0:02

This is Gone Racing, Fison's

0:04

premier NASCAR betting podcast.

0:06

Here are your.

0:06

Hosts, former NASCAR driver Brendan Gonn

0:08

and Las Vegas Motor Speedways.

0:10

And Jeff Montley. Well,

0:12

this is not former NASCAR driver Brendan

0:15

gon This is why Tom check who's normally

0:17

behind the glass with us our final show

0:19

of the year. Brendan is off in Mexico

0:22

racing in the Baja one thousand. But

0:24

what started out at the Daytona five hundred

0:26

and February is all culminating

0:28

in the desert here in Arizona. In Phoenix for the

0:30

championship race. We got four guys

0:33

Kyle Larson, William Byer, and Christopher

0:35

Bell Ryan Blaney all going for the

0:37

championship. Why it's gonna be an exciting

0:39

week this week in the Phoenix.

0:40

It's gonna be fun, and you know, it's kind of the youth

0:42

movement in NASCAR. Really the only driver

0:45

that has had a championship is Kyle Larson,

0:47

but got William Byron, Ryan Blaney

0:49

with the big win at Martinsville. So I

0:52

think every driver under thirty, so it's maybe

0:54

kind of a change in of the guard.

0:56

Oh, I think there's definitely a changing of the guard, there's no

0:58

question about that. And I say, seeing this

1:00

youth movement, but it's interesting Ryan Blaney's

1:02

been racing for a while now and they still have

1:05

you know, he still has that y RB

1:07

nickname, Young Ryan Blaney. I

1:09

think that's just because you know his dad, Dave Brace

1:12

for so long.

1:12

What's kind of like Cal Larson's not even thirty

1:14

yet, but it feels like Cal Larson's been a NASCAR for fifteen

1:17

years well, and.

1:17

He's won a championship, going for a second one

1:19

something. You know, There's not that many guys that have multiple

1:22

championships, so that would be a huge

1:24

feat for him if he's able to do that, and given his

1:26

youth, certainly the opportunity that he could

1:28

win some more. But you mentioned the fact that Ryan Blaney

1:30

won at Martinsville. So let's wrap

1:32

up the Martinsville race from last weekend.

1:34

First, Ryan Blaney was an eleven to one

1:37

shot to win that race, and which was

1:39

really an incredible odd I

1:42

think on that race because if you looked

1:44

at Ryan Blaney's last few races at Martinsville,

1:46

he was one of the most consistent guys

1:49

over the last three years. At Martinsville, and he

1:51

was clearly the class of the field and

1:53

there was nobody else really that challenged

1:56

him.

1:56

Big win for Ryan Blane, I think the more

1:59

popular drive in NASCAR. I mean when

2:01

he won the Coca Cola six hundred this year right

2:03

and ended a bit a long losing streak, it

2:05

was everybody has

2:08

as a special place in their heart for Ryan Blaney.

2:10

And and this is kind of I think my pick for

2:12

the championship the way Ryan is racing

2:14

now. And think about it, Jeff. He went

2:16

from having a good run at Vegas to saying,

2:19

oh my god, I got disqualified. I'm in

2:21

a lot of trouble. I need to win getting the points back,

2:23

and then you know, he says, screw it, I'm gonna go win,

2:25

win the dang thing and dominant race

2:27

four. He led four times for one hundred

2:29

and forty five laps, able to pass Eric Almrola,

2:32

a big win. I think this is showing his growth

2:35

as an elite driver in NASCAR.

2:37

Oh, I don't think there's any question, and certainly he can

2:39

submit that legacy with the win this weekend in

2:41

Phoenix. So looking at the numbers at Martinsville,

2:43

mentioned that he was eleven to one to win. He

2:46

was also a plus three fifty for a top three,

2:48

a plus two seventy to win Group B. He

2:51

brought Ford home as a victor at plus

2:53

two to twenty and his only head to head matchup

2:55

we had with him was against Kevin

2:57

Harvick at minus one twenty, So

3:00

big return there on the head to heads. And if

3:02

we look at our top ten, some

3:05

interesting names that were on the board. In the top

3:07

ten, Eric Almarola plus eight point

3:09

fifty finished his second and

3:11

then Denny Hamlin heartbreak. He was a minus

3:13

one thirty five for a top three. He was a favorite

3:15

to win the race. He was solid all day

3:18

long. He did he ran well. He just

3:20

wasn't as good as Ryan Blaney. Eric al

3:22

Morolan made one fewer pit stop than Denny

3:24

Hamlin or Denny probably would have finished

3:26

second. But Denny finishing

3:28

third in the race, he kind of did all he could do other

3:31

than win the race. But man, another

3:33

year that Denny Hamlin is on the outside

3:35

looking in.

3:36

Yeah, I gotta ask you you think Denny Hamlin is

3:38

the greatest NASCAR driver right

3:41

now that has never won a championship?

3:42

You mean active, No, just all the time. No,

3:44

Mark Martin. You think Mark Martin, I

3:47

would probably go Mark Martin would

3:49

be a number one and

3:52

then May And I mean, and this is not

3:54

going back to the old days,

3:56

you know, I think Ricky Rudd, Harry

3:59

Gant, both couple of guys that I

4:01

would probably put Mark Martin number one, probably

4:03

put Denny Hamlin at number two right

4:05

now, but I would put Mark ahead of Denny. And keep

4:08

in mind Mark finished second to Earnhardt

4:10

several times when Dale Earnhart was in his

4:13

heyday. You know, Denny's not finishing second,

4:15

and he's not finishing second to the same guys either.

4:17

I mean, Denny didn't even make the final four here.

4:20

Yeah, I mean it was the second year in a row that Denny

4:22

has missed the final four because he missed it on We.

4:24

Missed it last year because of the hail melon that ye

4:27

Ross Chastain did so again.

4:29

Yeah, Denny has certainly been one of the top guys

4:31

who hasn't won a championship.

4:32

But and it was it was just really just credit

4:35

luck for Denny had a good run at Homestead

4:37

and part breaks it's like it's nothing. We

4:39

joked that Denny always shoots

4:41

himself in the foot on Pitt Road. But this round you

4:43

really can't say that, you know, he messed

4:46

himself up. It was just just kind of a racing

4:48

deal where he hit the wall.

4:50

But what we don't know about the Homestead incident

4:52

is did Denny do something earlier in the race

4:54

that precipitated that part breaking. He

4:57

certainly ran Ryan Blaney pretty hard

4:59

in that ra so who knows. I

5:01

mean, you'd heart to go back and probably look at the part

5:03

a little bit closer to know. The rest of the top

5:05

ten too, though some really interesting names. Chase

5:08

Briscoe, another solid run at

5:10

Martinsville, ends up with a fourth place finish.

