Podcasts about Furniture Row Racing

Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Blake Harris joins Davey Segal (7:15) to discuss getting off to a hot start in 2024, replicating their early 2023 success and what that'll take to make happen. He also dives into the relationship with Alex Bowman, getting hired at Hendrick Motorsports and time spent in Colorado with Furniture Row Racing. Plus, how he met his wife Kaitlyn Vincie of NASCAR on FOX, stories from his driving days in Texas, the infamous yellow go-kart, who the best bowler on the No. 48 team, ginger or yum-yum sauce (you'll get it, I promise) and more Papa Segal also pays homage to the late Cale Yarborough as the 66th running of the Daytona 500 is in the rearview mirror.

Rookie crew chief Ryan Bergenty joins Davey Segal this week (6:10) to discuss his inaugural foray into full-time crew chiefing in the Cup Series. Coming off the first and only off weekend of the year, Bergenty explains what lies ahead for the No. 38 team at Front Row, how his adjustment to being the shot caller of an entire team has been, his comfort level, leaning on teammates like Travis Peterson and Chris Lawson and how him landing the position actually wound up starting as a joke between he and General Manager Jerry Freeze. Bergenty also explains why he famously (literally) cut down the walls int he shop, what “Lion Mode” means to him, his racing background beginning in the Northeast that saw stops at Chip Ganassi Racing and Furniture Row Racing, among others, the tricky situation of Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith sharing the No. 38 ride this season and more, including a preview of Nashville Superspeedway this weekend. Papa Segal pays homage to the No. 90 and Davey briefly previews NASCAR's trip to the Music City.

Brandon tells us about his one of a kind 4G63 swapped NASCAR chassis from the former Furniture Row Racing. He talks about what made him put a 4G63 in where a V8 once lived. Brandon explains how he came to own the chassis and his plans for the car.

