NOTE: I forgot to mention that SVG lost 1st gear in the final stage, and according to his Twitter had some other issues with his dash early on. ALSO: Justin Haley's 17th place finish has been disqualified. According to NASCAR, the No. 51 failed to meet minimum weight.
I know a lot of people have been poking fun at Bell for looking like he was about to cry. But I thought he handled it very well. Looked Busch in the eyes the entire time, let him vent, attempted to shake his hand, and moved forward. Respect.
I agree. The look on his face is a natural reaction for some people who are not used to a confrontation that heated. As with anything, he'll develop composure with experiences like that. But he handled it like a pro. He let Kyle talk. He didn't try to justify anything because he probably felt he was wrong and it wasn't the right time for that. And he acknowledged when Kyle said there's going to be payback. That part is out of his hands now anyway, so there's no point in debating it. That's about as good as he could have handled that particular situation.
@@ravagingwolverine666I think they'll hash it out over a drink, but it was exciting to watch an angry Kyle Busch's onboard on the nascar app as he made his way back through the field. Being a Kyle Busch fan of late has felt like being a Fernando Alonso fan
William Byron has been the first driver to win multiple races every season of the NextGen era, first driver to do it 3 straight years since peak Jeff Gordon
@@prestongaines2301 And hurts how quick he could get out of his pit. After his last stop he rejoined in 24th, and was still able to work his way up to 21st.
If you told me after Atlanta that bubbas best finish of the next 4 races would come at fucking *cota* I'd thought you'd need to be checked into a mental hospital.
A lot of bad pit stops, some bad pit strategy, and then getting caught up in other people's incidents had really set him back before COTA. And then I don't know what the hell his crew chief was thinking when Bubba was in 3rd in his qualifying group and was pretty safe at getting through to round 2 with only a couple other cars back on the track trying again. His crew chief sent him back out on the track, and they put another lap on their tires which pretty much was going to put him in the back of the final round of qualifying. Had that not happened, he would have most likely been further up in qualifying and have completely avoided getting wrecked by Lajoie/Truex on the very first lap. Unless there's other info I'm unaware of, I really question the decision making of his crew chief lately.
Idk it always feels like whenever ford wins the championship NASCAR seems to make some change. lol im just a ford fan and completely made this conspiracy theory up
@@MegaBroski12fords by in large have been a non factor in nascar the past 3 season, yes they’ve won the past few championships, but that is not a reflection of the season as a whole, that is the result of a flukey playoff system. Where the 20th place points driver can somehow win the whole thing if they get hot the last 3 races. Joey logano and Blaney have been the only two competitive fords for the past 3 years, and their entire seasons were mediocre besides the last 3-4 races.
IDK, you can’t just look at wins exclusively. The Fords look to be the fastest at the SuperSpeedways, but there are lot of “luck” involved in those. Outside of that, in all reality, there are really only 3-4 Ford drivers that are truly expected to be Win contenders week in and week out (but also don’t have great road-course history) in Blaney, Logano, and Beuscher (sorry, I don’t include Keslowski in this group because, while he runs up front, he hasn’t really shown that he can put together an entire race-winning race over the past 3+ years). I don’t think anyone is considering Cindric, SHR, or RWR to be win contenders at this point. Toyota has 4-5 (and probably soon to be 6 once Gibbs breaks through) drivers who, week in and week out. Really the only guys not on that like are the LMC cars. And Chevy has half a dozen drivers on the “expected to be in contention” list every week. 3/4 HMS cars, 1-2 Trackhouse cars, an RCR car, and if it’s a road course, 2 Kaulig cars (SVG and AJ). So, just sheer quality numbers wise, the Fords are lagging a bit. And, let’s be real, Blaney was an inch short at Atlanta and ran top 5 at Vegas. The Fords were fastest at Daytona, but got wrecked late. Blaney and Logano ran 3-4 in the Clash (and Blaney started in the back, so he definitely had speed). So, I think it’s more just a matter of time. Outside of road courses, Ford has been fast. We’ve been saying Ford has been off the last 2 years, and yet they’re the only ones to win a championship in the “Next Gen” era, so they find speed when it matters.
@@kingsally2864"Get a job and not one at McDonald’s." "I’m living the high life and you’re probably living in your trailer at Darlington" "Go ahead and be pissed off because I don't care, my dad's making the big money and we go to any sporting event we want to." "I’ll be driving a real car one day and you’ll be watching me on your crappy TV that barely has signal." - William Byron, 2011, Age 13
I became a fan in 2016 when he drove for KBM and had one of the most dominant rookie performances ever. He should've won the championship that year but a blown motor in Phoenix fucked him over
That incident with Busch was on Bell, in my view. Why, in the middle of the race, is he sending it into the corner when there's a battle in front. Be more patient. Kyle wasn't even at the apex. As mentioned, he was behind Bell when he spun out Larson so I think Kyle was standing up for the veterans and just warning him to be smarter. As mentioned, Bell raced for Busch so Kyle has respect for him but he just expects better..
He had a speeding penalty, had kinda gotten back to where he was before that and then lost first geat, yet still managed 20th. It would have been interesting to see if he had anything for those other guys... maybe next time, which will probably be Sonoma.
imagine how _nice_ it would’ve been if this race was 69 laps and gave bell one more opportunity at byron… …actually i take that back… bell might’ve wrecked yet another driver if this happened 💀
Although I have an affinity for road course racing, I have enjoyed NASCAR for decades. That said, todays race demonstrated why I really do favor road racing. The venue has many more places for action and was a really a joy to watch. It is dependent on knowledgeable coverage and announcers. They did a good job today. Thumbs up!
Something else to note about SVG today was a lack of 1st gear for most of the race unfortunately... But yeah, if I'm in a Ford this season, I'm going to be sweating. They've qualified pretty well for most of the races this season, but the consistency during the race has been all over the place for Ford drivers... Hopefully they get things sorted out before the year ends.
NOT Ty's place to move over for C. Bell, it was Ty's job, at the end of the race, to get his best finish possible. And really? Seems to me Bell doesn't limit his "screwing over" other drivers to just to JGR - he does that to any driver that he just seems to make rookie or not so rookie driving mistakes with. Don't be fooled by his sweet innocent look, it isn't innocent at all.
