NASCAR Wife Calls Out Dumb Driver, Furious Bubba Wallace Losing Patience & Did This Driver Just Use That Word?
And just like that, the NASCAR season is over. Time flies, huh? See you in 2025!
Wait. No. That's wrong. My bad. The FOX portion of the NASCAR season is over. That's what I was going for.
The Sonoma race has always felt like a reset to me. A turning point. A changing of the guard. For decades, this race has been the one that ends FOX's broadcast portion of the season, and hands the keys over to some combination of ESPN/ABC/NBC/TNT.
Now, a lot of you will be thrilled with this, because you hated the FOX broadcast. I'll admit, some things even yesterday annoyed the hell out of me. But, the actual booth itself is just so much better than what you're about to get with NBC – especially since Dale Jr. jumped ship.
Trust me, you'll miss Mike, Clint, Kevin and Larry Mac in about three weeks. Hell, probably one week. Green flag in the air!
Yuck. Mike Joy > Rick Allen any day of the week, and a billion times on Sunday.
Decent little automobile race for FOX to go out on, though. Sonoma wasn't awful. It wasn't the greatest road race of all time, but it had its moments. Did I expect more out of the Kyle Busch-Ross Chastain incident? Absolutely. Let down of the century.
BUT, OG NASCAR wife Samantha Busch checked in with a little right-hook on social media, so she may have saved the day. You'll see.
I've also got a PISSED OFF Martin Truex Jr. limping it home in hilarious fashion, the sensitivity police on Twitter coming in clutch, Bubba Wallace having a rough few weeks and hey, maybe we'll check the damn mail. It's been a while, you know, and the PO box is running out of room.
Four tires, enough Sunoco racing fuel to get us all the way around Sonoma, and maybe a slight nudge in the right direction for MTJ … Monday Morning Pit-Stop – the ‘He’s A Schmuck!' edition – is LIVE!
Kyle Busch continues to have a great season!
Nobody on this planet needs a hard reset more than Kyle Busch. Maybe FOX is the problem? Lord knows we certainly haven't been the solution!
Rowdy has been AWFUL this season, but yesterday was finally looking like a solid turning point. He ran well all afternoon, was firmly planted in the top-five(ish), and was well on his way to gaining some pretty valuable points heading into the final two month stretch of the regular season.
And then Ross Chastain snuck his nose in Kyle's ass (hey!) and punted him so far into the sun on the final lap that he took like 10 minutes just to finish the race. Seriously!
Samantha Busch shows way she holds the top spot in the NASCAR Wives Power Rankings
Kyle Busch running in the top-five, only to get taken out by Bull in a China Shop Ross Chastain on one of the final turns, and then also running out of gas and taking eight minutes to finish the race, HAS to be the final straw for him. Has to be.
He's taken a right-hook to the face from Ricky Stenhouse Jr., got wiped out by both Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain, and doesn't have a top-10 finish since Kansas on May 5.
May 5!
Now, was I disappointed in the lack of drama with KB and Ross the Boss after the race? You betcha. The fellas in the FOX booth never really followed up on it, and I don't believe either driver was interviewed beyond what Bob got out of Kyle after he finally crossed the stripe an hour later.
Now, I know y'all want to blame FOX for that, but I'm also sure Kyle wasn't obligated to talk to the media after the race since he didn't finish in the top-10, so my guess is he told Jamie, Regan and the rest of the pit road reporters to piss off. I don't blame FOX for that one.
Fine! Will you miss FOX's NASCAR coverage? Or did you despise it? Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
Anyway, I assume Kyle will retaliate at some point. At this point, he has to. There's nothing else going right for him this year! Time to nut up and start smacking people in the mouth.
Luckily, Sam Busch got the ball rolling on Twitter late last night:
Martin Truex Jr. did something to the NASCAR Gods, too
Welcome back to the front-lines, Samantha Busch! Been a while, but buddy, it's GOOD to have you back in the saddle.
How great is the word schmuck? It's not used very often anymore, but when you do hear/see it in the wild, it's a pleasure. And Sammy Busch knocks it out of the park here.
Kudos, Sam. And be careful – it's a scorcher out there today!
Now, if you think Kyle Busch left wine country with a bad hangover, wait till you see how poor Martin Truex Jr.'s day went.
