On this week’s episode of Frontstretch Happy Hour, hosts Trey Lyle (subbing for Bryan Nolen), Michael Massie and Dalton Hopkins are joined by Connor Hall of Niece Motorsports.
Hall is a two-time national champion in the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts, a Virginia Triple Crown champion and a three-time zMAX CARS Tour championship runner-up. He joined Niece this year after a successful stint in JR Motorsports’ Late Model Stock Car program. Hall will drive the No. 4 for Niece at Rockingham Speedway, is helping the team to start a LMSC program and is working on the crew at other NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
The hosting trio talk to Hall about his transition to Niece, preparations for Rockingham and how he ruined a chance to compete at Daytona International Speedway because of his Travis Pastrana fandom.
After Hall departs, the three hosts discuss the feud between former Trackhouse Racing teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez that reached a boiling point at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
They then get into Daniel Dye‘s suspension after homophobic remarks on a livestream. That conversation leads to an analysis of Ford’s current lack of a pipeline for driver development and how it could impact the OEM down the road.
Watch the whole show above, on YouTube, or listen to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.
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.
Chris Graham is a motorsports producer, director, and broadcast engineer based in the Philadelphia-area. Through his work with NRN Productions, he’s helped build and execute live race coverage and sports streaming workflows ranging from lean, two-to-three person crews to full broadcast-style productions. Chris has worked across nearly every position in the truck—producing, directing, technical directing, replay, graphics, camera operation, and engineering—and has supported events and partners including FloSports, the ASA STARS National Tour, and Diamond State Digital. He’s also involved in developing live show formats and digital coverage that bring fans closer to the stories behind the racing. He is currently also the producer for the Frontstretch podcast Happy Hour.
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 co-host Happy Hour and help out on the podcast front.
He now hosts Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle and 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
If that’s a boiling point between Suarez and Chastain nobody has anything to worry about. As for Dye
Dads $$ apparently can get a seat but can’t fix stupid.