The sun shone on the green flag and the checkered flag in the Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, but Mother Nature still had an impact at the Monster Mile.
Caleb Barnes and Bryan Nolen debate whether or not NASCAR made the right call to wait for the storm to pass and finish the full 400+ miles.
While Denny Hamlin held the lead both before and after the red flag for rain, the decision to wait and restart wound up costing Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson good finishes after Bell spun the No. 20 car. It also took William Byron out of the points lead. At the same time, the fans got to see a full race with an entertaining finish.
Plus, Barnes and Nolen discuss the lack of strategy diversity. With the emphasis on wins, teams had multiple opportunities to try an alternate strategy to gain track position or go on offense. Instead, the guys in need of wins, or top teams with nothing to lose, opted to follow the leader and chase track position.
As the podcast wraps up, the two pick between Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs – the final two in the In-Season Challenge – with one race to go in Indianapolis.
There’s a lot to talk about and a short time to do so. Stop by for a listen and sign up for Stock Car Scoop on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
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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!
Bryan Nolen is the Operations Manager and Multimedia Director for Frontstretch.com. He also hosts the Bringing the Heat with Bryan Nolen Podcast and occasionally makes appearances on The Happy Hour Podcast. He has a Sportscasting degree from the Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting. He resides in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, his French Bulldog Archer and two rabbits.
Follow him on Twitter @TheBryanNolen