5:12

Joey Logano gave Penske first and

5:14

a fifth. Two top five's there Larson Bell,

5:17

who already locked in. Chris Busher also

5:19

got eliminated this past week, but he

5:21

knew he was win or go home. But two guys

5:23

who probably needed a good run as much

5:26

as anybody out there, Austin

5:28

Cindric Todd Gilliland ninth and

5:30

tenth respectively. Maybe that gives

5:32

them a little bit of momentum going

5:34

into the twenty twenty four season.

5:36

That's a huge run for Todd, Gillen and

5:38

his team. But for Austin Cindric that is big.

5:41

We talked about him he's probably the most disappointing driver

5:43

because he is in a car that.

5:45

Somebody picked him to be the most disappointing driver

5:47

this year.

5:47

That was you right, congratulations

5:50

golf was there, but that was really

5:52

important for him because

5:55

you know, he does have the Daytona

5:57

five hundred win. He does have that. They'll

5:59

never be taken away from him. Look at you can walk around

6:01

and say I won the biggest race of the year, but neither

6:04

have really done anything since then.

6:05

Neither will Derreck Cope or Trevor Bay

6:07

or those guys. I mean, winning Daytona's

6:09

great yep, but Daytona's Winning

6:12

Daytona certainly does not guarantee

6:14

any measure of success going forward after that.

6:16

And then I will like to say, get you know, tip of the

6:18

captain Chris Busher and in the season for him,

6:20

I think he's got to look at that as a real

6:22

positive. Winning three times and he won

6:24

three different style race tracks dominated

6:27

in a A couple of those made

6:29

it to the final eight. I think the future

6:31

is really high for him in RFK racing.

6:33

Well, I agree. In fact, I think Chris Busher probably

6:36

the surprise driver of the year, and

6:38

then the one other guy, you know, I just want to

6:40

kind of mention that that did not make it through

6:42

the next round, Martin trickx Junior. He

6:45

may have had one of the best regular seasons

6:47

to have the most disappointing playoff

6:50

run that I can ever remember.

6:52

Not a single top ten in the playoffs.

6:54

That was unbelievable. And I think somebody

6:57

I think it might have been Gluck. I can't remember who

6:59

tweeted it out. But the current standings

7:01

now Trucks would be twelfth in the points.

7:03

That's correct.

7:03

He was that bad in the playoffs to where he

7:05

was not getting.

7:06

He's not even in the five

7:09

through eight even though he made it, Yeah,

7:11

that far. That's how poorly he's done. And there's

7:13

been some other guys who, like Bubba Wallace

7:15

has run well every week even though he

7:17

got knocked out a little bit early. So all

7:20

right, well, we mentioned the championship field coming up,

7:22

and that's who we've got. Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney,

7:24

Kyle Larson, and William Byron. Now

7:26

let's look at it real quick. On the surface, William

7:29

Byron he's got the most wins of anybody

7:31

out there. He's got six wins. He also

7:33

one of those six wins came at Phoenix

7:36

International Raceway earlier in the season,

7:38

the week after Las Vegas. Kyle

7:40

Larson is next in line. He's got four

7:42

wins now. Now. In the earlier race this year

7:44

at Phoenix, Kyle led over two

7:46

hundred laps of a I think a three

7:49

hundred and twelve lap race, so Larson

7:51

was really kind of the dominant car. He kind of faded.

7:53

I know there was a late caution where William

7:55

Byron was able to win the race. Ryan Blaney

7:58

kind of snuck up on everybody with three wins and Christopher

8:00

Bell with two. I think maybe some people

8:02

become in surprise that Ryan Blaney actually got three wins

8:05

this year, because I think he did it in a very quiet manner.

8:07

Yeah, won the Coca Cola six hundred, uh,

8:10

won that thriller at Talladega, and then picking

8:12

the win here at Martinsville. So it's really spaced

8:15

out.

8:15

We're talking about three really really different racetracks.

8:17

Yeah, and tough, tough races as

8:20

well, because Coke six hundred is you know,

8:22

the grinder, the Grueler, Talladega

8:24

as we know as a crab shoot and Martinsville

8:26

short track racing. I mean, we saw the Infinity race.

8:28

You just you never know what's going to happen.

8:30

Well, no, you're right, and they were

8:32

probably fortunate that in the Cup race

8:35

because you know, there was some different pit strategies

8:37

there late that that race had a long green

8:39

flag run to the end certainly benefited well

8:42

benefited out Ericamarola because somehow

8:44

he managed to make it to the finish. I'm not sure how he

8:46

did when you had all these other drivers

8:48

like Chase Elliott, Chris Busher and people like that who

8:50

did end up having to pit. All right, let's take a

8:52

look at what our final odds

8:55

are going into this championship race.

8:57

Kyle Larson clearly the favorite at plus

8:59

one fifty, William Byron plus

9:02

two point fifty, Ryan Blaney is also plus

9:04

two to fifty, and Christopher Bell, who

9:06

really does not have great success

9:09

at Phoenix, comes in as a long shot

9:11

at plus three point thirty heading to

9:13

this one mile track here in Phoenix.

9:16

I mean, looking at the stats from the Phoenix

9:18

race in the spring, I mean Byron

9:20

finished first, Blaney was second, Larson

9:23

was fourth and Bell was six. I

9:25

mean, if you you say Christopher Bell

9:27

hasn't ran well, but maybe that kind kind of bild

9:29

him some momentum having a good run in the spring,

9:32

that maybe a plus money

9:34

there through thirty. Although then again, you also want

9:36

to say, you know, this race, the

9:39

championship race, since it's been incorporated

9:42

in a NASCAR nobody, a non

9:44

player driver has never well won

9:46

it.

9:46

And I think part of that is because the guys that are

9:48

not in the playoffs have got enough respect for

9:50

these four guys that they're not going to race them

9:53

hard. Now, look, if somebody's got the best

9:55

car and they can go out and run away and win the

9:57

race, they're gonna go win that race. But that's

9:59

not affect the championship. But

10:02

I don't think you're gonna see a Denny

10:04

Hamlin or Martin Trix Junior, or Bubba

10:06

Wallace or Tyler Redick affect

10:08

the championship. They don't want to do that.

10:11

You know, a veteran guy like a Martin TRICKX Junior,

10:13

he's won a championship, he knows what

10:15

it takes. The guys like Bubba Wallace,

10:18

Reddick, those guys they want to win

10:20

a championship. They know they could be in this

10:22

position next year. So I don't think you're

10:24

gonna see anybody try to affect the championship.

10:26

You think somebody, you know, looking for their

10:28

first career win.

10:29

I don't think they will will bump, move or

10:32

wreck a guy in order to win it. No,

10:34

I do not. Now. I think if you're

10:36

somebody trying to get your first career win and

10:39

you've got the best car, if you're Todd Gillilan

10:41

and you're out there running away from the field, then

10:43

go run away from the field and let these four guys

10:45

battle for second place in battle for the championship.

10:48

So I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

10:51

I was gonna say, like somebody like Ty Gibbs, does he try

10:53

to or is he gonna fallow Team

10:55

Mortars and be like, look, let's get Bell up front and

10:57

then kind of block anybody behind him.

