September 25, 2025 • 42 mins
In the show's final hour, Kyle talks to Darin Gantt about the Panthers upcoming matchup against the Patriots, and after talking to NASCAR Driver Bubba Wallace, Kyle and Smoke look at NASCAR potentially going back to the Winston Cup points system.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Kyle Bailey Show powered by Victory
Chevy Charlotte. Want to drive a sweet Silverado trail Boss
like KB? Go to Victory Chevy Charlotte dot Com our.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Number three Sports Radio ninety two seven w f n
Z Salty pirates got jokes, He says, KB has xcel
become medium. I see what you did there. I'm not impressed,
but I see what you did there. Seven oh four
number says I want to see more of Joe Joe Horn,
good Lord, Jimmy Horn Junior. You know what I'd take
Joe Horn. I bet Joe Horn is still in fantastic shape.
(00:43):
Get get you know, Joe on on the opposite side
of the field as JC. I bet Joe could give
you some good snaps. Still, we got that flip phone
to call him. I don't I wish I did. I
hear he lives in the Charlotte area these days, which
would make some sense given that, you know, is his
son's balling out right now. So I would take Joe
seven oh four number here saying didn't team back also
have an injury that came out of nowhere. We're not
(01:05):
distraught by it because he hasn't been good, terrible catches
on the sideline, not giving effort for blocking. Yeah, tedor
McMillan dealing with a bit of an injury right now.
That we told the media yesterday after practice that he
expects to play on Sunday. The part about that text
where he says he's not distraught is in relation to
Xavier League yet who did not practice again today, And
I think it looks like it's tracking to not play
(01:27):
again on Sunday against the Patriots. Let's get the latest.
Let's get the real news from a man who that's
what he does. He brings us the real news from
Panthers dot Com. Uncle d G. Darren Gant is back
with us for a Thursday conversation on the hotline. Darren GANTT,
what's going on, buddy?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Not a whole lot.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
It's just another beautiful day here in Charlotte, North Carolina.
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Good? How's your health? Are you you nicked up at all?
You do you feeling good?
Speaker 4 (01:50):
I'm I'm feeling pretty good. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.
I was a little I was day to day last weekend.
I got a COVID shot, so needed a day to recover.
But other than that, I'm as good as gold and.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
I'm ready to go this week.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Okay, all right, I'm not. By the way, you can
add me to the injury report. I found out this morning.
I have a small tear in my scapular muscle darre
and it sucks. It's terrible, soang, add me to the list.
All right. Well, it turned fur.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It's it's not cutting a toe off for anything, but
that's still bad.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It sucks. I'm also I turned forty in November, so
all of a sudden, the old man injuries are starting
to rack up. You've been there.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Uh yeah, tell me more about old man injury.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, Bailey, all right, well let's stay on theme.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
Then.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
What's the true picture of health for this team right now?
How banged up are they?
Speaker 7 (02:34):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
I mean, you know, they got a couple of dudes
back on the field today. Turk Whorton was back out there,
and that's a good sign. I mean they saw him
in the opener and had dot since so uh, with
the way the defense is playing, getting him back out
there would be a good thing.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
And t Mac was back out there. We'll see. I
mean those things, you know, any of the other stuff.
You know, Kyle, you can check Panthers dot Com tomorrow
afternoon after practice for the final injury report, for the
for the true picture of this. But no, it's just
kind of hard to tell. I mean, they've got a
lot of day to day guys, and we'll see. I mean, obviously,
I think one of the things you've got to look
(03:09):
at at that defense, along with work coming back today
is no Pat Jones, no DJ Wantam today. So while
you know Nick and Princeley, you know, put in a
shift last week in that game there, you know, there's
a situation where more could be asked to them this week,
and you know, I think that'll be important because honestly,
the way that defense has played so far this year
(03:30):
has been the big story. I mean, I think with
everything involved in the Carolina Panthers, seeing Derek Brown back
on the field, seeing the way they played run de
out in Arizona, Yeah, that's obviously been a significant difference.
So it'll be curious to see what tomorrow holds. Tune
in sometime shortly after lunch and we'll have all the
latest for you.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You're right, it is always interesting to see what tomorrow holds.
If we're all blessed and lucky enough to see it.
So I guess that's probably going to be maybe part
of the answer you give me to this question. But
league get is do you still have belief that he
can help this team in a significant way? Do you
think they believe that he can still help this team significantly?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I think absolutely. I think you got to remember a
couple of things. Number One, Dave Canalis is an old
wide receivers coach. So when he was I was talking
to Dave at one point this offseason, and he starts
talking about XL's progression, and he was already thinking about, Okay,
here's where we'll getting your two, here's what he'll do
in year three. And so this is a long term
commitment to this guy. You don't take somebody in the
(04:29):
first round if not. And I think the other thing
that plays into that is just the way he works.
I mean, I keep weird hours here at the stadium
during the off season, and I'd come down the elevator
to head out at the end of the day and
I'd get off the elevator near the ak wall that
turf field before you go to the press box, and
you'd hear that you know, and it's XL on the
(04:50):
jugs machine catching balls and he's doing that in February
and March, in May and June when nobody's around the
stadium that weird time. So the kids in the works,
he's committed to it. I mean, I think he's just
you know, the physical stuff, a lot of tension, don't
have any control over. So, but I think absolutely in
terms of confidence in him, they've still got it. And
(05:12):
you know, he's a big, fast guy and those are
valuable in the NFL. And you know, Dave Canalis was
around a couple of them in Seattle that turned out okay.
So I think you know, the idea that anybody's giving
up on him AT's that's that's not a real thing.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Okay, right, fair enough, Darren Gant with us hanging out
on the hotline, we started the show talking about a chart.
I love charts. I know you love a good chart.
A chart that was indicating to anybody who looked at it,
that is, it relates to deep balls and the efficiency
throwing the deep balls that Bryce Young has thrown them
very well. But the chart also indicates that plays aren't
always being made. And then our buddy Josh Norris over
(05:49):
at Underdog Fantasy took it upon himself to clip every
throw of twenty plus yards down the field that Bryce
has made so far this year, and what you'll see
on a lot of them are drops in this case,
you know, plays not being made. Things like that. I
bring this up to say, has the passing game been
a little better than we think in ways? Is it
still leaving a lot to be desired for you? What
(06:12):
are we to make of the overall passing game right now?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Well, I think they've got time to work on it.
And again I go back to last week, one of
the biggest things to me was, Hey, the way they
played defense the last couple of games. But when you
when you don't turn it over early and are able
to stay in pace, you know, and run the ball
the way you want to, when you when you run
it more than you throw it, that's a good thing. Listen. Obviously,
they've still got some things to work on. I mean,
(06:36):
Canal said it earlier this week. You know, Tmac would
be the first one to tell you he's got to
come down with some of those too. So I think
it's time. There's going to be time to get all
that stuff squared away. I mean, obviously you want to
get it done sooner rather than later. But we've seen
the signs from McMillan. We've seen what XL can do,
you know, on the field in the past. So and
(06:57):
obviously when you get in the red zone and stuff,
we've seen what a Hunter Renfro could do. And by
the way, congratulations to the Renfros. Welcome the new baby
girl into the world yesterday, so all good things. Modzel
top to the Renfros and all that fun stuff. So yeah,
I think there's time. I mean, it's natural. Yeah, I
think a lot of people expect things to pick up
(07:19):
wherever they were last year and be exactly like they were.
And you know, obviously the way the Panthers played offense
threw the ball around second half of last year, people
thought it was going to be like that, but it
seldom like that. I mean, these things are not linear,
so you're getting used to new people. You're you know,
incorporating new targets, different plays, different personalities. So I think
(07:40):
there's time. But I've seen signs of it, I truly have.
I mean through the off season training camp OTAs these
guys were pitching it and catching it around pretty good.
And they were doing it, you know, even during practice
against a pretty good couple of corners in JC and Mike.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Jack, Darren jan hanging out with us here on a Thursday.
You know, we talked so much about the offense to defense,
and we talk special teams, but often it's to most
of the time, probably to complain or point out things
that are going wrong. But boy, this special teams group
has been good to start the year. Tracy Smith has
done a really nice job. Ryan Fitzgerald has done a
really nice job. Sam Martin's done a nice job. Tracy
(08:17):
Smith's in his first year on the job. How good
have these guys been. We heard Mike Vrabel saying.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Tracy's been around. He yeah, he came here today, so
he's uh, you.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Know he second, I apologize, My bad, My bad.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, that's all right. Don't sell Tracy Smith short. He's
a wizard of special teams. He deserves all that credit.
They have done a really good job. I think one
of the things, and you can read all about this
today on Panthers dot com, that kickoff coverage unit. It's
not just Fitzgerald kicking a screwball down there. That bounces funny,
and that's the cool thing about a football. It's pointy
(08:50):
on either end, so when it hits the dirt, it
tends to do things you can't predict. So they've got
ten dudes out there, including Bryce and Tremaine who are
just comic Coze straight down the field and making big
plays i mean holding. They're number one in the league
and opponents average drive start on kickoffs, which is the
ultimate esoteric football nerd stat. The thing that's crazy about
(09:13):
it to me, the difference between where the Panthers are
at one and the fifth place Houston Texans or whoever's
in fifth is the same as the gap between five
and thirty two. Like, they're killing it out there, and
most of the league is content to give up give
up touchbacks. But if you've got a kicker who can
kick that ball, and you've got guys who can cover
(09:34):
like Caldon, Cherlist, Thomas and Coombe, Bryce and Tremaine, Van Martin, Scott,
all those cats, I mean, they're getting after it at
a high level. So that's kind of stuff you need.
I Mean, we talked the first couple of weeks about
those little things that you've got to do to stay
in games, and you know that's obviously one of them,
and that's going well, it is.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
What do you think about the notion that this team
could have started better if they'd played more together in
the preseason, because I still get to tell you on
the text line, I think it's silly.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Frankly, I really do. I mean, what would one more
series against the Houston Texans second and third stringers have proven.
I mean, somebody sent me a question in mailbag the
other day comparing it to Joe Gibbs in the eighties,
and Joe Gibbs just always have his players play in
the preseason.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Joe Gibbs also got the coach before free agency, when
teams were the exact same for six years in a row.
So I think stuff like that had a lot more
to do with success Joe Gibbs had in Washington than
preseason staffs. I think it's completely overblown. I'm I am. Yeah,
I'm not an advocate of preseason football as an important
(10:38):
barometer of really anything other than I don't know, temperature.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Well, hold on, because I got to push back a
little bit on that. I know that's your stance. You
and I have worked together long enough. I know that's
generally your stance. But okay, your point about second and
third stringers, I get what you're what you're saying, but
what about logistics, game day operations, getting play calls in
on time? You know, you're giving reps to coordinators all
the way up until week three of the season. Then we
get to week one and play calls aren't getting in.
