The Racing Writer's Podcast

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...

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 crow...

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 Gis...

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 o...

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...

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...

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 lat...

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...

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 f...

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...

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 ca...

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 co...

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...

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...

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; bu...

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 wi...

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen is set for his first full season of Craftsman Truck Series competition in a Ram entry at Kaulig Racing. We’re checking in with Butterbean on how he celebrated his ARCA Menards Series championship and then shifted to preparing for this next opportunity; what it mean to be the first named driver to the Kaulig Racing program in the Truck Series; why it’s a badge of honor to...

Alexis DeJoria started the NHRA Funny Car season in a brand-new environment with new people, resources, and cars around her. But as the NHRA Countdown has arrived, DeJoria explains how all the work has the JCM Racing team on the verge of something big; how scary it was to start over at this point in her career; seeing it all come together so quickly; how this compares to other changes in her caree...

B.J. McLeod has it all right now between the success of his race team on the NASCAR track and the opening of his new roller coaster. McLeod returns to the podcast to discuss the best season Live Fast Motorsports has had since its inception; being a competitive Open team in the Cup Series; the dynamic of driver to driver to driver on the radio with McLeod, Katherine Legge, and Tommy Joe Martins; in...

Ida Zetterstrom finally had her dream come true this time a year ago when she made her NHRA Top Fuel debut. She returns to the podcast to discuss what it has been like since; the struggle watching racing go on without her; being at the track for her teammate Alexis DeJoria; working through the emotions of being out of the car; doing work for NHRA.TV this year and getting comfortable in the role; t...

Ty Dillon has been the belle of the ball with the NASCAR in-season tournament. Dillon joins the show to explain how he and Kaulig Racing have capitalized on the attention; staying relevant in the series; the fight for relevancy in his career; the path his career has taken; the type of person it takes to stick it out in the Cup Series; how racing has played into the type of person he’s become; not...

Will Brown, the reigning Australian Supercars champion, makes his NASCAR return this weekend on the streets of Chicago in a third entry for Kaulig Racing. It’s a course Brown has never competed, so he explains the work he’s done in the simulator to prepare; simulators not being a tool for Supercars drivers; thoughts on the course in Chicago based on what he’s learned in the simulator and seen othe...

It’s a jam-packed episode that highlights girl power, diversity, and various aspects of working in racing. 23XI Racing brings us inside Airspeed to meet some of its leading ladies, and we learn not only what they do but also the great stories of how they got here.   Kerri Berryman (director of finance and accounting):   The woman with the spreadsheets; working closely with the competition departme...

Elon Werner is the creator of Drag Race Bracket Bonanza (DRBB), a game that has qiuckly taken over the drag racing world. Werner is here to tell all as he explains finally taking the leap to create the game and how it works on the backend; the most important thing he wanted to incorporate in DRBB; the retention rate from week to week and keeping people playing; being a data resource for fans and n...

Charles Denike has Bubba Wallace off to the best start of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and he’s done so as a new crew chief in the series. Denike dishes on settling in at 23XI Racing; how it feels to get off to a strong start this season; impressions of Wallace from afar and now working with him; why the time was right to make this career move; the positive reviews about him before the season eve...