NASCAR Gets Political As Barack Obama Gets Compared To Bubba Wallace & A Former Driver Planning Senate Run

Zach Dean

PublishedNovember 15, 2022 6:15 AM EST|UpdatedNovember 15, 2022 6:15 AM EST

The NASCAR offseason is here, and - like Chase Elliott - we don't have time for any breaks.

Chase Elliott tired of NASCAR, but not racing

All right, let's start with our regular season champion.

Don't know if ya'll like reading between the lines, but I certainly do. Hell, it's how I get most of my content.

Anyway, here are a couple one-liners from Chase Elliott after a pretty miserable end to his season last week.

"Looking forward to the off-season."

"I don’t really care about 2023 right now."

"Do not tell me what the countdown clock is because I don’t want to know."

"We’re going to enjoy a little time off, just like a lot of you guys are. It’s a long season."

"Yeah, again, 2023 is not on my radar right now."

We saw a pretty different Chase Elliott this season, especially from about early summer on. He was a little testy with the media (which I love), always seemed to be annoyed, and, frankly, turned into Kyle Busch 2.0 along the way.

I'm all for it, by the way, but if you read those statements you'd think Chase would be jetting off to the Bahamas for a long vacation.

Instead, he spent his first weekend off back in a race car, running the Nitro Rallycross race in Phoenix.

It's all for fun and Chase certainly has proven over the past few years that he wants to expand his racing life outside of the NASCAR world, but I just didn't see it coming after he told us a billion times last weekend that he needed a break.

Perhaps this season wore on him more than we know?

Food for thought! Hey, it's the offseason, I'm doing the best I can.

Obama 'noose' situation compared to Bubba Wallace

Late last week, I was scrolling through Twitter, watching the place burn, and I noticed that our good buddy Bubba Wallace was trending.

Anyway, I clicked on it and BOY, did I find myself in a wormhole.

Well, there ya go.

'Bubba Wallace,' of course, was trending because of the "noose incident" at Talladega during the summer of racial awakening in 2020.

NASCAR was already on edge, someone said they saw a noose in Bubba Wallace's garage stall, and, instead of maybe investigating or asking a question or two, NASCAR decided to release a statement condemning the act.

Turns out, it wasn't a noose. Just a garage rope tie.

Whoops!

Anyway, in case you wanna make some money, the construction company that found the noose is apparently offering ... $100,000 ... for the person who finds the culprit.

$100K!

Seems like a good way to start the holiday season.

Bubba Wallace and Obama have similar noose situations.

Obama noose situation reminds folks of Bubba Wallace.

Coy Gibbs 'died peacefully in his sleep'

Days after Coy Gibbs died, the family released his obituary.

Gibbs, the son of NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs and father of Ty Gibbs, died "peacefully in his sleep," according to the obit, just hours after son Ty won the Xfinity Series championship last Saturday night.

Here's the full obituary:

On Sunday, November 6th, Coy Randall Gibbs died peacefully in his sleep, hours after celebrating the Xfinity Championship won by his oldest son Ty. It was a happy day and Coy’s last moments on earth were filled with joy and laughter. Though grief-stricken, the Gibbs family rests in the knowledge that Coy now knows joy that far exceeds any earthly experience.

Coy is survived by his wife of nearly 24 years, Heather, and their four children, Ty (20), Elle (18), Case (16), and Jett (14). He is also survived by parents, Joe and Pat Gibbs along with 9 nieces and nephews. Coy was 49 years old and joins his brother JD in heaven, who preceded him in death in 2019, also at the age of 49.

An accomplished athlete, Coy played 4-years as a starting linebacker at Stanford and competed as a driver in the NASCAR Late-Model, All-Pro, and Truck series, earning Rookie of the Year in All-Pro. His professional life was spent coaching alongside his father in the NFL, founding the JGR Motocross team he ran for over a decade, and serving most recently serving as the Vice Chairman and COO of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Coy would not care to be remembered for any of these accomplishments and made that clear in his remarks in the media center after Saturday’s championship win. What mattered most to Coy on Saturday was not his title at JGR but his role as Ty’s dad. Similarly, he was an advocate for Elle, encouraging her to pursue college admission at the highest levels and proud of her drive and determination. He coached Case and Jett in numerous sports and enjoyed watching them compete and excel.

Coy was never comfortable in the spotlight and preferred to support those he loved from the background. He was a passionate entrepreneur and loved setting others up for success, whether his own children, his late brother’s sons, the JGR family, the ministries of JGR, and the Pop Warner players he coached for 8 seasons. He was fiercely loyal, quietly generous, mercilessly sarcastic, and tender-hearted in ways he rarely allowed others to see. These people and these moments were his treasures. And heaven is now his reward.

I wrote about Coy's tragic death last week, so I'd direct you there for my full thoughts.

Once again, though, I'll just point out the obvious before we move on: everything about it sucked, and no family should ever have to go through that.

Coy Gibbs. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Hermie Sadler running for Virginia Senate

The midterms are behind us - well, except for Arizona - but that doesn't mean the campaigning stops.

Former NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler is coming for your vote!

The 53-year-old has reportedly made his entrance into politics and is seeking the Republican nomination in Virginia’s newly created 17th state Senate District.

“We can’t let this opportunity pass by to have more focus and attention put on areas in and around Southside Virginia, because in my view this area has been underrepresented in the Senate for way too long,” Sadler told the Cardinal News.

Sadler apparently owns a pair of a convenience stores in the area, AND a racetrack-themed restaurant, which I would imagine is awesome.

Hermie, by the way, ran 13 years on and off in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1996 to 2018. He never won, but Sadler does have a pair of Xfinity wins to his name.

Give 'em hell, Herm!

Would you spend this much for the Chicago race?

On our way out, how about these prices for next summer's first-ever street race in Chicago ...

Tickets went on sale last week, and apparently start at a cheap $269 for two-day general admission tickets.

Who wants to go to ... Chicago ... for $269?! Anyone? Bueller?

And if you really wanna live it up during the race, you can spend $465 for reserved seating that includes "an array of opportunities and a wide variety of premium experiences."

I don't know what a "premium experience" is like in Chicago, but I don't know that I want to find out.

All right, Week 1 of the offseason in the books.

Take us home, Larry Mac!