You're not getting to the lot of scrimmage. There's miscommunication.
(11:05):
That's where I think a lot of people are pointing
to the operation could have been cleaner from the jump.
You don't put any stock into that.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No, I mean you can do that in practice too.
I think you know to me, and this is my opinion,
Darren Gant. Only my opinion is pre season snaps are
consequence free. So that's the time you experiment. That's the
time you let people develop. That's the time you run
weird plays, let other people call them, you know, see
(11:31):
what your personnel can do. Mix and match guys. I
mean there's no there's no lingering. Again, whether it was
Brad Idzick or whoever calling offensive place, I don't know
that it necessarily carries over one to the other. I
just I just don't believe in it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay, all right, a couple quick things. We'll get you
out of here. Darren Gant hanging out with us. As
the defense played much better against the Falcons thirty to nothing,
they're still having, you know, difficulty getting to the quarterback
among the lowest pressure rate in the NFL. The run
defense was great, but you and I both know they've
got there's got to be an uptick in getting to
the quarterback. How do they do that well?
Speaker 4 (12:07):
And again this weekend could be looking at a couple
of those young guys doing it and they've gotten pressure.
There have been some pressure there. Nick and Princeley are
both quick off the ball and you know, have the
ability to do some of that stuff. But they've got
to get halt. That's obvious. I mean, I think it's
going to be a work in process or work in progress.
I also believe that, you know, when Dan Morgan started
(12:28):
putting this team together in the off season, the emphasis
was just like offense last year, it was from the
front to back. It was fortify on line, have a
front seven that could stop the run so you can
stay in games. Unlike what was happening second half of
last year, So I just think it's gonna come with time.
You know, when you see the flashes Princely has, when
(12:51):
you see the way you know, Nick Gordon's a kid
who is described as relentless by coaches, and he's also
got a couple of pass rush mods in his Polsters.
So I'm curious to see how that develops, like everybody
else is. But you know, again, I think given the
golf of where they had to go in terms of
run defense, I mean, would you like to fix everything
(13:11):
at one time, Sure you would, but especially if Pat
and DJ aren't out there this weekend, it's going to
be tougher for those rookies to get that done.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Now. I know you don't cover the Patriots. I'm not
sure how much you've seen of them, but they're likewise
one and two. They're only win is against the struggling
Dolphins team. They turned the ball over five times against Pittsburgh.
They're still in a rebuilding mode. They swapped out coaches
and you know, after Drake May's rookie year, we've seen
that here before. What are your thoughts on New England
this weekend. We know that the environment's always tough up there,
but what do you think about the team.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Well, I watched Drake May come into kid Veru Stadium
in Booting, North Carolina and put sixty three on the board.
So there's nothing that kid's not capable doing. All right,
come on, I mean that's as stern a test as
you're ever going to see in football. No, they've got
you know, it's like a lot of young teams. They are,
(14:00):
you know, not complete by a stretch of the imagination.
They're working on a thing I hate. I mean is well,
let me say this, you when you look at what
the Patriots did. You mentioned the turnovers last week. Obviously
the Panthers are doing a little bit better job of
getting their hands on balls around here. But I think
that I hate playing a team after one like that.
(14:20):
I mean, that kind of stuff always makes me nervous.
I'm just I'm just that way. Maybe I'm paranoid. I
don't know. That happens with old age, kind of like
weird scapula injury. But you know, I mean, it's it's
these are two teams that are kind of similar in
a lot of aspects. I mean, they're they're growing together,
people are building cultures. Mike Brable's gonna Mike Rabel's good
(14:43):
ball coach, and he's gonna get that team looking like
a Mike Rabel team sooned up. If you look at
what he did, it's gonna see. I don't think he
was necessarily the problem there, but he he can coach
him up. He's got a talented quarterback and it's gonna
take time. If Gonzalez is back from that answering injury,
everything indicates that he's probably gonna be It's gonna be
a little more complicated for the passing game. So I
(15:06):
think it's fairly even matchup in terms of the two
teams and their profiles and what they're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Darren, We appreciate you, buddy. Enjoy Foxborough and the chowder
this weekend. We'll talk to you next week.
Speaker 6 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah, take care of yourself. I recommend over the counter
pain reliever and maybe a beverage of your choice after work.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah. Well, not neither of those things have worked so far,
but I'll keep trying.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
I appreciate you, buddy, day trying keep pounding, sir. That's
what they say.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Okay, well, and in fact, I'm actually gonna end up.
I was back at neogenics this morning to get it situated.
Shout out to one of our great sponsors, because yeah,
the old man injuries are piling up. I appreciate DG
for stopping by seven O four five, seven oh ninety
six to ten. Interestingly, we have people criticizing Darren for
his preseason take, but we have people agreeing with him.
(15:50):
Cam tweets things says I'm with DG. Preseason is pretty dumb,
pretty dumb. Preseason is pretty dumb. Again, we sported just
the way it's word of bikesby chuckle me too, like
preseason is pretty dumb. Uh, I listen, I don't. I
think a lot of coaches and players would disagree with that. Again,
(16:11):
And my only issue with it really was, you know,
when you got to week one, you just didn't look
ready for game day, getting plays in and getting personnel
on and off the field. And they weren't necessarily alone,
but I knew that criticism would come back up if
they didn't look sharp to start the season, all right,
seven oh four five seven ninety six ten. Hit us
up on the fan duel text line. When we come back,
we go back to back. Bubba Wallace, driver of the
(16:33):
Number twenty three Toyota Camry for twenty three eleven racing.
The playoffs roll on. They're going to Kansas this weekend.
Bubba Wallace will join us next Sports Radio ninety two
to seven wfn Z Sports Radio ninety two to seven
(16:56):
wf and Z, Charlotte. We appreciate you being with us
here on this Thursday. We get back to Panthers and
Patriots on Sunday coming up in just a bit. Don't
forget pregame once again eleven am Sunday morning. Make sure
to tune in me and Mac got you eleven am
leading up to Patriots and Panthers, but also this weekend
NASCAR Playoffs. It's gonna be a whole lot of fun
out in Kansas. One of the best tracks, most underrated
(17:18):
tracks still on the circuit. And the playoffs roll on,
And as we promised, we bring to you the driver
of the number twenty three Toyota Camry twenty three eleven racing.
You know him well. Bubba Wallace is with us on
the hotline for a Thursday conversation. Bubba, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Man?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
How are you all right?
Speaker 7 (17:34):
Just trying to figure out what's going on?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Well, I mean are you. You're a football fan, right,
who do you root for?
Speaker 6 (17:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (17:40):
I'm more of a collegiate level on Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, when I get that, I grew up in Blacksburg.
I grew up in a college football town too, so
I get it. Yeah, I mean okay, well, I mean
you're at least having fun then this football season, because
Tennessee looks pretty strong to start the year.
Speaker 7 (17:53):
Yeah, we kind of gave that Georgia went away as unfortunate,
but all we'll see how it goes, starting off on
a decent foot.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Well. Nice thing about the expanded playoff is one loss
doesn't doesn't keep you out of the postseason. So all right, cool,
all right man, Well it's good to have you a
lot of cool things going on in your world. You know,
I just want to start with this because I was
thinking about this. They let me run that school bus
race last summer at Charlotte Mote Speedway. We won't talk
about me finishing dead last in a rigged bus, but
it was pretty bad. But you know what the cool
(18:22):
thing about that is, Honestly, both times last summer and
this summer, I saw you out there tinkering with your car.
You were racing those nights. I believe you were racing
this year as well. But I saw you out there
and I see you, I see you interacting with the kids,
and you know, you're you're this big Cup Series driver
twenty three eleven racing Michael George like you're you're a superstar,
but you also still seem really connected to the roots
(18:43):
of this sport. How do you keep that alive?
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (18:45):
No, it was fun to be able to go back
and race some legend cars to shoot out, you know.
I remember my first ever race there. Shoot however long
it was ago, so tough, the competition was, and just
everything about it. I've always loved and hate that it's
kind of lost luster over the last handful of years.
(19:06):
So just going back to kind of bring back some
of the vibes that was was cool. It was tough,
so that's for sure, way different than I remember it being.
But all in all, had a good time and I
was able to put a few good races together.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So this is I believe, your seventh full Cup Series season,
your second consecutive playoff appearance. How does the pressure of
the playoffs feel different for you this year compared to
your first run.
Speaker 7 (19:34):
Yeah, I think, you know, being able to go through
it all the first time and kind of being that
last car in it definitely had an extra amount of
pressure on it as to this one. You know, we
felt like if we could just execute each and every weekend,
we were a top ten car And so obviously getting
that win Indy was massive for our team, but it
(19:54):
allowed the pressure to kind of subside a little bit
and allowed us to focus on what we really really needed.
And I'll say our first round was really really good.
Didn't start off the second round that great, but we
got two more chances to bounce back and get to
a good track that we know we.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Can run well out now, Bobby, you were talking about it,
you know, Kansas has been one of the best tracks
on the schedule for you. How big is it after
struggling at New Hampshire for you to go to a
track that you've won a race at before.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
Yeah, it's nice to get back to some familiarity. We
were all kind of caught by surprise at New Hampshire.
Is unfortunate just the day, our way or the way
our day ended up being just really had nothing to
brag about. A clean slate. Kansas is a good opportunity
(20:42):
to get us back on track.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
If I can, I want to go back to the brickyard.
You hold off Kyle Larson double overtime, just if you
can walk us through those final laps and what that
was like going through your mind. We haven't had a
chance to talk to you since then, but it was
such a big race at an historic place you get
to win. What's going through your mind in those final laps?
Speaker 7 (21:01):
Yeah, I think the biggest worry for us was was
fuel and making sure we had enough. I think we
were okay for one green white checker, but not two.
And so as far as having larcenary, just figuring out
who's going to get to turn one through turn one better.
And I had it in my mind made up before
we even fired off that I was going to be
that guy. So it was just ended up being a
(21:23):
good day. Felt that from the very beginning, and it
was awesome to be able to capitalize on it.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Bubba Wallace, driver the number twenty three Toyota twenty three
to eleven race and hanging out with us here on
a Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Now, Bubba, you know, looking at the race after Kansas
is d roval and you know your struggles on road
courses have been you know, been known for years, but
you've also gotten a lot better to track, including a
top ten finished last year at Roval. How are you
thinking heading into this year of d Roval that you
can possibly get yourself into the round of eight if
you don't win this weekend?