10:59

I don't you're gonna see that. I just

11:01

think that there. I think there's enough

11:04

of a respect level out there that

11:06

I don't I just don't see that happening.

11:08

And taking a quick look at the Phoenix statue,

11:11

Larson's got one win Byron's got one

11:13

win Blaine. He's never won there Bell, he

11:15

doesn't even have a top five there, so

11:18

he's certainly got his work cut out for him.

11:21

He's the long shot out of these four, right.

11:23

And I think that's completely mostly based upon

11:25

his the way he's done there in

11:27

the past. Right, I would agree, Yeah,

11:30

Okay, back on going racing. Start

11:32

giving me the odds to win.

11:52

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12:18

This is Gone Racing, fisin's

12:20

premier NASCAR betting podcast. You're

12:23

your hosts former NASCAR driver Brendan

12:25

Gonn and Las Vegas Motor Speedways

12:27

Jeff Motley.

12:29

Sorry, folks, this week, no Brendan Gone.

12:31

He's all racing in the Baja one thousand down in Mexico.

12:34

Wyat Tom Check who's normally behind the

12:36

glass, sitting in on the front side of

12:38

the glass this week as we talk about the championship

12:40

race coming up at Phoenix International

12:42

Raceway this weekend, it's going to be the fourth year

12:45

that we've had the final race at Phoenix after having

12:47

it at Homestead Miami for quite a number

12:49

of years. We were talking earlier about how

12:51

the four playoff drivers have done at

12:54

Phoenix and really not a

12:56

huge amount of success in terms

12:58

of wins. You know, Ryan Blaney,

13:00

he's got ten top tens and fifteen

13:03

starts there, Kyle Larson eighteen

13:05

top I mean eleven top tens and eighteen starts.

13:07

William Byron six and eleven starts.

13:09

So those guys all have finished

13:12

in the top ten and more than fifty percent of their races

13:14

at Phoenix. Even Christopher Bell has got

13:16

four in seven races. Bell has no

13:18

top five. So they've all had their own

13:20

measure of success at Phoenix. But is

13:23

there a chance that somebody that

13:25

does not in the Championship chase wins

13:27

this race.

13:28

There is one guy, and one guy only

13:30

in his final race in

13:33

NASCAR, Kevin Harvick, who has

13:35

dominated Phoenix, who should have won

13:38

at Phoenix, and the pit crew would have been thirty

13:40

units down. Thank you Harrison Burton for spinning.

13:42

That just just set up the bad luck for us

13:44

this year. But I got to think in your

13:46

final race, you want to go out as a winner. I

13:49

don't think Kevin Harvick's going to, like you said, rough

13:51

people up. But I think, hey, if I got

13:53

the best car, I'm not gonna mess around and run

13:55

fifth. I want to go out and win.

13:57

Right, But I think Harvick's either it's going to be win

13:59

or run fifth. That is what I'm saying, unless

14:02

somebody has a problem, obviously, which could happen.

14:04

Harvick's numbers are just incredible

14:06

at Phoenix forty one starts,

14:09

nine wins, twenty top fives,

14:11

and thirty top tens. There was a time people

14:13

used to joke we were gonna call this Harvick International

14:15

Raceway because of the way he's run there.

14:17

But a number of other drivers have had

14:19

their share of success there. Joey Logano

14:21

and Kyle Busch each have three wins, Denny Hamlin's

14:24

won twice, Truex has got one win

14:26

and thirty five starts. Elliott has to win there.

14:29

The Kyle Busch and the Denny Hamlin

14:31

numbers are just astounding. In thirty

14:33

six starts, Kyle's got twelve top fives

14:35

and twenty six top tens. Denny's

14:37

got sixteen top fives and twenty one

14:40

top tens, which it makes him

14:42

not making the final four even more

14:44

disappointing if you're Denny, because you

14:46

know how much success that you've had at Phoenix. So

14:48

there's a lot of veterans there, they've

14:50

had a lot of success here at Phoenix

14:53

that are not running for the championship, but I'm sure they would

14:55

love to win the race.

14:56

Oh yeah, of course you want to end the season on a high

14:59

note. But like we said in the beginning, this is kind

15:01

of the youth movement here to where you've got

15:03

a lot of veteran drivers that are just

15:05

going out to race. I kind of agree with

15:07

your assessment that I don't think

15:09

anybody's going to kind of mess around with these these

15:11

four championship drivers. Let them compete,

15:14

because these guys want to be

15:16

in the same situation next year. Hey, NASCAR

15:18

drivers, they don't forget, and if you mess

15:20

with them one year, the roles can be

15:23

reversed and make life difficult the next year.

15:25

I guess the one guy that doesn't really have to worry about it

15:27

for next year is Kevin Harvick.

15:28

That is true. That is the only reason why I believe

15:30

Harvick will try to win this race

15:32

because this is his final race ever in a Hall of Fame

15:35

career.

15:35

But as I said, he won't rough anybody up to win

15:37

it. Well, let's put this way. He won't rough

15:39

one of the four guys going for the championship up

15:41

to win it. If he's battling Denny Hamlin act

15:44

one of those guys. Yeah, he's going to run them hard

15:46

because he certainly, but he will not run

15:49

those four guys.

15:50

Does Kevin have any beef with any of these four drivers?

15:52

I'm trying to think this year.

15:53

But I think the Kevin

15:56

respects the sport too much. Kevin

15:58

is and Kevin's always been a clean racer

16:00

to anyway Clinton, Kevin's been a guy who if

16:03

he's gonna bump you, the chances are you probably roughed

16:05

him up somewhere before that. So Kevin's

16:08

a clean, clean racer there. Okay, let's start

16:10

taking a look at our odds to win the race.

16:12

No big surprise that the top four guys on the

16:14

board are the four guys running for the championship.

16:17

Kyle Larson comes in as the favorite at plus

16:19

one sixty five. Ryan Blaney

16:21

plus two to seventy five, William Byron plus

16:23

three to twenty, Christopher Bell plus four

16:25

to fifty. And if you notice this, their odds

16:27

to win are higher than their

16:29

odds to win the championship. Although I

16:31

really think it's probably gonna be these four guys running

16:33

the top four positions. Then the numbers get

16:36

very large. Kevin Harvick is thirteen to one,

16:38

Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin

16:40

are twenty two, Martin Trick Junior

16:42

at twenty eight, and then huge numbers

16:44

Chase Briscoe fifty, Kyle Busch,

16:47

Chase Elliott, Brad Kaslowski fifty

16:49

five, Ross Jastain and Chris Bush

16:51

are seventy, Ty Gibbs eighty

16:53

to one, Chase Elliott Brad

16:56

Keaslowski two guys without a win this

16:58

year, who if threatened to win all

17:00

year long, fifty five

17:02

to one. And you know

17:05

those are two guys that could get out in front of these

17:07

four guys and then they don't have to worry about

17:09

messing with them.

