The Racing Writer's Podcast

Brian Husen and his NHRA Top Fuel driver, Shawn Langdon, have been tearing through the class this season and seem to be fast-marching toward the title. There is a lot to talk about how it’s happened, starting with the way he came in 2026 after getting himself situated with the team the last two years; explaining the explosion in success from last year to this year; now working with Shawn for a second time in his career; the contributions and efforts from Shawn to not be the team’s weak link; inter-team rivalry between Brian and Alan Johnson to beat each other; how close the teams work together; whether it was expected or a surprise for Kalitta Motorsports to be dominating the class; having to figure out four new venues this year; making sure the team doesn’t rest on what its already done this year; any lessons from past defeats in the Countdown; explaining how the class has moved past 340 mph; whether others are trying and failing; thoughts on getting to 350 mph; previewing the next event in Dallas; where a single season like this one ranks for his career.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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Richard Gadson is working on wrapping up his second straight NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship in only his third season. It’s been a crazy – and challenging - ride since he arrived on the scene, and we’re digging into that. We start by Gadson explain how he has a job with Vance & Hines during the week; the value of knowing the details of what he’s riding; being able to further explain what he is feeling or should be tuned; the experience of being an NHRA champion this season and trying for the repeat; trying to close out the title after having led the points all year long; the quickness of success during the last three seasons; explaining how hard and unenjoyable the ’24 season was; the chip on his shoulder, where it comes from, and knowing what’s said about him; the moment it all clicked in ’25; any difference to the mindset now with a title under his belt; the family history in racing and the impact of his father’s death; the influence of his uncle; filming motorcycle riders when he was younger to learn from; coming from a background in grudge racing; the adjustment to riding a pro stock motorcycle; the competitiveness within the class and its relationships; how close Richard and Gaige Herrera work together as teammates; having involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters; the full circle moment having been in the group when younger; the impact of getting young folks to the racetrack; looking at the final three races of the season.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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Lissette Deschamps is one of the NASCAR security team members, and she’s here to share all the things that happen that many of us don’t think about or know. We’re walking through a week between events and preparation from one week to the next; coordinating with local law enforcement and the FBI for race weekends; combating drones at the racetrack and how they know people have them; the work and monitoring that goes into social media threats and keeping track of people; the boldest or craziest thing a fan has tried to get away with; reviewing fights and physical altercations after they happen; the process of penalties being handed down after altercations; the role security plays in weather delays and race postponements; the relationship between NASCAR and other professional sports leagues about security; the reason that security incidents are never made public; the importance of a two-way relationship with the garage; leaving the Daytona Beach police and joining NASCAR.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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Mini Tyrell is in his first Craftsman Truck Series season after winning his ride on a reality television show. While the show might be over, the reality of NASCAR racing has set in, and the competition hasn’t stopped, with a lot of hard work and learning. We’re digging into getting back to racing later this week at Bristol Motor Speedway; adjusting to the sporadic nature of the Craftsman Truck Series schedule; having the ability to study with breaks in between races; the new things he’s experiencing this year with a new series and vehicle; the aero reaction that is eye-opening in the Truck Series; the value of seat time and confidence by running other series when not in the truck; a look at how the season has progressed and Tyrrell’s growth; racing with the knowledge it’s a one-year deal; learning what it takes to be a NASCAR versus his previous racing experience; whether it’s been harder for the group to learn with young drivers and so many new variables; the story behind the nonprofit Mini’s Mission; keeping the foundation going after its initial goal; how to get involved; looking ahead to hitting the $1 million mark.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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Jacob Claborn is the head coach at Hendrick Motorsports and he’s the perfect go-to for all things it stops. And there is so much to a pit stop. We’re getting deep into the weeds this week by starting off with a full, detailed breakdown of a pit stop and the choreography that goes into each position and placement; the hunt to eliminate dead time of when a tire changer and fueler is engaged with the car before it stops; an explanation on the jackman having a different visual this year with the new Chevy body and adjusting to that change in real time; deciding to retrain the tire changers to perform with their left hand and why other experiments didn’t work; the sensory training that Hendrick Motorsports now focuses on for pit stops; the danger of a lug nut being tightened too much; the many other differences from five lugs to now and whose career it has extended; taking into account the characteristics of pit road so a tire does not fall over; the human variable of loose wheels; preferring hand signals with the pit crews versus microphones; the target pit stop times these days and why TV is not official; thoughts on the next evolution for pit stops or just getting faster.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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Mike Burch is the COO of Speedway Motorsports, which means he’s heavily involved in everything that goes on and can share great insights. We’re going to start by doing a preview of this weekend’s All-Star Race and moving it to Dover; having Dover in the Speedway Motorsports portfolio and concerns that it’s going to fade off the schedule with constant changes; the operational view of hosting a crown jewel event and on a holiday weekend with the Coke 600; the reception to going back to the oval in the fall; changing a race after the schedule has already been announced; the feedback that is taken in from the race fans; collaborating with the drivers; the validation of reprofiling Atlanta Motor Speedway; a look at the collaboration with NASCAR to create a schedule when both sides want their own things; the anticipation for a North Wilkesboro points race; the measure of success as the season goes on.
Original music created by Tony Monge.