Speaker 7 (21:54):
Yeah? I actually we've always had decent speed went at
the rovals, so yeah, I think, you know, just going
up there with the right mindset, getting used to it,
getting into a rhythm quick. It's a home race, so
you already get good, good vibes from that. Yeah, looking
forward to both Kansas and Roval. Decent tracks for on
the circuit.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, with your team, right, your team's been really
consistent this year. One win, top fives, twelve, top tens.
We see you in the car. People can know the
name of your crew chief and all that stuff, but
you've got a team that gets you ready each and
every week. What's the stuff that we don't see behind
the scenes that make your makes your team click and
work the way that it does.
Speaker 7 (22:34):
I don't know. I think that's all private.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Let our secrets.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Okay, Well you know what then, what can you share
with us? Then because I think you got some cool
things going on.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
Yeah, No, we just have a really good time. We
have a lot of fun at the racetrack, at the
race shop, just making sure everybody's on the same page,
and never letting the moments get too too high, and
and and just enjoying each other and figuring out how
to work hard together. And that that's what creates a
good chemistry, a good bond, good family atmosphere, and so
(23:06):
that that stills over to when we go into the racetrack.
You can just just be yourself and and show up
and do your job the best that you know how.
Speaker 6 (23:14):
To do it.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Now, Bubble, one thing that people might not know about
you is that you're really into photography. So much so
do we seen you over the years take shots of
you know, take become a photographer during a race during
the truck series in Xfinity Series. I've always wondered what
has drawn you to photography, and we've seen a lot
of athletes such as King, Griffy Junior, and Brady Johnson
do the same thing in recent years.
Speaker 7 (23:36):
Yeah, it's just a i don't know, a nice escape,
a nice resa to allow you to just get away
from the manus. And you know, photography is something I've
always enjoyed, always looking at other people's photography and figuring
(23:57):
out how to do the same things and if not
better and and whatnot. So it's just a lot of fun.
It's it's the opposite of what we do. It's definitely
slow paced. Uh, you got to focus on a lot
of the small details and uh yeah, it's just it's
just a good time.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Hey, Bubble, last thing. We'll let you go on this.
You know, you're a young guy in the sport. Obviously
you've got a bright future ahead of you. But you
also talk to the kids. Like we mentioned at the
top of this conversation. Uh, when when kids, young drivers aspiring,
you know, kids with NASCAR futures come to you and
ask you about, you know, how to get better, what
they should do to try to follow in your footsteps.
What what advice do you give the young kids.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
Yeah, I always tell them, you know, learn how to lose,
because motorsports you lose more than you win. And so yeah,
I think just focusing on that, learning how to just
better yourself each and every chance and just never give up.
Those are kind of the quick, easy hitters. But nothing's
(24:54):
easy about the sport at all. But yeah, I see
they just learn how to lose and let those next
moments build you be even stronger moment.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Words of wisdom. Hey, we appreciate you. Best of luck
this weekend and we'll catch up down the road, all right, man,
Thank you, Bubba Wallace driver the number twenty three toyo
to Camray twenty three to eleven. Racing with us on
the hotline here on a Thursday seven oh four five,
seven ninety six ten, hit us up with your thoughts.
So we had salty pirates just said why doesn't NASCAR
call their playoffs drive offs or race offs? Because they don't.
(25:23):
I don't know what's tell you on that one. I
don't think they ever they turn your mic on smoke.
You can't keep doing that, bone man, Sorry, it's okay,
don't give them any ideas well, Okay, yeah, that's I mean.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
These guys had the caution clock. Yeah, into truck series.
That was one of the dumbest things ever.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Sure, and somebody earlier I had asked, you know what,
get his thoughts on the playoffs chain. These guys have
all weighed in, They've all been asked about that they've
all established their opinions. They're in the playoffs right now.
I don't expect them to give us much of anything
on that, and nothing's happening yet, although there is a
Jeff Gluck report from The Athletic about fifteen hours ago
that indicates the committee that was formed to look at
(26:01):
such things is now reportedly looking at scrapping the NASCAR
playoffs as they currently are constituted and going back to
the old points system that existed from two thousand and
three to prior to crowned Champion as opposed to these,
you know, this playoff system that really hasn't produced nearly
the level of excitement and anticipation and quite frankly viewership
(26:24):
that they thought it would when they first came up
with the chase back in two thousand and four.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
The Winston Cup format was seventy two to two thousand
and three. Throughout the entire t, I guess the Winston
Cup and the start of the NASCAR modern era. Yeah,
there are a lot of way if you go back
and look at some of the point systems from the
fifties and sixties, they make no sense.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Yeah, they're almost as dumb as looking at kind of
like looking back at the history of the college football
crowning a champion in a way. But yeah, they're thinking
about according to Jeff gluck Over at the Athletic they're
thinking about scrapping the playoffs as they're currently structured and
going back to the old points system. And I have
yet to hear from a NASCAR fan who objects to that. Also,
haven't talked to all of them. We haven't exactly polled
(27:04):
people on that, and I've never heard anybody that I
know watches the sport with regularity object to the idea
of scrapping these playoffs and going back to the old
points system.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Yeah, and look, do I think the Winston Cup format
is perfect?
Speaker 5 (27:16):
No.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I think there were discussions like late two thousand and three,
early two thousand and four before the Chase was announced.
And you gotta remember Brian France took over back in
September of two thousand and three, and then a couple
of months later they announced to chase. But I think
there are tweaks. You could put more points to winning
instead of what was one hundred and eighty five, you
put maybe like two hundred and twenty five and extra
(27:38):
forty points for winning a race, so that puts more
value into winning.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I think that is fair.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
But the way that they went with the championship format
and then they doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down, whatever
is the past of quadruple down and so on and
so forth, it just hasn't worked. It's been a whole
generation and you've lost more and more people.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Okay, all right, Well, we also, by the way, had
somebody call in during the discussion asking if he could
go on the air and talk to Bubble Bubba Wallace.
And apparently this guy might have had a background or
something with with Bubba and his family. Just just know
that's not the first time we've gotten that kind of
phone call. I'll just head that off of the pass
right now. No, we cannot and can never put you
on the air to talk to the guest on the show.
I'll just go in case that's ever been in question,
(28:18):
I'll put that back out there. You can't talk to
guests on the show. And unless somebody's in studio with
us and we tell you, we tell you that ahead
of time, We're never just going to put you on
the air with a guest like Bubba Wallace. So sorry,
we just we can't do that. John's on the line.
John wants to talk NASCAR playoffs. Good timing, John, what's
going on?
Speaker 8 (28:37):
Hey, how you doing kV Good goody. I just want
to make a comment about the NASCAR playoffs. And this
is just a wild idea here. You know, this is
a sport that basically has from April through August to
itself to really just do. I don't want to say
whatever they want, but it's wide open, you know what
(29:00):
I mean?
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Sure, and so what they what they choose to do
is wait till the most popular sport in the world starts,
and then they want to start their playoffs at three
o'clock in between the one and four o'clock games every
single Sunday. And then they want to look at themselves
and be like, huh, I wonder why nobody's watching this
(29:21):
is this is a wild idea here. I can't believe it.
It just means it makes.
Speaker 8 (29:28):
No sense man at all, like fit the season in
when nothing.
Speaker 7 (29:33):
Else is on TV.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. John. I appreciate
the phone call. It's you don't NASCAR wants to There's
a stubbornness there, right, you want to still believe that
you can be what you used to be, even though
the numbers indicate that's clearly not the case. And the
unwillingness to change now it seems like there's a willingness now.
A lot of folks saying, get too little, too late.
You know, we'll find out, but you know, it seems
(29:57):
there's a willingness now finally to say, hey, guys, this
does it appear to be working? The ratings are going
down again, the races aren't really always compelling, doesn't exactly
elevate greatness in the sports, and maybe it's time we change.
And you know what, good for them if they do change,
and hopefully it works. But I've never understood to his point.
You know, you got Nascar, you got baseball, and of
course you got the NBA playoffs too in the early
(30:18):
portion of the summer. But why would you not, you know,
do a little bit better again. Scrap the playoff, go
back to the points, make every race, every race count more,
and yeah, try to wrap up your season before football
season starts for as much.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And I get it that they were like in two
thousand and four when they created to Chase, NASCAR was
on cloud nine for crying out loud. There was a
term in the election that year called the NASCAR Dad.
That's what they're trying to appeal to, the NASCAR Dad.
Between John Kerry and George W.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Bush. That was an actual turned out about that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Yeah, and then you had NASCAR essentially rivaling DNFL and ratings.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
I don't think that's ever going to happen again.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
And I'm not saying moving to a full point system
will immediately fix things, but I do think for the
long term health of the sport it'll help. Look what
F one's doing with a championship already over and they're
having races at some of the most odd times because
they're racing all over the world. The last race that
they had started at seven am on ESPN, and it
nearly is exactly what NASCAR got this past weekend at
(31:18):
New Hampshire, maybe about one hundred thousand off. So people
don't want playoffs in motorsports, Yeah, it doesn't. It isn't
hurting any car. Anycar had one of the best ratings
this year because they had every race on Fox. So
F one's not having that problem, and most of their
championship battles have been crap.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Well, there's just there again. We agree stubbornness in the sport, right,
there's a stubbornness in leadership in the sport. And I
got people on the text line saying, oh, it's too little,
too late, it's not gonna matter, you know. Ayj's the
latest one saying I hate to break it to NASCAR fans,
but I don't think changing the playoff points system is
really going to move the needle. I just think was
streaming and so many viewing options now, but they'll never
(31:55):
return to the prominence they once had in their heyday.
Well it probably not. I don't know that we'll ever
see four fifty million people watch the World Series again.
But baseball made changes, and baseball's doing fine. You know,
ratings up again in twenty twenty five, as long as
they don't get into a lockout. Well sure, but people
didn't like the pitch clock, they didn't like the bigger bases,
they didn't like the runner rule and the extra like
all these Well they're changing everything. Baseball's doing great. Baseball's
(32:18):
ratings have gone up. Gate attendance, you know, in stadium
attendance in a lot of places. Not if you sucked
it's still, you know, empty on a Wednesday night. Don't
get me wrongs, but baseball's doing great. Let's go back
to the phone lines. Jordan is up next. He wants
to talk about NASCAR. What's up, Jordan?
Speaker 9 (32:33):
Yeah, guys, it's funny.