I think what set the course of the race was something a lot of people didn’t put into question: The cloud cover. I’d believe if the cloud cover wasn’t there, it would’ve been a lot more challenging for Byron to be that dominant.
@MayBeSomething COTA this year was much cooler than last year's race. It was also very windy at times today. I want to say that he's referring that with colder temperatures, tires usually have more grip(?)
I chose William Byron because I was a Gordon fan, I grew to like William Byron because he was an underdog, and now I love William Byron because he is one of the best.
@@ABomB42o That's hilarious dude. Celery. LMAO I'll have to remember that one. Actually a lot of them now days seem to. Bell, Larson, Byron, etc. FYI I'm a Larson fan to be clear.
People talk about Byron too much. His team is actually insane. They said during the broadcast that Fugle brought a car so good, they didn’t make 1 single adjustment during the race. That team also has the best pit crew in the sport. Byron is good but a lot of drivers would look amazing with that situation.
Lot of hendrick fans are quick to suck off the drivers. As if they aren't usually in some of the fastest cars on track every week. You're right the team knocked it out of the park on all fronts.
Very good point. It seems that's always the HMS style though. Either they unload as the clear favorite and never have to even touch the car, or they run 10th all day. No matter how you look at it, the team deserve way more praise than they are getting.
Ty Gibbs has not won a race in the Cup Series. Though I know he finished 3rd two different times this year. Best finish in his Cup Series career so far.
Agreed. I do like the stop and go better as a punishment for cutting the corner. In other racing formats, they get a few seconds added to their total. That obviously won’t fly with Nascar style but the pass through feels overkill.
@@jlmorton77 100% disagree. Bell apexed the corner exactly like he should have. Busch took a really wide arc and came back down. Racing incident but it’s not all on Bell.
@@ASKid24 KB had a car under him entering the turn, he had to take a wis arc. Even with that, he still gave Bell room. Bell came in too hot, wheel hopped, jumped the curb and hit the 8. If the 8 isn’t there, the 20 spins.
@@ASKid24umm other drivers managed to not run over the car in front of them even when going wide...no this was bell not having control of his car and got in hot .. period...
@@daniellowry660there's two sides to every story. They couldn't come to a deal and eventually JGR decided to move on even when Kyle stated he'd drive for less money. It was all about Ty.
@daniellowry660 hi kyle busch fan here jgr threw him away they didnt try to find him a sponsor outside the obviously faulty attempt to get oracle onboard and even though kyle said he would drive for less money gibbs wanted a way cheeper grandson behind the wheel
@@daniellowry660they offered him hilariously low money and acted like they couldn’t find a sponsor for one of nascars biggest stars…he just wanted the ride for his grandson…cmon now.
Regarding track limits Similar to MotoGP they can require driver to follow the long lap rule if they cut the esses section. They follow the “offline route” in the Stadium section of the track and rejoin maybe lose 5 seconds
@@davids5006you must’ve gotten into it late in Gordon’s career, I swear Gordon won EVERY single race I went to by a landslide, it was some of the best days of my life to see him dominate in person. He truly was a force to be reckoned with.
My very favorite NASCAR was at Phoenix in 1990 and my hero driver Dale Earnhardt won…! Then years later i took my new bride to Sonoma and my other driver hero Jeff Gordon won ….! Both were awesome…! 😎🏁🏁
@@jaredchampagne2752 I got into watching Nascar probably in late 80s but yeah didn't attend any races until I got back state side in 2001 and then I wore a camper out going to a bunch of them until finally seeing him win in Martinsville.. also got to see him win his last one there too
Even though the race as a whole was kind of mid, I still very much stand by that this track is still my favorite road course the cup series has ever raced on and the greatest track to ever be associated with F1. Also, I can’t complain when I see Byron win a race. (:
Eric I love your channel. Thank you for all the hard work. I am more than a little jealous at the job you have, well the going to races meeting drivers part. Your hard work and dedication has paid off
I think what’s even more annoying about the course cutting penalty is that the s is the only corners that they can’t cut. There’s corners that they are putting all tires pass the curb even getting in the grass, but no penalty. Very inconsistent. There’s no reason for them to say you can’t cut one corner but you can cut another
I agree. They should not be allowed to put the outside wheels over the curb in any corner. At most older tracks, there is grass past the curbing, so if you put two wheels off, you're going for a ride and will lose a lot of track position.
There is a reason. If they were to put grass or curbing where it's not legal to run in the S's, when a car gets shoved down there, they'd be like Dukes of Hazard, getting 10 feet of air and/or taking out multiple cars. They don't just have the rule for no reason. The other turns it's real hard to get shoved down into anyways plus if they did, it probably wouldn't wipe out many other cars, just put a bunch of grass on the track, but like I said we never really see anyone get put there so it's not an issue. I don't like it either. Not sure what the fix would be. I wouldn't mind seeing them get rid of the S's. There's no passing there anyways.
My favorite part of track limits this weekend was when Parker Kligerman hung a right and cut the entire first part of the esses, gained position and time and nascar just pretended it didn’t happen
Watkins Glen has added two more sets of progressively higher curbing after turn 1 ( where the cars have historically gone wayyyyyy wide). It’s now going to be a “hey go through there if you want but good luck coming out without damage”. I think something like this through the esses at COTA would be a good idea. The whole “cutting track limits” thing is just very grating after a while.
Boy, you ain't kidding. Another thing I noticed with all three series at Cota, Ford only seems to have Layne Riggs and Deegan in the Driver pipeline. May be hard to find a decent replacement for Burton in the 21.
I felt like after the leaders pulled away in all three stages. They were practically impossible to touch. I wish the race was a little more closer. I wish the racing Today looked more like the racing from 2020 where it was three wide going for the win. But at the end of the day. I am happy that William Byron won. I’m just wishing that the racing would’ve been a bit closer than it was today.
