Darlington Review, Kansas Preview, and More | Chasing The Cup S1:E28

The host of Chasing the Cup reviews the races from Darlington, including the Southern 500. He discusses the playoff implications and the chaotic finish of the Xfinity race. The host also shares news about car fires, sponsorships, and upcoming races at Kansas Speedway. He gives his picks for the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup races, as well as a reminder to remember the 9/11 attacks. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Chasing the Cup. I am your host, Willie Langdon and in this episode, I'm going to be reviewing the races from Darlington including the Southern 500. I'll also go over the news and I'm going to preview this weekend's races at Kansas. But first, let's take a look at the results from Darlington. Derrick Jones breaks a 110 race win list streak and gets a petty GMS for his first victory since July of 2014 at Daytona. And the 43 returns to victory lane at Darlington for the first time in over 50 years. And he is followed by Danny Hamlin in second, Tyler Reddick in third, Joey Logano in fourth, Christopher Bell in fifth, Michael McDowell in sixth, Brad Keselowski in seventh, William Byron in eighth, Bubba Wallace in ninth, and Alex Bowman rounds out the top ten. And so, this was a very chaotic race, not for being a wreckfest, but all the stuff that happened during that race that had playoff implications. Chase Elliott wrecked out early because of him and Chase Briscoe getting together. Kevin Harvick caught fire in the final stage. Kyle Busch blew an engine and Kyle Larson had some issues but recovered to 12th. So this was a very crazy race because of all the playoff implications. And plus the racing was very good because Darlington is a great racetrack. It's hard to pass, but it's a very fast track. Going into the corner, someone's got to lift. It's very fun to watch for them trying to go three wide and then they wreck each other. Let's take a look at the implications that have come from this weekend's race. Joey Logano has taken the points lead and is now 38 points above the cut line. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson has fallen to seventh. Ross Chastain has fallen to eighth. Chase Elliott, the points leader, coming into the race and who is the regular season champion, comes out ninth after his last place finish. Kyle Busch falls back to 11th after he blew his engine. And Kevin Harvick is now 13 points below the cut line because of his huge fire. So this race has some major playoff implications. And this weekend, we're going to see what happens because of Darlington. And so overall, a very wild and crazy race from Darlington. The racing was very good up to the standards of Darlington. It's great to see Darlington having two dates again, but the sudden 500 is just a classic. Next for Xfinity, Noah Gregson takes advantage of a crazy battle for the lead and takes the victory at Darlington, followed by Sheldon Creed in second, AJ Ommendanger in third, Justin Allgaier in fourth, Kyle Larson in fifth, Ty Gibbs in sixth, Christopher Bell in seventh, Josh Berry in eighth, John Hedrenichick ninth, and Austin Hill rounds out the top ten. And if you talk about chaotic, the Xfinity race was even better. That was a great race, especially with that finish. That was probably the best race of the weekend because the Xfinity race kind of like was how the Gen 4 was with Darlington. It was wild and chaotic and crazy. And that finish, man, we gotta talk about it. So Sheldon Creed and Kyle Larson were battling very hard in the closing laps. And Noah Gregson was in that fight as well, but he had fallen back a little bit after Kyle Larson passed him and went after Sheldon Creed. So basically what happened is that on the final lap was that Kyle Larson put Sheldon Creed in the wall and down the back straightaway they come and Sheldon Creed tries to pull the video game move on the outside because he blew his right tire. And it kind of worked out for him for a second, but Noah Gregson came back down on the inside missing them both and not getting caught up in the madness. And he even made it three wide on the back straightaway and he comes out on top. So that was a wild race. And afterward Noah Gregson was kind of sick because he's known for getting nauseous in the car. So he was a little wore out afterwards, but after he got some fluids in him, he was pumped up and he said, this is what we came to do. Put on a good show for the fans. That's what the Xfinity series is all about. So overall a great weekend for Darlington. Two wild races and a chaotic finish in the NASCAR Xfinity series. Darlington is just very darn good and I'm pretty sure it'll be a staple of NASCAR's future. And hopefully in the near future the Southern 500 is broadcast on main NBC because I don't think NBC has any football on it. All they have is those crappy game shows. So I want to see NBC put the Southern 500 on main NBC. If they don't do it, then I hope whoever takes over for NBC will put the Southern 500 on their main network. And so with that out of the way, let's get to the news. After the fire under Kevin Harvick's car on Sunday night, NASCAR is investigating the issue with these cars catching on fire. Although it's one of several issues with the new car. Kevin Harvick on Sunday said that it's just crappy parts, but we'll see what NASCAR comes up with. I believe that they said that they came up with a solution, which was to replace a part that was made of rubber and that they're going to replace it with stainless steel instead. But we'll see what happens and see if that is the