Speaker 10 (32:35):
I feel like the only times I've ever called in
the show is when you guys get on the topic
of the nastart points system. But one of the things
that frustrates me the most about the whole topic around
it is like we've kind of gotten into this idea
that it's a Pandora's.
Speaker 7 (32:47):
Box that we can't close back up.
Speaker 9 (32:49):
And everybody, you know, whether it's Sale Junior on his
podcast or every single NASCAR person out there, wants to
have an opinion on what's your idea of a perfect
playoff format? And we treat it like we've we've got
to adjust and tweak on it.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
We can just go back to.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
Thirty six races, man, we can't. And it's okay, and
the ratings will probably be fine, they might even get better.
But like the idea that we have to go back
to playoffs just it so annoys me. And then you
guys got into the topic of f one where f one,
like you guys said, more often than not, doesn't have
an exciting championship every single year, but for one the
year so that it does are absolute classics. You know,
(33:23):
you look at twenty twenty one with for Staffin and Hamilton.
If you have something like that in NASCAR as the
result of a season long points race, people are going
to love the sport and remember it for that. And
you've taken that away from people. You've taken away that
drama and that stakes. What's the way that the current
format is. It just drives me crazy that we've got to, oh, well,
what's your perfect version? My perfect version is none. Just
(33:43):
get rid of it. I'm twenty four. This format was
supposed to appeal to the young audience and be exciting
and stuff.
Speaker 5 (33:48):
It's stupid.
Speaker 9 (33:49):
It's stupid. It rewards mediocrity, It rewards something that just
is not worth being rewarded. It doesn't reward a good
race teme over the course of a full season.
Speaker 6 (33:59):
I hate that.
Speaker 9 (34:00):
I don't like that at all.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Interesting. Thank you Jordan for the funk. Twenty four year
old guy Wang. I like that. I like the fact
that HL just like.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
My son, except I actually got the catch the tail
end of the Winston Cup era two thousand and one,
two thousand two, two thousand and threes and those seasons,
I mean, matt Kin's have dominated No. Three, but two
thousand and two was one of the crazies seasons ever.
Sterling Marlin had the lead for most of the year.
He loses the points lead to Mark Martin. Then when
he's trying to get it back, he gets hurt. At Kansas,
there's a point where a rookie Jimmy Johnson had the
points lead for about two weeks and then he had
(34:28):
one of the most weirdest situation happened between he and
Mark Martin. At Talladega, Tony Stwarton takes a point lead
and then he wins his first championship. It was one
of the crazy seasons that no one talks about. And
by the way, NASCAR loses the battle when he said,
we just can't go back to the playoffs for Christ's sake,
North folks Bro's getting a point for year.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
We're not taking the name in vain on this radio,
but North Fwolkes Thro's getting a point race next year.
You lose all of your arguability when that happens. Take
it easy on hey, sus Interestingly two people somebody said, KB,
I hear you, But Baseball's America's past time racing is not.
They're in different situations, get that. But it's more about
the live more about stubbornness, you know, and being around
for a long time, and unwillingness to change, not really
(35:07):
being proactive and staying on top of this stuff, not
being willing to recognize that what you're doing is not working.
Baseball came around, Baseball made some difficult changes at times
unpopular changes to a lot of people, but it's worked
out for them. That's the point, is that that stubborness
will put you in a very very bad place. I
did get one guy defending the NASCAR Playoffs, Bury the
tile Man says, I've been in NASCAR for over thirty years.
(35:28):
I think this is better. It gives an air of
what if? Yeah, but I mean yeah, a lot of
what ifs man.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
What if they didn't have a chase in Jeff.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Gordon would have won seven titles?
Speaker 6 (35:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:38):
What if we didn't give a championship to a guy?
No offense to Joliy Legano. It's not his fault. It
had an average finish of seventeen point three. What if
Kevin Harvick actually would have been rewarded for having a
legendary year in twenty twenty instead of one or two
simple to mistakes. By the way, one of those mistakes
was Nascars for actually having them race at Texas when
it was raining and Kevin Harvick didn't hits the wall.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Maybe if they did their job, Kevin Harvick would have
been a champion.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
You look at the championships Kevin Harvick should have had
and you'd be like, man, we should be making him
a bigger deal. You know, it kind of hurts with
this playoff system. We have all these guys that win
championships when they shouldn't win championships, and then when they
should they actually don't because of this stupid system, and
then you don't create big stars.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Okay, it's interesting right there that a twenty five, twenty
four year old guy calls in hates the playoffs. So
these were geared toward making it more excited for me,
more exciting for me, the young guy. And then we
have Barry who's been in NASCAR for thirty years and
says he thinks it's actually better. What an interesting back
to back bit of correspondence there, all right, seven oh
four five seven ninety six to ten. Hit us up
(36:39):
on the fan duel text line with your thoughts on this.
Are we squeezing in one more? We want to squeeze
in one more? Okay, Tom gets the last word on this, Tom,
what's going on?
Speaker 6 (36:48):
I'm a big NASCAR fan rough up here in Charlotte,
so I ten ten quite a few races, and I
just like the way, and I think what you said
a second ago, NASCAR has actually done pretty well about
adapting and changing and putting races at old tracks and
and moving moving races around.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
I agree with that to where they're not, I agree
with that.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
And that's and I've applauded that for them for that
because you know, I thought the same thing too, you know,
not that I came up with the first type thing,
but I mean I I just thought that, you know,
they didn't have to make a commitment to a to
a race day for twenty years, to a track that
may not you know, draw draw the fans are expecting
or wanting. So I think they've done pretty well that
(37:27):
I don't. I'm not crazy about the playoff system, but
you know, I like to have something going back to
the old system. I just think that that's a little antiquated.
But uh, you know whatever, I just like to watch racing.
It doesn't really bother me one way or the other.
I just love my racing.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Well, you know what, I appreciate that. My dad actually
texted me earlier. My dad's kind of liked you longtime
to AASCAR fans. Seen a lot of races at rich
or at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he told me, he said,
take the field of eight to Martinsville or North wilkesbro
He says, two seventy five lap stages and a one
one twenty five lap stage winner takes off. So's he's
talking about taking it to a track at the end
(38:03):
of the year. Take the field of eight, winner takes all.
How would you feel about that as an alternative.
Speaker 6 (38:07):
Solution like the bunk house Stampede or something that kind
of crazy. But if it produced good racing, then that's
why with the I wouldn't mind watching it, sir. But
you know, the stage racing, I applaud NASCAR for that.
A lot of people, a lot of old timers don't
like the stage racing. Look, gosh, how many stinkers I've
been to during the Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon era just
(38:29):
watching you know, somebody dominate the entire race, think up
the show. At least with the stage racing. The restarts
are the most exciting part. And that's that's worth every
nickel of your of your ticket for sure, because I
love that part of it. That's when the best of
the racing is. I really like the stage racing.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Tom, appreciate you, buddy, A great phone call. All right,
we got to go to smoke on the headlines. I'll
let him handle this. We do have some Hornets news
to get to.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
All right.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
As we mentioned about a week ago when they released
dayquon Jefferies, they needed to get that roster down a
little bit more. Or well, they've cut another man ahead
of training camp. They cut Nick Smith Junior has been
waived by the Charlotte Hornets. Yeah, of course, a first round,
late first round pick back in twenty twenty three, same
draft class as Brandon Miller played a lot last year specifically,
(39:17):
but I think with a lot of the new fresh
blood coming in here, his time was limited and done
for essentially.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Uh yeah, I'm not shocked by that. I don't I
thought he improved a little bit, but I never thought
he took any significant jumps. It wasn't big enough for
him to stay on the rock. And given what they've
brought in and what they're getting back from injury, I
don't think there's there's any minutes for him.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
I mean when when he traded for Collin Sexton didn't
sign Spencer Dinwoodie on a one year deal. Yeah, it's like,
all right, what do you have to offer that's better
than these two guys?
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah, you're right, A right, Well, come back and wrap
up the show. Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn Z,
(40:07):
All right, no, rewind today. We ran out of time.
That's probably my fault, but also great fault. It's the
caller's fault too, And it's a good thing. Great phone
calls there in the previous segment about the NASCAR playoffs,
really appreciate that and the heart of football season. For
the lines to light up for a NASCAR topic tells
you that there's still some diehard NASCAR fans out there
that want to talk about their favorite sports. So shock
(40:27):
me too. Yeah, yeah, So looking forward to more of
that to come. I guess I'd love it if they
did this. I'm not saying the old points system is
just the most perfect thing in the world, but I
do prefer it to the current playoff system. I don't
like it very much. Also, tomorrow, we have a weird
thing happening. Smoke will not be on the show tomorrow,
but you will hear Smoke on the station tomorrow. We
(40:48):
are swapping producers board operators from the midday show to
the afternoon show tomorrow. So Smoke will be in with
Wes and Walker tomorrow twelve to three and Flounder will
be with me from three to six tomorrow. Correct, right,
it is correct?
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Yes, Because I'm the director of football ops at Northflincoln
High School, asked me to do PA for a football
game tomorrow as northf Lincoln takes on Hickory High.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Look at you Tornaders going back to your old stomping grounds. Yes,
so you're you're the PA guy for North Lincoln tomorrow night,
So you're working the midday show. Flounder's gonna be with me.
It's one off on a Friday from three to six,
so it should be fun. I'm looking forward to that
Flounder's going to be in. I bet we'll talk about
the tar Heels even with it being a bye week. Yeah,
I bet that will come up. I bet the US
Weekly article on Jordan Hudson will come up. So Flounder,
(41:33):
who came into the building today rocking his Drake May
Patriots Jersey, We'll be sitting in tomorrow from three to six.
So buckle up, folks. Uh So Glenn said, KB didn't y'
all just play the Nick Smith Junior promo last break?
Speaker 6 (41:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:46):
We did, and then Smoke very quickly took it out
of rotation. So yeah, you know, I'm going to do
it twice for Mark Williams. So we're kind of used
to that by now. All right, let's tip our caps
courtesy of our friends at Neo JENICX, where they help
heal joint pain naturally with no surgery, no medication, no downtime.
