The Racing Writer's Podcast

Ty Majeski is keeping himself busy this year with a full Camping World Truck Series schedule and late model races. Majeski joins the show to share how he’s also in the ThorSport shop every day working as an engineer; the decision to put racing on the backburn for a year to do that; what he’s learned working in the shop; how much it helps build a better bond with the team; what changed at Niece Mot...

Bono Manion is a NASCAR veteran and a dang good crew chief, and he’s telling us all about the Spire Motorsports Truck Series program. What goes into the races the team runs? Bono explains being drawn to the organization; what makes the Truck Series where he wants to be; what goes on in-between the races Spire runs; moving to North Carolina with Tommy Baldwin; roles he played before becoming a crew...

Tony Schumacher is ecstatic to be a full-time NHRA Top Fuel driver again after a few years of only being able to run here and there. Schumacher explains embracing the new challenge of being on a single-car team, working with a new crew chief, and building a team with new guys; how different it feels to be back; reacclimating to the sensation of speed; forgetting bad habits in his time away; how ha...

Bright and early before a day of training, Noah Gragson stops by the podcast to talk about how working with Josh Wise has changed things physically and mentally. Then we shift into Gragson working with a new crew chief this season in Luke Lambert; what Lambert brings to the team; the difference in Gragson from year one to year four in the Xfinity Series; confidence building; understanding races ar...

Justin Ashley is a rising star in the NHRA Top Fuel ranks and he’s here to discuss his career and what it’s like to drive 11,000 horsepower. We start things off discussing 4-wide racing at zMAX Dragway and the discipline it takes; how the season is shaping up for his team; the new variables of an alliance with Antron Brown and working with Toyota; why Ashley’s website says occupation: real estate...

NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell is here to chat all things Next Gen and more. O’Donnell looks at the first 11 races of the season; where the industry is at with parts and pieces; tweaking Next Gen if need be; having honest conversations with the garage; working with a new driver council; if shifting at short tracks is something NASCAR wants; parity with the Next Gen car; ratings and attendance; track new...

Sean Cain is a self-described “creative person” but you might know him as Blackbeard. Cain visits the show to share just some of the cars you’ve seen on the track that he designed; the reason behind branding himself as Blackbeard; how he went from industrial design to the race car business; social media being the driving force behind business; how a concept gets off the ground; things Cain has to...

Whether you know him as Brad or “Bread” Perez, he is here to talk about living the NASCAR dream. Perez takes us inside his role as a tire specialist in the Camping World Truck Series for Rackley W.A.R.; the way he started to network into the sport; not being mechanically inclined; getting a taste for racing with a spec Miata; not coming from a racing family but being a race fan who dreamed of bein...

Brian Wilson is a return guest to the podcast but it’s a completely different conversation as we focus on Wilson’s first year as Cup Series crew chief and how he got here. Wilson reveals how the team believes they’ve found the reason for their rough start to the season; what Wilson remembers of his dad being an engineer for Robert Pressley and the Skol car; getting his racing start with the Kimmel...

Second generation racer Jesse Little keeps busy both on and off the track. Little joins the program to share all he has his hands in; getting his hands dirty when needed; driving for Tyler Young this year; how Young’s team has changed Little’s preparation; what it’s like driving for an owner who is also a driver; why he immediately felt chemistry with the team; splitting the truck with Kaz Grala;...

Dirt is not in her background but Hannah Newhouse is loving her new broadcast role with World Racing Group. Newhouse explains leaving the NASCAR world for World of Outlaws; having creative freedom with content; leaning on others during the transition; being able to freelance into other motorsports; preparing for different series and how things are different; how a family of gearheads led to a life...

Whether you view Atlanta Motor Speedway as an intermedia or superspeedway, it was brand new either way to Sage Karam. He joins the show to tell us about the experience; how much he’s looking forward to having practice this season; the number of Xfinity Series races he anticipates running this year and hopes for a full-time ride; looking at returning to Pocono Raceway for the first time since Justi...

Cody Ware is a race car driver, gamer, and anime fan and we’re touching all of those subjects this week. Ware tells us how he and Ryan Ellis try to feel accomplished while gaming; his love of anime; how his mental health journey is going; what the turning point was for Ware to get help; the Coliseum race being a confidence booster; what he’s feeling from the Next Gen car; how much the car is makin...