Ty Gibbs is so so close. I don't exactly have a favorite driver. When I first started watching Nascar it was Kyle Petty. But since then I haven't really had a favorite. So this goes unbiased but I hope he gets a win soon. I hope he matures from his xfinity days and becomes the next NASCAR prodigy
He already has matured since his xfinity days. He drove all last season with respect for his fellow cup drivers, garnering their respect for his efforts while his race craft improved.
a few things 1. Nascar will most likely adjust things to fix the course cutting 2. SVG's bad cup finish has more to do with him losing first gear in the last 30 laps 3. I hope Nascar imposes track limits on turn 8 to keep drivers from driving in the dirt to turn a bit better but also kicking that dirt up onto the track
i get that cutting is cutting, but man, it's not like it was intentional on chase's part or gave him any advantage. there has to be something better than a drive through when it clearly wasn't intentional nor gave him any advantage whatsoever. if he had spun the car out and slid through there would it still have been a penalty?
NASCAR makes up rules as they go, and it really ruins the experience for everyone, its why the sport has fallen off. They consistently make the race about them, instead of letting the drivers duke it out. Its infuriating.
I think all things considered Logano had a pretty good race. It wasn't mentioned but he started 35th for cutting the course on his qualifying lap. With no extra cautions to help him besides the stage breaks, he basically drove his way to 11th from 35th. Had he qualified I could definitely see him somewhere in the top 10 at the end
Watching this while updating my points system from last weeks’ Bristol race. I decided during the off season to create my own points system and keep track throughout the year to see how it plays out. (FYI, Byron hasn’t lost the points lead since his 500 win in my points, but that should balance out after the Coke 600.)
I think they should use the same rules as the do as the roval, just pull over or stop if you cut the corner. This way good racers are not heavily penalized for minor infractions. The only thing I really dislike about road courses is the gaps between the drivers which makes it boring to watch since the field is so spread out. They need a way to keep drivers closer so there is more battles for positions.
Sausage Curbs are simply not an option for COTA. NASCAR shouldnt ask for temporary curbs in my opinion, and permanent ones are terrible for GT cars, and Formula Cars which are much stricter with track limits anyways.
Been awhile since we have seen that #66 MBM Motorsports Ford Mustang last go Cup racing with none other than the legendary Timmy Hill. Who actually managed to finish the race running which is an accomplishment in its own finishing in 37th ahead of Daniel Hemric, and Michael McDowell so there is something to be said for that hey they didn’t finish in dead last so that’s something. Good to see a small team with a Chevy or a Ford American company American manufacturing car way better than Toyota and a guy I like in Timmy Hill actually finish the race and at the end have something to be proud of taking away from that grind of a road course race. Just thought I’d give a shout out to that #66 MBM Motorsports Ford Mustang and Timmy Hill for some success after that Cup race today I like to support the small team underrated underdogs finishing the race in running order there is success in that so shoutout to those guys after todays race I like to see it.
The number 20 might as well be known as the Wrecking Bell. Can he pass anyone without putting the bumper to them. Ty Gibbs got moved by The Wrecking Bell. His eyes must be dusty from all that “Dirt Racing”
usually the following car is responsible for not hitting the car in front, even if they are taking a weird line, you dont see every other driver driving through people that are off line trying to make their own passes
I love this track and I enjoyed this race It was mostly clean and not chaotic. I mean you don't need chaos to make a race good don't need 50+ lead changes to make it better I mean Byron has the best car even Bell did to if one of those two won they deserve it. As far as how much the field spread its normal on a road course the same thing happens to the Charlotte Roval, Sonoma and other road courses I wouldn't be shocked if the Chicago street course race will be the same way if it doesn't rain there this year. And let's not forget IMSA, INDY CAR, TRANS AM, and the V8 Super Cars spread out on road courses and street courses
A good race that played out naturally as every race should well besides ths stahe breaks which for especially for track longer than 1.5 miles makes no sense
I agree that they need to do something about the track limits. My first choice would be turtles but if they don’t want to do that, I’m sure they could put something out there that clearly defines the limits… maybe collapsing sponsor signs or posts. Also maybe around the hairpin before the long straight they could make a pass through zone around the outside. That way the penalty is not so detrimental
That's a fair rating I do think nascar should make the schedule a little bit better because I know there are some that has a good race and then the next one not so great. But I know nascar doesn't have the say where the want to put these tracks at well except for the ones that they own but they still have to come to a agreement with other track owners like SMI
I think Cup and Xfinity should just race at COTA only. I enjoyed the truck race this time around, however think the trucks need to go to Mid Ohio, maybe Sonoma, or go back to Canada as their road course per year.
I think it was 2 or 3 years ago I heard it said that with all the flash of Larson and Elliot, the driver expected to be the flag carrier for HMS would be Byron. I was a huge doubter. I am having huge questions about Logano. He had an 11th place finish but he is struggling. I give the race maybe 60%.
Moto GP has a "long lap penalty" for some infractions. Considering they also go to COTA, NASCAR could consider making that the penalty for cutting the esses
Though Eric would F1 be okay with NASCAR even temporarily changing things on the course or whoever that is in charge of those calls, being that it is first a F1 track.
I haven't seen anything to change my mind that NASCAR should have left out the stage cautions. I do approve of the track limits penalties. These are big, sturdy cars and they can just jump any curb that isn't tall enough to ruin the car.
Eric, I really appreciate all you do, however I have to put you on blast for this video. I don't expect you to cover every single thing that happened in a race, or be able to recall everything. But, your analysis of this race missed details or was straight up incorrect in almost every section you touched on. You completely omitted the fact that SVG was missing 1st gear for the 2nd half of the race and that is actually why he fell towards the back half of the pack. Chase Elliot would not "have been in the mix for a top 5" the dude ran somewhere around 10-15th the entire day. In fact on NSCAR's site it has him at an average running position of 13.8. As much as I like Kyle Larson, a similar story goes there too, he was not even close on running for a top 5 position on speed all day, he was barely cracking the top 10 with a very brief stint in the top 5 because of a good restart at the start of stage 3 before getting spun. Also, I can't really stress this enough, but what world do you live in where you don't believe it is up to the car behind to pass safely? It is universally excepted in every single form of motorsport since the beginning of time that it is up to the driver doing the passing to pass responsibily, and C Bell did not do that on 2 separate occasions. It, frankly, does not matter if Larson missed the apex by half a car width or if KB was taking a late apex. It is entirely on C Bell's shoulders for spinning both of them out. Blame, in no world should be put 50/50 on both Kyle's. It's also a little disheartening to see that you didn't even touch on the numerous drivers that literally fell over from exhaustion. Corey Lajoie literally collapsed and the lower half of his body seized up. That level of exhaustion, coming from notably fit drivers like Cindric and Lajoie, shows how difficult and grueling this sport can be. Again, I really appreciate the content you put out and I think you do a lot of great things for the sport, but this "analysis" just bugged me from the inaccuracies and omissions of pretty serious events in the race. Edit: spelling mistakes
NOTE: I forgot to mention that SVG lost 1st gear in the final stage, and according to his Twitter had some other issues with his dash early on.