Go to Neogenicstemsales dot com. Smoke what you got.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Tip my cap to Mark Martin and all the people
that have fault the good fight. We're almost at the
finish line, boys, Let's bring her home, get back to
a full point system. I'm gonna tip my cap to
Sean Alexander's wife child number fourteen on the Way, announced
earlier today that woman is a superhero.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
God bless her. Unbelievable. All right, we're back tomorrow, looking
forward to it. Until then, for Smoke Ludwig, I'm Kyle Bailey,
Sports Radio ninety two seven wfn Z. You're gonna be
dead in a one hundred years anyway, lived dangerously
You're listening to the Kyle Bailey Show powered by Victory
Chevy Charlotte. Want to drive a sweet Silverado trail Boss
like KB? Go to Victory Chevy Charlotte dot Com our.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Number three Sports Radio ninety two seven w f n
Z Salty pirates got jokes, He says, KB has xcel
become medium. I see what you did there. I'm not impressed,
but I see what you did there. Seven oh four
number says I want to see more of Joe Joe Horn,
good Lord, Jimmy Horn Junior. You know what I'd take
Joe Horn. I bet Joe Horn is still in fantastic shape.
(00:43):
Get get you know, Joe on on the opposite side
of the field as JC. I bet Joe could give
you some good snaps. Still, we got that flip phone
to call him. I don't I wish I did. I
hear he lives in the Charlotte area these days, which
would make some sense given that, you know, is his
son's balling out right now. So I would take Joe
seven oh four number here saying didn't team back also
have an injury that came out of nowhere. We're not
(01:05):
distraught by it because he hasn't been good, terrible catches
on the sideline, not giving effort for blocking. Yeah, tedor
McMillan dealing with a bit of an injury right now.
That we told the media yesterday after practice that he
expects to play on Sunday. The part about that text
where he says he's not distraught is in relation to
Xavier League yet who did not practice again today, And
I think it looks like it's tracking to not play
(01:27):
again on Sunday against the Patriots. Let's get the latest.
Let's get the real news from a man who that's
what he does. He brings us the real news from
Panthers dot Com. Uncle d G. Darren Gant is back
with us for a Thursday conversation on the hotline. Darren GANTT,
what's going on, buddy?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Not a whole lot.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
It's just another beautiful day here in Charlotte, North Carolina.
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Good? How's your health? Are you you nicked up at all?
You do you feeling good?
Speaker 4 (01:50):
I'm I'm feeling pretty good. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.
I was a little I was day to day last weekend.
I got a COVID shot, so needed a day to recover.
But other than that, I'm as good as gold and.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
I'm ready to go this week.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Okay, all right, I'm not. By the way, you can
add me to the injury report. I found out this morning.
I have a small tear in my scapular muscle darre
and it sucks. It's terrible, soang, add me to the list.
All right. Well, it turned fur.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It's it's not cutting a toe off for anything, but
that's still bad.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It sucks. I'm also I turned forty in November, so
all of a sudden, the old man injuries are starting
to rack up. You've been there.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Uh yeah, tell me more about old man injury.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Well, Bailey, all right, well let's stay on theme.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
Then.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
What's the true picture of health for this team right now?
How banged up are they?
Speaker 7 (02:34):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
I mean, you know, they got a couple of dudes
back on the field today. Turk Whorton was back out there,
and that's a good sign. I mean they saw him
in the opener and had dot since so uh, with
the way the defense is playing, getting him back out
there would be a good thing.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
And t Mac was back out there. We'll see. I
mean those things, you know, any of the other stuff.
You know, Kyle, you can check Panthers dot Com tomorrow
afternoon after practice for the final injury report, for the
for the true picture of this. But no, it's just
kind of hard to tell. I mean, they've got a
lot of day to day guys, and we'll see. I mean, obviously,
I think one of the things you've got to look
(03:09):
at at that defense, along with work coming back today
is no Pat Jones, no DJ Wantam today. So while
you know Nick and Princeley, you know, put in a
shift last week in that game there, you know, there's
a situation where more could be asked to them this week,
and you know, I think that'll be important because honestly,
the way that defense has played so far this year
(03:30):
has been the big story. I mean, I think with
everything involved in the Carolina Panthers, seeing Derek Brown back
on the field, seeing the way they played run de
out in Arizona, Yeah, that's obviously been a significant difference.
So it'll be curious to see what tomorrow holds. Tune
in sometime shortly after lunch and we'll have all the
latest for you.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You're right, it is always interesting to see what tomorrow holds.
If we're all blessed and lucky enough to see it.
So I guess that's probably going to be maybe part
of the answer you give me to this question. But
league get is do you still have belief that he
can help this team in a significant way? Do you
think they believe that he can still help this team significantly?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I think absolutely. I think you got to remember a
couple of things. Number One, Dave Canalis is an old
wide receivers coach. So when he was I was talking
to Dave at one point this offseason, and he starts
talking about XL's progression, and he was already thinking about, Okay,
here's where we'll getting your two, here's what he'll do
in year three. And so this is a long term
commitment to this guy. You don't take somebody in the
(04:29):
first round if not. And I think the other thing
that plays into that is just the way he works.
I mean, I keep weird hours here at the stadium
during the off season, and I'd come down the elevator
to head out at the end of the day and
I'd get off the elevator near the ak wall that
turf field before you go to the press box, and
you'd hear that you know, and it's XL on the
(04:50):
jugs machine catching balls and he's doing that in February
and March, in May and June when nobody's around the
stadium that weird time. So the kids in the works,
he's committed to it. I mean, I think he's just
you know, the physical stuff, a lot of tension, don't
have any control over. So, but I think absolutely in
terms of confidence in him, they've still got it. And
(05:12):
you know, he's a big, fast guy and those are
valuable in the NFL. And you know, Dave Canalis was
around a couple of them in Seattle that turned out okay.
So I think you know, the idea that anybody's giving
up on him AT's that's that's not a real thing.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Okay, right, fair enough, Darren Gant with us hanging out
on the hotline, we started the show talking about a chart.
I love charts. I know you love a good chart.
A chart that was indicating to anybody who looked at it,
that is, it relates to deep balls and the efficiency
throwing the deep balls that Bryce Young has thrown them
very well. But the chart also indicates that plays aren't
always being made. And then our buddy Josh Norris over
(05:49):
at Underdog Fantasy took it upon himself to clip every
throw of twenty plus yards down the field that Bryce
has made so far this year, and what you'll see
on a lot of them are drops in this case,
you know, plays not being made. Things like that. I
bring this up to say, has the passing game been
a little better than we think in ways? Is it
still leaving a lot to be desired for you? What
(06:12):
are we to make of the overall passing game right now?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Well, I think they've got time to work on it.
And again I go back to last week, one of
the biggest things to me was, Hey, the way they
played defense the last couple of games. But when you
when you don't turn it over early and are able
to stay in pace, you know, and run the ball
the way you want to, when you when you run
it more than you throw it, that's a good thing. Listen. Obviously,
they've still got some things to work on. I mean,
(06:36):
Canal said it earlier this week. You know, Tmac would
be the first one to tell you he's got to
come down with some of those too. So I think
it's time. There's going to be time to get all
that stuff squared away. I mean, obviously you want to
get it done sooner rather than later. But we've seen
the signs from McMillan. We've seen what XL can do,
you know, on the field in the past. So and
(06:57):
obviously when you get in the red zone and stuff,
we've seen what a Hunter Renfro could do. And by
the way, congratulations to the Renfros. Welcome the new baby
girl into the world yesterday, so all good things. Modzel
top to the Renfros and all that fun stuff. So yeah,
I think there's time. I mean, it's natural. Yeah, I
think a lot of people expect things to pick up
(07:19):
wherever they were last year and be exactly like they were.
And you know, obviously the way the Panthers played offense
threw the ball around second half of last year, people
thought it was going to be like that, but it
seldom like that. I mean, these things are not linear,
so you're getting used to new people. You're you know,
incorporating new targets, different plays, different personalities. So I think
(07:40):
there's time. But I've seen signs of it, I truly have.
I mean through the off season training camp OTAs these
guys were pitching it and catching it around pretty good.
And they were doing it, you know, even during practice
against a pretty good couple of corners in JC and Mike.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Jack, Darren jan hanging out with us here on a Thursday.
You know, we talked so much about the offense to defense,
and we talk special teams, but often it's to most
of the time, probably to complain or point out things
that are going wrong. But boy, this special teams group
has been good to start the year. Tracy Smith has
done a really nice job. Ryan Fitzgerald has done a
really nice job. Sam Martin's done a nice job. Tracy
(08:17):
Smith's in his first year on the job. How good
have these guys been. We heard Mike Vrabel saying.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Tracy's been around. He yeah, he came here today, so
he's uh, you.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Know he second, I apologize, My bad, My bad.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, that's all right. Don't sell Tracy Smith short. He's
a wizard of special teams. He deserves all that credit.
They have done a really good job. I think one
of the things, and you can read all about this
today on Panthers dot com, that kickoff coverage unit. It's
not just Fitzgerald kicking a screwball down there. That bounces funny,
and that's the cool thing about a football. It's pointy
(08:50):
on either end, so when it hits the dirt, it
tends to do things you can't predict. So they've got
ten dudes out there, including Bryce and Tremaine who are
just comic Coze straight down the field and making big
plays i mean holding. They're number one in the league
and opponents average drive start on kickoffs, which is the
ultimate esoteric football nerd stat. The thing that's crazy about
(09:13):
it to me, the difference between where the Panthers are
at one and the fifth place Houston Texans or whoever's
in fifth is the same as the gap between five
and thirty two. Like, they're killing it out there, and
most of the league is content to give up give
up touchbacks. But if you've got a kicker who can
kick that ball, and you've got guys who can cover
(09:34):
like Caldon, Cherlist, Thomas and Coombe, Bryce and Tremaine, Van Martin, Scott,
all those cats, I mean, they're getting after it at
a high level. So that's kind of stuff you need.
I Mean, we talked the first couple of weeks about
those little things that you've got to do to stay
in games, and you know that's obviously one of them,
and that's going well, it is.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
What do you think about the notion that this team
could have started better if they'd played more together in
the preseason, because I still get to tell you on
the text line, I think it's silly.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Frankly, I really do. I mean, what would one more
series against the Houston Texans second and third stringers have proven.
I mean, somebody sent me a question in mailbag the
other day comparing it to Joe Gibbs in the eighties,
and Joe Gibbs just always have his players play in
the preseason.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Joe Gibbs also got the coach before free agency, when
teams were the exact same for six years in a row.
So I think stuff like that had a lot more
to do with success Joe Gibbs had in Washington than
preseason staffs. I think it's completely overblown. I'm I am. Yeah,
I'm not an advocate of preseason football as an important
(10:38):
barometer of really anything other than I don't know, temperature.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Well, hold on, because I got to push back a
little bit on that. I know that's your stance. You
and I have worked together long enough. I know that's
generally your stance. But okay, your point about second and
third stringers, I get what you're what you're saying, but
what about logistics, game day operations, getting play calls in
on time? You know, you're giving reps to coordinators all
the way up until week three of the season. Then we
get to week one and play calls aren't getting in.