17:09

How many points am I down? I

17:12

might have to I mean to go with the hall Mary here, but look

17:14

realistically, as a better you're this

17:17

is you're you're picking the four guys, and that's

17:19

it. And like you said, you might find better

17:21

odds to win than win the race than

17:24

technically the championship. And

17:26

as we said, a non playoff driver

17:28

has never won the championship

17:31

race. So it's really these four guys and the

17:33

rest of these kind of throw it away. Although I

17:35

am taking Kevin Harvick just so I have a Kevin Harvick

17:37

bett in his last race, but really it's it's the four

17:39

guys.

17:40

Well, I've decided if I'm going to try one Hail

17:42

Mary to catch Brendan, so I

17:44

may throw.

17:45

One that would be hilarious if

17:47

you passed Brendan on the last last riek.

17:49

I may throw one out there, so we'll see, all right

17:51

now the longer odd guys. And this is another

17:54

number that really is kind of shocked

17:56

me here. Bubba Wallace is ninety to one

17:58

to win now. Been running strong,

18:02

he's been solid every week. He

18:04

just had he had so few playoff points that

18:06

he was so far behind going into each round, really

18:09

hurt him from advancing. And then everybody else's

18:11

in triple digits. Eric Almarola, fresh

18:13

off of a second place, finished last weekend

18:15

at Martinsville, another guy who is

18:17

competing in his final race,

18:20

or at least his final race at this level.

18:22

With this race team is one hundred and thirty to

18:24

one Ryan Prees, Eric Jones,

18:26

Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman at two fifty,

18:29

Hostsavar and Cindric at four hundred,

18:31

Stenhouse, Dylan Almondinger at five hundred,

18:34

and the rest of the guys in there are actually

18:36

all over there are a thousand

18:38

to one to win anybody, any

18:41

crazy chance, anybody off this side of

18:43

the board.

18:44

Well, we talked about Kevin Harvick

18:46

in his last race. You just mentioned Eric al Morola.

18:48

I mean they used the pitch strategy in

18:50

the race at Martinsville to get a second

18:52

place finish. Maybe he tries to gamble

18:54

and pick up a win I did. Can't tell. Is

18:56

he retiring or is he just not with Stuart

18:58

Haas anymore?

19:00

Good question. Okay, I don't necessarily

19:02

know that he's definitely not with Stuart

19:04

DAWs anymore. Yeah. Now

19:07

I could see him doing an Infinity ride

19:09

or truck ride, you know, a way to wind

19:11

his career down a little bit, but be home on Sundays

19:14

with his kids. You know. I mean, we've seen guys, you

19:16

know, kind of do that before, So not

19:18

really sure exactly what his plans are for next

19:20

year. I would imagine he'll be in something,

19:23

but he certainly won't be back in this.

19:24

Car, So that'd be probably the only other one I'm

19:27

other than that.

19:29

In an Alex Bowman and it's it's his hometown

19:31

racetrack. You know, he's Arizona guy, does

19:33

he he's.

19:34

He's on a twenty twenty four. He's on a twenty.

19:37

Most of these guys are on a twenty twenty four.

19:38

All Right, I'm hometown track sometimes, you know.

19:40

Might we get it going? Okay, let's

19:42

move on to our odds for top three

19:45

and top three talking about some poor value.

19:47

You want a playoff guy, You're getting no value

19:49

here Kyle Larson minus

19:52

two point eighty, Ryan Blaney

19:54

minus one seventy five, William Byron

19:56

minus one sixty five, and Christopher

19:59

Bell plus one twenty. The bigger

20:01

numbers here Kevin Harvick plus three hundred,

20:03

Reddick Legano Hamlin at five fifty two,

20:05

X at six point fifty, Brisco Bush,

20:08

Elliott Kaslowski all at nine hundred,

20:11

Chastain and Busher at eleven to one

20:13

and Ty Gibbs at fourteen to

20:15

one.

20:15

Now, this is a market that I think you can kind of,

20:18

you know, take a little a little

20:20

bit of the long shots here, because,

20:22

as we said, I don't think guys are gonna mess with the championship

20:24

guys up in the front. But if you're struggling

20:26

in third and fourth and you're just holding people up, like I gotta

20:29

pass you, I could see, you

20:31

know, why not on a Denny Hamlin at five

20:33

point fifty, Tyler Reddick at five pot fifty who

20:35

finished third in the spring race, Brad

20:38

Chase, I mean why not? I mean it's

20:40

real good value, and you never know

20:42

what's gonna happen with these four playoff drivers

20:45

where they might wreck each other going into a corner.

20:47

Well, and that could happen. You're right. I'm actually

20:49

gonna disagree with you a little bit. I think you got a

20:51

better chance of getting an one of

20:53

these non playoff guys actually winning the race

20:56

as opposed to kind of

20:58

having a guy in the middle of all the

21:01

group of playoff drivers. So I think actually,

21:03

if you're gonna pick them for a top three, it's really because you're picking

21:05

them to win the race. I don't think you're

21:08

gonna see a none one of the non playoff

21:10

drivers finished second or third. I

21:12

believe if a driver can win, he will

21:14

go win. But if he can't win, he

21:17

is not going to have himself in

21:19

the middle of these guys. And if a guy is running

21:21

fourth, let's say a playoff guy, well he's

21:23

not gonna be holding the whole field up running fourth.

21:26

What about say like a Joey Logano or Denny

21:28

Hamlin trying to follow team orders, you

21:30

know, like, hey, slow the guys down behind you

21:32

to help you guy win a championship.

21:34

You just don't see that as much in NASCAR. It's

21:36

not a Formula one race, you know where you

21:38

see that. I just

21:41

don't. I just don't see that happening.

21:43

All right, Let's take a look at our longer shots for

21:45

our top threes. Bubba Wallace

21:47

also comes in at fourteen to one, Eric Almerol

21:49

at sixteen, Priest Jones,

21:51

Suarez, Bowman all at thirty, Hosavar

21:54

and Cindric at fifty, Stenhouse,

21:56

Dylan Almendinger at one hundred the other

21:59

Dylan tie along with Gillilan Newman,

22:01

McDowell and Haley All at two hundred.

22:03

Well, I'm going to go back to what you said about Alex Bowman.

22:06

If you're liking what Alex is done

22:08

here at Phoenix Hometown Track, he did finish

22:10

ninth in the spring race, and

22:12

you wanted thirty to one. Hey, maybe you know, if one's

22:14

in on a high note, I could see that at

22:17

a thirty to one.

22:18

Well, and I think I'm probably back

22:21

to kind of the way I was talking

22:23

about the rest of the guys before. I just

22:25

don't I think it. Look, if you want to take a flyer on

22:27

one of these guys to win the race, you know, maybe

22:29

this is the week that Daniel Suarez

22:32

puts it together or Alex Bowman puts

22:34

it together, then I think it's fine to go take a fire

22:36

on them to win the race and get that really big

22:38

return.

22:39

Is it tough to handicap that, Like I said that

22:42

these drivers might get in a wreck, because

22:44

we saw it last year with Chase Elliot, Ross Chestain.