Racing Girls Rock Podcast with Judy Dominick December 4, 2021   Hello, everyone. This is Melinda Russell with Racing Girls Rock podcast. And it's my honor today to have Judy Dominic as my guest. I met Judy two or maybe three years ago. Now time flies, doesn't it, Judy? I met her at PRI in Indianapolis, and I reached out to her to see if we could have her as a guest on the podcast, because I know she's been involved in motorsports, and I want her to tell us how she got involved. But first we're going to learn a little bit about Judy, so please tell us a little bit about yourself. Whatever you're comfortable sharing, where you live, your family, pets, whatever you're comfortable with. And then we'll go from there.   JUDY: I currently live in Winston Salem, North Carolina. But I was born in Colorado and lived on a cattle ranch out in Eastern Colorado when I grew up. Then I've lived all over the country ever since. Indianapolis, Kansas City. I can't even remember where else? New Mexico, whatever. And the reason truthfully, my grandfather was a rodeo rider, and my dad was a race car driver. And so I grew up in the boys locker room no matter what I did. And I decided that I liked cars better than bulls.  Bulls think they're smart cars don't. So I started being with my dad and his racing, and then it just evolved. I took a few stops along the way to be a banker and to be a lobbyist. Then I owned a motorcycle dealership, and the racing started for real at that point when I bought the motorcycle dealership.   MELINDA: You've had a lot of fun over the years then I can tell.   JUDY: Probably too much, but that's okay.   MELINDA: And you can never have too much fun, I don't think…that's important. So, Judy, you started a little bit of your story, how you got involved in motorsports. So you owned a motorcycle dealership. So how did that lead then to you getting involved. I know you've been very involved in motorsports for a number of years. How does that go from owning a motorcycle dealership to getting involved in motorsports?   JUDY: Well, my motorcycle dealership allowed me access to some various kinds of motorsports in Colorado, world racing, sidetrack, motocross. And then I had some friends who owned a midget and a sprint car that I sponsored. And then a friend of mine named John Harmsen owned Jolly Rancher Candy. And I grew up with the Vandermere family because my dad raced against Johnny Vandermere up Pikes Peak and in different what they called big cars then, which are now champ cars. Well, champ dirt cars. And John Harmsen called me one day and he said, I have a driver I want you to meet and see if you think I should sponsor him. And I said, Why me? And he said, because you have good instincts. And I said, okay, so I drove down to Jolly Rancher. I was in Boulder, my dealership was in Boulder and Jolly Rancher was in Westminster, Colorado, and I walked in John's office, and there sat John Force… John Force, 1983; John Force, who hadn't washed his hair or put on a clean T-shirt or owned a decent pair of tennis shoes.        From there, I ended up being John's very first PR person. I'm very glad that it worked out well for Jolly Rancher. He won the Mile High Nationals that year, and they went on to sponsor him on the Western Tour. And he won two out of the four because that's when they went from Denver to Seattle to Portland to Sonoma. And then Mr. Harmsen was so impressed with that, he said, Well, what else can we do? And I said, USAC Midgets needs a title sponsor. So Jolly Rancher Candy became the title sponsor of USAC Midgets and my friends from Fort Collins with their midget, we all went to Turkey Night at Ascot and finished second. But I was the representative for Jolly Rancher and got to give away a ton of candy and found out that I really liked that. That was a lot of fun. I had a motorcycle road race team. So John sponsored my motorcycle road race team in the AMA, and we did pretty well for a privateer team. And along the way, I met this kid named, Well, I did some work in the truck series with Carelli's because they were from Denver. Rick Carelli and Kathy Carelli and Marshall Chesrown owned the truck when he left us at what was then the Winston West Tour, and they started in the NASCAR truck series at that point and went to winter heat out in Tucson for four races with them and Remax. And through them, I met some other people. I met Jeff Gordon's stepdad, and he introduced me to some people. And eventually I met this guy named Tony Stewart. And we were on the track just before the start of a race at IRP.        I was introduced to Tony, and he looked at me. And he was that skinny little kid with all that black curly hair. And he and Kenny Irwin started on the front row. So Kenny Irwin saundered over and Tony said to me, he said, You're going to want to know me someday. And Irwin says, no, you don't want to know him. You want to know me. And I ended up working basically with the both of them for quite some time until Kenny went to NASCAR as well. And then he had his own PR.   But then I was with Tony, and I was a business manager and his PR person. And chief babysitter for seven years. So that's kind of what started the whole thing. And then I went from Tony, did some contract work for Weld Wheels and for some different entities and different kinds of racing World of Outlaws, USAC Silver Crown, different places that I really loved. And Chevrolet called and said do you want a job? And I said, really? And they said we are going to start a factory truck program in the NASCAR truck series.   And one of our drivers, Jack Sprague, really wants you to be a PR person. And we want you to manage the program, which is where I met my business partner. And we want the two of you to manage it. And the rest is history. Sam and I hit it off. We became business partners. We did that program, and then it has grown. Our involvement then has grown from four factory Chevrolet trucks to covering NASCAR, Indy Car, IMSA and NHRA for Chevrolet and for Shell. And that's where we are today at trackside. And we have six employees. And we do all of the track side PR for those two companies in those four series.   MELINDA: And there's no downtime. Is there really?   JUDY: No, but it's okay. I don't know what else I would do. I really don't. I'm very blessed to have a great family in Minnesota, two brothers and lots of nieces and nephews, tons of friends. But I don't have children or grandchildren or any of that. So my family is at racetracks everywhere. So I've been lucky enough to help my family when I can and then have been lucky enough to work with some amazing, amazing drivers and all of those series throughout the years. And I feel unbelievably blessed because every year, I think, can it get any better? And somehow it does. Most of my focus now is on sports cars and Indy Car, but I still have my fingers NASCAR and NHRA.   MELINDA: And when you say about family, I hear this over and over from people. It's just such a family. And it's funny how you think that racing is huge. But when you really start to meet people like I met someone in Phoenix this weekend after the race, we went somewhere to get a bite to eat. A guy and his son had NASCAR shirts on. Daniel Hemrick had just won the race. And what a great race.   JUDY: It was an amazing race.   MELINDA: And what a great finish. And so I struck up a conversation like I always do. And we start to talk. And the young man and I have a lot in common because we're both media people. And then the dad says, do you know so and so and I looked at him… I said, yes. And then we start talking and we know several people the same. And it's amazing and surprising and wonderful all at once that you can just strike up a conversation because it said NASCAR on his shirt, and then find out you have mutual friends. And now the son goes to school here in Arizona, which is where I am for the winter. And we're going to get together. So now I have more friends and family, and I love it. I absolutely love it.   JUDY: Well, that's how we grow the sport.  My goal has always been since I started in this because when I started in this with Tony and was really thrust into the middle of the NASCAR garage at the height of it, because I took Tony from USAC from winning his Triple Crown in USAC. To Indy cars, winning the pole for the Indy 500, coming within 29 laps of winning the Indy 500 before he blew an engine to what was Busch Series then and probably the prettiest race car I've ever seen anybody drive, which is that number 44, Shell Pontiac, the black and white and red and yellow one, and then to Cup with Home Depot and Joe Gibbs Racing. And when I came in there, there were very few women. There were not even a lot of women in the media. And you had to prove yourself every minute of every day, and you had to stay above the fray to make sure that you were respected for why you're there and what you're doing and the job you do. My goal has always been to make it better than it was when I got there and make it easier for young women, not only young drivers, young women to come in and be accepted and have the opportunities. But not every woman can be a driver. They can be a person. They can be an engineer, they can be in marketing, they can be in public relations, and they all need to have the opportunity to excel at it because they have a passion for the sport, no matter what series it is, whether it's the dirt track at Houston or Knoxville or Daytona or Indy. It's the same game.   MELINDA: When I talk to gals, of course, a lot of them, especially if they're younger, what is it you want to do? What's your goal? They want to be the next World of Outlaws champ or the NASCAR, this or that. And I always talk to them, especially if they're younger, still in high school or whatever, and I'm like, I love your passion. But what else do you enjoy? Because everybody can't be the driver? We need engineers. We need tire specialists. We need PR and bookkeeping and travel and all the things for those teams. And to be realistic, we have to think, what else can I do? What's my plan B if I can't be the driver and that's something that I try to encourage and talk to women about. It takes so many people to put that driver on the track. And if you're not the guy or the gal driving the car, how can you stay involved in motorsports? For me, I never had the desire to be the driver. My son was a race car driver, my granddaughter's drive race cars. I never had that desire. But I love the marketing and the PR and the people I meet. It takes all of us, doesn't it?   JUDY: Yeah, it does take the village and what I always tell these young ladies and young men, for that matter, the young boys, who they go, I want to be the next Tony Stewart or I want to be the next now Kyle Larson or the next Elio Castroneves or the next Scott Dixon or John Force pick a sport, and I always tell them, why don't you be the first authentic you?   MELINDA: I love that.   JUDY: The most important thing is to be authentic, to be yourself. The way people will connect with you is if you're real, if you aren't real, if you put on a facade that you can't maintain. And unfortunately, you and I both we've been here a day or two. We've seen drivers that flame out because they can't keep up the image that they think they should be or who they think they should be. Then you look at somebody like Elio Castroneves, who has done this for the better part of 30 years. He wouldn't want anybody to know that, but you look at his age and realistically, and he does it at the same level he's always done it. And he is because the Elio that you watch on TV, that exuberance, that passion, that fire, that everything is the same Elio that you'll have a cup of iced coffee or a cup of iced tea with in the paddock during the quiet time on the track. They're the exact same guy. That's why everybody connects with him and so on and so on and so on. So the young kids need to be authentic. They need to also know if this road doesn't work, try another one. Okay. If you're not meant to be Steve Kinzer or Donny Schatz who I've had the pleasure and the honor of knowing Donnie Schatz since he was 14 years old and watched him race his very first race and was fairly convinced he wasn't going to live long enough to do what he's done. But somehow he figured it all out. And he had the great support of his family, his parents and his family. But not every kid that climbs in a sprint car is going to be Steve or Sammy or Donnie or Logan Schuchart or whatever. So. Okay, that doesn't work. What about a dirt late model? What about a pavement midget in the Midwest or a non-wing sprint car where there's 360s running everywhere, where they have 30 to 50 cars in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin on a Saturday night of kids who are just trying to learn how to do it, and they do well,   MELINDA: Absolutely. And I love what you say about being authentic, because that doesn't just apply to race car drivers. That applies to everyone. The people that you know and you like and you connect with it's typically because they're real. I say that they're real. They're who they are. Day-- night, Christmas Day, July 4. Whenever it might be, they're the same person and know when you talk to them who you're getting. You never know sometimes with a NASCAR driver which one you're going to get on a certain day…   JUDY: There's a couple of them that come to mind.   