You're not getting to the lot of scrimmage. There's miscommunication.
(11:05):
That's where I think a lot of people are pointing
to the operation could have been cleaner from the jump.
You don't put any stock into that.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No, I mean you can do that in practice too.
I think you know to me, and this is my opinion,
Darren Gant. Only my opinion is pre season snaps are
consequence free. So that's the time you experiment. That's the
time you let people develop. That's the time you run
weird plays, let other people call them, you know, see
(11:31):
what your personnel can do. Mix and match guys. I
mean there's no there's no lingering. Again, whether it was
Brad Idzick or whoever calling offensive place, I don't know
that it necessarily carries over one to the other. I
just I just don't believe in it.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay, all right, a couple quick things. We'll get you
out of here. Darren Gant hanging out with us. As
the defense played much better against the Falcons thirty to nothing,
they're still having, you know, difficulty getting to the quarterback
among the lowest pressure rate in the NFL. The run
defense was great, but you and I both know they've
got there's got to be an uptick in getting to
the quarterback. How do they do that well?
Speaker 4 (12:07):
And again this weekend could be looking at a couple
of those young guys doing it and they've gotten pressure.
There have been some pressure there. Nick and Princeley are
both quick off the ball and you know, have the
ability to do some of that stuff. But they've got
to get halt. That's obvious. I mean, I think it's
going to be a work in process or work in progress.
I also believe that, you know, when Dan Morgan started
(12:28):
putting this team together in the off season, the emphasis
was just like offense last year, it was from the
front to back. It was fortify on line, have a
front seven that could stop the run so you can
stay in games. Unlike what was happening second half of
last year, So I just think it's gonna come with time.
You know, when you see the flashes Princely has, when
(12:51):
you see the way you know, Nick Gordon's a kid
who is described as relentless by coaches, and he's also
got a couple of pass rush mods in his Polsters.
So I'm curious to see how that develops, like everybody
else is. But you know, again, I think given the
golf of where they had to go in terms of
run defense, I mean, would you like to fix everything
(13:11):
at one time, Sure you would, but especially if Pat
and DJ aren't out there this weekend, it's going to
be tougher for those rookies to get that done.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Now. I know you don't cover the Patriots. I'm not
sure how much you've seen of them, but they're likewise
one and two. They're only win is against the struggling
Dolphins team. They turned the ball over five times against Pittsburgh.
They're still in a rebuilding mode. They swapped out coaches
and you know, after Drake May's rookie year, we've seen
that here before. What are your thoughts on New England
this weekend. We know that the environment's always tough up there,
but what do you think about the team.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Well, I watched Drake May come into kid Veru Stadium
in Booting, North Carolina and put sixty three on the board.
So there's nothing that kid's not capable doing. All right,
come on, I mean that's as stern a test as
you're ever going to see in football. No, they've got
you know, it's like a lot of young teams. They are,
(14:00):
you know, not complete by a stretch of the imagination.
They're working on a thing I hate. I mean is well,
let me say this, you when you look at what
the Patriots did. You mentioned the turnovers last week. Obviously
the Panthers are doing a little bit better job of
getting their hands on balls around here. But I think
that I hate playing a team after one like that.
(14:20):
I mean, that kind of stuff always makes me nervous.
I'm just I'm just that way. Maybe I'm paranoid. I
don't know. That happens with old age, kind of like
weird scapula injury. But you know, I mean, it's it's
these are two teams that are kind of similar in
a lot of aspects. I mean, they're they're growing together,
people are building cultures. Mike Brable's gonna Mike Rabel's good
(14:43):
ball coach, and he's gonna get that team looking like
a Mike Rabel team sooned up. If you look at
what he did, it's gonna see. I don't think he
was necessarily the problem there, but he he can coach
him up. He's got a talented quarterback and it's gonna
take time. If Gonzalez is back from that answering injury,
everything indicates that he's probably gonna be It's gonna be
a little more complicated for the passing game. So I
(15:06):
think it's fairly even matchup in terms of the two
teams and their profiles and what they're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Darren, We appreciate you, buddy. Enjoy Foxborough and the chowder
this weekend. We'll talk to you next week.
Speaker 6 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah, take care of yourself. I recommend over the counter
pain reliever and maybe a beverage of your choice after work.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah. Well, not neither of those things have worked so far,
but I'll keep trying.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
I appreciate you, buddy, day trying keep pounding, sir. That's
what they say.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Okay, well, and in fact, I'm actually gonna end up.
I was back at neogenics this morning to get it situated.
Shout out to one of our great sponsors, because yeah,
the old man injuries are piling up. I appreciate DG
for stopping by seven O four five, seven oh ninety
six to ten. Interestingly, we have people criticizing Darren for
his preseason take, but we have people agreeing with him.
(15:50):
Cam tweets things says I'm with DG. Preseason is pretty dumb,
pretty dumb. Preseason is pretty dumb. Again, we sported just
the way it's word of bikesby chuckle me too, like
preseason is pretty dumb. Uh, I listen, I don't. I
think a lot of coaches and players would disagree with that. Again,
(16:11):
And my only issue with it really was, you know,
when you got to week one, you just didn't look
ready for game day, getting plays in and getting personnel
on and off the field. And they weren't necessarily alone,
but I knew that criticism would come back up if
they didn't look sharp to start the season, all right,
seven oh four five seven ninety six ten. Hit us
up on the fan duel text line. When we come back,
we go back to back. Bubba Wallace, driver of the
(16:33):
Number twenty three Toyota Camry for twenty three eleven racing.
The playoffs roll on. They're going to Kansas this weekend.
Bubba Wallace will join us next Sports Radio ninety two
to seven wfn Z Sports Radio ninety two to seven
(16:56):
wf and Z, Charlotte. We appreciate you being with us
here on this Thursday. We get back to Panthers and
Patriots on Sunday coming up in just a bit. Don't
forget pregame once again eleven am Sunday morning. Make sure
to tune in me and Mac got you eleven am
leading up to Patriots and Panthers, but also this weekend
NASCAR Playoffs. It's gonna be a whole lot of fun
out in Kansas. One of the best tracks, most underrated
(17:18):
tracks still on the circuit. And the playoffs roll on,
And as we promised, we bring to you the driver
of the number twenty three Toyota Camry twenty three eleven racing.
You know him well. Bubba Wallace is with us on
the hotline for a Thursday conversation. Bubba, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Man?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
How are you all right?
Speaker 7 (17:34):
Just trying to figure out what's going on?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Well, I mean are you. You're a football fan, right,
who do you root for?
Speaker 6 (17:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (17:40):
I'm more of a collegiate level on Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, when I get that, I grew up in Blacksburg.
I grew up in a college football town too, so
I get it. Yeah, I mean okay, well, I mean
you're at least having fun then this football season, because
Tennessee looks pretty strong to start the year.
Speaker 7 (17:53):
Yeah, we kind of gave that Georgia went away as unfortunate,
but all we'll see how it goes, starting off on
a decent foot.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Well. Nice thing about the expanded playoff is one loss
doesn't doesn't keep you out of the postseason. So all right, cool,
all right man, Well it's good to have you a
lot of cool things going on in your world. You know,
I just want to start with this because I was
thinking about this. They let me run that school bus
race last summer at Charlotte Mote Speedway. We won't talk
about me finishing dead last in a rigged bus, but
it was pretty bad. But you know what the cool
(18:22):
thing about that is, Honestly, both times last summer and
this summer, I saw you out there tinkering with your car.
You were racing those nights. I believe you were racing
this year as well. But I saw you out there
and I see you, I see you interacting with the kids,
and you know, you're you're this big Cup Series driver
twenty three eleven racing Michael George like you're you're a superstar,
but you also still seem really connected to the roots
(18:43):
of this sport. How do you keep that alive?
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (18:45):
No, it was fun to be able to go back
and race some legend cars to shoot out, you know.
I remember my first ever race there. Shoot however long
it was ago, so tough, the competition was, and just
everything about it. I've always loved and hate that it's
kind of lost luster over the last handful of years.
(19:06):
So just going back to kind of bring back some
of the vibes that was was cool. It was tough,
so that's for sure, way different than I remember it being.
But all in all, had a good time and I
was able to put a few good races together.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So this is I believe, your seventh full Cup Series season,
your second consecutive playoff appearance. How does the pressure of
the playoffs feel different for you this year compared to
your first run.
Speaker 7 (19:34):
Yeah, I think, you know, being able to go through
it all the first time and kind of being that
last car in it definitely had an extra amount of
pressure on it as to this one. You know, we
felt like if we could just execute each and every weekend,
we were a top ten car And so obviously getting
that win Indy was massive for our team, but it
(19:54):
allowed the pressure to kind of subside a little bit
and allowed us to focus on what we really really needed.
And I'll say our first round was really really good.
Didn't start off the second round that great, but we
got two more chances to bounce back and get to
a good track that we know we.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Can run well out now, Bobby, you were talking about it,
you know, Kansas has been one of the best tracks
on the schedule for you. How big is it after
struggling at New Hampshire for you to go to a
track that you've won a race at before.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
Yeah, it's nice to get back to some familiarity. We
were all kind of caught by surprise at New Hampshire.
Is unfortunate just the day, our way or the way
our day ended up being just really had nothing to
brag about. A clean slate. Kansas is a good opportunity
(20:42):
to get us back on track.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
If I can, I want to go back to the brickyard.
You hold off Kyle Larson double overtime, just if you
can walk us through those final laps and what that
was like going through your mind. We haven't had a
chance to talk to you since then, but it was
such a big race at an historic place you get
to win. What's going through your mind in those final laps?
Speaker 7 (21:01):
Yeah, I think the biggest worry for us was was
fuel and making sure we had enough. I think we
were okay for one green white checker, but not two.
And so as far as having larcenary, just figuring out
who's going to get to turn one through turn one better.
And I had it in my mind made up before
we even fired off that I was going to be
that guy. So it was just ended up being a
(21:23):
good day. Felt that from the very beginning, and it
was awesome to be able to capitalize on it.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Bubba Wallace, driver the number twenty three Toyota twenty three
to eleven race and hanging out with us here on
a Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Now, Bubba, you know, looking at the race after Kansas
is d roval and you know your struggles on road
courses have been you know, been known for years, but
you've also gotten a lot better to track, including a
top ten finished last year at Roval. How are you
thinking heading into this year of d Roval that you
can possibly get yourself into the round of eight if
you don't win this weekend?