22:46

Well, and we know that can happen at any time. I mean,

22:48

accidents can't happen, So you're

22:51

right, Okay, that's

22:54

it for our odds to win in our top threes

22:56

we'll be back on Gone Racing. We'll give you a driver head

22:58

to heads and we'll get into our group. Matt, we

23:00

come back.

23:18

This is Gone Racing, Visa's

23:20

premier NASCAR betting podcast. You're

23:23

your hosts former NASCAR driver Brendan

23:25

Gone and Las Vegas Motor Speedways

23:27

Jeff Motley.

23:28

I want to rewatch any part of today's

23:30

show or any past show. Check out the

23:32

Gone Racing Podcast, free and available

23:34

now at VSA dot com, slash podcast

23:37

or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll give

23:39

you all the latest news, odds, and everything you need

23:41

to know to head to the betting counter before each NASCAR

23:44

Cup race. While you're there, catch up on every VSA

23:46

show as well visa dot com slash

23:48

podcast. I did I

23:50

felt good.

23:51

Okay, that's the first time in the history

23:53

of Gone Racing that someone other than me or Brendan

23:55

I believe has probably read the

23:58

promo.

23:59

But by the way, are we sure Brendan didn't didn't

24:02

miss this Gone Racing because he had the

24:04

ultimate flub to end last week

24:06

when he said that we were going to go to homestead on

24:08

a homestead.

24:09

It's possible. Did you edit that out?

24:11

No? I kept that in.

24:12

You kept it up. Well,

24:14

I guess kind of had to considered. Then we did the promo

24:16

and made fun of the fact that and it was

24:18

the very last word I think.

24:20

He said on the show final word.

24:21

Yeah, So Brendan, we're not at Homestead this week, Michael

24:25

Walter, but he's in baj I'm

24:27

at the wrong track. Yeah, I remember those

24:29

commercials. So okay, with

24:31

that, we digress. So let's get into our driver

24:34

head to heads. And if you don't think

24:36

Kyle Larson's going to win the championship, then

24:38

this is the week to go all in on the don't

24:40

line on Kyle Larson. Ryan

24:43

Blaney is a plus one thirty to Larson's

24:45

minus one fifty, Byron's plus one seventy

24:47

to Larson's minus two hundred. Bell

24:50

is plus one eighty to Larsons minus

24:52

two twenty. And then the other guys that

24:54

are in the playoffs, Byron getting a plus number

24:56

against Ryan Blaney, bell

24:58

a plus number one four against Blaney,

25:01

bell a plus number against William Byron

25:03

at plus one oh five.

25:05

These are really interesting numbers. And if this wasn't a

25:07

championship race, I'd be all over it. I mean, I

25:09

guess, like you said, if you if you don't

25:11

believe in Kyle Larson just and you want to fade him,

25:13

you've got some real juicy opportunities.

25:16

One number I do like is the

25:18

Tyler Reddick versus Denny Hamlin. I think Tyler

25:20

Redick is going to execute Order

25:23

sixty six. And that's my Star Wars reference

25:25

because Tyler Redick and Bubba Wallace are in a Star

25:27

Wars car this week. So, but Reddick

25:29

finished second in the

25:31

Spring race. I like that.

25:33

That price the championship one, Matt.

25:37

I believe in Ryan Blaney, but I don't know if I believe

25:39

him enough to go against Kyle Larson. My

25:42

heart says Ryan Blaney, but my gut says

25:44

Kyle Larson.

25:44

Well, and I would love to see Ryan Blaney win it.

25:46

I think they'd be fantastic, you know. The one that I kind

25:48

of like though, and this is the talking

25:50

with your head and not your heart here William

25:53

Byron plus one twenty five against Blaney's

25:55

minus one forty five. But

25:58

I guess I'm asking myself which Byron going

26:00

to get? Am I going to get Byron at Phoenix back

26:03

in March? Or am I going to get Byron

26:05

at Martinsville last week.

26:07

Oh god, he was off.

26:08

He was off. I mean, in fact, he was sweating it

26:10

out on whether or not he was even gonna be able to make the

26:12

final four in Phoenix.

26:14

So and that that's tough. Like I forgot about that

26:16

because it's he was saying all screaming

26:18

all over the radio. It's like, man, this is the worst car they

26:20

completely miss and that if you're a William

26:23

Byron backer, that scares you going

26:25

into this this Phoenix race, that you missed that bad

26:28

on a go orgle home race.

26:30

No, you're exactly right. And so you

26:32

know then that's the that's when the pressure's on, right,

26:35

I mean, who's performed the best under

26:37

pressure? Well, we saw Larson, Bell

26:39

and Blaney all pick up wins

26:42

when they had to.

26:43

And I guess another thing we haven't taken a consideration

26:45

like when you handicap and he kept the pit crews.

26:48

How has all these guys pit crew's been

26:50

been great? I mean we was Joy Logano

26:52

the one year believe the car fell off

26:54

the jacket lost him a championship. These

26:57

these pit crews got to be I mean, one

27:00

little mistake is gonna cost you a championship.

27:02

Well, and that's where I get nervous about Bell,

27:05

because Bell is certainly and it's not

27:07

just Belle. I mean, it seems like the Gibbs guys all

27:10

year long, they've

27:12

probably had more mistakes in the pits than any

27:14

other racing put together. I mean, Denny's are well

27:16

documented. Ty Gibbs has had issues,

27:18

Truex has had issues. Bell's had a lot of

27:20

issues. Bell's had races where he I think

27:23

Bell very easily could have won four or

27:25

five races this year if not for miscues

27:27

on the pit road. And now it's not just all on the

27:29

crew, but some of that has been on Christopher

27:31

himself. I mean some of those are mistakes that he's made.

27:33

So I think there's no question that Bell's

27:36

a guy who you have to question whether or

27:38

not the pit crew is going to be as good as should

27:40

be. So we'll see. All right, let's get into our group

27:42

matchups now, Group A as exactly

27:45

as it should be. Group A. We have the four

27:47

playoff drivers, and to tell you that, the odds for Christopher

27:49

Bell just keep getting bigger depending upon where

27:51

you want to bet him. But Kyle Larson is an

27:53

overwhelming favorite, and group A at plus one

27:56

sixty five, Ryan Blaney's plus two

27:58

to sixty, William Byron comes in at three

28:00

to twenty, and then Christopher Bell. I'm

28:02

gonna remind everybody Christopher Bell finished

28:05

second in Las Vegas and

28:07

probably would have won if it had been one more lap left,

28:10

and then he followed that up with a win

28:12

at Homestead, Miami, and then he had a

28:14

solid run last week. I think he finished six or

28:16

seventh at Martinsville, right, But he's

28:19

plus four to twenty to win Group A. It's

28:22

a big number.