Dave Moody spends four hours a day, five days a week talking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio but he didn’t mind talking some more this week to share how he got here. Moody takes us back to when he first saw a race car and what about it was life changing; when he began getting working opportunities; fielding cars of his own; unexplainably getting on Ken Squier’s radar; part-time opportunities with MRN; th...

Brandon McReynolds reinvented himself in NASCAR after admitting that being a race car driver wasn’t going to work. McReynolds is now a spotter and in driver management, both of which he shares insight about this week. McReynolds shares how he recently started a new company; things he learned as a driver he’s applying on the business side; the personal and professional with drivers like Cole Custer...

A lot has happened to The Racing Writer’s Podcast and Ryan Ellis since he was guest No. 1 back in the fall of 2017. We’re checking in with Ellis this week to see what he’s been up to since that day; what it’s like working with other drivers for his Monday through Friday job; what it is about racing that keeps him from giving it up for a normal job; if people have tried to persuade him to give up o...

Time in the NASCAR Cup Series has flown by for William Byron entering year five, and he feels he’s in a good place with everything around him. Byron discusses how the pandemic felt like a gap year; thoughts on his progression from rookie to now; being critical of himself; getting better with his car feedback and having to get over the fear of being wrong; maturing as a Cup driver over the years; h...

Doug Yates will see the most Ford Mustangs take the green flag in this year’s Daytona 500 than ever before and he’s excited about doing so with a new car. Yates talks about all things engines this week such as how they are distributed to teams; going through the process of NASCAR deciding to increase horsepower this year; but why it’s not so easy as just saying make a change; the workload of havin...

Chase Purdy’s newest opportunity in the Camping World Truck Series is with Hattori Racing, but we’re going to learn all about his journey to the team and more. Purdy reveals when he knew he wanted to be a race car driver; racing all over the southeast; what go-kart racing is really like; series Purdy’s run along the way to NASCAR; what makes late models so fun; going through a rough two-year gap w...

Brian Murphy of Stewart-Haas Racing is here to help with any conversation around the Next Gen race car. Murphy explains the different offseason teams had this year; eventually getting over being uncomfortable with the car and supply chain issues; long days at the race shop; his history at Stewart-Haas Racing; going from fixing the cars to preparing them; thoughts on what this car will do for the s...

Jerry Baxter and driver Tanner Gray were among those who got to see the new Atlanta Motor Speedway recently, and Baxter is here to share insight on that much more. First impressions of the facility; throwing out the notebook on the track; first impressions of working with Gray and getting more out of him; how Baxter feels about going back to the Truck Series after spending the last two years in Cu...

Tyler Ankrum says it’s been a “pretty easy” transition to Hattori Racing as he gets set to take the wheel of the No. 16 Toyota. Ankrum joins the show to talk about how well things are going with already building team chemistry; being with a smaller group in HRE; why and how the move from GMS Racing happened; first impressions of new crew chief Scott Zipadelli; if this is a year Ankrum feels he has...

Andrea Brimmer is the chief marketing and public relations officer at Ally and joins the podcast to take us inside NASCAR sponsorship. Brimmer looks back on the ’21 season for the No. 48 team; branding around the driver and not having the driver adjust to the sponsor’s brand; a bit on Brimmer’s history in the automobile world; where Brimmer’s passion comes from and understanding athletes; how spor...

Jade Gurss is back with another must-read auto racing book, this time having worked with Al Unser Jr. Gurss, who had known Unser back during Unser’s driving career, takes us inside the work to tell Unser’s story in the best way; the reason for starting the book with Unser’s suicide attempt; the willingness of Unser to be vulnerable; the honesty and openness of Unser’s intense personal life and dec...

Live Fast Motorsports made it through its first year as a NASCAR Cup Series team and co-owners BJ McLeod and Matt Tifft are calling it a success. Both McLeod and Tifft join the podcast this week to offer their perspectives. First up, McLeod dissects the season and how it was different from putting a car on track in 2020; what being an owner was like on the weekend’s he wasn’t driving; the biggest...