Speaker 7 (21:54):
Yeah? I actually we've always had decent speed went at
the rovals, so yeah, I think, you know, just going
up there with the right mindset, getting used to it,
getting into a rhythm quick. It's a home race, so
you already get good, good vibes from that. Yeah, looking
forward to both Kansas and Roval. Decent tracks for on
the circuit.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, with your team, right, your team's been really
consistent this year. One win, top fives, twelve, top tens.
We see you in the car. People can know the
name of your crew chief and all that stuff, but
you've got a team that gets you ready each and
every week. What's the stuff that we don't see behind
the scenes that make your makes your team click and
work the way that it does.
Speaker 7 (22:34):
I don't know. I think that's all private.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Let our secrets.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Okay, Well you know what then, what can you share
with us? Then because I think you got some cool
things going on.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
Yeah, No, we just have a really good time. We
have a lot of fun at the racetrack, at the
race shop, just making sure everybody's on the same page,
and never letting the moments get too too high, and
and and just enjoying each other and figuring out how
to work hard together. And that that's what creates a
good chemistry, a good bond, good family atmosphere, and so
(23:06):
that that stills over to when we go into the racetrack.
You can just just be yourself and and show up
and do your job the best that you know how.
Speaker 6 (23:14):
To do it.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Now, Bubble, one thing that people might not know about
you is that you're really into photography. So much so
do we seen you over the years take shots of
you know, take become a photographer during a race during
the truck series in Xfinity Series. I've always wondered what
has drawn you to photography, and we've seen a lot
of athletes such as King, Griffy Junior, and Brady Johnson
do the same thing in recent years.
Speaker 7 (23:36):
Yeah, it's just a i don't know, a nice escape,
a nice resa to allow you to just get away
from the manus. And you know, photography is something I've
always enjoyed, always looking at other people's photography and figuring
(23:57):
out how to do the same things and if not
better and and whatnot. So it's just a lot of fun.
It's it's the opposite of what we do. It's definitely
slow paced. Uh, you got to focus on a lot
of the small details and uh yeah, it's just it's
just a good time.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Hey, Bubble, last thing. We'll let you go on this.
You know, you're a young guy in the sport. Obviously
you've got a bright future ahead of you. But you
also talk to the kids. Like we mentioned at the
top of this conversation. Uh, when when kids, young drivers aspiring,
you know, kids with NASCAR futures come to you and
ask you about, you know, how to get better, what
they should do to try to follow in your footsteps.
What what advice do you give the young kids.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
Yeah, I always tell them, you know, learn how to lose,
because motorsports you lose more than you win. And so yeah,
I think just focusing on that, learning how to just
better yourself each and every chance and just never give up.
Those are kind of the quick, easy hitters. But nothing's
(24:54):
easy about the sport at all. But yeah, I see
they just learn how to lose and let those next
moments build you be even stronger moment.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Words of wisdom. Hey, we appreciate you. Best of luck
this weekend and we'll catch up down the road, all right, man,
Thank you, Bubba Wallace driver the number twenty three toyo
to Camray twenty three to eleven. Racing with us on
the hotline here on a Thursday seven oh four five,
seven ninety six ten, hit us up with your thoughts.
So we had salty pirates just said why doesn't NASCAR
call their playoffs drive offs or race offs? Because they don't.
(25:23):
I don't know what's tell you on that one. I
don't think they ever they turn your mic on smoke.
You can't keep doing that, bone man, Sorry, it's okay,
don't give them any ideas well, Okay, yeah, that's I mean.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
These guys had the caution clock. Yeah, into truck series.
That was one of the dumbest things ever.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Sure, and somebody earlier I had asked, you know what,
get his thoughts on the playoffs chain. These guys have
all weighed in, They've all been asked about that they've
all established their opinions. They're in the playoffs right now.
I don't expect them to give us much of anything
on that, and nothing's happening yet, although there is a
Jeff Gluck report from The Athletic about fifteen hours ago
that indicates the committee that was formed to look at
(26:01):
such things is now reportedly looking at scrapping the NASCAR
playoffs as they currently are constituted and going back to
the old points system that existed from two thousand and
three to prior to crowned Champion as opposed to these,
you know, this playoff system that really hasn't produced nearly
the level of excitement and anticipation and quite frankly viewership
(26:24):
that they thought it would when they first came up
with the chase back in two thousand and four.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
The Winston Cup format was seventy two to two thousand
and three. Throughout the entire t, I guess the Winston
Cup and the start of the NASCAR modern era. Yeah,
there are a lot of way if you go back
and look at some of the point systems from the
fifties and sixties, they make no sense.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Yeah, they're almost as dumb as looking at kind of
like looking back at the history of the college football
crowning a champion in a way. But yeah, they're thinking
about according to Jeff gluck Over at the Athletic they're
thinking about scrapping the playoffs as they're currently structured and
going back to the old points system. And I have
yet to hear from a NASCAR fan who objects to that. Also,
haven't talked to all of them. We haven't exactly polled
(27:04):
people on that, and I've never heard anybody that I
know watches the sport with regularity object to the idea
of scrapping these playoffs and going back to the old
points system.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Yeah, and look, do I think the Winston Cup format
is perfect?
Speaker 5 (27:16):
No.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I think there were discussions like late two thousand and three,
early two thousand and four before the Chase was announced.
And you gotta remember Brian France took over back in
September of two thousand and three, and then a couple
of months later they announced to chase. But I think
there are tweaks. You could put more points to winning
instead of what was one hundred and eighty five, you
put maybe like two hundred and twenty five and extra
(27:38):
forty points for winning a race, so that puts more
value into winning.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I think that is fair.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
But the way that they went with the championship format
and then they doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down, whatever
is the past of quadruple down and so on and
so forth, it just hasn't worked. It's been a whole
generation and you've lost more and more people.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Okay, all right, Well, we also, by the way, had
somebody call in during the discussion asking if he could
go on the air and talk to Bubble Bubba Wallace.
And apparently this guy might have had a background or
something with with Bubba and his family. Just just know
that's not the first time we've gotten that kind of
phone call. I'll just head that off of the pass
right now. No, we cannot and can never put you
on the air to talk to the guest on the show.
I'll just go in case that's ever been in question,
(28:18):
I'll put that back out there. You can't talk to
guests on the show. And unless somebody's in studio with
us and we tell you, we tell you that ahead
of time, We're never just going to put you on
the air with a guest like Bubba Wallace. So sorry,
we just we can't do that. John's on the line.
John wants to talk NASCAR playoffs. Good timing, John, what's
going on?
Speaker 8 (28:37):
Hey, how you doing kV Good goody. I just want
to make a comment about the NASCAR playoffs. And this
is just a wild idea here. You know, this is
a sport that basically has from April through August to
itself to really just do. I don't want to say
whatever they want, but it's wide open, you know what
(29:00):
I mean?
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Sure, and so what they what they choose to do
is wait till the most popular sport in the world starts,
and then they want to start their playoffs at three
o'clock in between the one and four o'clock games every
single Sunday. And then they want to look at themselves
and be like, huh, I wonder why nobody's watching this
(29:21):
is this is a wild idea here. I can't believe it.
It just means it makes.
Speaker 8 (29:28):
No sense man at all, like fit the season in
when nothing.
Speaker 7 (29:33):
Else is on TV.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. John. I appreciate
the phone call. It's you don't NASCAR wants to There's
a stubbornness there, right, you want to still believe that
you can be what you used to be, even though
the numbers indicate that's clearly not the case. And the
unwillingness to change now it seems like there's a willingness now.
A lot of folks saying, get too little, too late.
You know, we'll find out, but you know, it seems
(29:57):
there's a willingness now finally to say, hey, guys, this
does it appear to be working? The ratings are going
down again, the races aren't really always compelling, doesn't exactly
elevate greatness in the sports, and maybe it's time we change.
And you know what, good for them if they do change,
and hopefully it works. But I've never understood to his point.
You know, you got Nascar, you got baseball, and of
course you got the NBA playoffs too in the early
(30:18):
portion of the summer. But why would you not, you know,
do a little bit better again. Scrap the playoff, go
back to the points, make every race, every race count more,
and yeah, try to wrap up your season before football
season starts for as much.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
And I get it that they were like in two
thousand and four when they created to Chase, NASCAR was
on cloud nine for crying out loud. There was a
term in the election that year called the NASCAR Dad.
That's what they're trying to appeal to, the NASCAR Dad.
Between John Kerry and George W.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Bush. That was an actual turned out about that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Yeah, and then you had NASCAR essentially rivaling DNFL and ratings.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
I don't think that's ever going to happen again.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
And I'm not saying moving to a full point system
will immediately fix things, but I do think for the
long term health of the sport it'll help. Look what
F one's doing with a championship already over and they're
having races at some of the most odd times because
they're racing all over the world. The last race that
they had started at seven am on ESPN, and it
nearly is exactly what NASCAR got this past weekend at
(31:18):
New Hampshire, maybe about one hundred thousand off. So people
don't want playoffs in motorsports, Yeah, it doesn't. It isn't
hurting any car. Anycar had one of the best ratings
this year because they had every race on Fox. So
F one's not having that problem, and most of their
championship battles have been crap.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Well, there's just there again. We agree stubbornness in the sport, right,
there's a stubbornness in leadership in the sport. And I
got people on the text line saying, oh, it's too little,
too late, it's not gonna matter, you know. Ayj's the
latest one saying I hate to break it to NASCAR fans,
but I don't think changing the playoff points system is
really going to move the needle. I just think was
streaming and so many viewing options now, but they'll never
(31:55):
return to the prominence they once had in their heyday.
Well it probably not. I don't know that we'll ever
see four fifty million people watch the World Series again.
But baseball made changes, and baseball's doing fine. You know,
ratings up again in twenty twenty five, as long as
they don't get into a lockout. Well sure, but people
didn't like the pitch clock, they didn't like the bigger bases,
they didn't like the runner rule and the extra like
all these Well they're changing everything. Baseball's doing great. Baseball's
(32:18):
ratings have gone up. Gate attendance, you know, in stadium
attendance in a lot of places. Not if you sucked
it's still, you know, empty on a Wednesday night. Don't
get me wrongs, but baseball's doing great. Let's go back
to the phone lines. Jordan is up next. He wants
to talk about NASCAR. What's up, Jordan?
Speaker 9 (32:33):
Yeah, guys, it's funny.
Speaker 10 (32:35):
I feel like the only times I've ever called in
the show is when you guys get on the topic
of the nastart points system. But one of the things
that frustrates me the most about the whole topic around
it is like we've kind of gotten into this idea
that it's a Pandora's.