28:23

It is a big number, and I'd probably be the only number

28:25

I take because I believe is his haunts

28:27

to win a little bit shorter than that, or is he at

28:29

four point fifty I think on

28:31

the odds to win? But either way, I mean, this

28:33

is a tough like I don't know if I want

28:35

to just bet this group. I just like, going back

28:38

to the history, might as well just bet the bet the driver

28:40

to win the race.

28:40

Well, I'm exactly with it, And it's four fifty to win,

28:43

four to twenty, and the group winning the championship is

28:45

where his odds actually are are the worst.

28:47

So uh yeah, I'm with you. I mean if you're

28:49

gonna roll on Bell, there's a good some good opportunities

28:52

on Bell. But four twenty Group A,

28:54

uh well four to fifty to win the race. I think those

28:56

are all huge numbers. Okay, Group B is

28:59

really really tightly packed after the favorite, Denny

29:01

Hamlin's plus two forty five, and then

29:03

it's a bunch of It's just a veteran group here,

29:05

TRUEX, Harvick, Legano all coming

29:07

in at plus two seventy five.

29:09

No one driver weekend just X out of there

29:11

as true X. So, like I said, he has not

29:13

shown us anything in this playoffs. I think

29:15

he is just limping towards twenty

29:17

twenty four. What are we

29:19

gonna get for Denny Hamlin after a heartbreaking

29:22

uh you know finish at Martinsville,

29:24

had a car capable of winning, but Ryan Blaney

29:27

beat him out. But this

29:29

is one where I say, Kevin Harvick last

29:32

race, why not? I mean, I

29:34

really think that Rodney children, Stuart Haass,

29:36

they are going to give Kevin a car that's going

29:38

to compete up in the front. This would be

29:40

my pick.

29:41

You know, I like Harvick there as well, I

29:44

really do. I mean, you kind of

29:46

have to ask yourself how much

29:48

motivations Denny Hamlin have this week. I

29:50

kind of agree with what you said about TRUEX. I mean, look, let's

29:53

just face it that they've had a horrible, horrible

29:55

playoffs and Logano, you know, he's got a

29:57

teammate up there, so he's certainly gonna win run

29:59

well also. But again, Logano's

30:02

got two championships. He's not gonna go up there mess anything

30:04

up for anybody. But we know that

30:06

Joey Logano can one run well here. I mean, he's

30:09

won a championship by winning it at

30:11

Phoenix before. But I'm with you, I kind of

30:13

like Harvick there the plus two to seventy five all

30:15

right, group, see, Tyler Reddick comes in as your

30:17

favorite at a plus two twenty, Brad

30:19

Kaslowski is plus two forty five,

30:22

and then we have Chris Busher and Chase brisco

30:24

moving up into group C all at

30:26

plus three ten.

30:28

I would say, hear me out on on Chase

30:30

Briscoe. I think he

30:33

finished seventh in the Fall.

30:35

The fall, it's the spring race. Won

30:38

here last year in the spring, right.

30:39

He did? He won here in the spring. That's that got him into

30:41

the playoffs last.

30:42

Year three ten. I

30:44

like that number. Tyler Reddick's only the only driver

30:47

that kind of scares me. I think Tyler has

30:49

been on his a game this year, just

30:51

just miss it out by a little bit making it the championship

30:54

four. But you know, big price on Chase

30:56

Briscoe. This is his bread and butter

30:58

track. I like that number.

30:59

Yeah, you know this one here, I mean I like

31:02

Reddick because he's I just

31:04

like Reddick here at plus two twenty. But

31:07

Keselowski, that guy

31:09

really really wants to win a race for the years over I

31:11

don't know.

31:12

I would like Brett to win a race because I bet his

31:14

overrun his win.

31:14

Total, well it was

31:16

a half. So yeah, you so all.

31:18

Those times he kept finishing second to

31:20

Chris Busher, like just just move your teammate out of the way,

31:23

let him fit it. Come on, right, do it for Wyatt?

31:25

You know, Busher is a team you gotta wonder about

31:27

a little bit about motivation, not and

31:30

I have no question about Chris's motivation, but

31:32

just there's got to be a little bit of a let down for

31:35

any team when it's the next race after you've been

31:37

eliminated. But Briscoe, you're

31:39

right, Briscoe's kind of an interesting case. You

31:41

know, he was solid a year

31:43

ago. We wanted Phoenix, he had a lot of good runs.

31:45

Then this year really kind of struggled, but

31:48

now he seems to be running a little bit better lately. I mean,

31:50

we just talked about the fact he got a fourth place finished

31:52

last weekend at Martinsville. So that's

31:54

a tough one for me right there. So I'm I

31:56

don't really know where to go in group See. I thought I knew,

31:58

I thought I knew. I No, I don't know. So

32:01

I'm kind of on the h What am

32:03

I gonna do here? But we'll see, Okay, Group

32:05

D favorite Ross Chastain plus

32:08

two forty five, Ty Gibbs plus

32:10

two to fifty five, Bubba Wallace

32:12

two eighty five, and Eric al Morola

32:14

at plus two ninety.

32:16

I like Bubba Wallace. The force is strong with him.

32:18

Okay, that's the last Star Wars reference. You

32:20

know. I think Bubba's had, you

32:23

could say, a real breakout year for himself. I know

32:25

he hasn't won, but

32:27

I think he's gonna end the twenty twenty three season

32:29

on a high note. Al Morola, I

32:32

don't know, I know what you said it's his final race. But I

32:34

think it's a little different with Kevin Harvick and Eric

32:36

Almeroola. Kevin Harvick's been phenomenal

32:38

here. Eric so

32:40

So ross

32:42

Chasin's another kind of driver, kind of like Mark Shucks

32:45

Junior. But they really fell off the

32:47

last about ten twelve races

32:49

and just kind of just been there, just

32:51

been running around mid pack.

32:52

Yeah. I kind of think the whole track

32:55

House team this year just hasn't been

32:57

quite you know what we saw last

32:59

year. You know, the kind of came in guns of

33:01

blazing, first first year for that

33:03

new car, and they just hit on something and

33:06

it seems like the rest of the field kind of caught up

33:08

with them some kind of with you there.

33:10

Still, I still wonder that after that

33:12

incident at Darlington when he got it talking

33:14

to by his team owner Justin Marks and Rick Hendrick

33:16

was talking about how Rochester needs to run

33:19

better, did it affect him mentally?

33:21

Well, well, what's excuse for Suarez?

33:24

So that's a different story.

33:26

So yeah, I don't really know about that, Gibbs.

33:29

I mean, like a kid wants to get a win, I don't

33:31

know if what's going to happen. This is gonna.

33:34

This is just killing me. What I'm I'm with

33:36

you. I'm agreeing with you on Bubba Wallace.

33:37

Here, Ty Gibbs is at a

33:40

good end to the season. I think, you

33:42

know, if I had to pick, I think he is kind

33:44

of going to be the breakout driver next year and have an

33:46

opportunity to make the playoffs. But

33:48

he's he's come on strong and has been you know,

33:51

reliable in the betting market.

