This week on Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle, Charles Denike, crew chief for Bubba Wallace in the NASCAR Cup Series, joins the show, speaking with Frontstretch‘s Dalton Hopkins.
More than two decades ago, Denike was an Army engineer lieutenant. He discusses his connection to racing, and how he got into the industry following a career in the Army.
After the interview. Caleb Barnes joins Lyle to talk about the hottest topics of the week, namely Connor Zilisch, who made national news after his victory lane fall at Watkins Glen International that ended in a broken collarbone.
Barnes and Lyle debate if Zilisch will be back in the car at Daytona International Speedway next week as he battles Justin Allgaier for the regular-season championship or if the No. 88 will have a different driver for the next few races.
The soundbite of the week comes from Ryan Preece, who was frustrated with a mistake from his crew that allowed his teammate, Chris Buescher, to build a bigger buffer on the cut line. Barnes and Lyle talk whether or not Preece will have to win a race to get into the playoffs this year.
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
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.
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 Frontstretch 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
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!