For starters … he got PISSED at everyone wrecking the hell out of each other in the first two stages (eight cautions!), and that led to a fierce debate about a certain word he used in the heat of battle:
Now, anyone wanna fill in that last blank. No? Bueller? Don't worry, you don't have to! NASCAR Twitter got to work and started hammering out some ideas:
Most of those are hilarious. The last one is just to show you how silly this world has become. "Not one that Jordan and I are comfortable tweeting."
Seriously? Come on. Can we all just grow up for two seconds? Maybe everyone can step off their collective high horse for five minutes and relax? Just a thought.
Look, I don't know what Martin said. Obviously, some think it was that one r-word that is frowned upon. Others think it was ringers, as in road course ringers, which would make sense because there were a ton of them in the field yesterday.
Some, obviously, think it was ramen noodles. I'm clearly in that camp. I'm also in the "I don't care" camp, because he said it over his in-car radio and was clearly pissed at the moment. Whatever. Leave him alone, NASCAR police.
Frankly, he had a tough enough day as it was:
Measuring with Kyle Larson, NASCAR goes electric & unloading the mail
Such a missed opportunity by MTJ here. How do you NOT just get out of the car and push it home? Who cares about the stupid points you'd lose or the penalties/fines you'd get hurled your way? So what? It would all be worth it for that moment. Sad. Oh well.
Anyway, enough about the losers from Sonoma. Time to check in with our winner, Kyle Larson!
Nice work out there, Larson. And, honestly, smart move not getting into a dick measuring contest with Kyle Busch – on or off the track. I just feel like that would be a losing battle in both instances.
Although, to be fair, KB did have his wife do the smack-talking for him yesterday, so maybe you'd pull off the upset. Who knows?
Bet Bubba would beat both, though!
Whooooof. Bubba started 18th at Sonoma and finished 20th. Not great! Chin up, Bubba!
Speaking of being upset … how do y'all reckon the NASCAR community took the news last week that the sport is one step closer to going electric?
Honestly, this may be the perfect setup for NASCAR. Obviously, the fans don't want to hear anything that involves the word "electric." You may as well toss "green" in there while you're at it.
But, having Dana White be the man to lead that venture? Smart. Guy is genius and very much plays to NASCAR's base.
Also … using it as some sort of spin-off series, while keeping the gas-guzzlers in the main event? Smart, again! That's TWO smart things in a row from the folks in the big glass building here in Daytona! Keep it up.
PS: flying to NASCAR? What the hell does that mean?
Finally … mail time! It's been a while, so let's uncork a couple beauties from the past week or so.
From Ryan L., in response to the Kyle Larson/waiver drama from last week:
Give fans another reason to choose NFL over NASCAR playoffs by banning Larson - brilliant idea!!
Cindric is still carrying Penske, could any of the SHR free agents replace Logano/Blaney?
Thanks, Ryan!
First off, GREAT point on the playoffs going up against NFL/CFB. I've banged that drum for years. NASCAR season should end Labor Day weekend. I believe Chase even said that a few years back. It's a disservice to the sport to put it up against those two giants during what should be its most important time of year.
Secondly … I think you or I have as good a chance at replacing Blaney/Logano as the SHR foursome.
Next:
From BS in Lake Orion, Michigan:
I’ve never been to a Nascar race and the only Indy type of race I saw was in Milwaukee in the early 1970’s. Why do I look forward to your writings? Because you make it extremely interesting, putting me right there. Seriously.
Thanks for your passion. It shows. I’ve only been reading Outkick for about six months and really enjoy it.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks, BS! Welcome aboard. We have fun around here, even when the wokes on NASCAR Twitter try to cancel us and Martin Truex Jr. We won't let it happen!
Lord knows they are trying, though …
From James, (who seems like a ton of fun to hang out with!):
I wish that NASCAR could be as popular and as much fun as it once was but it is not. And, writing articles about NASCAR using the language of a ill advised teenager will not help. Vile language also will not promote your image amongst fans.
Thanks, James!
Sorry for being such a schmuck. There. That better?
Take us to Iowa, Natalie Decker
Whew. What a wild little ride up and down the inbox. Keep firing away, folks. I started including my email in these award-winning Monday talks a few months ago, and it's been a sight to behold ever since.
Sort of like Natalie Decker!
See you in Iowa.