33:52

No, I don't. I don't disagree with you. So okay,

33:55

we come back on Gone Racing. We got two groups

33:57

to go. We'll give you our picks and we'll

34:00

rind up the season from Phoenix.

34:23

This is Gone Racing, Fisan's

34:25

premiere NASCAR betting podcast. You're

34:28

your hosts former NASCAR driver Brendan

34:30

Gone and Las Vegas Motor Speedways.

34:32

Jeff Motley.

34:34

Well, it's the final segment of Gone Racing for the

34:37

twenty twenty three season. As you can see,

34:39

that is not Brendan Gon. That's why Tom Check

34:41

sitting in for Brendan and our final show. Brendan

34:43

is in Mexico running the Baja one thousand,

34:45

So we pulled Wyatt, who's h He

34:48

is the crew chief on our pit crew normally

34:50

behind the glass, so when we're always making fun of the

34:52

pitt crew.

34:53

I've been relieved in my duties, like ten races ago.

34:55

Yes he is. He actually

34:58

made it longer than Josh McDaniels did. So

35:04

those you live in Las Vegas, you'll appreciate what

35:06

we're what we're talking about, but why we're

35:08

finishing up our group matchups here moving into

35:10

Group E. Our co favorites here Carson

35:13

Hosovar and Eric Jones both at plus two

35:15

sixty five, Austin Cindric at plus

35:17

two seventy along with Austin Dillon.

35:20

I feel like this is the group, Jeff,

35:22

I'm like, I don't really want to touch it. I

35:24

mean, Cindric has struggled

35:27

this year. I know he got a big boost with that top ten.

35:29

Austin Dillon has had a year to forget.

35:32

Carson Hosavar I

35:35

respectable job filling in the forty

35:37

two cars.

35:37

It'll be his last ride in this car. He's

35:39

moving over next year.

35:41

Eric Jones, man, he you know, he

35:44

was an interesting case where they struggled

35:46

mightily the first half of the season. Second

35:48

half of the season they got a lot better, but then they had

35:50

just kind of cruddy luck. So this

35:53

is a group that I'm like, I'm not going to really

35:56

touch it.

35:56

Yeah, I'm kind of with you stay away from this group. I

35:58

mean, I think I had to pick somebody. I like Eric Jones,

36:00

but it's like Cindric did just enough

36:03

next week to make me stay with them. I do think this

36:05

is a Jones Sindric battle

36:07

in this one right here. But I just feel

36:09

like Cindric did just enough last

36:11

week to scare me away from this group. All right,

36:14

group f aj Allmendinger, Ricky

36:16

Standhouse Junior, the favorites at plus two fifty, Michael

36:18

McDowell plus two eighty five, and Harrison

36:20

Burton at plus two ninety.

36:23

Well, I got to ask, this is gonna be Isaiah

36:25

say some of them. I hear, what is the paint scheme for Ricky?

36:27

Because this might determine a better or not? Because Isaiah

36:30

Wrinkle who it's a cheese at car.

36:32

I don't know. No, that's that's that's

36:34

a mid car for me. I like

36:37

Michael McDowell. I've been on McDowell all year

36:39

long. I think another

36:41

breakout year we talked about with Chris

36:44

Busher. I believe that McDowell's from

36:46

Arizona, right, so this is technically hometown track.

36:48

Yeah, this is his hometown track. And that

36:51

was one thing I was going to bring up. I like Michael

36:53

McDowell a lot here. I mean he's a guy

36:55

that, yeah he made the playoffs and yeah

36:58

he didn't advance in the playoffs, but Dowell's

37:00

gonna run hard, and McDowell Phoenix

37:02

is important to him. You know, you have a lot of family

37:05

and friends there at the race, and he's a guy

37:07

who has, you know, a great appreciation

37:09

for his hometown. And I know the Phoenix

37:11

track really means a lot to Michael. And you know,

37:14

Almendinger is a guy who I

37:16

think he's a little disappointed he's not going to be back in

37:18

that Cup car next year. He's still going to be with colleague,

37:20

but he's probably going to drop down the Infinity

37:22

Series. Burton has struggled, Stenhouse

37:25

has really struggled. I do I like

37:27

Michael McDowell here.

37:28

I think that's the pick Erison Burton. Nope, I'm still

37:30

upset at you for the spring race, cost

37:33

the pit crew fourteen units.

37:34

And why it is not bitter at all, folks.

37:37

Not a bit so that, and then the

37:39

California race where Daniel Swurez top three and he finished

37:41

fourth. I knew that was the year that that

37:43

picture was going to come back and bite us in the butt.

37:46

See, you can never look back on stuff like that.

37:48

You just got to look forward because you're not getting that

37:50

money back.

37:51

Yeah, they keep running in the wall. I can't look forward. I keep

37:54

backing up because I keep hitting the wall.

37:56

Okay, all right, It's like playing a video game,

37:58

right, got you? Okay, all right? Our

38:00

last bet for this week is the manufacturer

38:03

prop. And then this really has

38:05

kind of come down really to the playoff guys. Again. Here

38:07

we got Chevy's coming in at plus one hundred,

38:10

so basically you got Kyle Larson, William

38:12

Byron at plus one hundred, Ford's at

38:14

plus one eighty, Ryan Blaney carrying the banner

38:16

for those guys, and then Toyota with Christopher

38:18

Bell carry the carrying the flag there at

38:20

plus three twenty.

38:24

I'm just sitting here saying, why would you bet the manufacturer

38:27

prop this week? I would rather go

38:29

and bet Byron and Larson

38:31

both to win the race, or go pick Blaney to win

38:33

the race. As opposed to picking the manufacturer

38:36

properly. Don't like this at all this week.

38:37

Unless you are riding high on Christopher

38:40

Bell and you think he can win, you're gonna enjoy

38:42

a nice payday with Toyota plus three twenty. But like

38:44

Chevy even money one eighty for Ford,

38:47

it's just not a very intriguing

38:49

market this week.

38:50

Yeah, And I mean I think if you're looking anywhere, I

38:52

mean, you probably would look at the maybe

38:54

the Chevy guys a little bit. I mean again, it

38:57

is Chase Elliott gonna be able to find his way

39:00

to Victory Lane. I mean, because that's you know, the other Hendrick

39:02

cart there, plus fod you know Logano

39:04

can run well here so and Kevin

39:06

Harvick. You never know what he's going to do in his final race.

39:09

So I'd say there's I

39:11

mean, maybe there's a few other options other than

39:13

just the playoff drivers on these But again, I just

39:15

don't think this is.

39:16

Just the way history has shown

39:18

us. Why I bet this, Just go bet the guy

39:21

to win the race.

39:21

No, I would agree with you. All Right, real quick, we're

39:24

going to kind of take a look at back

39:26

at our stats from at

39:28

the very beginning of the season. We'll

39:30

go, I'll take a look at mine first. I had

39:32

my breakout drivers. Bubba Wallace, he

39:36

had a good year. I don't know if he makes breakout

39:38

driver. I think if you got to pick a breakout

39:40

driver, it's Chris Busher, so probably

39:43

as much Bubba Wallace. I will go Chris Busher. Rookie

39:45

of the Year Ty Gibbs. It was early between he and Noah Gregson.

