Homestead-Miami Review, Martinsville Preview, and More | Chasing The Cup S1:E34

In this episode of Tooth Fairy Nutshack, the host reviews the races at Homestead Miami Speedway. Kyle Larson finally wins at a track that has eluded him for a long time. The racing was good, but the field got too spread out at times. In the Xfinity and Truck races, Ty Majeski and Tom Nijeski also secure wins. The host believes that Homestead Miami is still a great racetrack. The top four drivers for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship are set. Tony Stewart will make his NHRA debut. Bubba Wallace was suspended for a week after an incident with Kyle Larson. The Las Vegas TV ratings increased due to the incident. There are driver and team updates, and NASCAR is expected to have a wet weather package for short tracks next season. The host previews the upcoming races at Martinsville. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Tooth Fairy Nutshack, I'm your host Slut Wingsland and in this episode I'm going to be reviewing the races from Homestead Miami Speedway. I'll also go over the news I'm going to preview this weekend's races at Martinsville. But first, let's take a look at the results from Homestead. Kyle Larson after the Bubba Wallace incident finally wins at a track that has eluded him for so long. He is followed by Ross Chastain in second, AJ Allmendinger in third, Austin Dillon in fourth, Brad Kieslowski in fifth, Martin Truix Jr. in sixth, Danny Hamlin in seventh, Kevin Harvick in eighth, Kyle Bocianite and Daniel Suarez rounds out the top ten. And the racing was very good, it pretty much lived up to the Homestead expectations. But there was only one problem and that is that the field got too spread out at times. And I'd say it's probably because of the tire wear because some people said it was shifting, there's no way because there's still plenty of action going on. So I'm guessing that this was probably because of tire wear in the long runs because there was very little yellow flags during the race. So there was not that many yellows to keep everyone together. But besides that, it was still overall a very good race and you had some great battles. You had a great battle between Ross Chastain and AJ Allmendinger toward the end. And that was fantastic to see because they were giving it their all during those closing laps. Meanwhile, they let Kyle Larson check out and take the win. And overall, it was still a solid race for Homestead. And it continues to show that Homestead, even with the next gen car, is still a very good racetrack. Next, Ferx Finedino-Grexson has finally won a race at Homestead after so many tries caused by bad luck or not running that well. But he finally wins at a track that has eluded him for so long. And he's followed by Ty Gibbs in second, AJ Allmendinger in third, Daniel Hemrick in fourth, Sam Mayer in fifth, Trevor Bain in sixth, Taylor Smith in seventh, Riley Herbst in eighth, Austin Hill in ninth, and Justin Allgaier rounds out the top ten. And this race was good too, but it did not live up to the cup race because of how these Xfinity cars handle with the dirty air. Because these cars are so reliant on clean air like the gen six was, because of their air dynamics, the race did not live up to the cup. But overall, it was still a good race. And finally for the truck race, Tom Nijeski gets his second career win and the second of the season and his first time mile and a half in the truck series. And he's followed by Zane Smith in second, Stuart Friesen in third, Ryan Preece in fourth, Corey Heim in fifth, Ben Rhodes in sixth, Christian Ekus in seventh, Matt Crafton in eighth, Parker Klickerman in ninth, and Chandler Smith rounds out the top ten. And this race was still pretty good too, kind of like on the same level as Xfinity in a different way, but it did not live up to the cup. And I think trucks got a little too spread out as well, even more than the other two races. So I think it might be the worst race of the weekend, but it was still solid. It was still a solid good race. And overall, a solid weekend for Homestead Miami Speedway and continues to show that Homestead Miami is an excellent racetrack for racing. And a lot of people want this race to come back as the championship race. And in my opinion, I think it should. It put on a pretty good show this weekend and I would not be against it. Now before we get to the news, let's take a look at your NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4. That was set after the Homestead race. Ty Majewski, by getting those two wins, has locked himself into the championship four. Meanwhile, the other three drivers, Zane Smith, Ben Rose, and Chandler Smith pointed their way in. And the four guys that were left out this time were John Hunter Niemicek, Sturt Friesen, Brent Endfinger, and Christian Ickes. Friesen and Niemicek were pretty close. Meanwhile, the other two had to win their way in, but it's sad to see some of the fastest guys on here not make it in. And so with that out of the way, let's get to the news. Starting off with some breaking news this morning, Tony Stort will make his NHRA debut at Las Vegas. Cole Tuster's penalty from the Charlotte Roval