Speaker 7 (32:47):
Box that we can't close back up.
Speaker 9 (32:49):
And everybody, you know, whether it's Sale Junior on his
podcast or every single NASCAR person out there, wants to
have an opinion on what's your idea of a perfect
playoff format? And we treat it like we've we've got
to adjust and tweak on it.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
We can just go back to.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
Thirty six races, man, we can't. And it's okay, and
the ratings will probably be fine, they might even get better.
But like the idea that we have to go back
to playoffs just it so annoys me. And then you
guys got into the topic of f one where f one,
like you guys said, more often than not, doesn't have
an exciting championship every single year, but for one the
year so that it does are absolute classics. You know,
(33:23):
you look at twenty twenty one with for Staffin and Hamilton.
If you have something like that in NASCAR as the
result of a season long points race, people are going
to love the sport and remember it for that. And
you've taken that away from people. You've taken away that
drama and that stakes. What's the way that the current
format is. It just drives me crazy that we've got to, oh, well,
what's your perfect version? My perfect version is none. Just
(33:43):
get rid of it. I'm twenty four. This format was
supposed to appeal to the young audience and be exciting
and stuff.
Speaker 5 (33:48):
It's stupid.
Speaker 9 (33:49):
It's stupid. It rewards mediocrity, It rewards something that just
is not worth being rewarded. It doesn't reward a good
race teme over the course of a full season.
Speaker 6 (33:59):
I hate that.
Speaker 9 (34:00):
I don't like that at all.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Interesting. Thank you Jordan for the funk. Twenty four year
old guy Wang. I like that. I like the fact
that HL just like.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
My son, except I actually got the catch the tail
end of the Winston Cup era two thousand and one,
two thousand two, two thousand and threes and those seasons,
I mean, matt Kin's have dominated No. Three, but two
thousand and two was one of the crazies seasons ever.
Sterling Marlin had the lead for most of the year.
He loses the points lead to Mark Martin. Then when
he's trying to get it back, he gets hurt. At Kansas,
there's a point where a rookie Jimmy Johnson had the
points lead for about two weeks and then he had
(34:28):
one of the most weirdest situation happened between he and
Mark Martin. At Talladega, Tony Stwarton takes a point lead
and then he wins his first championship. It was one
of the crazy seasons that no one talks about. And
by the way, NASCAR loses the battle when he said,
we just can't go back to the playoffs for Christ's sake,
North folks Bro's getting a point for year.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
We're not taking the name in vain on this radio,
but North Fwolkes Thro's getting a point race next year.
You lose all of your arguability when that happens. Take
it easy on hey, sus Interestingly two people somebody said, KB,
I hear you, But Baseball's America's past time racing is not.
They're in different situations, get that. But it's more about
the live more about stubbornness, you know, and being around
for a long time, and unwillingness to change, not really
(35:07):
being proactive and staying on top of this stuff, not
being willing to recognize that what you're doing is not working.
Baseball came around, Baseball made some difficult changes at times
unpopular changes to a lot of people, but it's worked
out for them. That's the point, is that that stubborness
will put you in a very very bad place. I
did get one guy defending the NASCAR Playoffs, Bury the
tile Man says, I've been in NASCAR for over thirty years.
(35:28):
I think this is better. It gives an air of
what if? Yeah, but I mean yeah, a lot of
what ifs man.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
What if they didn't have a chase in Jeff.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Gordon would have won seven titles?
Speaker 6 (35:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:38):
What if we didn't give a championship to a guy?
No offense to Joliy Legano. It's not his fault. It
had an average finish of seventeen point three. What if
Kevin Harvick actually would have been rewarded for having a
legendary year in twenty twenty instead of one or two
simple to mistakes. By the way, one of those mistakes
was Nascars for actually having them race at Texas when
it was raining and Kevin Harvick didn't hits the wall.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Maybe if they did their job, Kevin Harvick would have
been a champion.
Speaker 3 (36:01):
You look at the championships Kevin Harvick should have had
and you'd be like, man, we should be making him
a bigger deal. You know, it kind of hurts with
this playoff system. We have all these guys that win
championships when they shouldn't win championships, and then when they
should they actually don't because of this stupid system, and
then you don't create big stars.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Okay, it's interesting right there that a twenty five, twenty
four year old guy calls in hates the playoffs. So
these were geared toward making it more excited for me,
more exciting for me, the young guy. And then we
have Barry who's been in NASCAR for thirty years and
says he thinks it's actually better. What an interesting back
to back bit of correspondence there, all right, seven oh
four five seven ninety six to ten. Hit us up
(36:39):
on the fan duel text line with your thoughts on this.
Are we squeezing in one more? We want to squeeze
in one more? Okay, Tom gets the last word on this, Tom,
what's going on?
Speaker 6 (36:48):
I'm a big NASCAR fan rough up here in Charlotte,
so I ten ten quite a few races, and I
just like the way, and I think what you said
a second ago, NASCAR has actually done pretty well about
adapting and changing and putting races at old tracks and
and moving moving races around.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
I agree with that to where they're not, I agree
with that.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
And that's and I've applauded that for them for that
because you know, I thought the same thing too, you know,
not that I came up with the first type thing,
but I mean I I just thought that, you know,
they didn't have to make a commitment to a to
a race day for twenty years, to a track that
may not you know, draw draw the fans are expecting
or wanting. So I think they've done pretty well that
(37:27):
I don't. I'm not crazy about the playoff system, but
you know, I like to have something going back to
the old system. I just think that that's a little antiquated.
But uh, you know whatever, I just like to watch racing.
It doesn't really bother me one way or the other.
I just love my racing.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Well, you know what, I appreciate that. My dad actually
texted me earlier. My dad's kind of liked you longtime
to AASCAR fans. Seen a lot of races at rich
or at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he told me, he said,
take the field of eight to Martinsville or North wilkesbro
He says, two seventy five lap stages and a one
one twenty five lap stage winner takes off. So's he's
talking about taking it to a track at the end
(38:03):
of the year. Take the field of eight, winner takes all.
How would you feel about that as an alternative.
Speaker 6 (38:07):
Solution like the bunk house Stampede or something that kind
of crazy. But if it produced good racing, then that's
why with the I wouldn't mind watching it, sir. But
you know, the stage racing, I applaud NASCAR for that.
A lot of people, a lot of old timers don't
like the stage racing. Look, gosh, how many stinkers I've
been to during the Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon era just
(38:29):
watching you know, somebody dominate the entire race, think up
the show. At least with the stage racing. The restarts
are the most exciting part. And that's that's worth every
nickel of your of your ticket for sure, because I
love that part of it. That's when the best of
the racing is. I really like the stage racing.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Tom, appreciate you, buddy, A great phone call. All right,
we got to go to smoke on the headlines. I'll
let him handle this. We do have some Hornets news
to get to.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
All right.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
As we mentioned about a week ago when they released
dayquon Jefferies, they needed to get that roster down a
little bit more. Or well, they've cut another man ahead
of training camp. They cut Nick Smith Junior has been
waived by the Charlotte Hornets. Yeah, of course, a first round,
late first round pick back in twenty twenty three, same
draft class as Brandon Miller played a lot last year specifically,
(39:17):
but I think with a lot of the new fresh
blood coming in here, his time was limited and done
for essentially.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Uh yeah, I'm not shocked by that. I don't I
thought he improved a little bit, but I never thought
he took any significant jumps. It wasn't big enough for
him to stay on the rock. And given what they've
brought in and what they're getting back from injury, I
don't think there's there's any minutes for him.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
I mean when when he traded for Collin Sexton didn't
sign Spencer Dinwoodie on a one year deal. Yeah, it's like,
all right, what do you have to offer that's better
than these two guys?
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah, you're right, A right, Well, come back and wrap
up the show. Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn Z,
(40:07):
All right, no, rewind today. We ran out of time.
That's probably my fault, but also great fault. It's the
caller's fault too, And it's a good thing. Great phone
calls there in the previous segment about the NASCAR playoffs,
really appreciate that and the heart of football season. For
the lines to light up for a NASCAR topic tells
you that there's still some diehard NASCAR fans out there
that want to talk about their favorite sports. So shock
(40:27):
me too. Yeah, yeah, So looking forward to more of
that to come. I guess I'd love it if they
did this. I'm not saying the old points system is
just the most perfect thing in the world, but I
do prefer it to the current playoff system. I don't
like it very much. Also, tomorrow, we have a weird
thing happening. Smoke will not be on the show tomorrow,
but you will hear Smoke on the station tomorrow. We
(40:48):
are swapping producers board operators from the midday show to
the afternoon show tomorrow. So Smoke will be in with
Wes and Walker tomorrow twelve to three and Flounder will
be with me from three to six tomorrow. Correct, right,
it is correct?
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Yes, Because I'm the director of football ops at Northflincoln
High School, asked me to do PA for a football
game tomorrow as northf Lincoln takes on Hickory High.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Look at you Tornaders going back to your old stomping grounds. Yes,
so you're you're the PA guy for North Lincoln tomorrow night,
So you're working the midday show. Flounder's gonna be with me.
It's one off on a Friday from three to six,
so it should be fun. I'm looking forward to that
Flounder's going to be in. I bet we'll talk about
the tar Heels even with it being a bye week. Yeah,
I bet that will come up. I bet the US
Weekly article on Jordan Hudson will come up. So Flounder,
(41:33):
who came into the building today rocking his Drake May
Patriots Jersey, We'll be sitting in tomorrow from three to six.
So buckle up, folks. Uh So Glenn said, KB didn't y'
all just play the Nick Smith Junior promo last break?
Speaker 6 (41:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:46):
We did, and then Smoke very quickly took it out
of rotation. So yeah, you know, I'm going to do
it twice for Mark Williams. So we're kind of used
to that by now. All right, let's tip our caps
courtesy of our friends at Neo JENICX, where they help
heal joint pain naturally with no surgery, no medication, no downtime.
Go to Neogenicstemsales dot com. Smoke what you got.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Tip my cap to Mark Martin and all the people
that have fault the good fight. We're almost at the
finish line, boys, Let's bring her home, get back to
a full point system. I'm gonna tip my cap to
Sean Alexander's wife child number fourteen on the Way, announced
earlier today that woman is a superhero.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
God bless her. Unbelievable. All right, we're back tomorrow, looking
forward to it. Until then, for Smoke Ludwig, I'm Kyle Bailey,
Sports Radio ninety two seven wfn Z. You're gonna be
dead in a one hundred years anyway, lived dangerously
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