MELINDA: I know. I probably have some KB stuff somewhere here. I mean, I have several favorite drivers. He just happens to be one of them. But you never know which one you're going to get. Which one you're going to get. And yet there are other drivers. Chase Elliott. He's pretty much the same guy every day unless you ruffle his feathers.   JUDY: Yeah. Martin Truex is the same thing. Martin Truex is the most true to himself human being I've ever met. He is. And he has a heart bigger than is measurable because he stayed with Sherry. He's been with her by her side as she goes through all of that. He's a big supporter of Sherry Strong and helping raise the money for the charity. And yet he is the same guy. One of the Corvette drivers that I've had the pleasure to work with is a young man named Antonio Garcia, and he drives the number 3 Corvette. And Antonio is the most soft-spoken, quiet, he's a Spaniard, but he's very soft spoken, very quiet young man. He gets in that car and he's like a transformer. He pushed that shield down and locks it, and a whole, another human being comes out behind the wheel. I mean, not bad, just unbelievable talent, aggression when he needs to have it controlled aggression. He's a winner. He's a champion. He takes the helmet off, pulls the shield up, takes the helmet off, and he's back to the really quiet, soft-spoken guy. There are those who do that very very well. They do what they need to do in the car. But on the outside of the car, they're people. They're real people.   MELINDA: They are real people. And that's the thing that NASCAR fans and people that watch the sport put people on a pedestal. And that's not fair, either, because they are real people and they have real lives. And they have ups and downs just like you and I do. And we say, oh, well, don't take your work home and don't take your personal life to your job. That's a lot of times impossible. And so we don't always know what's happening in their personal lives behind the scenes. And I always try to think where they might be coming from because everybody has bad days, right? Whether it's driving the car or working with the fans or whatever. But we forget that they are real people with real lives, with real problems, and we shouldn't put them on a pedestal and expect them to be perfect or so much better than, yes, they set an example for thousands of other young men and women.   JUDY: Yeah, they do.   MELINDA: I get that. But we also have to remember that they're human beings   JUDY: And they deserve the room to be human. You don't know if someone's grandma is ill, right? You don't know these things about them. They are subject to the same things we are. We're 4000 miles from home and the neighbor calls and says your burglar alarm just went off. Well, they probably have the same thing happening. They're just lucky enough to maybe have caretaker who can go over or a good friend. But they are. And the person who has shown us that more. I mean, a lot of drivers are really good at that. But I tell you, one person this year that I've had the absolute honor to work around and get to know is Roman Grosjean. And here is a man who looked like the Phoenix rising out of the fire by all intents and purposes, he probably should have died in that F1 crash last year, the last race, but he didn't, for the reasons that none of us know and probably will never know. He has come to America. He has turned into an incredible Indy car driver. The fans love him. He is gracious to them. He is adorable to be around. The media love him. And last year he was an F1 driver, and we all would have said, oh, he's an F1 driver, don't pay any attention to him. Not true. He is an amazing human being. And when he started telling us all stories about buying the motor home and putting his wife and kids in the motorhome, once they got done with school in France and going all over the country in the motorhome so they could decide where they wanted to live in America. And it was adorable. It was all the things that we forget. It's like Scotty McLaughlin does America. It's like he's in awe of Bed, bath and beyond. I'm like, I go into Bed, Bath and beyond and go, oh, my, I got to go. But Scotty McLaughlin says, Judy, we don't have this where I come from. And Roman Grosjean talked about going to Mount Rushmore and how staggeringly beautiful that was for him. And he'd never seen anything like that. And I'm thinking to myself, you have the Eiffel Tower in the arc de triumphe and a few, million other things, not to mention Longlaw, but he was absolutely mesmerized by Mt. Rushmore. So it's been really fun because we all got to get back, brought back to the reason we do this. And then you see somebody like Pato and Rinus who win with such joy...such joy! And you went, oh, yeah, that's why we do this. Oh, yeah. That's why we do this.   MELINDA: One of the reasons that he might find joy in the motorhome and all that is because he did survive. And he has a different outlook on things and the fact that the people drove in the motorhome looking for where they want to live, what a smart thing to do.   JUDY: I know I would have never thought of that.   MELINDA: I would have never thought of that. And then, like Mount Rushmore, how many people that live in the United States and maybe even live within 3 hours let's say of there have never been there. Because you tend to take for granted the things that are close by.   JUDY: Or that they'll always be there.   MELINDA: It'll always be there. I live less than an hour from Lake Michigan. And do you know, it's been three summers since I've even been there.   JUDY: And it's such a beautiful, but we all do that. So it's really fun to watch in all of these series. We get a Indy car and sports car, but it's happening in every NASCAR. It's happening a little bit in NHRA. These people coming in from I wanted to try this. I don't know if I can do it or not. And the people they remind you that there is a reason why we are all still so passionate about it. So it makes me want to work even harder to make sure there is a place for this to go on. After I've finished running around to 30 race tracks a year, I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and I'm proud of the people that I've worked with. Some of them, I put my face in my hands and went, oh, my gosh, it's been a great ride. And I'm very very grateful to a lot of people who gave me a chance when they didn't have to.   MELINDA: Well, especially, like you say, when you started a woman doing what you did or anything in motorsports was pretty much unheard of. And you broke that. You broke through and you showed them that it doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman doing that job. It's about credibility. It's about knowledge. It's about being capable of doing what you need to do. And that's the same as a racecar driver. I talked to so many girls. I'm like the car doesn't know if you're a girl or a boy. Just get in and drive.   JUDY: Yeah. And do your best. And if it doesn't measure up to where you think it should take a step back and go, is it me? Is it the car? Do I just not know enough and keep in mind that there are some of these guys that have been at it of 20 years. Yeah. Donnie Schatz has ten Championships and ten Knoxville National wins because he worked hard at it. Same with Sam and Steve and all those guys. But I do have one story that's really funny. I think it's funny. When Tony was in the Busch series, we were running Indy car because he had to fulfill his contract to John Menard. And finish out his Indy car contract, which was actually IRL then, but he had to honor his contract to John Menard and then also run the Busch series for Joe Gibbs. So we were getting toward the end of the season. We were done with IRL, and he was going to run the last, like, ten, eight races of the NASCAR Busch Series.   So I went to the NASCAR trailer, and I knocked on the door, and Mike Helton came to the door and he looked at me. And he said, who are you? And I introduced myself, and I had the Shell shirt on then because he was in the Shell in the Busch Series. And I said, I was just wondering if I could speak to you and Mr. Hunter about Tony Stewart, because he's going to come to Cup next year. And he's not Jeff Gordon. He's Tony Stewart. But he has an incredible amount of talent. And I just want everybody to give me a chance. And I'm going to make sure that he is worthy of it and he earns what I can control. But I'd like for you guys to know that. And Mike Helton, who is giant. He is such a big man. He towers over me, almost twice as tall as I am. And he looked at me and he said, wow, I said, what? He said, I don't think I've ever had anybody ask to come into the red trailer. I said well, Dale Senior comes here all the time. That's Dale Senior. That's a whole different thing, he said. I don't think I've ever had anybody else ask to come in. So I went in. I sat down with Mr. Helton, Mr. Hunter and Bill Jr. He was still alive. And I told him I asked him to give him a chance. And I told him that he might not be the easiest to work with because he was very passionate about what he did. And I would work on that as best I could, but to give him a chance because I thought he would be good for NASCAR and that he would do something.   Of course, he and Robbie Gordon get in a fist fight the first day of practice at Daytona. And I'm like and Helton says to me He's going to be good huh. And I went, oh, but we survived. And he did. And when I was at his Hall of Fame dinner, I was invited. I was honored to be invited there. And Mr. Helton was there. And he was with a group of people. And I was walking by, and he said, you aren't going to say, Hi. You were talking to all these nice people. And he said come here and he put his arm around and he said, I want you to meet Judy Dominic. He said, She's the one we have to blame for Tony Stewart. If she hadn't brought him here, we wouldn't have to put up with all that. I looked up at him. Really? He went, no, he said, thank you. He was everything you said he would be. And then some, sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and just hope that you have to believe enough in yourself to know that you can do it.   You have to be authentic. And I was me. I went in there with, like, oh boy this could go whatever way and I could be in big trouble. But if you don't take that leap, you don't ever know what might happen.   MELINDA: Oh, that's so true. And one of my husband's favorite things is, what's the worst that could happen? They could say, no, we don't want to talk. There's 100 things they could have said. And look at the fun and the joy and the excitement and the drama that Tony Stewart brought to NASCAR. Yeah. There's never going to be another Tony Stewart.   JUDY: No. And people say to me, Well, Kyle Larson is as good as Tony. And I said in some aspects, he might be a better driver. But what he doesn't have.. his fire is just channeled way differently. And while he's going to win a lot of races and a lot of Championships, but he will never bring the fireworks with it. He will just be that guy who puts his helmet on and goes and does it better than anybody else. One of these days, I was just like, we never thought Jeff Gordon had a temper. And we never thought Jeff Gordon got mad. And all of a sudden, we're looking at Jeff Gordon running over the hoods of three cars to get to Kevin Harvick, at Bristol and try to beat the tar out of him… and get in a fight with Jeff Burton on the back stretch at Charlotte. And you go, so maybe in Kyle somewhere, there's just a teeny bit of fire. But there's a ton of talent, talent that we haven't even tapped yet.   MELINDA: We haven't even seen the scope of the talent in that young man. And I followed him when he was in NASCAR before, and I always just thought he's so versatile. And I like that about him that he drove a lot of different kinds of cars and everything. But the thing about Tony Stewart, when he sat down to press conference, we never knew what he was going to say.   JUDY: And I would just be standing in the back of the room like this, and the media would turn around and they go, Way to Go Judy! So they would goad him and they did it on purpose. And he would take the bait sometimes. And it was like, we'd walk in and I'd go now, don't let them. No, I won't. I got this. I got this. But it was okay. It was fun. I would not trade one minute of the seven years with that man for anything.   No, or any of the other drivers I've worked with, and now it's a whole new crop. Indy car is so fun now because we have all these kids that are just crazy fast. And they don't know what it feels like to show the wall at 240 miles an hour yet. Hopefully they don't find out. But, I mean, we have ten kids under the age 25 that are rock stars. And the old guys are going hmmmm where did they come from? But ten years ago, they were those kids. What's going on in racing right now is awesome. Chevrolet has the youngest average age of drivers in NASCAR. So between all of our teams, we have the youngest group of drivers, which is exciting, because that means long term. We can do something, and hopefully they'll do something.   