This week on Bringing the Heat With Trey Lyle, USA Sports producer Rene Hatlelid joins Lyle ahead of NASCAR’s final network transition of the year. This year, on-screen branding will look a little different, as it will switch from showing ‘NBC Sports’ to ‘USA Sports’ for each of the final 14 races of the 2026 season. According to Hatlelid, “the only thing that changed is the logo on our shirts.”
Hatlelid was also a part of the Amazon Prime broadcasts earlier this season. She shares insight into how her team prepared for the Coca-Cola 600 following the unexpected death of Kyle Busch just a few days before the race began.
After the interview, Bryan Nolen and Lyle review the hottest topics that arose during the off week. With Nolen returning to his former podcast for a week, he and Lyle discuss the Clash returning to Daytona. While Lyle is excited about the race returning to the World Center of Racing, Nolen believes it will still feel different from the Speedweeks of the past.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Talladega Nights. NASCAR announced Dega-Con to celebrate, which will culminate when the Cup Series returns to Talladega Superspeedway this fall. The two are eager to see if the event will have a positive effect on bringing attention to the sport.
This week’s soundbite — coming from Indianapolis a week and a half ago — comes from Carson Hocevar, who finished ninth in the Brickyard 400. With Hocevar’s rivalry with Corey Heim, Nolen and Lyle share their excitement to see the two young stars usher in “the next generation of feuds” as they each grow in their respective careers.
Watch Bringing the Heat With Trey Lyle here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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!
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.
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