The Racing Writer's Podcast

Corey Day is having a highlight start to his first full NASCAR season, and taking the good with the bad. We’re digging into it all this week, starting with having more straightforward weeks now after a 2025 of jumping from series to series; getting into a weekly routine of what is expected of him; the balance of using the simulator and when needing to adjust in real life from the virtual laps; the feeling of having a real job now and the world calming down around him after the hectic of last season; the learning experiences of the first few weeks of not having many friends and making mistakes; being insulated from the outside criticism about him and getting advice from Rick Hendrick; going from defense to offense in a quick amount of time to learn how to race in the top 10; a reflection on Rockingham and want it meant, but not being able to run for the win; how he went into the offseason ahead of this full-time opportunity; recognizing his strength and weaknesses early in the season, and why a live pit road is not weird to him; loving all the communication that comes with being a NASCAR driver; enjoying the firsts that he’s experiencing; if he truly believed the start of the season would be this solid; the outlook for how much better the team can get an any changing expectations. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

Buddy Hull is now a driver/owner in NHRA Funny Car competition, and he’s had plenty to talk about after the fiery start it got off to this season. But that’s just a continuation of the wild rides he’s had in recent years. Hull joins the show to discuss the time spent since the burn down in Gainesville to prepare another car; missing a race so early in the season; wondering if all the hardships lately are trying to teach him something; what he’s learning about himself; his recovery from the Gainesville fire and burns; the manufacturer support in drag racing and how that ties into having a backup body; what it’s like to go through a sand trap; entering a new chapter this year as a team owner; the reason behind going from a hired driver to starting his own team; milestones set for the team this season; Top Fuel to Funny Car to potentially some Top Fuel again; the love for driving a Funny Car; starting out working for Tim Wilkerson and now racing against him; the family dynamic when he became a race car driver; his past in competitive power lifting; the genesis behind starting the Talkin Funny Car program; interviewing fellow competitors in a laid back environment; the plan for the rest of the year and when the team will be able to return to competition. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

The story of Michael McDowell’s career with sports cars, open wheel, and NASCAR is known enough at this point, but how about those really early days? The ones before he was given a chance to race professionally. We’re digging into that today, starting with his connection to Las Vegas; insight on the west coast racing scene; starting off with BMX bikes; not being a racing family but a car culture family and still finding his way into racing; describing the world of competitive karting; the lessons from karting that stay with a young driver; filling in some blanks from his early career that led to sports cars, open wheel, and then NASCAR; how deep being a driver coach goes throughout his career and life; a story about Jimmie Johnson from back in the day when driver coaching; working with drivers in NASCAR for road courses; mechanical learning through tinkering and the passing it forward notion; going full circle with recently bringing his son to the Bondurant driving school; keeping the kids away from racing; the family dynamic of the McDowell kids understanding and sharing in what dad does for a living; the part of his story that McDowell wants known or feels is important. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

Casey Mears had one of the best stories of the Daytona 500 when he qualified for the race in the single-car, underdog operation that is Garage 66 for Carl Long. A few weeks removed from the event, Mears shares how it has carried on; taking apart the Atlanta car to run in Daytona but that being the game plan; the visual of the torn apart car in the garage; comparing the moment to others from his career; choosing to come back so many years after his full-time career ended, and doing it with an underdog team; sharing this side of his life with his children who are now older to understand; the emotions of the first few races back in the NASCAR garage; the difference in being a driver today and living the full-time driver life; the realization that his full-time career was over; the feelings on what was his full-time career and any what if moments; things that almost happened in career such as getting to Penske; the impact of having raced for many big name car owners; managing to not have enemies or negative things said about him; anticipating the feeling of hitting 500 starts; the plans for the rest of the season. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

Justin Allgaier finally won that elusive NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship a few years ago, and things have been great since. So, as Allgaier returns to the podcast, we’re going on life and racing. It starts with one last look back at Daytona 500 and reviewing what happened; the person and driver who is entering 2026, and it being different; the difference the championship made to the racer; the 2024 series championship making a difference or mattering more than expected; the unexpected place where the championship trophy ended up; making a career in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series; the view he takes on the Cup Series and a career there; something he would like to have back or have done different from his career; the most important thing to him nowadays at the racetrack; the evolution of being concerned for self and now JR Motorsports as a whole; the dynamic of always changing teammates; the expectations for a new season with a team that hasn’t seen much turnover; new crew chief Andrew Overstreet being far from a stranger; the awareness of his career numbers in the series and how good it has been; being with distance of moving to sixth all-time on the wins list in the series. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

In the five years since Matt Kaulig was last on the podcast, a lot has happened for Kaulig Racing, and the next chapter comes this season as the Ram anchor team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. So, as Kaulig returns to the show, he shares where his anticipation level is for this season compared to some others; going from never having attended a Truck Series race to now fielding five teams; building a relationship with Ram; the organization dominating the headlines with planned out announcements over the last seven months; adding more to the organization while still trying to build the Cup Series operation; expectations for the Cup Series season and going without an alliance partner; the overall NASCAR team ownership experience having been in the sport for a decade; making people more aware that he’s not just a NASCAR owner or not just a philanthropic; being more than someone who writes a check; a future outlook for Kaulig Giving. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen is set for his first full season of Craftsman Truck Series competition in a Ram entry at Kaulig Racing. We’re checking in with Butterbean on how he celebrated his ARCA Menards Series championship and then shifted to preparing for this next opportunity; what it mean to be the first named driver to the Kaulig Racing program in the Truck Series; why it’s a badge of honor to be getting an opportunity at the NASCAR national series level at his age; the family dynamic now that he’s not in the longshoreman business anymore; the talent versus funding narrative and appreciation versus jealously of opportunities; racing being a job for him now and why that’s not uncomfortable; a day in the life of a race car driver preparing for a new season; the status of his mechanical engineering degree; if it’s felt things have progressed quickly or slowly to get to this point; knowing what to expect in the Truck Series after making a handful of starts the last few years; the characteristics of the truck and not being nice in the series; the moment that he felt rose his stock over the last few years; being included in the newest NASCAR video game. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

