Monday Morning Pit-Stop is a weekly NASCAR column that runs on OutKick.com and Fox News Digital. If you're looking for a normal NASCAR recap, go check out insufferable ESPN ... assuming they still know NASCAR exists.
Felt good to be back under the lights at Richmond, didn't it? It hasn't been the best summer for NASCAR, if you ask me. There's been some good, but, generally, it's just been sort of blah.
That's not unusual, of course. I've seen this movie before. Nothing epitomizes 'Dog Days of Summer' quite like NASCAR. It's a grind. There's one off week, the playoffs (Chase, whatever) are forever away, and the tracks aren't great.
At least back in the day, we used to get Daytona in July and Bristol in August to break it up a bit! Now, we basically have to pray the Atlanta race is good, or the rest of the summer is cooked.
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Anyway, all that to say .... Richmond was decent! Not the best race you've ever seen, but better than a lot of what we've seen the past few months. I still think NASCAR has killed the short track racing with this new car, but I don't feel like beating a dead horse today. I don't have the energy for it.
Joey Logano won, somehow. He's good again, somehow. We'll talk about it.
We're also gonna dive right into Kyle Larson's insane night, because folks, it was worthy of a breakdown. Goodness gracious. What a driver. What a champion.
I've also got Sam Busch talking about Bristol and Kyle Busch, and Natalie Decker having a pretty dominant Richmond weekend.
Off the track, of course. Never on it. You know the drill.
Four tires, a splash of Sunoco racin' fuel, and maybe a nice, long nap for Kyle Larson ... Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the "Trump, Taylor & Kyle Larson, Oh My!" edition — is LIVE!
Look, it was a fine Cup race, but if you think I'm starting today's class with Joey Logano and not Kyle Larson, you're crazy. I follow the news and the #content, and the news was all about Kyle Larson Saturday night.
For those who A) forgot the race was on (me for the first 50 laps), B) didn't care, or C) couldn't find it on the TV (that's a bunch of you, I'm sure), Kyle Larson finished sixth at Richmond, sprinted out of the track, drove to the airport, flew to Iowa, got a POLICE ESCORT to the track, and then promptly won the Knoxville Nationals.
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He didn't think he'd be able to make it to Knoxville because the weather forecast, which was supposed to be bad, turned out to be wrong. Stunner! The weatherman is almost never wrong.
"When I woke up (Saturday) morning, the weather here looked really bad, like I won’t need a contingency plan. I’ll be able to come here tomorrow and race Sunday. Then the weather was getting better, the forecast was getting better throughout the day," he said.
"I was a bit like bummed at that point because I was really happy about the forecast when I woke up. Then I was like, no it’s fine."
The Knoxville Nationals, for those who don't follow sprint car racing, are (in)arguably the the biggest, most prestigious sprint car events in the world. It's a four-day tournament, essentially, that takes place every August in Iowa. It's a big deal in the racing world.
Larson showed up at the buzzer, and won — hours after finishing sixth in Richmond.
Amazing.
Sure, it's a little ... odd? ... to hear a crew chief give his driver updates about another race — and another series — during the actual race, but Cliff Daniels and Kyle Larson have won a billion races together at this point. I don't think he cares. Nor should he.
Frankly, neither should Kyle.
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A lot of folks hate this stuff, you know? True story. There is a section of NASCAR fans today that are annoyed that Kyle Larson won the Knoxville race.
"He needs to focus more on winning at his actual job!"
Lordy. The internet never ceases to amaze me.
Piss alllllllllll the way off. Kyle Larson is the best NASCAR driver on the planet and has been for about six years now. His plane was the most tracked plane in THE WORLD Saturday night. That's a fact. That's a real stat.
Race fans love Larson, especially the grass root, local track, lifelong fans who have been buying Busch Lights and corn dogs at the local backroad track every Saturday night since 1975.
He appeals to them, and that's important.
So quit your b—-ing and moaning!
"According to FlightAware, your flight here with the most tracked flight in the entire world."
"Well, it's kinda cool that that's stat, because I figured somebody would be tracking Donald Trump or Taylor Swift," Larson said. "I hope all the fans that were b----ing and moaning about running the prelim night, now understand why. Anybody watching at home, on the internet, in the stands, I hope you realize this was best case scenario."
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
They don't, Kyle! But it's OK. Maybe just win at New Hampshire this week to at least get on the board this NASCAR Cup season? That would go a long way.
Speaking of NASCAR ... let's not forget about Richmond! Joey Logano won again, and he's now gone from bubble Chase driver to ... Championship favorite?
It's not a crazy thought:
"The Mickey Mouse ears look good on the trophies either way."
Hand up, I'd love to see Logano win a championship this season. Everyone and their mother FREAKED out when he won the title in 2024, and the (fake) outrage was so loud, that NASCAR literally revamped the entire playoff format.
I thought it was silly then, and I still think it's silly today. So, yes, I'd love to see Logano shove another championship down everyone's throats in a few months.
Bottom's up!
Next? We've got Bristol in a few weeks, which is stupid because it should really be this coming weekend but NASCAR can't stop making dumb decisions.
Anyway, Bristol was arguably Kyle Busch's favorite track, which means next month's race is gonna be a big one:
"Bristol wasn't just another race to him," Samantha Busch said during a (very clearly) emotional narration. "He loved everything about that place. Some of the greatest moments in his career happened on that track, in the yellow M&Ms car."
Lordy. What a scene that'll be, huh? And how about the pressure on young Ty Gibbs? We haven't seen that iconic car in years. Ever since Mars left NASCAR, and Rowdy left for RCR.
Go get 'em, kid! Man, I miss Kyle.
OK, that's it for today. Good work, everyone. Solid job all around.
Here's Natalie Decker in her daisy dukes cheering on her husband at Richmond to take us into another big week.
See y'all at New Hampshire.