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Andrew Clarke is a motorsports writer and author and he has a new book that we’re discussing today, The Immortals of NASCAR. Clarke shares how the project came to be; the word ‘immortal’ being perfect for a NASCAR project; the reason that the list is made up of all champions; the debatable criteria of being included on the list or considered an honorable mention; shedding insight on Shane van Gisbergen from his Supercars career; what he was like to cover in Australia; the following he still has over there with what he’s doing now; putting the order of the list together; the debates that come with this list; having Richard Petty write the forward, and his words about what drivers mean to the sport; the driver being the focus in NASCAR versus other sports; Clarke’s background covering NASCAR and motorsports; the racing to pay attention to on that side of the world; explaining having a love of Wikipedia.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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John Probst was among the NASCAR executives called to testify during the antitrust trial in December, which provided a chance to learn more about his background as well as his current role. But before getting to know him better, we’re getting more context on those CUV comments that took social media by storm; developing an interest in racing through Formula 1 and then Pocono Raceway; the benefit of a Formula SAE program in schools; getting his first opportunity in racing with Ford; going to work for Red Bull Racing and skirting rules by testing a Cup car described as an ARCA car; the approach the team took coming into the sport hoping to be competitive and becoming disheartened by the results; going to work for Ganassi and being as intrigued as outsiders about the PA mountain wind tunnel; explaining how working in the tunnel played out; going into a job with NASCAR and understanding how teams move around money; the reason he left the team side for NASCAR; the nature of the relationships in the garage with NSACAR; the things that do or don’t come out of the R&D Center.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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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.

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Kyle Larson is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, a future Hall of Famer, and one hell of an overall race car driver. So, we’re going to dig into some of what that takes from behind the wheel. Larson starts off by explaining the immediate debrief after a race on pit road and how that leads into the week of meetings and breakdowns; what makes a driver say when and why someone else had the best car on a given race weekend; the reason he wants so much information from crew chief Cliff Daniels about other things happening in a race, and the dynamic of how that came to be; the dynamic of Daniels the cheerleader and Larson being able to criticize himself; having a changing understanding of a race unfolds from the start of his career; being able to retain all the information given to him and what’s seeing himself; what he is seeing or looking for with other competitors during a race; being able to drive the race car but not know the ins and outs of it, and if that’s ever felt like a hinderance; the good and bad of looking at data; how a car’s capability plays to how a driver drives it; adjusting to the car versus making the car adjust to the driver; where the feel for the car comes from in Next Gen, and compared to dirt; realizing he had the ability to be versatile in racing, and whether that can be taught or has to come natural; not being very good at helping Owen in his racing; the perspective on racing that he gets from seeing his kids go through their own journey; a preview of Kansas Speedway.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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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.

