ashley to reconstruct where the season stumbled when it mattered most. Listen...

2023 NHRA Funny Car Champion Matt Hagen led the Tony Stewart Racing crew into The Freak Nation at PRI. But Tony Stewart and his wife and Top Fuel Driver Leah Pruett had several headline making responses in the fun conversation. Included is word that Stewart will drive Pruett's dragster in the fastest category in drag racing while Pruett plans to start a family next season. In fact, even that brought an emotional response from Leah: an appeal to the NHRA. Listen...

Open Wheel Showdown Promoter Davey Hamilton, Jr. came into The Freak Nation this week while he was painting walls and solving hundreds of issues getting ready for the richest pavement sprint car show, the Riskon360! Open Wheel Showdown for Winged Sprint Cars at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Aaron Willison of Langley, British Columbia, Canada led wire-to-wire for the $50,000 US payday, the largest in pavement open wheel history. Willison dominated the final 30 laps for a 4.882 second advantage at the checkered flag. Santos finished second followed by tenth-starting Hamilton in third. Listen...

2023 AMA Endurocross Champion Trystan Hart was on his way to Southern California in a friend's van when he took time to talk with The Freaks Sunday night. Saturday night Hart fought off challenges from three other riders to take the time. In the third moto of the night on MAVTV it was anyone's championship and Hart emerged at the end with the points and championship. Hart's appearance in The Freak Nation was a first but it won't be the last. It was a fun conversation. Listen...

Arrow McLaren IndyCar Driver David Malukas announced his move from Dale Coyne to Arrow McLaren in September. Now he's making a lifestyle change. He's raced all over the world but the 22-year-old has never lived outside Chicago. Now he's moving to Indianapolis to be at the center of IndyCar in America. This Malukas funny conversation is a reprise of David's visit to the Freak Nation last month. Listen...

IndyCar Driver David Malukas can't stop smiling as you'll see in this visit to The Freak Nation. Malukas is moving to Arrow McLaren, one of the strongest teams in IndyCar. That takes effect next season and from what Malukas is saying, the meetings have started already. Malukas has visited with Kenny Sargent and Crash Gladys several times at race tracks around the nation. This visit was no different. Malukas is a high energy driver. Listen...

Lucas Oil Stabilizer Monster Truck Driver Cynthia Gauthier is always fun when she comes into The Freak Nation. And there was a bit of news in this visit. Saturday Cynthia announced she was stepping out of her Monster Truck to take time off to have a baby. She told us she's 4 1/2 months pregnant and already has a driver lined up to replace her behind the wheel. She also talked about scheduling the time off to make room for her life. Listen...

NHRA Brainerd Lucas Oil Nationals Top Fuel Winner Antron Brown returned to The Freak Nation. The win in Brainerd topped a double weekend winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge on Saturday and the Finals on Sunday. Brown is third in points as the NHRA playoffs approach. He said his team is solving season long challenges. Listen...

2014 & 2022 IndyCar Champion Will Power is a funny guy when he comes into The Freak Nation. And Sunday night was no different. He didn't pull any punches with anyone who came into the conversation. Most of all the 2018 Indy 500 winner talked about his comfort at Worldwide Technology Raceway, the next stop in the IndyCar calendar next weekend. Listen...

General Manager Worldwide Technology Raceway Chris Blair visited The Freak Nation live Sunday night. His IndyCar date at WWTR is next on the IndyCar calendar. He starts promotion the event with a tour around St. Louis media Monday. Blair is a longtime Friend of the Freaks. He always has a candid conversation. Listen...

IndyCar Nashville Winner Kyle Kirkwood won his second race of the season in Nashville. He had a strong car all day Sunday dominating the race early and, after a late yellow flag, pit stop and restart, Kirkwood worked himself back to the front for the win. This was his first visit to The Freak Nation but it was a good conversation anyway. Especially when we talked about the heat and humidity in Nashville on Sunday. Listen...

2014 USAC National Midget Series Champion Rico Abreu has been in The Freak Nation many times but it's been a while this time. Rico has been in NASCAR in addition to his continued return to America's dirt tracks where he won a title in 2014. Now he's beating some of the best at their game, Sprint Cars. Listen...

NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship Couple Matt & Angie Smith returned to The Freak Nation. Kenny and Crash talked with the couple in Denver. Matt is a six time champion who's won four of the last five titles. Angle wins events making them experts on competing against each other while traveling and raising a family. Tough work! Listen...

IndyCar Mid-Ohio Winner Alex Palou came into The Freak Nation minutes after his win Sunday. Palou has won three of the last four IndyCar races and leads the series by 110 points after nine of 17 races. Palou's future is brighter than ever. Some have him going to F1 next year. He won't talk about that. Listen...

NASCAR Personality Kenny Wallace has been in The Freak Nation several times. This was from 2006 when Wallace relaxed enough to take on a fellow driver on the track: NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kurt Busch. He also had some opinions on Don The Snake Prudhomme and the women who roam the pits "for no apparent reason." Listen...

