NASCAR Wives Get Racy On Red Carpet, Bubba Wallace Battles Depression & New TV Deal Is A Slap In The Face
The rest of the country is grabbing their collective pitchforks and heading down to CFB playoff committee HQ. Meanwhile, I'm just over here dissecting every single red carpet bomb from Sunday's NASCAR awards show in Nashville.
You tell me who has their priorities straight?!
We've finally made it to my favorite MMPS of the year -- the one where we MMQB the hell out of the WAGs at the annual banquet. They all come out of the woodwork for one final time in 2023 and it's an incredible, and fierce, competition from start to finish.
You meet people you didn't know really exists -- hello, Martin Truex Jr.'s new girl! -- and also spend some time catching up with some old friends (Hooters Gianna won the night by a landslide. Shocker).
Along the way we also get some speeches from the champs, a couple wild wardrobe malfunctions -- hello, Blaney! -- and we got to talk to Bubba Wallace about his fun end to the season (it wasn't).
So, yes -- the Monday after the show is my favorite NASCAR Monday of the year. Not even close. You can choose to yell and scream on social media about FSU all day if you want.
I'm gonna hop on a train and take a little tour of the NASCAR WAG world for a bit. You're welcome to join me!
Maybe we'll even break down the new TV deal along the way. Hope you have a good TV guide handy!
Four tires, a couple Advils for the NASCAR after-party, and maybe some longer pants for Ryan Blaney ... Monday Morning Pit-Stop -- the 'NASCAR WAGs Demand Respect, Too' edition -- is LIVE!
It pays to be a NASCAR watermelon farmer!
So, like I said, the red carpet at the awards show is always a wild ride from start to finish. You just never know who's gonna show up.
You obviously get the regulars who we hang out with all year -- and we'll certainly get to Sam and Gianna in a minute -- but you also get some folks you just don't ever really get to meet.
For instance, we now know being a NASCAR driver AND watermelon farmer at the same time is the way to go if you want to date a former Miss North Carolina/current model/current Monster Energy Girl:
MTJ, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin show that the vets still have it
Ross Chastain and Erika Anne Turner will certainly be a staple of MMPS in 2024. I promise. The NASCAR WAG power rankings for the new year are shaping up to be an absolute battle.
Now, while Ross the Boss has just recently burst onto the Cup scene -- both on and off the track -- the vets of the game stepped up Sunday, too.
Kyle Busch and Samantha Busch, regulars around here, were showstoppers (Sam, not Kyle), while Martin Truex Jr. made what I believe was his first public appearance with new girlfriend Emily Collins.
I saw Emily at Daytona a few months back during the national anthem, but didn't know who she was. Now we do.
The internet tells me she's a nurse in New Jersey, which is cool. Martin's a NJ guy, so that checks out.
While this is a relatively new romance, we also dusted off an oldie in Nashville -- and I ain't talking about records!
Welcome back to the NASCAR garage, Jordan Fish!
Two years after posting a pretty cryptic breakup message on Instagram about longtime boyfriend Denny Hamlin, Fish was BACK alongside Denny in Nashville and ready to resume her WAG life.
For those who forgot, Jordan here posted this little message about Denny back in 2021:
What a comeback! Big year for Denny. He started his own podcast, became the most hated NASCAR driver on the track by a wide margin, and now he's back with Jordan Fish. Let's go.
Finally, while Jordan and nurse Emily are cool stories, they don't even belong in the same sentence as Samantha Busch. Not yet, at least.
This is how you do a red carpet, folk:
I'm all in on Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek
We've been on the Sam Busch train for two years now. If you're new to the show, I'd suggest hopping on board now before the ticket prices go way up. Just some friendly advice.
Moving on ...
I'm all in on Tyler Reddick and JHN. You know why? A lot of guys wouldn't have the nuts -- or confidence -- to date/marry women who are taller than them. I know I certainly wouldn't.
My wife is pretty tall for a woman -- like 5'8 -- and I can't tell you how many arguments we've gotten into when she wants to wear heels. It's a battle every single time.
Anyway, these two cats don't give a crap and I respect the hell out of it:
Get 'em, fellas! Reminds me of the OG NASCAR driver who famously dated, and then married, a taller woman -- Austin Dillon.
Now, I didn't see Austin or Whitney at the banquet. Sad. Doesn't mean she won't make a cameo here, though:
The NASCAR champs deserve our respect
I'd choose island time over a stuffy NASCAR banquet hall, too. Good call, Dillon Clan.
Finally, before we move on to something of actual substance, let's take some time and show the NASCAR champs the respect they deserve.
Ryan Blaney and Hooters Gianna Tulio were absolute firecrackers all night, while Xfinity Series champ Cole Custer and wife Kari showed up ready to roll. Truck champ Ben Rhodes, meanwhile, was all over the map:
Bubba Wallace had himself a weekend
Welcome to MMPS, Allison Thorson! That's not Ben's wife, by the way. That's the daughter of ThorSport team owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson. Unreal. Love her. I'm all in.
Again, the 2024 power rankings are gonna be one for the record books. Unlike the CFB committee, we're gonna do it right!
Whew. What a night. Love this time of year in the NASCAR world. Frankly, it's more exciting than a bunch of races nowadays, especially with these crappy Next Gen car.
OK, let's talk some actual shop.
Bubba Wallace has been all over the map since the season ended. Just a loose cannon. He told reporters last week that Ryan Blaney's win actually sent him spiraling a few days after the season ended.
It got so bad that apparently Blaney had to call him later that week.
“He called me a couple days later and I was like, ‘Man, I guess you winning the championship sent me into depression. Like congrats, but I don’t want to see that,” Bubba Wallace told the AP Thursday.
Wallace has not said if he receives professional treatment for his mental health, but said Thursday that he leaned on his wife through this most recent bout. He and Amanda will celebrate their first wedding anniversary on New Year’s Eve, and (Denny) Hamlin said that Wallace has been in good spirits in Nashville.
Judging by these two tweets from one Bubba Wallace himself, I'd say he was!
The 2025 NASCAR TV schedule is gonna be a wild ride
Couple things on Bubba Wallace ...
First, I sort of get being bummed when your friend accomplishes something you think you should also accomplish.
If we're all honest with ourselves, we've all felt that way before. I root for my buddies all the time, love when they do well, but I also think to myself, 'We both graduated at the same time. How the hell is he bringing in six figures already and I'm writing about NASCAR WAGs?'
So, in that sense, I get it.
As for the Blaney post, I'm 100% with him. How does Gianna let Rhino go up on stage like that? Just a huge mistake.
PS: Chase WAS at the banquet. He was named NASCAR Most Popular Driver for the sixth year in a row. Shocker! He was also single, according to the red carpet. I'd imagine he didn't end the night like that, though.
Perhaps Chase will be a married man in a few years when this new $7 billion NASCAR TV deal kicks in? Let's hope she shares her streaming passwords with Bill!
Let's dance our way into a big week
If you think for one second the old NASCAR fans are gonna be flipping over to something called Amazon Prime to watch the automobile race, you are insane. Ain't happening. This will be the end of them.
I was on the phone with my Mamaw for two hours this summer when the races would be on USA Network. True story. She ain't finding it on Amazon Prime. Don't even bother mentioning the CW to her, either. I don't even know where the hell the CW is and I'm 30.
How about that magazine, too? What a time to be alive. NASCAR really used to be the NFL back in the 1980s and 1990s. Wild.
Whew. That's enough for today. I'm exhausted. On the way out, here's Cole Custer and Ben Rhodes rapping and dancing on stage with Flo Rida.
What a sentence.