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23XI Racing has done a lot of great things in a short amount of time, and from the beginning has been Mike Wheeler. He was one of the architects of bringing Denny Hamlin’s vision to life, and he joins the show to reflect on those days. We start off with explaining his new title and taking on new responsibilities; the pride of having his fingerprints on the creation of the race team; what it means to build a culture and the importance of that for 23XI Racing; the first days actually starting in Wheeler’s two-car garage at home; the early days of being able to lay hands on race cars; what happened to the diary he was keeping at the time; the top of mind reflections from the first five years; his previous relationship with Hamlin making things easier to be one of the guy’s building the team; still having somewhat of a small team feel; reflections on expansion and thoughts as it was happening; finding solid ground now after five years; the perspective building a race team gave him; building a competitive race team and insight into an alliance; the change from 2025 to 2026 and the early season success; meeting expectations and milestones et for the first five years; having two crown jewels under their belt; bringing Michael Jordan joy; adjusting to what success feels like when not a member of a single team; where the mind goes first after a race; the most important or meaningful part of the 23XI story.
Original music created by Tony Monge.

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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.

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Jordan Vandergriff is living his best life as a Funny Car driver for John Force Racing, which puts him back behind the wheel for the first time in six years, We’re digging into it all today, starting with how it never gets old being introduced as a JFR driver; the story of being picked by John Force; it setting in more and more through Gainesville; getting the first win(s) light out of the way in the first weekend; not having the same exact team that won the last two championships; not using that as a built-in excuse; outsiders creating a rivalry between he and Austin Prock; what’s going on in the headphones; looking to get Rick Hendrick’s attention; fitting into a team with longtime preexisting sponsors; staying involved with the sport and at the track helping land his job; the perspective working in television gave him; finding himself learning the competition while working in television; championing for himself to drive while in the television role, and the balance of doing so; the career narrative he would have wrote when getting his Top Fuel ride n 2018; it taking so long to get back behind the wheel; the time spent away from the sport; doing mental preparation and visualization to prepare for the Funny Car, and comparing to reality; the differences in dragster versus Funny Car; adjusting to a different view out of the windshield and where the engine is located; racing with teammates for the first time; overall take aways from a first weekend in competition; looking ahead to this weekend in Phoenix.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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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.

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Cliff Daniels returns to the podcast now as a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, and a lot has happened, and growth has occurred in the process. Daniels first explains why he wanted the timing to be right for the conversation; looking back now on what the story of 2025 was for the team; what it means for the 2026 team and how steady they are going forward; explaining how a team doesn’t become complacent through consistent success; a crew chief’s continued work to remain on top of the sport and job; details on the team book club and it translating to performance; the need to give dissertations to Larson over the radio during a race; where Daniels finds fulfillment and what makes him happy.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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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.

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Ron Capps Motorsports begins its next chapter this season with the addition of a Top Fuel dragster team for Maddi Gordon, who will compete alongside owner and Funny Car driver Ron Capps. But before they go racing, both join the show to share about building the team and what it’s been like over the last year to get to this point where racing is just around the corner.

Gordon discusses the feeling as the season gets closer and becomes more real; doing a lot more media and handling all the attention that’s come recently; the Chapstick dispenser in the hauler; what goes into preparing for a rookie season; no longer racing for family for the first time in her career and the difference that will be; no longe being able to be as hands on with her race car; the goals and milestones set for the season.

Capps explains the timing of the expansion for his organization; insight into a busy offseason and what it takes to add another team; anticipation of how race weekend will change with his responsibilities and focus as an owner of another car; the refreshed or new perspective Capps is getting seeing Gordon experience things for the first time; feeling more like a team owner with another car in the stable; explaining expansion being a good thing; being named one of NHRA’s 75 greatest drivers; expectations for Gordon’s team this year.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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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.

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NHRA is riding high going into its 75th anniversary season with the release of a six-part docuseries titled ‘Chasing Speed.’ To share insight on the project and what viewers can expect, Steve Reintjes and Chris Meadows are here to share the feeling of having the project out in the world now for viewers to see; delivering the right balance for the hardcore fan and the new viewer; the partnership with Vice as the broadcast partner for the show; the balance of NHRA telling the story and how Vice wanted to tell the story; showcasing personalities and people in this series; getting the competitors on board and giving access; the importance of a project like this to get NHRA out in front of people; some of the new or different things that a hardcore fan is going to get from the series; whether this series could live past one season; the hope for what viewers will take away at the end of all six episodes; looking ahead to the next NHRA television contract.

Original music created by Tony Monge.

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