NASCAR on TV this week

Happy Hour: What’s the Fate of the Madhouse & Xfinity Series?

Frontstretch’s Happy Hour podcast is back for the first official episode of the 2025 NASCAR season.

Hosts Trey Lyle, Dalton Hopkins and Michael Massie are joined Chris Wilner of MRN Radio and NBC Sports to talk the foreseeable future of both Bowman Gray Stadium and the Cook Out Clash. The guys debate if Bowman Gray should be the permanent site of the preseason event or if that date should be used for international races.

With Tuesday’s (Feb. 4) news that Xfinity won’t be the title sponsor of the NASCAR Xfinity Series after 2025, the quartet reflect on the longtime sponsor’s impact and what could be next for NASCAR’s top feeder series. They also examine the new one-point bonus awarded to the fastest driver each race and what other bonuses could get added down the line.

See also
Comcast Renews Partnership With NASCAR, Extends for 1 Year As Entitlement Sponsor of Xfinity Series

The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series will be the Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, Feb. 13, and with at least 45 cars entered, quite a few good cars/drivers will be sent home. The gang discuss who could make or miss the Daytona 500.

With the 2025 championship battle set to get underway, the four guys predict who will make the Championship 4 and who this year’s champion will be.

Finally, Caleb Barnes joins the three hosts for a fantasy draft of Cup Series drivers for this season.

Watch the whole show below or listen to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts. 

Podcast Director

A Graduate of Virginia Tech in Sports Media and Analytics, Trey Lyle has been covering NASCAR since 2021 as the producer of the Fast Lane with Ed Lane on VTRN Sports 93.3 FM in Lynchburg, Va.

Trey joined FS in 2023 to cohost Happy Hour and help out on the podcast front as the producer for Brining the Heat with Bryan Nolen. Now, he oversees the entire podcast operation for Frontstretch.

 

Content Director

Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020. Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.

Content Director

Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.

Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT

Content Director

Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!

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