Look, I tried to tell you the
seemingly endless silly season puzzle for this year in NASCAR is starting to finally take shape with moves across all three series but still some
questions to be answered. My name is Michael Carey and welcome to this week's rundown
The cup series playoffs begin in Darlington this weekend, the Xfinity Series playoffs are looming and the Truck Series continues their round of 10 at
Darlington this weekend. Now let's start off in nascar's second series where I feel like many fans were probably not expecting the magnitude of what
was announced. Now, it was just over a month ago that Tommy Joe Martins confirmed to me that he would step back into a part
time driving role for the 2022 season with a full revamped driver lineup coming in to help with Martin's Motorsports
Well, the future became a lot more clear earlier this week, starting in 2022 Caesar Bacarella will join the organization under the rebranded Alpha Prime
Racing. The number 44 car will be shared between Tommy Joe Martin's Bacarella and now Amanar Series driver Raja Karu
Now Tommy Joe will get 10 to 15 races. Karu will handle the short tracks of Dover Richmond and Martinsville and Bacarella races are to
be shared at a later date. The gorgeous number 44 Alpha Prime Camaro for 2022 features a tweak number design from the Creative Mind of
Ryan Pastano Raj. How does it feel just to finally get that news out there
Uh I mean, it's been as you know, it's been in the works for a couple at least a month
if not longer. Um And so it feels good to get it out
Um And that can help in the, the progress of looking for partners for those two additional races
Um And it feels good to have it out the way so we can
I can personally focus on the rest of this year. And uh we
we as a collective can focus on focus, focusing, finishing the rest of this year
well, and preparing for the next one as well. So getting a handful of starts next year in the expanding series
you know, how do you plan to prepare for that very first start next year
Uh That is a great question, Michael. Um We'll just, I'm not sure what the practice deal will be for next year
NASCAR hasn't sent the schedule for next year or really the, the formatting or anything
Um I heard first week of September but we'll see what, what when it is
Um And until then, I mean, my first thought is maybe the check in the green flag in Martinsville
who knows? Um, it was like that rarely this year for the Ark stuff
Like my first time in the Ark car was for our half hour practice session and in Marna
So, um, we'll just at the end of the day. Uh, there's
I'm confident in the people around me to make sure that I do what I'm supposed to do and if I
if I listen and just do what I'm supposed to do will be justified
Raj Tommy Joe was quoted this morning saying that Raja is the future for us and he's honored that you and your father Roger
you're both ready to work with Alpha Prime and to take this next step in your career
What led you to trust Alpha Prime racing for these career defining steps
Um, I think I just saw people and people is, is what racing is about
And so I think that the people that, that Tommy has, has assembled at
at Martin's Motorsports as of this year and adding Caesar and more personnel and
and, and more fin finances to, to go faster next year. I think that's gonna be important to
to me just because people is important to me. Um, we've got like probably eight or seven full time guys at rev more or less
And, um, you know, I have a really good relationship with all of them and
uh, to have a summer thing at, at Alpha prime is gonna be awesome. And uh I'm really excited
Well, I know fans are probably disappointed that Tommy Joe Martin is no longer gonna be full time in that 44 car
But this isn't about Tommy Joe. He told me last month he wants the future of Martin's Motorsports to not be the Tommy Joe Martin
story. He wants it to be Martin's Motorsports back in the spotlight again
Now on top of that, to address some confusion, uh APR will be full time in 2022 in the Xfinity series
Again, Martin is gonna get 10 to 15 races. Carruth will handle these short tracks and potentially some more races including Pocono and Kansas if
additional sponsorship can be found and then Baccar races are to be announced
what a difference a year makes for driver number 12. Ryan Blaney can do no wrong heading into this season
Blaney had never won multiple races in a single cup series season
Now heading into the 2021 national car cup series playoffs. Ryan Blaney is riding a two race winning streak and his three wins on the
year couple with great performances all season have him as the second seed heading into Darlington
Now Blaney is entering this year's playoffs the complete polar opposite way from how he entered last year's playoffs
Last season. Blaney had just two top 10 finishes in the eight races leading up to the playoffs and once the playoffs began
he sort of stumbled out of the gates and was a first round exit this year
Blaney has six top tens in the last eight races leading up to the playoffs including two back to back wins
According to racing insights, Ryan Blaney's average finish over the last nine races is the best stretch of his career by over two finishing positions
Now, don't forget this is Blaney's first season with a championship winning crew chief in Todd Gordon and it's Gordon's last season after the season
is done, he's gonna retire from the pit box. Could Ryan Blaney send Todd Gordon off into the sunset with the crew chiefs second cup
series championship within the last six years. Should Blaney be crowned champion this year
It'll be Penske's third Cup Series title in the last 10 years
One each between Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and potentially Blaney heading into the next season
A big question mark of facility season this year has been, where is Kurt Busch gonna go wonder no more as 2311 confirmed on Friday
that the 2004 cup series champion will move over to the organization starting in 2022 in a brand new multiyear deal
The deal puts the Las Vegas driver in the number 45 Monster Energy TRD Toyota Camry that was revealed with what is expected to be
the new number placement for 2022 and for the next gen car
Many fans were unhappy with the way the car looks but Danny did chime in saying that the show car does not represent any finalized