MELINDA: Didn't Chevrolet let's plug them a little bit. Didn't they just win the manufacturer's Championship, correct?   JUDY: Yes. Drivers and owners in cup. They won the manufacturers in Xfinity as well. And we're about to win manufacturers, drivers and team and IMSA with Corvette Racing, and they'll finish one, two. And then Cadillac, we've won the manufacturers. But it's going to be a heck of a battle down to see whether we can get the driver's title and the owner's title. The 31 Wheeling Cadillac is going to have to beat that Acura of Michael Shank Racing with Ricky Taylor in it. And so it will be a great race at Motul Petit this weekend.   Yes. And Brittany Force is second in the points going into top fuel for going into the final. And then Greg Anderson and Erica Enders are 38 points apart, and both of them going for their fifth title. Greg is already the winningest pro stock driver ever. So he broke all Warren Johnson's records except titles, but he broke all the rest of them. But he has more wins than Warren. Nobody else has more wins than Greg in pro Stock. So even Bob Flynn, I thought maybe Bob Flynn would have more wins, but he didn't.   But they didn't run as many races back then either, when Glenn was racing. So we have a lot that can happen this weekend, too.   MELINDA: I listen to Sirius radio and I'm pretty sure it was there that I heard a gentleman from Chevrolet.   JUDY: That was Mr. Campbell. He's my boss. Big boss.   MELINDA: Okay. All right. That was telling about their success and everything. He said that our goal every year is to win the manufacturer's Championship and everything. I loved hearing from that side of it. It's not just the racers, it's the people like him, and it means a lot to the whole team, everybody involved. And I can't say enough about motorsports and how much I love it.   JUDY: Well, you do a great job with this. And I know the women in racing appreciate everything you do. And thank you so much for doing this. And don't give it up. It has such value. You just don't know how much value it would have.   MELINDA: I appreciate that, especially coming from you, because that's a huge compliment, Judy. That really makes my day.   JUDY: Well, thank you for having me.   MELINDA: Absolutely. So is there anything I haven't asked you about that you'd like to share. I just don't want to leave anything out. You're so fun to talk to.   JUDY: Well, when you go back when I had the motorcycle dealership, I had an AMA race team, and I had 2-750 super bikes, and I had a 1000 CC endurance bike, 2-600 super sports and a TZ 250. And we went and ran the AMA circuit as a privateer team, which would be like being Furniture Row Racing in Cup. And against all the factory Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, you know. And then when I was in the motorcycle business, I had Yamaha, BMW and Ducati in my dealership, and I was fortunate enough to have been voted the President of the US Dealer Board for each one of those brands because I was the only female that owned a dealership. And Yamaha, the Japanese were a little like what?... the Italians loved it, which was sometimes problematic, but we worked our way through it. And the Germans were like, seriously?... but when I sold a lot of motorcycles for them, then they got over the fact that I was female and I loved motorcycle racing. I still to this day, I sit and watch Moto GP, or I tape it if I'm not home because that's such a skill set that if you're not around it, you don't understand the skills that go into that. And those not that to take anything away from anybody that races on four wheels. But they have two wheels in road racing or flat track. They have a one inch patch of tire on the track surface, and they have two wheels, and they are the roll cage. There is no roll cage around them. So when it goes wrong, it usually goes really wrong. But on the other hand, when it doesn't, it's the most amazing thing to watch. And so I've stayed attached to that. I was really lucky back in the day to have been the only importer in the United States for Maverick wheels, Marc Senior Wheels and Brembo Brakes for motorcycles. And I sponsored Team Roberts in what was then called 500 CC Motor GP for Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson and John Krasinski and Kenny Roberts Jr. And to this day, I get to call Wayne Rainey, a friend, and I'm really proud of that. He and I had a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun together, as well as all the kids that road for me. And I don't know, I love midgets. I love Sprint cars. It's hard to do when you do the job I do.   You have to make sure that you don't walk over the fan line. But when I go to a motorcycle race or I go to a dirt track or I hopefully get to go someday to an F1 race. But if I don't, I'm watching on my television. I geek out. And I am the biggest race fan on the planet. When I do my job, you can't do that. You have to maintain that distance of professionalism, and sometimes things go awry that you have to respond to. So you have to be a professional. But I am still a huge fan of racing. And the day I don't work on a pit road or a pit lane or whatever. I will go, and I will cheer my brains out. Just like all the rest of the grandstands.   MELINDA: I have an interesting story to share with you. So I met my second husband, and he was a big motorcycle fan. He had ridden motorcycles since he was little. He has a Yamaha FZ1 still to this day, it has, I don't know, 77,000 miles on it.   JUDY: Wow.   MELINDA: And it's as good today as it was when he bought it. It's a great bike. But anyway, so when I met him, he said, the fun is not on the back. And so one day on my lunch hour I went to the Secretary of State's office, and I took the written test, and I passed it. I had my little card so I could ride with a seasoned driver. So I took it home and showed it to him. And he was blown away. And I was 50 years old. And we went and bought a little Honda 250 or something little to learn how, so I could learn how to ride, then I had a Honda Shadow. And then I had Honda VTX 1300R. And I rode it and I had that until I had back surgery. And I just couldn't drive the bike anymore. But we used to go to Mid Ohio to the motorcycle races. Year after year, best track. I bet, ten years in a row we went there. It was like the thing we looked forward to the most the whole summer. Nikki Hayden, the Bostrom Boys, Miguel Duhamel.   JUDY: Yeah. Miguel,   MELINDA: We absolutely loved those guys and going there.And fast. Oh, my goodness. It was just I had to go at 06:00 a.m. To put your thing up. So you'd have shade. It was just our favorite thing to do. And now we're into all kinds of racing. But that still is where our hearts are.   JUDY: It's hard to shake it. Those things… you sit there and listen to them go through the gears and that thing screaming at 14, 5, 15 thousand RPMs. It's really hard to beat that.   MELINDA: And Michael Jordan had a team. Yes, he did at the time. And then when he became involved in NASCAR, I had people say, wow, he's interested in racing. I said, oh, he's been in racing a long time. You just didn't know it because you didn't follow motorcycle racing. And I really never had a lot of fear. And so the one time at Mid Ohio, they were offering you could pay to ride on the back, and they would take you around the track. Right. And how many fast? I don't know. But it was fast.   And so I kept saying to my husband, I want to do it. I want to do it. He said, go do it. As I start to walk over to where you go to pay your money, it starts to rain. I never got to do it. And I said, God was telling me I was too old. I shouldn't be doing it. So it caused the rain to come. I would have loved it. I would have loved to do that to ride on this.   JUDY: Yeah, I was writing a piece because I did a lot of writing also during the motorcycle days, the truck series days. Then it became I couldn't do any. I didn't have time. I did a radio show for a while out of Denver, Colorado, and I loved that. But I was doing a piece for Yamaha's International magazine. And it was when the whole Moto GP was at Laguna Seca. And so they asked me, do you want to ride around the track? And I said, with who? And they said, With Johnny K?   And I said, yeah, I will. And they looked at me and I said, how am I supposed to write a story about what they do if I don't? I've watched them for years and years and years. I buy all the stuff that makes them do what they do for my guys and other guys. But I don't know how they do what they do.   MELINDA: I know.   JUDY: So they put me on. It was a super bike. It wasn't his GP bike because they weren't that dumb. And it was a world Superbike, and it was a Yamaha, but I'm on the back because they only have the one little saddle. So he said, okay, squish down in here as far as you can behind me. And so then back then, we have the quickfills on the tank where the quickfill dropped into the tank. So I pushed it in and I held on with my fingers like that and have my arms around him.   And I had full leathers on my helmet, my boots, my gloves, the whole thing knee pads and everything. And he said, okay, just move with me. I said, no problem. So we take off out of the pits, head up that Hill at Laguna Seca,and I'm thinking to myself, Who's going to call my mother and tell her I died on a motorcycle? No, I did the right thing. So we went the first lap and came down through the corkscrew and I'm screaming at the top of my lungs because it is the coolest thing I've ever done. Oh, my God. We pulled down Pill Lane, and he said, he turns around. He goes, Are you okay? I said, do another one. He looked at them all and they went, you want to do it? And he said, She's perfect. She knows exactly what to do. He said she leaned when I leaned, she did everything. And he said sometimes they get people on there that go all around and they'll just back it off and wick it down and just coast around. And so we took another lap.   And I will never forget that that was the most incredible ride. The second best ride I probably ever had was in a stock car with Dale Earnhardt, Sr. at Daytona. We were giving some customer rides, and he looked at me and he went, hey, I said, yes. You want to go for a ride? Yeah. And he looked at my boss and boss said, if she's dumb enough to go ride with you, go ahead. And I got in. And he did everything he possibly could to try to scare me because I'm watching the third turn wall coming at him.   And we're only like this far from the back stretch wall, I swear. And it was a hoot. And then the other best ride I ever had was in a Corvette with Juan Pablo at Indy. And that was just crazy. He is so crazy. good, it's unbelievable. Really.   MELINDA: I'm so jealous of your experiences because I would have gotten in all three of those rides without thinking, because I just don't have the fear. I mean, when you get on and you're going that's a different story. But I just would not have hesitated because it's just, oh, my gosh. I can't even imagine.   JUDY: I've been very, very blessed. I've been very lucky. I worked hard, but I'm grateful for every opportunity I've had. And I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet.   MELINDA: Oh, I know you're not. I still see the fire in your eyes.   JUDY: It's there… Yeah. I'm sad that this coming weekend is the last weekend. Jeez. But then January will be here before we know it and we'll be scrambling to get to Rolex, right?   MELINDA: It just goes so quick. 36 races of NASCAR went by in a flash, and we had two weeks off for the Indy race, Judy, in Nashville this year.   JUDY: Awesome. So awesome. Amazing.   MELINDA: It was amazing. And I've got my tickets for my first Indy.   JUDY: Good.   MELINDA: So I'm so excited about that. You know what? I'm not sure because I reached out to somebody that I know, but I'll let you know where they are. They're good seats because I had a connection that I met with this.   JUDY: Well, we do. Yeah. There's one thing about the Indy 500. All of the other races, the big races in any series are amazing. But there is just something about the start of the INDY 500 that you don't see any place else. You don't feel it when that place is full of 300,000 plus people, the drivers feel it. Everybody feels it. It's just crazy how fun it is.   MELINDA: Well, I'm told that the pre-race, the whole pre-race thing is worth everything to go. I can't wait.   JUDY: Kleenex in your pocket, though, because some of them make you cry. It's just so touching. Some of the things they do. I'm so good about honoring the history and honoring those who came before us. They're very good about that.   MELINDA: Well, Judy, I could talk to you for hours, but I know that you probably need to go have dinner and we will definitely see each other again.   JUDY: I hope so.   MELINDA: I'm so honored and pleased that you agreed to be on my podcast. I love the stories you've told and your passion and what you've shared, and we're going to have to do this again because we didn't get through near the stories I'm sure.   JUDY: No, we didn't. But I'd love to. Maybe we can talk again before the season starts next year, and we can see what we got in front of us with the new cars. All right. Well, thank you so much.   MELINDA: Thank you, Judy. You have a good evening.   JUDY: You, too.  