ALSO: Justin Haley's 17th place finish has been disqualified. According to NASCAR, the No. 51 failed to meet minimum weight.
Oh no it was such a great run for the 51 team today
“SVG gets runner up in Xfinity…wait. Ok, Hayley gets a decent run! Wait…”
Feels like no one is allowed to have a good run
Boooooo
Nobody who would have made a gain in points!@@SquidofBaconator
Oh no stupid
Clint Bowyer and Mike Joy’s reactions to Kevin Harvick saying “Kerfuffle” was the best part of the race 😂
Scripted like a soap opera lol
Harvick definitely said a less censored version of that and Mike Joy and Bowyer covered it up lol
Personally, I thought it made them look ignorant
I know a lot of people have been poking fun at Bell for looking like he was about to cry. But I thought he handled it very well. Looked Busch in the eyes the entire time, let him vent, attempted to shake his hand, and moved forward. Respect.
I agree. The look on his face is a natural reaction for some people who are not used to a confrontation that heated. As with anything, he'll develop composure with experiences like that. But he handled it like a pro. He let Kyle talk. He didn't try to justify anything because he probably felt he was wrong and it wasn't the right time for that. And he acknowledged when Kyle said there's going to be payback. That part is out of his hands now anyway, so there's no point in debating it. That's about as good as he could have handled that particular situation.
I never liked Bell very much, but after watching him the last yearish, I started coming around. He's a future champion and a very well rounded racer
@@ravagingwolverine666I think they'll hash it out over a drink, but it was exciting to watch an angry Kyle Busch's onboard on the nascar app as he made his way back through the field.
Being a Kyle Busch fan of late has felt like being a Fernando Alonso fan
C Bell is a championship waiting to happen. Appreciate that he lets his driving speak for him.
@@chadzeiders8293 Christopher Bell has made it in the final four 2 years in a row. Wonder if it can be 3 and even win the championship?
OH WE GOT A KERFLUFFLE
as soon as he said it i thought "that had to have been the word of the week"
Ken squires word 30 40 years ago
"Quite the WHAT!?" -Mike Joy (2024)
“Say kerfuffle again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say kerfuffle one more Goddamn time!” -
Jules Winnfield
Needs to be Harvicks thing. Get him a t-shirt
William Byron has been the first driver to win multiple races every season of the NextGen era, first driver to do it 3 straight years since peak Jeff Gordon
He is the leader for most next generation wins also!
he a hack too
Kid is looking like Jeff in his driving.
@@BeautifulAngelBlossom Lay off the salt, it's bad for you
Hamlin ha Byron has bowman has
Shane vanGisbergen was also slowed down by losing 1st gear in his transmission.
Came to add this - that’s a huge overlook on his finish. 1st gear gets used a lot here.
@@prestongaines2301 And hurts how quick he could get out of his pit. After his last stop he rejoined in 24th, and was still able to work his way up to 21st.
here we have the yearly Christopher Bell making a late charge but coming up short by a lap
He ran half the field off the track
To me, if Gibbs would have given way sooner, this may have been a more exciting finish.
As is tradition. At least he got the stage.
If you told me after Atlanta that bubbas best finish of the next 4 races would come at fucking *cota* I'd thought you'd need to be checked into a mental hospital.
He's definitely had some appalling luck recently, so days like this are a welcome change of pace for the whole team and driver.
Nascars Al Sharpton
@@Dougie1969 🤣😂🤣
A lot of bad pit stops, some bad pit strategy, and then getting caught up in other people's incidents had really set him back before COTA. And then I don't know what the hell his crew chief was thinking when Bubba was in 3rd in his qualifying group and was pretty safe at getting through to round 2 with only a couple other cars back on the track trying again. His crew chief sent him back out on the track, and they put another lap on their tires which pretty much was going to put him in the back of the final round of qualifying. Had that not happened, he would have most likely been further up in qualifying and have completely avoided getting wrecked by Lajoie/Truex on the very first lap. Unless there's other info I'm unaware of, I really question the decision making of his crew chief lately.
@@jek4837bootie barker takes a lot of risks as a crew chief, sometimes it really pays off and sometimes it loses him spots
6 Cup races, 5 Xfinity races, 5 Truck races (9 Cup races if counting Clash & Duels)
0 Wins by Ford
This needs to get turned around FAST
Idk it always feels like whenever ford wins the championship NASCAR seems to make some change. lol im just a ford fan and completely made this conspiracy theory up
@@MegaBroski12fords by in large have been a non factor in nascar the past 3 season, yes they’ve won the past few championships, but that is not a reflection of the season as a whole, that is the result of a flukey playoff system. Where the 20th place points driver can somehow win the whole thing if they get hot the last 3 races. Joey logano and Blaney have been the only two competitive fords for the past 3 years, and their entire seasons were mediocre besides the last 3-4 races.
The Playoffs is where they shine
As someone who has worked in the industry I can tell you it’s concerning.
IDK, you can’t just look at wins exclusively. The Fords look to be the fastest at the SuperSpeedways, but there are lot of “luck” involved in those. Outside of that, in all reality, there are really only 3-4 Ford drivers that are truly expected to be Win contenders week in and week out (but also don’t have great road-course history) in Blaney, Logano, and Beuscher (sorry, I don’t include Keslowski in this group because, while he runs up front, he hasn’t really shown that he can put together an entire race-winning race over the past 3+ years). I don’t think anyone is considering Cindric, SHR, or RWR to be win contenders at this point. Toyota has 4-5 (and probably soon to be 6 once Gibbs breaks through) drivers who, week in and week out. Really the only guys not on that like are the LMC cars. And Chevy has half a dozen drivers on the “expected to be in contention” list every week. 3/4 HMS cars, 1-2 Trackhouse cars, an RCR car, and if it’s a road course, 2 Kaulig cars (SVG and AJ). So, just sheer quality numbers wise, the Fords are lagging a bit.
And, let’s be real, Blaney was an inch short at Atlanta and ran top 5 at Vegas. The Fords were fastest at Daytona, but got wrecked late. Blaney and Logano ran 3-4 in the Clash (and Blaney started in the back, so he definitely had speed).
So, I think it’s more just a matter of time. Outside of road courses, Ford has been fast. We’ve been saying Ford has been off the last 2 years, and yet they’re the only ones to win a championship in the “Next Gen” era, so they find speed when it matters.
My guy Alex Bowman earns back-to-back top 5 finishes for the first time since Kansas and Texas in the Fall of 2020, more than 100 races ago!
Yep that’s “your guy”
And my guy
Damn it been that long we’ll go bowman I’ll see you this weekend Brutha 48strong
Byron is super clutch. I became a fan of his after he won the Xfinity championship by riding the wall at the end. He just finds a way to win
HE STARTED ON A COMPUTER
@@kingsally2864"Get a job and not one at McDonald’s."
"I’m living the high life and you’re probably living in your trailer at Darlington"
"Go ahead and be pissed off because I don't care, my dad's making the big money and we go to any sporting event we want to."
"I’ll be driving a real car one day and you’ll be watching me on your crappy TV that barely has signal."
- William Byron, 2011, Age 13
@@mattlampeso he talked the talk and walked the walk…
I became a fan in 2016 when he drove for KBM and had one of the most dominant rookie performances ever. He should've won the championship that year but a blown motor in Phoenix fucked him over
Hendricks aka soy boys won again. Sad for Nascar they are hating this
That incident with Busch was on Bell, in my view. Why, in the middle of the race, is he sending it into the corner when there's a battle in front. Be more patient. Kyle wasn't even at the apex. As mentioned, he was behind Bell when he spun out Larson so I think Kyle was standing up for the veterans and just warning him to be smarter. As mentioned, Bell raced for Busch so Kyle has respect for him but he just expects better..
I think SVG lost 1st gear during the race. May be why he fell back.
Good point I forgot to mention.
Agreed, and it’s a shame he got a 30sec penalty in the Xfinity race.
He had a speeding penalty, had kinda gotten back to where he was before that and then lost first geat, yet still managed 20th. It would have been interesting to see if he had anything for those other guys... maybe next time, which will probably be Sonoma.
😢😢😢😢😅😅😅😅 whatever
@@nomadman5288He Won't Do Sonoma In Cup
imagine how _nice_ it would’ve been if this race was 69 laps and gave bell one more opportunity at byron…
…actually i take that back… bell might’ve wrecked yet another driver if this happened 💀
He was just so much faster than everyone! They just need to speed up! Just kidding. 👍
It was awesome watching them two drive the shit outta those cars in the last laps. They were sending!
If both Byron and bell wrecked going for the lead. Assuming a caution would’ve come out. Gibbs and bowman would’ve been batting it out for the lead.
@@noahmielke2148and no one one wants to watch two mediocre drivers fight for a win…
@@jaredchampagne2752 and if both Gibbs and bowman were to wreck. Tyler Reddick would most likely be our winner.
The Xfinity and truck race were a lot more exciting then the cup race. That being said congratulations to William Byron he is definitely a class act.
You got that right
Although I have an affinity for road course racing, I have enjoyed NASCAR for decades. That said, todays race demonstrated why I really do favor road
racing. The venue has many more places for action and was a really a joy to watch. It is dependent on knowledgeable coverage and announcers. They did a good job today. Thumbs up!
I really like Busch being the superstar to confront Bell. As a Larson fan, it's pretty cool. I wish Larson would defend himself more.
Something else to note about SVG today was a lack of 1st gear for most of the race unfortunately...
But yeah, if I'm in a Ford this season, I'm going to be sweating. They've qualified pretty well for most of the races this season, but the consistency during the race has been all over the place for Ford drivers... Hopefully they get things sorted out before the year ends.
I think it's a Ford Equipment issue. Remember when Michael McDowell had electrical issues
3 years in a row for William Byron being first to 2 wins
Woah
Byron said "hold my beer" after you moved him down your power rankings last week. All around great weekend for the 24.
Hendricks aka soy boys won again. Sad for Nascar they dont like the outcome
Imagine if Ty didn’t hold up his teammate that lap, Bell could’ve made it interesting
Happens everytime
Ty Gibbs screwing over a teammate? *shocked Pikachu face*
Bell ran half the field off the track, he should a done it to baby Gibbs too
NOT Ty's place to move over for C. Bell, it was Ty's job, at the end of the race, to get his best finish possible. And really? Seems to me Bell doesn't limit his "screwing over" other drivers to just to JGR - he does that to any driver that he just seems to make rookie or not so rookie driving mistakes with. Don't be fooled by his sweet innocent look, it isn't innocent at all.
@@karenhowe3484 It was obvious he was faster and was going to pass Ty, no use in not letting him pass. Just costing both of them time
I think what set the course of the race was something a lot of people didn’t put into question: The cloud cover. I’d believe if the cloud cover wasn’t there, it would’ve been a lot more challenging for Byron to be that dominant.
Why? I have no alternative, so I'm curious how cloud cover changes anything.
Sure sure
Cloud cover
That's how he won .
Lmfao
@MayBeSomething COTA this year was much cooler than last year's race. It was also very windy at times today. I want to say that he's referring that with colder temperatures, tires usually have more grip(?)
@@MayBeSomethingTemperature obviously!!
@@Dougie1969learn to read. Lmfao
I chose William Byron because I was a Gordon fan, I grew to like William Byron because he was an underdog, and now I love William Byron because he is one of the best.
NPC comment
@@trent7736 ?
Larson
Too bad he's got the personality of celery
@@ABomB42o
That's hilarious dude. Celery. LMAO
I'll have to remember that one.
Actually a lot of them now days seem to.
Bell, Larson, Byron, etc.
FYI
I'm a Larson fan to be clear.
People talk about Byron too much. His team is actually insane. They said during the broadcast that Fugle brought a car so good, they didn’t make 1 single adjustment during the race. That team also has the best pit crew in the sport. Byron is good but a lot of drivers would look amazing with that situation.
Lot of hendrick fans are quick to suck off the drivers. As if they aren't usually in some of the fastest cars on track every week. You're right the team knocked it out of the park on all fronts.
Very good point. It seems that's always the HMS style though. Either they unload as the clear favorite and never have to even touch the car, or they run 10th all day. No matter how you look at it, the team deserve way more praise than they are getting.
As my Dad would say, it was a good race to take a nap.
Ty gibbs 2024 stats:
5 Top10s - 1st
3 Top5s - T-1st
Laps Lead - 3rd
Avrg Finish - 1st
2nd in Cup points behind JGR teammate MTJ.
STRONG START.
Ty Gibbs has not won a race in the Cup Series. Though I know he finished 3rd two different times this year. Best finish in his Cup Series career so far.
@@bighand15301st as in highest avg finish
Also, not to mention, Ford has not even won an Xfinity or truck race yet
Agreed. I do like the stop and go better as a punishment for cutting the corner. In other racing formats, they get a few seconds added to their total. That obviously won’t fly with Nascar style but the pass through feels overkill.
Bell practically parked trying to avoid Busch and he took the corner the way it’s meant to be taken. Busch definitely had a part to play in that.
Bell was 10 car lengths back and would not have made the corner of the 8 car wasn’t there to stop him.
@@jlmorton77 100% disagree. Bell apexed the corner exactly like he should have. Busch took a really wide arc and came back down. Racing incident but it’s not all on Bell.
@@ASKid24 KB had a car under him entering the turn, he had to take a wis arc. Even with that, he still gave Bell room. Bell came in too hot, wheel hopped, jumped the curb and hit the 8. If the 8 isn’t there, the 20 spins.
@@ASKid24umm other drivers managed to not run over the car in front of them even when going wide...no this was bell not having control of his car and got in hot .. period...
Why did they bring back stage cautions for the road courses?
because road course races didnt go as expected regarding "close finishes" etc. so they reverted. some ideas work, some dont.
@@AfterX1 You mean more Nascar race manipulation and that is why Nascar reverted. Stage cautions do not work, ever.
Rowdy Busch vs the team that threw him under the bus after 2022, also good to see his heated side
JGR didn't throw Busch under the bus. Kyle walked away. As simple as that
@@daniellowry660It was all about Ty Gibbs
@@daniellowry660there's two sides to every story. They couldn't come to a deal and eventually JGR decided to move on even when Kyle stated he'd drive for less money. It was all about Ty.
@daniellowry660 hi kyle busch fan here jgr threw him away they didnt try to find him a sponsor outside the obviously faulty attempt to get oracle onboard and even though kyle said he would drive for less money gibbs wanted a way cheeper grandson behind the wheel
@@daniellowry660they offered him hilariously low money and acted like they couldn’t find a sponsor for one of nascars biggest stars…he just wanted the ride for his grandson…cmon now.
SVG lost first gear can’t help but wonder if he could have finished better than 21st
If that didn’t happen he would’ve had a chance to win!
Regarding track limits Similar to MotoGP they can require driver to follow the long lap rule if they cut the esses section. They follow the “offline route” in the Stadium section of the track and rejoin maybe lose 5 seconds
KERFLUFFE now added to my vocabulary
First NASCAR race in person, and my favorite driver wins
Not fair lol took me almost 100 races to see Gordon win... congratulations!
@@davids5006 Grew up a Gordon fan, he won the FIRST 5 races i went to! lol
@@davids5006you must’ve gotten into it late in Gordon’s career, I swear Gordon won EVERY single race I went to by a landslide, it was some of the best days of my life to see him dominate in person. He truly was a force to be reckoned with.
My very favorite NASCAR was at Phoenix in 1990 and my hero driver Dale Earnhardt won…! Then years later i took my new bride to Sonoma and my other driver hero Jeff Gordon won ….! Both were awesome…! 😎🏁🏁
@@jaredchampagne2752 I got into watching Nascar probably in late 80s but yeah didn't attend any races until I got back state side in 2001 and then I wore a camper out going to a bunch of them until finally seeing him win in Martinsville.. also got to see him win his last one there too
Worth noting that Ross was the only driver to race past Byron for the lead and hold it for awhile
Eric hates Ross. He will never point that out. He didn’t even have him in the top 10 for most of the year despite leading every race.
Even though the race as a whole was kind of mid, I still very much stand by that this track is still my favorite road course the cup series has ever raced on and the greatest track to ever be associated with F1.
Also, I can’t complain when I see Byron win a race. (:
I think Watkins Glen is the best road course! I would also put Sonoma ahead of COTA, and I don't dislike COTA!
It was pretty boring man
@@jaredchampagne2752
Agreed
Boring AF
The Glen by far is the best road course.
Eric I love your channel. Thank you for all the hard work. I am more than a little jealous at the job you have, well the going to races meeting drivers part. Your hard work and dedication has paid off
Did anyone else notice when Boywer pointed out Gragson spinning and FOX didn't get a camera on it???
They did show the spin. He turned it around and continued
I think what’s even more annoying about the course cutting penalty is that the s is the only corners that they can’t cut. There’s corners that they are putting all tires pass the curb even getting in the grass, but no penalty. Very inconsistent. There’s no reason for them to say you can’t cut one corner but you can cut another
I agree. They should not be allowed to put the outside wheels over the curb in any corner. At most older tracks, there is grass past the curbing, so if you put two wheels off, you're going for a ride and will lose a lot of track position.
There is a reason. If they were to put grass or curbing where it's not legal to run in the S's, when a car gets shoved down there, they'd be like Dukes of Hazard, getting 10 feet of air and/or taking out multiple cars. They don't just have the rule for no reason. The other turns it's real hard to get shoved down into anyways plus if they did, it probably wouldn't wipe out many other cars, just put a bunch of grass on the track, but like I said we never really see anyone get put there so it's not an issue. I don't like it either. Not sure what the fix would be. I wouldn't mind seeing them get rid of the S's. There's no passing there anyways.
My favorite part of track limits this weekend was when Parker Kligerman hung a right and cut the entire first part of the esses, gained position and time and nascar just pretended it didn’t happen
Eric Easton is my favorite NASCAR RUclipsr to listen to
Another thing with SVG today is he ended up losing 1st gear causing him problems also with it being needed to help get off some of the slower corners.
Watkins Glen has added two more sets of progressively higher curbing after turn 1 ( where the cars have historically gone wayyyyyy wide). It’s now going to be a “hey go through there if you want but good luck coming out without damage”. I think something like this through the esses at COTA would be a good idea. The whole “cutting track limits” thing is just very grating after a while.
Keep up the good work Nascar! Find myself looking forward to turning on the races!
Ford just like last year has some catching up to do
They get to their tracks like Michigan and hopefully they will dominate. I like it when more than 5 people win in a season.
Boy, you ain't kidding. Another thing I noticed with all three series at Cota, Ford only seems to have Layne Riggs and Deegan in the Driver pipeline. May be hard to find a decent replacement for Burton in the 21.
No kidding and I’m not a vehicle manufacturer brand guy. My team races Fords for now …….
@@DarkOcean2020 Herbst, Majeski, Gilliland:
@@DarkOcean2020Herbst:
It’s on Bell, it’s always the car behind responsibility to avoid the car ahead.
That was AWESOME. Tire wear and pit crews along with vehicle and driver endurance were all major factors. I LOVE ROAD COURSE RACING BABY!
I felt like after the leaders pulled away in all three stages. They were practically impossible to touch. I wish the race was a little more closer. I wish the racing Today looked more like the racing from 2020 where it was three wide going for the win.
But at the end of the day. I am happy that William Byron won. I’m just wishing that the racing would’ve been a bit closer than it was today.
I think Busch shares more of the blame than Bell, and Bell is a pretty clean racer
Thank you for shouting out Bubba, insane how he got into the Top 15 after everything and much improved road racer!
Ty Gibbs is so so close. I don't exactly have a favorite driver. When I first started watching Nascar it was Kyle Petty. But since then I haven't really had a favorite. So this goes unbiased but I hope he gets a win soon. I hope he matures from his xfinity days and becomes the next NASCAR prodigy
He already has matured since his xfinity days. He drove all last season with respect for his fellow cup drivers, garnering their respect for his efforts while his race craft improved.
@@karenhowe3484he actually got mad at aj allmendinger during the xfinity race at COTA!
They use a "penalty box" on track in the DTM that works pretty well.
Or a 3 strikes then pass through.
Joey Logano started outside the top 30 and passed around 20-23 cars to finish P11.
Seems like the last few years Joey Logano has been the most consistently successful Ford driver in the Cup Series.
Eeehhhh i mean arguably buescher or blaney do it better
@@hrtvfan2870Ryan Blaney won the championship last year and is finishing much better then logano this year lol
Hes been captain below mediocrity this year, I think thats his best finish lol
a few things 1. Nascar will most likely adjust things to fix the course cutting 2. SVG's bad cup finish has more to do with him losing first gear in the last 30 laps 3. I hope Nascar imposes track limits on turn 8 to keep drivers from driving in the dirt to turn a bit better but also kicking that dirt up onto the track
Congrats to Byron and Bowman. My 9 team is still 3rd-4th best HMS team. Yippee
At the race today, they were advertising ticket renewals for next year. Safe to say NASCAR will be at COTA in 2025
Sadly I didn’t get to watch this race cause it was not airing on tv for me but looked like a good race from what I have seen on social media
Breaking news! It was not a good race for the Cup Series.
@@jeremiegranger7285 probably not road courses are hard to enjoy now a days
@@MCHATTENBROS78Tbf cota is the best rc in the cup series right now the Roval is also good but besides that it’s not that good
i get that cutting is cutting, but man, it's not like it was intentional on chase's part or gave him any advantage. there has to be something better than a drive through when it clearly wasn't intentional nor gave him any advantage whatsoever. if he had spun the car out and slid through there would it still have been a penalty?
NASCAR makes up rules as they go, and it really ruins the experience for everyone, its why the sport has fallen off. They consistently make the race about them, instead of letting the drivers duke it out. Its infuriating.
@@jaredchampagne2752 shut up the rule has been in place for awhile...you clowns cry about the same thing every week
I think all things considered Logano had a pretty good race. It wasn't mentioned but he started 35th for cutting the course on his qualifying lap. With no extra cautions to help him besides the stage breaks, he basically drove his way to 11th from 35th. Had he qualified I could definitely see him somewhere in the top 10 at the end
Never given up on those Chevys...Congrats to Willie B and Hendrick Motorsports.
Year after year, isn't it always Hendrick vs Gibbs?
Sorry, I forgot who won the championship last year... what sticker is on the front of that driver's car?
Almost as if all these changes that NASCAR has made to "save teams money" has only made it so the mega teams have more of an advantage.
@Attix_Niche the last TWO.. and I'm a Chevy guy. 😂
This is what they need on track limits. If you do a pass through it'd void if you don't at the end of the race it's 5 spots from finish order.
Watching this while updating my points system from last weeks’ Bristol race. I decided during the off season to create my own points system and keep track throughout the year to see how it plays out. (FYI, Byron hasn’t lost the points lead since his 500 win in my points, but that should balance out after the Coke 600.)
I agree with you Eric, Kyle Busch was not aware of who was around him and he made the mistake of grabbing the apex too late. B-NASCAR FAN-Gardner
It's so bitter sweet when you see a guy mounting a charge late, but you do the math and can see that he will be just short :(
If it’s bell, he will almost certainly come up 1 lap short to a HMS driver.
Hey Eric what happened to the paint scheme video
I think they should use the same rules as the do as the roval, just pull over or stop if you cut the corner. This way good racers are not heavily penalized for minor infractions. The only thing I really dislike about road courses is the gaps between the drivers which makes it boring to watch since the field is so spread out. They need a way to keep drivers closer so there is more battles for positions.
Last season Byron was excellent, happy to see him start strong this season
You are so right on the whole race! As for Busch, he always blames someone else.
Gonna be a Hendrick vs Gibbs year, will be interesting to see how next week goes. But a really strong start for both teams.
Not a bunch to say about the race, except drivers getting penalized for cutting the course.
Sausage Curbs are simply not an option for COTA. NASCAR shouldnt ask for temporary curbs in my opinion, and permanent ones are terrible for GT cars, and Formula Cars which are much stricter with track limits anyways.
Been awhile since we have seen that #66 MBM Motorsports Ford Mustang last go Cup racing with none other than the legendary Timmy Hill. Who actually managed to finish the race running which is an accomplishment in its own finishing in 37th ahead of Daniel Hemric, and Michael McDowell so there is something to be said for that hey they didn’t finish in dead last so that’s something. Good to see a small team with a Chevy or a Ford American company American manufacturing car way better than Toyota and a guy I like in Timmy Hill actually finish the race and at the end have something to be proud of taking away from that grind of a road course race. Just thought I’d give a shout out to that #66 MBM Motorsports Ford Mustang and Timmy Hill for some success after that Cup race today I like to support the small team underrated underdogs finishing the race in running order there is success in that so shoutout to those guys after todays race I like to see it.
What's your opinion on Marco Andretti losing his rare end housing from his truck at COTA?
The number 20 might as well be known as the Wrecking Bell. Can he pass anyone without putting the bumper to them. Ty Gibbs got moved by The Wrecking Bell. His eyes must be dusty from all that “Dirt Racing”
It's the 24. Car Gods. He isn't even steering. Its the car.
I'm calling it since the off-season, this is Byron's year
Bell dive bombed a wide Busch, it was a little bit more bells fault
It's the line. Wide equals straight out faster exit. Wrong turn to pass on or cut under drift up on exit. And it is KFB your former employer.
If you look you can see Bell hits the brakes but Busch came down on him so it was gonna happen either way
@@sluggotinfantryman yes
Good to see the Chevys right the ship today, but shoutout to Ty Gibbs. He's looking great and I agree that a W is coming.
usually the following car is responsible for not hitting the car in front, even if they are taking a weird line, you dont see every other driver driving through people that are off line trying to make their own passes
I love this track and I enjoyed this race It was mostly clean and not chaotic. I mean you don't need chaos to make a race good don't need 50+ lead changes to make it better I mean Byron has the best car even Bell did to if one of those two won they deserve it. As far as how much the field spread its normal on a road course the same thing happens to the Charlotte Roval, Sonoma and other road courses I wouldn't be shocked if the Chicago street course race will be the same way if it doesn't rain there this year. And let's not forget IMSA, INDY CAR, TRANS AM, and the V8 Super Cars spread out on road courses and street courses
A good race that played out naturally as every race should well besides ths stahe breaks which for especially for track longer than 1.5 miles makes no sense
I agree that they need to do something about the track limits. My first choice would be turtles but if they don’t want to do that, I’m sure they could put something out there that clearly defines the limits… maybe collapsing sponsor signs or posts. Also maybe around the hairpin before the long straight they could make a pass through zone around the outside. That way the penalty is not so detrimental
That's a fair rating I do think nascar should make the schedule a little bit better because I know there are some that has a good race and then the next one not so great. But I know nascar doesn't have the say where the want to put these tracks at well except for the ones that they own but they still have to come to a agreement with other track owners like SMI
COTA is one of my favorites as well.
I think Cup and Xfinity should just race at COTA only. I enjoyed the truck race this time around, however think the trucks need to go to Mid Ohio, maybe Sonoma, or go back to Canada as their road course per year.
I think it was 2 or 3 years ago I heard it said that with all the flash of Larson and Elliot, the driver expected to be the flag carrier for HMS would be Byron. I was a huge doubter. I am having huge questions about Logano. He had an 11th place finish but he is struggling. I give the race maybe 60%.
Moto GP has a "long lap penalty" for some infractions. Considering they also go to COTA, NASCAR could consider making that the penalty for cutting the esses
Shoutout to SVG for getting P2 at cota!! ‼️
SVG was disqualified after that
@@elmerbonilla2872dumbest rule ever, if you get pushed outside track limits from hard racing, your race is over? Incompetent nascar.
@@jaredchampagne2752 I didn’t even know he got disqualified
Though Eric would F1 be okay with NASCAR even temporarily changing things on the course or whoever that is in charge of those calls, being that it is first a F1 track.
Maybe they should run the same tire compound they ran at Bristol at the Road courses. Actually have some tire falloff
COTA is one of the best tracks Nascar goes to! Beautiful track.
It was a decent cota race then last years demolition derby so yeah I give it 65 myself on groovy gauge.
What happened with Chase getting spun near McDowell there towards the end? They never showed what happened.
Pass through penalties were ridiculous.
I haven't seen anything to change my mind that NASCAR should have left out the stage cautions. I do approve of the track limits penalties. These are big, sturdy cars and they can just jump any curb that isn't tall enough to ruin the car.
Christopher Bell does not like people named kyle lol
I too would dislike drivers that outdrove me every week.
He should spin out Kyle Petty on the interstate just to make that point clear.
I don't blame him😂
Eric, I really appreciate all you do, however I have to put you on blast for this video. I don't expect you to cover every single thing that happened in a race, or be able to recall everything. But, your analysis of this race missed details or was straight up incorrect in almost every section you touched on. You completely omitted the fact that SVG was missing 1st gear for the 2nd half of the race and that is actually why he fell towards the back half of the pack. Chase Elliot would not "have been in the mix for a top 5" the dude ran somewhere around 10-15th the entire day. In fact on NSCAR's site it has him at an average running position of 13.8. As much as I like Kyle Larson, a similar story goes there too, he was not even close on running for a top 5 position on speed all day, he was barely cracking the top 10 with a very brief stint in the top 5 because of a good restart at the start of stage 3 before getting spun.
Also, I can't really stress this enough, but what world do you live in where you don't believe it is up to the car behind to pass safely? It is universally excepted in every single form of motorsport since the beginning of time that it is up to the driver doing the passing to pass responsibily, and C Bell did not do that on 2 separate occasions. It, frankly, does not matter if Larson missed the apex by half a car width or if KB was taking a late apex. It is entirely on C Bell's shoulders for spinning both of them out. Blame, in no world should be put 50/50 on both Kyle's.
It's also a little disheartening to see that you didn't even touch on the numerous drivers that literally fell over from exhaustion. Corey Lajoie literally collapsed and the lower half of his body seized up. That level of exhaustion, coming from notably fit drivers like Cindric and Lajoie, shows how difficult and grueling this sport can be.
Again, I really appreciate the content you put out and I think you do a lot of great things for the sport, but this "analysis" just bugged me from the inaccuracies and omissions of pretty serious events in the race.
Edit: spelling mistakes
Jeff Gordon. Touches the car. Whispers Great White Buffalo.