race, which was him helping out the four team, will be heard on Thursday. Chris Buescher debuted his 2023 scheme at Homestead this past weekend. Larry Fitzgerald Jr. has been named the honorary police car driver for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix. He's known for playing for the Arizona Cardinals for 17 seasons. Tire Bros has rejoined Junior Motorsports with a partner extension in 2023. After the Las Vegas incident between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larkson, Bubba Wallace was suspended for a week and will return at Martinsville. And in my opinion, it was probably the best choice for NASCAR to suspend Bubba Wallace based off of recent precedent. That shows that no one is safe, because all the fans have speculated, oh they're just gonna treat Golden Boy like the king, he's ain't gonna be suspended. This really shows that it doesn't matter who you are, if you do something blatantly obvious, you're gonna get penalized for it. Atari Racing will be parting ways with Chase Purdy after this season, and currently I don't know who would be replacing Purdy in that 61. Maybe someone in the Toyota pipeline, maybe someone else in trucks that's a free agent. I'm not really sure. Next is the Las Vegas TV ratings. NBC earned a 1.57 rating and 2.619 million viewers for last Sunday's race, which was up from a 1.21 rating and 2.095 million viewers. And this is the first playoff race of 2022 with an increase. Now I say this is probably because of the Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larkson incident, and with that trending, it led to more fans tuning in. Josh Berry will be returning to Junior Motorsports in 2023. Corey LeJoy will be returning to Spire Motorsports in 2023, and they have announced a new driver. Ty Dillon will be joining the 77 team full time for Spire Motorsports. And finally, NASCAR is expected to have a wet weather package for short tracks next season, and these will be primarily flat ovals that are a mile in length or shorter, kinda like tracks like New Hampshire, Martinsville, etc. Not high banked like Dover or Bristol. In my opinion, it might work, because these short tracks are closer to road courses than high banked mile and a halfs or high banked short tracks. So I think it would work, in theory. So that's it for this week's news, now it's time to preview this weekend's races at Martinsville. Now of course, this is the penultimate weekend for this year's NASCAR season, so there are only two races to go, including this one, for both Xfinity and Cup. So first, let's talk about the Xfinity Series race, which is the Dead on Tools 250. The race will be 250 laps and 131.5 miles, and the race will be on October 29th at 3pm Eastern Time. And coming into this final race of the playoffs for the Xfinity Series, the two drivers to have locked themselves into the championship for by winning are Noah Gregson and Josh Berry. Third is Ty Gibbs, he is currently 30 points above the cut line in third, and AJ Allmendinger is the last guy in in fourth, with 5 points above the cut line. And right now, the only guys that can point their way in that are currently below are Allgaier in fifth, and Ossenhild in sixth, with them having 5 and 7 points out respectively. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer is 28 points below in seventh, and Brandon Jones is 38 points below in eighth. So both drivers need to win. And so for my pick, I'm going to go with Ty Gibbs. Ty Gibbs is pretty good at the short tracks, so I think he'll lock himself into the championship for by winning at Martinsville. And it's going to be really close between Dinger, Allgaier, and Hill. And finally for the cup race, we have the Xfinity 500. The race will be 500 laps and 263 miles, and the race will be on October 30th at 2pm Eastern Time. So let's take a look at the weather for the cup race. On Sunday, there will be a thick cloud cover with a passing shower or two with a high of around 68 degrees. Winds will be north to northeast at 7mph, and there's a 55% chance of rain. So it is possible that some rain will come and go throughout the day, and there might be some delays going on. But this may not be a problem if they decide to bring in the rain tires like they did in the spring as backup. I think they probably will bring them this time, but I'm not sure if they will use them. And so for my pick, I'm going to go with Chase Elliott. Chase Elliott was fast in the spring, and he should have won that race, but after falling back, he was unable to get back to the lead because of how hard it was to pass. I think this time, because he's so good at this racetrack, I think he will win at Martinsville and win his way into the championship four. And it's going to be a tight battle between who can make it in between Chastain, Byron, and Hamlin for the final spot. Meanwhile, Blaney, Bell, and Briscoe will probably not make it in unless they win. And so that's it for this week's episode. If you enjoyed it, please like and subscribe for more. And if you're going out to Martinsville this weekend, I hope you have a good time. And if you're not, have a good time wherever you are, and I'll see you next week for the championship weekend preview.