detail of Kurt's final design. We're gonna touch on number placement in a future episodes
So don't you worry with 33 wins to his name, a Daytona 500 Trophy and not to mention the 2004 cup series trophy
Kurt Busch is going to be a viable asset to a growing organization like 2311
The move to Toyota also marks the first time that Bush will drive one in the cup series completing the cycle of manufacturers including Dodge
Ford Chevrolet and now Toyota. Now, what's interesting to note is Kurt has expressed that he would like to maybe jump into some team management
in the future post driving career. Anyone else have an oddly specific idea for those who missed the
news earlier this month on Toby chrissie.com 13 year old NASCAR reporter extraordinaire judson o'neill of Judson's Racing Network has joined Toby chrissy.com
to provide some content for his at the track excursions. Now, Judson was in Daytona this past weekend and got to see the Xfinity race
and also got to talk with AJ Allmendinger about his run up finish to his teammate Justin Haley and he even got to talk about
Judson's school performance. Hey, go on. Hey guys, I'm Justin o'neill, here's Justin's racing now
We're on youtube and today where you want by second place finisher, I think, I think you finished second. Yeah
AJ Oman or so, man, that finish was super intense and I was like kicking the fence and I was like yelling because it was
like, because it was like so intense, we were like, and then Justin, he got the win and I know you're probably not that mad
about it because he's your teammate, but we're pretty upset. So, can you just talk to us about that finish
Yeah, I'm not that upset with it, you know, of course you want to win. But, uh
I mean, Justin, first of all is really good on super speedway racing
Like what he, what he's able to do when it comes to blocking runs and choosing runs
It's pretty amazing. But, yeah, when you have all three Col racing Chevys coming off
turn four side by side, it's, uh, it's pretty special. I really thought we had it
I got a, I got pushed by Al GRE through the middle and I was like, we are gonna get this and
uh, Justin did a good job just to get me slowed up enough at the line
But, uh, great day. You know, any, first of all, any time you can walk out of your race car on pit lane with no
damage on it. That's a great day at a speedway race and to, uh, to run top five all day
I think we led the most laps had a great points day. So, yeah, win would have been nice
But who I lost to, I'm ok with you trying to focus on school so much that you're just not even paying attention to me
and what's going on a little bit. All right. That's probably smart. Yeah
I know. I'm doing really bad in Spanish right now and I just failed a math test. So
what, ok, the Spanish thing, I struggled in a little bit. So
what do you do? You know what Don De Star La Biblioteca is? That's where is the library
Maybe, maybe you should figure that out. So, we're not, since we're failing math tests
I don't know. All right. All right. Well, thank you for talking to us, man. So that's it
We're ending the interview on that. Well, I, I don't know, I try and make it short if you want to keep talking about
Let's keep talking. I got it. We're, we're going through tech. So, what else you wanna talk about? I don't know
Yeah, this is Cups last race. We got three more. Darlington, Richmond
Bristol. Ok. So, uh, you run any more Cup races this year
The roll? Ok. Uh, you're probably gonna win at that. So, uh
yeah, I think we only in the Xfinity, there's only like one or two more road courses left
So I guess there's only one. It's the roo, well, at least you got one win game
We got this new thing that's called Google. You can look the schedule up and
yeah, but I used to do that but now I've just kind of like, stopped doing that because
like, I don't know, I, I get arrogant and think I know everything. Well
obviously you don't know, math or Spanish or what the schedule is like right now
Well, I mean, I was always like a straight a student but now this year I'm like, man, well
it's like why get good grades. Dale Senior dropped out of school and he's Dale Senior. So it's like
you know, do I really have to focus on grades to be a NASCAR reporter? Yeah, you really have to focus on grades because nobody
wants to pick up somebody that's just failing everything. But I have experience
doesn't matter if you're failing, failing experience isn't a good thing. Believe me
I've failed a lot in NASCAR. So you don't, you don't wanna do that? I, I don't think I need Spanish to do an interview
with you though. Not me. But if you go talk to Daniel Suarez, you might
I'll learn. So and now some loose ends to tie up Jack Wood and G MS racing will continue their relationship heading in 2022
Confirming that wood will pile with the number 24 entry full time next season at just 21 years old
He's made multiple ARCA and truck starts in 2021. With G MS recently recording his first top 10 in the truck series at worldwide technology
raceway. Primary backing will come from Chevrolet Derek Neen. Tyler Reddick spotter wasn't done racing after somehow guiding his driver to a playoff
berth despite being involved in many crashes on Saturday in Daytona, Neiland
as a driver qualified fast enough to make the 43 car field for the Oxford 250 on Sunday
It's impressive because 72 cars attempted to qualify. Neon went on to finish 25th in the event which was won by Cassius Clark Speed
51 provided the broadcast for the prestigious race and go bowling has shared that they will serve as the primary sponsor for Riley Herbs and
his number 98 Mustang for the September Richmond race in the Xfinity Series
It will mark just the third time in 2021. That monster has not been on the hood of Herbs Mustang
That's gonna wrap up this week's rundown. I really hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did consider subscribing
If you subscribe, I promise I will never ever talk about paint schemes and number placements ever again
Nah, just kidding. Don't forget to paint your side skirts and spoilers. I'll see you in the next one
Thank you so much for tuning in today's episode of the rundown. If you really enjoyed what you saw
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