B.J. McLeod has it all right now between the success of his race team on the NASCAR track and the opening of his new roller coaster. McLeod returns to the podcast to discuss the best season Live Fast Motorsports has had since its inception; being a competitive Open team in the Cup Series; the dynamic of driver to driver to driver on the radio with McLeod, Katherine Legge, and Tommy Joe Martins; insight on the NASCAR testing policy; the feeling of the team running more races but not being in the seat as much; having the Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster official open; the designs and detail of the coaster; attracting race fans versus general coaster enthusiasts; the speed component to the coaster; the slogan of competing and trash talking; the unique way McLeod has solicited feedback; the plans for Live Fast Motorsports to end the season. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats

Ty Dillon has been the belle of the ball with the NASCAR in-season tournament. Dillon joins the show to explain how he and Kaulig Racing have capitalized on the attention; staying relevant in the series; the fight for relevancy in his career; the path his career has taken; the type of person it takes to stick it out in the Cup Series; how racing has played into the type of person he’s become; not driving for Richard Childress Racing; landing at Kaulig Racing; how Dillon has been impacted by the people around him; clicking with crew chief Andrew Dickeson; being pushed by those around him when needed; having fun in racing; being a reminder there is more to racing than what is happening at the front; the work behind the wheel after not running the full 2024 season; comfortability with the Gen7 car; looking ahead to Indianapolis; the Gen7 car at Indianapolis versus previous versions; expectations for the remainder of the season. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats

It’s a jam-packed episode that highlights girl power, diversity, and various aspects of working in racing. 23XI Racing brings us inside Airspeed to meet some of its leading ladies, and we learn not only what they do but also the great stories of how they got here. Kerri Berryman (director of finance and accounting): The woman with the spreadsheets; working closely with the competition department on cost; seeing the evolution of cost in the sport through her career; why she chose this perception and the misconception of the field when it comes to women; memories of working for Germain Racing for 15 years; the draw to coming to 23XI Racing when initially thinking of being done with the sport; seeing something be built from the ground up; overseeing the organization’s community relations and why it’s important for both sides; the diversity of 23XI Racing. Cherokee Hall (junior project engineer): A job with a broad title; working in the shop but getting the chance to take in what happens at the racetrack; how it feels to be a part of the success without touching the car; entering the engineering space but not coming from a racing family; restoring a Ford Mustang for a high school project; landing at 23XI Racing; expectation versus reality of the job; insight into failing inspection; working from the Xfinity Speed Center (war room); diversity at 23XI Racing. Evanna Howell (senior partnerships account manager): The role of working with the partners; being a liaison between partners and the team; serving different needs with more than one team partner; the track presence of partners; the balance of serving both a race team and the partners; always doing something different; her journey to 23XI Racing; blinding applying for the job without a racing background; the parameters of marketing; working for Feld Entertainment and the live events experience from Disney on Ice to Monster Jam; the crossover between the two; adapting to a racing lifestyle; doing community outreach for the team; the diversity of 23XI Racing. Jamie Ruiz (vice president of marketing): A job that encompasses many branches and what that looks like; explaining the 23XI Racing brand and how others view them; expectations versus reality at the organization; getting comfortable being uncomfortable; getting into NASCAR for the first time; blindly applying for the job; working from California before moving to North Carolina; taking on unexpected projects at Airspeed; working in the entertainment business in Hollywood; bring that to the NASCAR space; how brand guidelines work; social media approach; finding enjoyment in the role and the NASCAR life; diversity of 23XI Racing. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats

Charles Denike has Bubba Wallace off to the best start of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and he’s done so as a new crew chief in the series. Denike dishes on settling in at 23XI Racing; how it feels to get off to a strong start this season; impressions of Wallace from afar and now working with him; why the time was right to make this career move; the positive reviews about him before the season even started; the adjustment from the Craftsman Truck Series to being in the Cup Series; if he’s been able to enjoy the fast start to the season or had the pressure that comes with it; finding the same structure in NASCAR as in the military; why he went into the military after high school; his background and experience in the military; going into racing as his second career; the crossover from military into racing; the engineering crossover from one to the other; his NASCAR start being in the K&N Series and then going Truck Series racing; memories from Truck Series racing and his unconventional first career win; seeing his former truck win at at Martinsville Speedway; things that translate from the truck to cup; the balance of how he wants to lead the team but not changing things to change them; what Charles wanted from Bubba and want Bubba wanted from Charles as they paired together; the No. 1 thing the team needs to have accomplished by the end of the year.Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall

Antron Brown is off to another solid start to an NHRA Top Fuel season, and we’ve got him fresh off a win to reflect and look ahead. Brown starts, however, with his takeaways from a visit to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for NASCAR racing and getting a different perspective in person; looking as good as a chocolate bar joke; the pedal fest at Gainesville where Brown won to start the season; explaining what pedaling the car is and the easiest mistake to make; what he learned about his team during a tough weekend; the boost of winning the first race of the season after ending the previous year as champions; how a team prepares for a new season after winning the championship; his optimism for a very competitive Top Fuel class; being up for a new challenge in competition; chasing prize money for being regular-season champion; the impending departure of Toyota from the sport and if a team can go without a manufacturer partner; the many hats of being a team owner; what keeps him going after decades of success of in the sport. Original music created by Tony Monge. Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall