Without one shadow of a doubt, the drama and intensity of Bump Day for the Indianapolis 500 mile race came back in a way yesterday like many didn’t think would. The new format including the Last Row Shootout for the final row had a great look to it on paper, but many, including myself, wanted to see how the on track look would be. My gosh did it deliver in ways that were not imagined. The Last Row Shootout is PURE GOLD. 

  For ones that didnt get to see it….

The new format was to be a one shot, 4 laps, leave it all on the track style shootout, which raised my eyebrows from here to the moon. You had drivers the likes of Sage Karam, Max Chilton, Kyle Kaiser, Patricio O’Ward along with James Hinchcliffe and 2 time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso. The latter 2 drivers had everyone anxious. James Hinchcliffe in my opinion was a surefire lock, and I had the feeling Fernando Alonso would be as well. When the NBCSN team reported on the broadcast that a Penske setup, along with Andretti Autosport suspension components were on Alonso’s McLaren entry I said to myself he definitely should be okay, after the appearance of the Carlin Racing technical alliance was a massive failure. When Alonso laid a 4 lap average down of 227.35 down, comparing it to Hinch’s average of 227.5..natural thought is to be he’s good. Now here comes Sage Karam……

  After he threw down a 227.7 average…..Indy went on edge wondering if Alonso would get bumped or not.  O’Ward and his 4 lap average wasn’t going to cut it only being a 226.8.  In the old biblical terms of David vs.Goliath, we were getting that very setup. Juncos Racing and Kyle Kaiser were on deck. They had rebuilt their car in 1 day after Kaiser crashed and destroyed it. Many thought that after they had struggled to get up to speed, only topping 225 before the crash, they were not gonna make it. Kaiser and Ricardo Juncos then proceeded to have the greatest ” hold my beer” moment that I can remember in a while at Indianapolis. 4 laps later, he had an average of 227.37, besting the world powerhouse of McLaren by .020 mph. The little engine that could took down the high speed bullet train at Indy.  Later, in what I consider an admirable move by Fernando Alonso, he rejected an offer from McLaren to have a ride bought so he could drive after the team failed him in epic proportions. In his words, ” Its not fair to take another persons seat that has EARNED their spot in the race.”  From a driver, that’s called keeping pure class in an embarrassing situation. McLaren didn’t have their stuff together this time for Indy, unlike 2017 when the alliance with Andretti paid off for them until the engine failure occurred. So McLaren, considering you have a Team Principal in the likes of Gil DeFerran in your corner, id utilize him a million times more that it appears you did and have your stuff better in line and better alliances formed before you roll out the Orange and Blue #66 again so you save your driver a lot of embarrassment. 

Several times over my driving career, many times one specific question has been asked of me….

“Do you ever get nervous?”

99.8% of the time, the answer is mostly a one word answer:  ” NOPE”.  Well, here’s the real truth…

The late Ayrton Senna was quoted once as saying, ” The helmet hides unfathomable emotions”. He is absolutely spot on. When you cinch down that helmet strap, and latch the HANS clips on, its time to go to war. Many emotions do hit, and I would be a total fool to say nerves don’t hit a driver at some point. They would be telling a total lie if the said so. Nerves hit drivers at different times. For me personally, nerves strike me at only one point. That point is when I get the helmet latched and I am alone in my thoughts. It gets magnified more when I am in the car, alone in my thoughts with nobody around, the National Anthem is playing loudly, and I am anticipating the command to start engines. The very first big event I ran in back in 2010, the field went to the frontstretch, and shut the engines off. We all stood beside our cars, paid respects to our country, then proceeded to climb back aboard our chariots. That race imparticular, waiting on the command felt like an hour, while they did driver intros. In that specific moment, that was the first and only time in my career that I have been nauseated in a car like that. All from pure nerves. But anyone that has had their foot in a throttle on a racetrack will tell you, when you hit that start switch and the 650 man choir under the hood starts to sing..the butterflies go “adaios”. Anytime the track is taken on, you truthfully are putting your life on the line. Hence the reason I say, if a driver tells you he or she doesnt have some nerves….he or she is lying to you. Point Blank. Because you truthfully face danger everytime. 

Plans are being made to expand the show to YouTube live. You’ll not only be able to hear CRN, but also watch the show being aired from the broadcast studios!

How can you help? Hit this link: CRN on YouTube , and then hit the Subscribe button. Tell your friends! The more subscribers we can gather, the faster we can get rolling and on-screen. Our goal is 1K+ Subscribers. 

   Many people in this world don’t have a clue how hectic the life of a driver that races on a weekly basis. Whether it be on dirt, on the 1/4 mile, or on the asphalt, life can be extremely straining. Many things come with the territory. Life for me on the dirt is physically draining, emotionally taxing, but my gosh is it fun.

   Being behind the wheel is an adrenaline rush that many cant comprehend.. The way I describe it is you’re in your own little world with 700 horses, 24 enemies that want to defeat you, and your thoughts. Sometimes you have to react without thinking. Case-in point, lets rewind back to 2013……..

  I was in competition that night at Talladega Short Track, competing in the Thunder division. That night, we had a 16 car field. Dad and I had worked on the car hard that day, making hardcore setup changes to search for any speed we could find. When we unloaded, we were better, but not great. Made one simple change to the rear end geometry and it was like we were shot out of a cannon in the qualifying race. Started p2, and went to the lead. I stayed in the middle groove for the first 4 laps, because that night that was where the track was the fastest. With 2 laps to go, I was the recipient of a “bonzai” move. The second place car dove into turn 3 too hard, washed up, and slammed me in the left front. My initial thought was we were done that night because the suspension components were probably destroyed. I was wrong.

  The extent of the damage was only a cut LF Tire, and a bent wheel. I had an identical spare to it. We threw it on, and went into head hunting mode. Most of my family and fans had left due to them thinking we were done. When time for the main event rolled up, I was set to start last in p16, due to being the only car to have to retire in the heat race. The competitors in front of me knew I was extremely fast that night, and I told them all to don’t hold me up because I was coming through. After the green flag flew, I had worked my way to 10th by the exit of turn 2. Little did I know CHAOS was about to ensue……

  Competitors at the front of the field got together, and blocked the whole track. I was carrying so much speed and didn’t know what was happening…until I saw a dayglow orange number 80 on the side of one of the cars. All within the timespan of about .5 of a second, I had to react. My reaction was to throw the car sideways, because if I didn’t do that, I very well could have left Talladega in a helicopter headed to the hospital. A Natural “React without thinking” move. I went underneath another car, did 2 360 degree spins, and it was over. The good lord was watching out for me that night. 

  I thought the car was history. But it wasn’t. Between me, dad, and my grandpa along with about 200 man hours, we fixed it. It gave us a sense of pride like we never had, because we re-built a destroyed car, and it was better than it was. We won a race 3 weeks later…..that’s the definition of VINDICATION.

(I am in between the car against the wall and the blue car with orange numbers)

 With the upcoming Geico 500 weekend at Talladega Superspeedway approaching us, this will be my 30th consecutive year attending events there. Yes, I said 30. I attended my first race there in July of 1989. Terry Labonte won that event. Looking at it, its been an absolute thrill to go there for all these years. I have personally watched that place evolve into a motorsports mecca.

I can remember the old awning that used to be over the tri oval lower level stands, and people used to fight over seats in the shade. Shaded seats were a premium for those July races which felt like you were in Death Valley, CA at times because the heat was so extreme. Now with the first phase of Transformation Talladega nearing 100% completion, it still amazes me to steadily see that place continue to evolve into a motorsports palace.

I used to dream as a kid to be able to compete in a race on those historic high banks, and I’ve been very fortunate to turn laps there in a driving experience car to be able to feel what 33 degrees of fury feels like.

Beginning in 2017, I was able to start being a part of the team there. That was an unexpected blessing. Having a mentor for broadcasting, like Steve has been for me, has been a blessing in disguise. I never knew, nor imagined I’d enjoy radio and broadcasting work as much as I have. That led me to be a part of the PA team there.

Wherever that road leads from here on out, so be it, but no matter what, its a dream come true for a kid that grew up in Southern Talladega County that goes to races religiously there to be able to say hes a part of the team at a place he adores. From sitting in Turn 2 in a truck bed in July 1989, to the Control Tower in 2019, and all points around and in between, Ive seen races from all points imaginable at the track, and what a thrill it has been. I still get a thrill turning into the main entrance on Speedway Boulevard on a race weekend.

Until the good Lord says its time to come home, I’ll still walk through those gates at Talladega Superspeedway, two weekends every year.

Dear Jenna Fryer, 

As many years as you have written for AP covering motorsports, you should have better respect for someone that is as large of a figure in NASCAR as Darrell Waltrip.

In my own personal opinion, that opinion piece you wrote on him, basically begging FOX sports to make a change, was absolute trash. Everyone in their own respective field at some point runs their course out. Nobody is perfect in this world.

I am a rookie broadcaster and I make mistakes. Darrell is a man that is highly regarded and respected in the booth, and behind the wheel. Dave Moody of MRN was spot on for the rebuttal article about DW. 

All was pretty quiet about Darrell until that garbage article was written, and then, his hand was basically forced in my honest opinion. Heck, you recently have written an op-ed for of all news outlets..THE WASHINGTON POST.

Stick to covering motorsports in a respectful manner for the AP and only the AP. When you write for those rags like THE POST, you’re basically letting politics get filtered into our beloved sport. Shoot, imho, you’re even stooping to a level as low as Jim Utter, a person that lets his liberal views overrun his job way too much.

In the words of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots…..DO YOUR JOB. Cover the sport and stop with the nonsense articles trashing a Hall of Famer.

Looking like the weekend will shape up nicely for the upcoming race at Barber’s Motorsports Park.

We’ll be there in full force; hopefully snagging some driver interviews, nice shots to share, and stories to relate next week.

If you’d like to join us, there is still plenty of time to grab your tickets for some Indycar action!

Why is it that precipitation holds off all day, UNTIL you need to go outside?

So worked all day at the factory, no rain. Buzzer sounds end of shift, walk out the door and into a nice deluge of rain drops. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a major issue.

However, you’ve been notified your daughter’s car is ‘broken down’ and you, you lucky dog, you get to go deal with it…

…IN THE RAIN!!!

Happy-Happy, Joy-Joy.