cause. If not, NASCAR needs to dig in further to see what's going on with these cars. As well as they need to try to fix whatever's wrong with the hard hits. They really need to do that. Spire Motorsports and Circa B Diecast will be partnering together at the Kansas Speedway to sponsor Coral of Joy. Spot On will be sponsoring Derek Griffith at Kansas. NASCAR returns to Nashville for the Champions Week through November 30th and December 1st. Hamsters USA will be partnering with Zane Smith for the Kansas Truck Race. Brent Moffett returns to AM Racing for the Kansas Truck Race. And he'll also run the Xfinity Race with RSS Greenlight Racing. Toyota will be examining the Darlington engine failures on the number 18 and number 19. The Southern 500 this past weekend was a sellout. This is the first sellout since 2019 before any pandemic restrictions. Justin Alexander will not be returning to Crew Chief Austin Dillon in 2023. Zero FG Energy will be returning to sponsor Brandon Brown at Talladega. Kyle Busch hopes to have a 2023 decision soon. Hopefully, because we have yet to hear what Kyle Busch's final decision is. But we may hear it soon. But we'll have to see where he goes. Currently the favorite is either RCR or Collegue. Those are the two favorites, but we'll see. It could be something else like Ford with Storch Hoss. Or maybe go back to Joe Gibbs or go to 23-11 to replace his brother who is still out due to his injury. Chris and Emma Buscher have announced that they are expecting a baby girl. So good to see for them. Mike Bumgarner has been named the competition director at Junior Motorsports. Rick Ware Racing will be forming a NHRA Top Fuel team. Teams have now allowed more time under the damaged vehicle policy. Going from the original 6 to 10. But after this weekend, I think we need more time. I don't think we need it anymore. Especially with how these new cars are supposed to be more indestructible. And here's an interesting story. Bubba Wallace will be running the 45 for the remainder of the season so he can run for the owners championship. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs will be going to the 23 to be the trophy hunter and see if Ty Gibbs can get his first cup victory. And finally, if you're on the left side of the political spectrum, you may not like this, but Virginia Governor Leng Yunkin will be the grand marshal for the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. So that's it for this week's news. Now let's preview this weekend's races at Kansas. The Truck Series is back this weekend at Kansas with the Kansas Lottery 200. The race will be 134 laps and 201 miles. And the race will be on September 9th at 7.30pm Eastern Time. And this is the final race for the round of 10 for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. With Ben Rhodes currently 21 points above the cut line in 7th. Matt Crafton 3 points above the cut line in 8th. Kirsten Husvar 3 points below the cut line in 9th. And Christian Egges is 6 points below the cut line in 10th. They have the chance to point their way in, but if they have a bad day, they may be out of the playoffs. And you never know what happens with the Truck Series. And so for my pick, I'm going to go with someone a little different. I'm going to go with Carson Husvar. Carson Husvar has been very good at these mile and a half's. Although he has not won a race yet. And I think this weekend could be an opportunity to dig himself out of the hole. And I think that he will move on to the playoffs by getting the victory at Kansas. Next for the Expeditories, we have the Kansas Lottery 300. The race will be 200 laps and 300 miles. And the race will be on September 10th at 3pm Eastern Time. And so for my pick, I'm going to go with Ty Gibbs. Ty Gibbs has been fast on these mile and a half's. And he's been very fast this year. So I think Ty Gibbs will pick up another victory at Kansas. And finally for the Cup Race, we have the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by Barstool Sportsbook. The race will be 267 laps and 400 miles. And the race will be on September 11th at 3pm Eastern Time. So now let's take a look at the weather for the Cup Race. On Sunday, it will be not as warm with a blend of sun and clouds with a high of 74 degrees. Average winds will be north at 9 mph and a chance of rain of 25%. So there is that small chance of rain, but I think we'll be fine for the most part. Maybe a little pop-up may come up during the race or before it. But I think we're going to be fine for the most part. I don't think we're going to have a huge delay or something like that. And so for my pick, I'm going to go with Kevin Harvick. Kevin Harvick is at a big surge getting two straight victories at Michigan and Richmond. But that came to a screeching halt at Darlington with that fire. But I think Kevin Harvick will come back from that and he will win at Kansas. And before I close out, please remember that Sunday will be the 21st anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. So while at Kansas, be respectful to those who passed away during those tragic events, whether it be from the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, or Flight 93 crashing in Pennsylvania. And give respect to the first responders out there who save lives every day. And never forget what happened on September 11th, 21 years ago. And so that's it for this week's episode. If you enjoyed it, please like and subscribe for more. If you're going out to Kansas this weekend, I hope you have a good time. If you're not, have a good time wherever you are. And I'll see you next week for the Bristol Night Race special.