Steve goes on location from Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA where he is joined by Martin Truex Jr. Competing in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Truex is one of the leading contenders for the Cup Series Championship. A son of a racer, Martin discusses his growth in the sport, the importance of grassroots racing, his early struggles in the Cup Series, the 2017 championship with Furniture Row Racing, and his relationships with longtime partner Sherry Pollex and crew chief Cole Pearn.

Hosts: Carolyn Manno & Parker Kligerman from the Stamford Studio. Jeff Burton & Steve Letarte from the Charlotte Studio. · Coming off the heels of a memorable Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, we’ll recap Sunday’s thrilling season finale that saw Joey Logano become the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. We’ll break down the key points of the race and get reaction from Logano and team owner Roger Penske. We’ll also hear from Championship runner-up Martin Truex Jr., who finished 2nd at Miami in his final start with Furniture Row Racing. · We’ll take a look at Tyler Reddick’s championship performance in Saturday’s XFINITY Series finale and what it means for his career going forward. · And we’ll look back at some of the best moments from the 2018 NASCAR season.

RAW AND UNEDITED it's reaction straight from the frontstretch of Homestead-Miami Speedway following the conclusion of the 2018 NASCAR season. Joey Logano is the new Cup Series champion after taking down the Big 3. The Truck and Xfinity Series also has new champions. Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are done, as is Furniture Row Racing. Matt Weaver is here to help break it all down, plus cameos from Caleb Whisler and even NASCAR's stat guru, Mike Forde! Music: www.bensound.com.

Joey Logano won the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to earn his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Logano out ran Martin Truex Jr on a late race restart and to get the victory. Truex was second with Kevin Harvick finishing third and Kyle Busch came home fourth. Brad Keselowski finished in the fifth position.  We'll break down all the events from the Ford EcoBoost 400 and talk about what this win does for Logano and his team. It was also the final race for Furniture Row Racing. We'll talk about what that means.  We'll also take your phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

Hosts: Marty Snider, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte & Nate Ryan from the Charlotte Studio. · It’s a day of big news and NASCAR America has you covered. We’ve got expert analysis on the playoff-changing penalty handed down to Kevin Harvick, who saw his automatic berth in the Championship 4 taken away due to a violation found after his win at Texas Motor Speedway. We’ve got all the details, plus a report from Dave Burns at Stewart-Haas Racing. · We’ll also discuss today’s announcement of Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn officially joining Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2019 season. Will their championship magic at Furniture Row Racing carry over to JGR? · Plus, we’ll talk about the XFINITY Series Playoff picture. Can Elliott Sadler drive his way to Miami and win a championship before calling it a career? · Lastly, the next three selections of the 2018 Pit Crew All-Stars will be revealed on today’s show.

Welcome back to another episode of your favorite podcast recorded in a Midvale basement!  Mike, and our two dads are joined by BJ Butler to talk all sorts of wonderful, terrible, and generally weird news: BMW is giving us X3M and X4Ms The new GT500 will be DCT only Furniture Row Racing is shutting down Nissan is finally giving us a new Z car! Support our sponsor Steady Broke!  Head to their site, and use the code CAMAUTO15 to get 15% off your entire order! Thank you for joining us on this episode!  You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever else you find your podcasts.  Please subscribe, rate, and review us!  Support the providers of this podcast's theme song, Mathusaworm.    Find us on social media, subscribe to the CAMcast podcast, and subscribe to our YouTube channel! Twitter Instagram Facebook The CAMcast on Apple Podcasts The CAMcast on Google Play The CAMcast on Spotify YouTube CAMautoSwag  

Jacob Blair and Trevor Maeder discuss the news on Furniture Row Racing, the 2019 IndyCar schedule and make their picks for the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs.

BONUS EPISODE with the fantastic Robin Miller of Racer.com, RACER Magazine, and the NBCSN IndyCar broadcasts. Following a Mobil 1 special event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum where Robin, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett shared unbelievable stories from the Brickyard, it was time to chat with Robin about things happening in NASCAR, like Kyle Busch’s personality and Furniture Row Racing shutting down and whether stock cars should even be at Indy. Then we jump into some IndyCar Series talk as they get ready to crown a champion next weekend at Sonoma. Is the title locked up for Scott Dixon? Who is Alexander Rossi? Then we chat about the success of the Dirt Track at Indy, which Robin has been covering since the historic announcement. Music: www.bensound.com

In this episode we recap Brad Keselowski's win at the Southern 500, we discuss Kevin Harvick's comments about Ross Chastain and we look at the news that Furniture Row Racing will not field a team in NASCAR next season. We also preview the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Show notes at www.thesuperspeedway.com. Become a patron at www.patreon.com/thesuperspeedway.

Furniture Row Racing has shut down! - That's the surprisng news of the week this week. The team that helped propel Martin Truex Jr to the championship in 2017 will close its doors following the 2018 season due to lack of funding. We'll talk about what is next for the team, Truex and his crew chief Cole Pearn and what this means for the sport of NASCAR.  Also, the Southern 500 - We'll review the race and discuss what the difference was to put Brad Keselowski to victory lane beating Kyle Larson and his teammate Joey Logano. That playoffs are right around the corner. We'll discuss if this weekend's race has changed the scope at all and take one last look at the regular season points.  Plus, Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain got into each other in the final stage of Saturday night's NASCAR XFINITY Series event at Darlington Raceway. Who was right? We'll talk about it.  Also - phone calls - 917-889-8280! 

Brad Keselowski ends up taking the broom to the lady in black. EG3 had his reaction to the races joined by Mick Rose. Also, Kansas flooding, Furniture Row Racing & more in this Labor Day weekend episode. Thanks for listening to the podcast! Tell yo friends...join the movement.

Doug and Dan breakdown the news of the Furniture Row Racing closure and how Truex Jr.'s move is at the expense of Suarez. They also discuss an A-list driver that may be on the hot seat, break down the Southern 500, and talk about Ross Chastain's racing etiquette. Dan also remembers his late nephew Casey's racing career.

Hosts: Rutledge Wood, Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the Big Oak Table from Charlotte, NC. · We’re live at the Big Oak Table for Wednesdays with Dale Jr. The discussion continues on Furniture Row Racing’s announcement to cease operations at the end of this season. What affect will this have on the sport going forward? Where will Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn take their talents for the 2019 season?· We’ll react to Kevin Harvick’s decision to step away from competing in the XFINITY Series to focus on his quest of winning another Monster Energy Series championship.· The guys will talk about their favorite memories of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the unique celebrations which take place there.· Also, voting has begun for the 2018 Most Popular Driver Award. At least one active Cup Series driver thinks Chase Elliott has this thing in the bag. Our panel has reaction. Voting is open at NASCAR.com/MostPopularDriver.· Plus, we’ll make a Social Pit Stop and answer your #WednesDale questions.

Hosts: Carolyn Manno & Parker Kligerman from the Stamford Studio. Steve Letarte at Burton’s Garage. · We’ll discuss Furniture Row Racing’s announcement that it will cease operations at the end of the 2018 season. We’ll have reaction from team owner Barney Visser and reigning Monster Energy Series champion Martin Truex Jr. NBCSports.com NASCAR writer Nate Ryan has the details.· Steve & Parker will weigh in on what this decision means for Martin Truex Jr. and for NASCAR overall.· Sirius XM NASCAR Radio’s Pete Pistone calls in to give his take on the Furniture Row Racing news, in addition to some other trending topics.· Plus, today’s edition of Scan All re-visits Brad Keselowski’s victory in Sunday night’s Southern 500 at historic Darlington Raceway.

David Haugh, Nick Friedell and Chris Bleck join Kap on the panel. Khalil Mack is a Bear. So does that mean there’s more or less pressure on Mitch Trubisky? Cole Hamels says the Brewers aren’t a rival. Is he right? Plus the panel discusses the lack of quit in Ricky’s boys and Scott Paddock drops by to discuss the end of Furniture Row Racing just a season after winning NASCAR’s Cup series championship.