20-Time World of Outlaws Champion Steve Kinser came into The Freak Nation in 2005. It was a blistering hot summer afternoon in Sedalia, Missouri but we were able to get Kinser out of his motorhome where he was trying to fix a broken air conditioner. One we got him down in front of the camera he started to relax and take on some critics in the world of motorsports. Listen...

Three-Time NASCAR Cup Champion Tony Stewart has been coming into The Freak Nation almost as long as there's been a Freak Nation. Smoke won NASCAR Cup titles in 2002, 2005 and 2011. This conversation at a Danny Lasoskie "lost" weekend in Sedalia, Missouri on a blistering hot afternoon. The chat went all the way from thongs to barbeque sauce, a sauce Smoke said he navigated from start to finish. Listen...

NASCAR Cup Winner at World Wide Technology Raceway Kyle Busch came into The Freak Nation minutes after his lightning delayed win in St. Louis. Busch appears happy to be with Richard Childress Racing after Cup Series Championships at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015 and 2019. Busch appeared happy to get a hard fought win in St. Louis. Listen...

2022 IndyCar Champion Will Power, himself an Indy 500 winner in 2018, talked with Kenny and Crash about a number of things including this year's race winner Josef Newgarden, a Power teammate. Will is an Australian who's been in The Freak Nation many times. And every time it's a comfortable conversation that might cover anything. This time was no exception. Listen...

107th Indianapolis 500 Pole Sitter Alex Palou found time for The Freak Nation just after the dramatic moments when he learned he won the Pole for next Sunday's race. Palou will lead the 33 car field in his American Legion Chip Ganassi race car. It'll be Ganassi's third straight year to sit on the pole. Palou will be turning his attention to next Sunday when practice resumes Monday. Listen...

NHRA Charlotte 4-Wide Top Fuel Winner Austin Prock was in The Freak Nation right after his win in Charlotte. Prock finished third in points last season and that's where he sits in 2023. He was the NHRA Rookie of the Year in 2019 but the COVID pandemic forced the John Force team to cut back and Prock worked as a crew member instead of a driver. He's back now and committed to becoming a champion drag racer. Listen...

16-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force visited with Kenny and Crash recently. And, like every appearance by Force in The Freak Nation, this was far beyond an interview. Every chat with Force is a conversation that could cover any topic. And that makes those chats memorable. John Force is a remarkable man. Listen...

NASCAR Cup Martinsville Winner Kyle Larson came into The Freak Nation last week. His win at Martinsville continued a great season and challenged for the win in Talladega Sunday. But a terrifying accident ended that effort. Larson brings a good conversation to The Freaks. Especially when he talks about his love of short track racing. Listen...

NHRA Las Vegas 4-Wide Top Fuel Winner Antron Brown came into The Freak Nation while celebrating in the win in Victory Circle. Brown won Top Fuel titles in 2012, 2015 and 2016 but he's putting his championship team and effort back together after becoming the owner of his own team. Antron is a long-time Friend of The Freaks and we love having him in for a conversation even when his voice is bad and he's worried about his wife who was home sick. Listen...

NASCAR Bristol Dirt Winner Christopher Bell came into The Freak Nation after his big win last weekend. Bell is becoming a Friend of The Freaks. He's also becoming a friend of NASCAR fans who are loving his start to the 2023 season. We talked with Bell early in the morning and we found out what he likes about his morning coffee. Listen...

2011, 2014 & 2020 NHRA Funny Car Champion Matt Hagan first came into The Freak Nation as a working farmer. Now he's working hard on the farm AND in the gym. Hagan is building the body of a body builder and folds it into a Funny Car for wins and titles. He's happy to be a part of Tony Stewart Racing at the moment. Listen...

2016 Indy 500 Winner Alexander Rossi came into The Freak Nation before Sunday's IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway. The ex-Formula 1 driver is now with Arrow McLaren in IndyCar and sponsored by Lucas Oil Racing. He qualified fifth for Sunday's race bu Rossi's real value in The Freak Nation is a great conversation. Listen...

NHRA Pomona Pro Stock Winner Dallas Glenn came into The Freak Nation minutes after his big win with KBTitan Racing, a new team that's won the last two NHRA Pro Stock classes in Phoenix and Sunday in Pomona. The team is headed by five-time Pro Stock king Greg Anderson. Glenn enjoys Pomona for racing and Golf. Listen...

NASCAR Cup Series Fontana Winner Kyle Busch came into The Freak Nation right after his win in his second race with Richard Childress Racing. The win was also in a car wrapped with Lucas Oil livery, a rarity in NASCAR. Busch is the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion. His 61 Cup wins are most among active drivers. He now ranks ninth on the all-time wins list. Obviously, he's one of the best ever. Listen...

It was a difficult week in The Freak Nation. A Friend of the Freaks, Ken Block, died in a snow mobile accident in Utah near his Park City home. He was 55. Ken changed the way motorsports, indeed, all sports, are marketed. The co-founder of DC Shoes saw his videos viewed maybe a half billion times on You Tube alone. His Gymkhana video series was turned into a television series by itself. The Freaks remember Ken, a 2007 visit to The Freak Nation and have observations on how he changed the way sports is marketed globally. Listen...