39:47

That was kind of an easy one there. Driver

39:50

that will disappoint Austin Sindrick, I

39:52

think was right on the money. There number of drivers

39:54

that will win over the course of thirty

39:57

six races. I picked fifteen.

40:00

I have no idea how many were I remember where we're

40:02

at.

40:02

But we didn't. We're not far fifty. We didn't

40:04

get to fifteen close but my final

40:07

four alas

40:09

I got one. I got Christopher Bell.

40:11

He was the only one of the four that I

40:13

got. We've already talked about the playoff drivers. Brendan

40:15

and I talked about that when the regular season was over. Had

40:17

Danny win in the championship, clearly I'm not

40:19

going to be right there. So now

40:22

we can talk about Brendan's because in some places

40:24

he did a little better and some places he did

40:27

a little worse.

40:28

Awful. The preseason was awful for Brendan.

40:30

Well, his breakout driver was clearly not a

40:32

breakout driver. That was Austin Cindric. His

40:34

Rookie of the Year was Noah Gregson, who did not win

40:36

Rookie of the Year. His driver that will disappoint

40:38

Martin trich Junior. I don't think you can say

40:40

he was a disappointment that he did

40:42

win the regular season yep, So I don't

40:45

think we qualify there at nineteen drivers to win

40:47

wasn't even close. Driver with the most wins won zero

40:49

races this year Chase Elliott,

40:52

but his final four he got two.

40:54

See we both agreed on Christopher Bell, but

40:57

he also had Kyle Larson in there along with

40:59

Elliott and Joe Gano. But Brendan

41:01

still has a chance to pick the champion

41:03

this year because he did have Kyle Larson.

41:05

And I was gonna say, for how bad the preseason

41:08

picks, he could still have the champion and be like, look I

41:10

was, I was.

41:11

Right, Well, you're exactly right on that he

41:13

could, so all right, last week

41:16

is the show over? Yet? No, See that's a

41:18

great thing here. See we got like three and a half minutes

41:20

left to tell you how we did last week and to give you our

41:22

final picks for.

41:23

You know, you guys are joking that we don't

41:26

look forward to this this show.

41:28

It's like, well, first off, yes, I love this show. The

41:30

one thing I don't look forward to is your weekly emails

41:32

to tell how much I sucked on the weekend.

41:34

Well, yep, that does happen. So anyway, last

41:37

week, though, I had a

41:39

couple of big winners last week, picking Ryan

41:41

Blaney to win Group B and Christopher Bell

41:43

to win Group ce Brendan he had a

41:45

couple of winners as well. He agreed with me on

41:49

well he had actually agree with me on Christopher

41:51

Bell to win group. See, he went one step

41:53

further than I did and had Ryan Blaney for a top

41:55

three. Of course he brought home the victory. There. Rough

41:58

week for the pit crew. I'll get you guys a little bit of credit

42:01

you You tried to go for a couple

42:03

of long balls there. Took a couple of big swings

42:05

with Busher to win, Byron to win, Maybe

42:08

wasn't that big of a swing. Busher to win was a big swing

42:10

and it didn't connect.

42:12

Yeah, Elliott that ran well, he was up in the

42:14

front, So a tough one there. William Byron

42:16

I knocked that one out of the park. He struggled

42:18

all race. Busher got top ten. But yeah,

42:21

it's just the theme of the season for the pit crew.

42:23

And we're on to twenty twenty four.

42:25

Well, and our standings right now. Brendan has

42:27

got his plus fifty one and a half

42:29

units. He's had an incredible year. I'm

42:31

plus eleven point zero five

42:33

units, so I'm guaranteed even if I get

42:35

shut out this week to end in the black figures

42:38

and uh, pit crew rough rough

42:41

here, rough here, I don't think there's any pick you can

42:43

make to catch Brendan. So it's going

42:45

hard.

42:46

What's ty Dylans odds thousand.

42:47

And one exactly. So with that,

42:50

let's get to our final picks of the year.

42:51

All right. So for the pit crew for their final

42:54

I hope we go five for five just to get some

42:56

momentum going into next year. We've got Ryan Blaney

42:58

to win at plus two to seventy, Kevin Harvick

43:00

to win at thirteen to one. That's just a bet.

43:03

Kevin's last race, you know, I want to have at least

43:05

one bet on Harvick and one

43:07

of his best race tracks. I like the Tyler Reddick over

43:09

Denny hammlon plus one twenty Chase Presco,

43:12

who's run well here, has had a win at

43:14

Phoenix plus three ten, and we talked about

43:16

it, like what Michael McDowell's done this year. It's a hometown

43:18

track from It's gonna mean a lot. I got

43:20

them knowing group F at plus two eighty.

43:22

Five, Okay, and my picks. I'm

43:24

gonna take that one big swing

43:26

to try to catch Brendan, one big swing. I'm gonna

43:29

take Chase Elliott to win at fifty

43:31

five to one. Then I'm gonna go William

43:33

Byron plus one twenty five over Ryan

43:35

Blaney head to head, and the rest of my picks

43:37

will be in the groups. I'm going Kevin Harvick in Group

43:40

B, Bubba Wallace in Group D, and

43:42

Michael McDowell in Group F.

43:45

I think Brendan's are gonna be on the screen there we are. He's

43:47

taking Byron to win and Bell

43:50

to win, Harvick in Group B,

43:53

Gibbs in Group D, and Austin

43:55

Sindrick in Group E. So

43:58

there are Brendan's picks. We will

44:02

tweet out the results once

44:04

we have. I'm sure you'll be doing that for us

44:06

next week. I will since you've kind of run

44:08

the Twitter. So who's gonna

44:10

win the championship?

44:12

I am going with Ryan Blaney.

44:14

I big momentum win for

44:16

him at Martinsville,

44:19

and I just think that he's hitting

44:21

on all cylinders at the right time. But I am nervous

44:23

about Kyle Larson.

44:25

I would love to see Ryan Blaney win it, but

44:27

I think if I'm gonna put my money where my mouth is, I

44:29

think I'm gonna go Kyle Larson. So

44:32

I think that's it's gonna

44:34

be a great race. I'm kind of looking forward to it. I think

44:36

all four of these guys are certainly capable of winning.

44:38

It gonna be interesting, let's see. I mean, you know, the

44:40

big thing is, can we see a non playoff

44:42

driver win the race? We're gonna see We're

44:44

gonna have a new champion.

44:46

No, you're right, well, and goodbye to Kevin

44:48

Harvick, who's had a great career, And goodbye

44:50

to all of you. We've enjoyed this season, for

44:52

Brendan, for myself, Wyatts, sitting over here, everybody

44:54

behind the glass. Thank you for a great twenty

44:57

twenty three