Furniture Row Racing ceasing operations following 2018 season. Full details only on Racehub

On this episode of the C+J Speedway Review as we recap an exciting road course race weekend from Wisconsin and Canada! From Justin Allgaier’s Road America win to Justin Haley’s Playoff Win. We have all to cover! It’s #ThrowbackWeekend as Nascar heads to Darlington as we preview the Xfinity and the Southern 500 Sunday night! As the playoffs get closer we’ll break down who will make a late charge and we’ll give our takes on the Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland controversy and we’ll take on the future of Furniture Row Racing. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cjspeedwayreview/support

Chase Briscoe took home the checkered flag at the Eldora Dirt Derby on Wednesday night edging out teammate Grant Enfinger. It was a fun day in Eldora and some big name drivers struggled including points leader Johnny Sauter. We'll discuss it all, breaking down the Dirt Derby.  Plus, 5-Hour Energy announced Tuesday that the company is leaving NASCAR and the defending champion Martin Truex Jr and Furniture Row Racing team. The company has been in NASCAR for over a decade and with Furniture Row Racing since 2017. We'll discuss what this means for the sport, Truex and FRR.  Also, Blake Jones will make his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Jones has a handful of major stock car racing expereince and has been approved for a Cup ride. It's a far cry from how it used to be.  We'll take your phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

Martin Truex Jr won his 19th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. Truex won both stages and took the checkered flag in route to victory. It was a dominating performance and a statement race for the No. 78 team and Furniture Row Racing.  Plus, Alex Bowman blew a left front tire and crashed hard on lap 111. Bowman finished 39th in a 39 car field. Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr closed the gap on Bowman for the final spot in NASCAR's playoffs. We'll talk about the impact that had and review the entire Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.  Also, Hendrick Motorsports announced they've reached a two year agreement with Chad Knaus to return as crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet. Knaus and Johnson have been together since the start of the 2002 season, compiling 83 wins and seven championships together. We'll talk about what this means for all the parties involved.  In addition we'll discuss the rumor about Leavine Family Racing moving to another manufactuer. The Sports Business Journal confirmed the rumor. We'll talk about what this might mean and who could possibly drive the No. 95 car next season.  Also, a quick preview of the Eldora Dirt Derby on Wednesday. Taking phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

The series of 12 Questions interviews continues with defending Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing. This interview is recorded both as a podcast and is transcribed in written form. Truex has participated in a 12 Questions interview for every year of the series (2010-present); an archive of his past interviews can … Continue reading "12 Questions with Martin Truex Jr. (2018)"

It was a dominating performance for Martin Truex Jr and his Furniture Row Racing team today at Auto Club Speedway. Truex won his first race of the 2018 season and the 16th of his career, taking the pole and winning both stages in the event as well. It was an old fashioned whooping. Truex held off Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano for victory.  Kevin Harvick's chances at a fourth consecutive victory were dashed after an accident on lap 39. Harvick made contact with Kyle Larson battling for hte third position and the contact led to Harvick losing control of his Ford Fusion and tagging the outside wall. He would continue but finish in the 35th position.  We'll also discuss the other happenings during the Auto Club 400 and including how 13 cars did not pass pre-qualifying inspection, leading to NASCAR changes the rules in the middle of the week. Was that the right call and is there anything NASCAR can do to prevent this in the future? Or is it on the teams?  Plus we'll touch on the NASCAR XFINITY Series Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway in which Joey Logano dominated, taking the victory in the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske. The NASCAR XFINITY Series has two weeks off before its next event at Texas Motor Speedway in April and we'll talk about what we think of the series through the first five races so far this season.  We'll also take your phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

President Trump put immigration reform at the heart of his State of the Union last night. Today, we're asking what Colorado needs from that. Then, some prisoners sentenced as juveniles are prepping for release with VR. Also, a company uses rice waste to generate power in India. And NASCAR's Furniture Row Racing team president talks about defending its national championship.

The defending Cup series champion on rooting for the Eagles at his first Super Bowl, the decision to take less to stay at Furniture Row Racing and the Odd Couple dynamics that make his title team tick.

This week, we revisit a chat with Cole Pearn that originally took place in January, 2017, just a few weeks prior to the Daytona 500 and the start of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series season. 11 months later, Pearn is now a NASCAR Champion, Crew Chief of the #78 Furniture Row Racing team driven by Martin Truex Jr. Truex & Pearn won 8 races in 2017, including the final contest at Homestead, Florida, where they beat out Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, all former series champions in their own right. They also collected wins at Las Vegas, Kansas (twice), Kentucky, Watkins Glen, Chicago and Charlotte through the course of the season. In this discussion, Pearn recalls his journey that has taken him from following in his dad’s footsteps as teenager racer based out of a tiny little town called Mount Brydges, Ontario, to leaving his job at Toyota to go to North Carolina to eventually earning the Crew Chief’s post with Furniture Row Racing and the incredible success they’ve enjoyed ever since. This story is a testament to knowing what you want, having the guts to go after it and to working relentlessly to do the right things over and over and over again until the results come. Pearn didn’t know he would be at the time we had this chat, but he is now a NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Championship-winning Crew Chief. ©2017 Kevin Bulmer Enterprises

We're breaking down Ford Championship Weekend from Homestead-Miami as NASCAR crowned three champions this weekend. We'll discuss all three races and the season as a whole.  Dale Earnhardt Jr and Matt Kenseth ran their last races on Sunday at Homestead. We'll talk about their careers and what it means for NASCAR.  Danica Patrick gave us her plans for the 2018 season, running the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 before retiring from racing. We'll talk about Patrick and her career and who could be NASCAR's next female driver.  Also, Brad Keselowski made some interesting comments about Ford and Toyota after Sunday's race. Do his comments hold water?  NASCAR made news today with announcing rule changes for 2018 including a five man pit crew.  Plus we'll take your phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

The Furniture Row Racing rookie on how the competition level of the Cup Series has surprised him, his famous mullet, being from small-town America and his quest to buy a special car that belonged to his late father.

Kerry Murphey shines the spotlight on Furniture Row Racing's 2018 plans. Support the show: http://patreon.com/thefinallap See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martin Truex Jr won his 12th career NASCAR Cup Series race and advanced to the second round of the playoffs with the victory. It was an impressive win for the Furniture Row Racing team. We'll discuss their victory and talk about our notable finishers from Sunday's race.  Also Brad Keselowski made headlines prior to the event for his suggestion about Toyota being ahead of the competition. Was there any merit behind Keselowski's comments?  Sad news yesterday when modified ace Ted Christopher passed away Saturday night in a plane crash. We'll talk about his impact and the legacy he left in the sport.  Also, Camping World Truck Series & XFINITY Series will begin their playoffs. We'll talk about that.  Finally, we'll take you phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

The crew chief for Martin Truex Jr. on the unique and anti-establishment style of his Furniture Row Racing team that has taken NASCAR by storm this season.

Martin Truex Jr won the I Love New York 355 at the Glen on Sunday. It's the fourth win of the 2017 season and the 11th of his career. Truex once again had one of the fastest cars, we'll discuss that and who needs to pick it up as the season moves along.  Also, we'll breakdown the entire weekend from the Glen and discuss whether or not a spending cap in NASCAR is a good idea or not. Can it work? What would that do to the sport and who would benefit from it?  Plus we'll take a look at the playoffs. Who is in, who is out and who needs to win to get in.  Taking phone calls as well 917-889-8280!

The 12 Questions series of interviews continues this week with Erik Jones of Furniture Row Racing. I spoke with Jones on Wednesday while attending a Toyota event in Utah where NASCAR drivers and Olympic athletes interacted. 1. How much of your success is based on natural ability and how much has come from working at … Continue reading "12 Questions with Erik Jones"

The 12 Questions interview continues this week with Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing. It is available in podcast form and is also transcribed below. 1. How much of your success is based on natural ability and how much has come from working at it? I guess you kind of get to this level … Continue reading "12 Questions with Martin Truex Jr."

On this episode of Talking in Circles we will talk with 1990 Daytona 500 champion Derrike Cope about his past races, his 1990 Daytona 500 victory & his recently announced plans for 2017.  Also we will give our team previews for the 2017 season previewing the teams from Chip Ganassi Racing, Stewart Haas Racing and Furniture Row Racing.  We'll also discuss what we think we'll see from the Advanced Auto Parts Clash at Daytona and preview Daytona 500 qualifying.  Plus we'll take listerner phone calls at 917-889-8280!

NASCAR Fans will recognize Cole Pearn as the Crew Chief for the Furniture Row Racing Team and driver, Martin Truex Jr. Cole’s story is a terrific example of knowing yourself, trusting your gut and going with what feels right to you. I first got to know Cole when he was just a teenager racing not only at Delaware Speedway (in Ontario, Canada), but also in what used to be called the CASCAR Super Series (which later became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, now known as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series). He was regarded as one of the true up-and-coming talents in Canadian stock car racing at the time. Cole continued to race through the balance of his high school days and into and through his time at University. Eventually, his heart told him to pack up and move to North Carolina to somehow find his way in the door of a NASCAR team. And that’s exactly what he did, finding an entry-level spot at Richard Childress Racing and working his way up from there. Fast forward to the time of this recording, where Martin Truex Jr. was named Nascar.com’s Driver of the Year after the 2016 season with Cole receiving an honourable mention for Crew Chief of the Year. In the two seasons since Cole took over atop the Furniture Row Racing pit box, the team has won five times (once in 2015 and four times in 2016) and took second place in the closest finish in the history of the Daytona 500 in February of 2016. Cole's is a fascinating story and a great example of how important it is to really know yourself, understand what it is that is important to you and what can happen when you take action to pursue it. Some of the key points that stood out to me from my time with Cole include: 1. Go with your gut. Trust your intuition. 2. Run your own race. To do this, you’ve got to really know yourself and what’s important to you. 3. Pursuit. Action. Once you know who you are and what you want, you’ve got to go after it. Just take the next step and be fully present wherever you are. If you don't try, you'll never know. ©2017 Kevin Bulmer Enterprises

On Thursday it was announced that Monster Energy will be the new title sponsor of NASCAR's premier series. They will have exclusivity and there are other little details that we'll look at. Also we'll discuss the matchup between Monster and NASCAR. Is this ideal? Is this better than other sponsors that were being discussed?  Also HScott Motorsports announced they sold their charter to Premium Motorsports and Premium Motorsports sold their charter to the No. 77 car and Furniture Row Racing. Erik Jones and his team will be locked into the show and it's a savvy deal from Premium Motorsports. We'll explain.  And rumblings have surfaced that Dodge is talking to NASCAR about a possible return. The manufactuer left the sport following the 2012 season. Dodge has said that the interest is mutual. We'll also discuss possible teams and combinations for them and when we think we'll see them in the sport if they come in.  Plus we'll take your phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

Joey Logano won the Hellmans 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. It was Logano's 16th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and the victory made Logano advance to the Round 3 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup along with 7 other drivers. We will discuss the Chase and who will think will advance into the Championship Round as there are just 4 races to go in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. We will also discuss the dismal of Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr and Austin Dillon from the Chase and what they could have done differently to advance. Also Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are creating headlines after admitting to 'sandbagging' at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. Three of the four drivers hung around in the back end of the field collecting points and avoiding the wrecks. We'll discuss the strategy and whether or not that was morally right. Also teammates Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick had a fight on pit road. Apparently a miscommunication between Harvick and Busch on the final restart resulted in Busch hitting Harvick's car on the cool down lap. We'll discuss whether this is 'just racing' or whether or not NASCAR or Stewart Haas Racing should take action. Also we'll discuss the racing at Talladega. There's been a lot of talk about a boring race at Talladega. What does NASCAR need to do to make the racing at plate tracks more exciting? And NASCAR confiscated a part from Furniture Row Racing's No. 78 team on Friday before qualifying. The team had the incorrect bolt on the car. NASCAR said there would be no points penalty for the infraction? Is that the right call? Plus we take your phone calls at 917-889-8280!

This weekend the NASCAR XFINITY Series ran the Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Justin Marks winning his 1st career NASCAR XFINITY Series race. The race was run in the rain for the majority of the event, which caused a lot of conversation after the race. Many fans enjoyed watching the run in the rain. Some didn't. We'll give our opinions.  Plus, the death of Bryan Clauson has had a major impact on the racing community over the past week. Our own John Harlow wrote an article comemorating Clauson and we'll discuss his career, life and the dangers of racing as a whole.  Also one of the most exciting weekends of the year comes this weekend, a triple header weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. It starts Wednesday night at Bristol with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event and features the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Friday night and concludes with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Irwin Tools Race NIght on Saturday night.  Plus there was some interesting comments from Furniture Row Racing's Barney Visser this past week about Erik Jones and how he thinks the driver will only be at FRR for a season. What does that mean for Jones' future and the future of other JGR drivers as well.  Plus we'll take your phone calls at 917-889-8280! 

Matt Kenseth won his 39th career NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kenseth topped Tony Stewart, who finished 2nd. It was a calm race early but a chain of caution flags caused a lot of the front runners to fall out towards the end of the event in which Kenseth prevailed.  Kenseth's No. 20 team failed post-race Laser Inspection. The car will be taken back to NASCAR's R&D Center for further evaluation. We'll talk about the penalty Kenseth may recieve and whether or not it's stiff enough. Should NASCAR take the wins away from drivers?  Plus we'll give our weekly attaboys and disappointments from the weekend and discuss the racing at New Hampshire.  Also it was an alarming fact that New Hampshire Motor Speedway's crowd was significantly down over recent years. We'll discuss why we think that was and if that is concerning to the facility.  Also silly season is started to ramp up a bit. Rumors have Erik Jones moving to a 2nd car at Furniture Row Racing next season with 5-Hour Energy as sponsor. Also where does Ryan Newman end up? Not a lot of options out there for Newman, who is in the final year of his contract at RCR.  Jeff Gordon will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, if Dale Earnhardt Jr cannot race on Sunday at Indianapolis. Gordon, who announced his retirement from full-time competition starting in 2016, has not run a race all season. Should Hendrick Motorsports put Gordon in the car or should they give Alex Bowman, who ran very good at New Hampshire be given the opportunity?  Plus we'll take your phone calls at 917-889-8280!