This week on Bringing the Heat With Trey Lyle, Caleb Barnes joins Lyle to focus on the biggest takeaways from the race at Iowa Speedway and talk the hottest topics of the week so far.
One driver who has been a not-so-hot topic is Tyler Reddick, after a mistake took the No. 45 out of contention in the opening laps over the weekend. While Barnes believes the panic level is pretty high for the team, these next few races are key for Reddick to regroup and try to rebuild some confidence before the start of the Chase.
With just three races left before the cutoff, Barnes and Lyle debate the drivers with the most to lose — or gain — when it comes to qualifying for the field of 16 drivers. That includes some concern about Shane van Gisbergen, along with some hope for some of the Ford drivers to use their short track speed to close on the cut line.
This week, fans found out that Corey Heim will not be eligible to compete for Rookie of the Year in 2027 due to a new regulation NASCAR is putting in place to determine who can qualify for the award. Barnes believes it’s an unnecessary addition, while Lyle wonders if the Cup Series will even have anyone else available to run for 2027 Rookie of the Year.
This week’s news also brings a number of schedule announcements, including the return of the All Star Race to North Wilkesboro Speedway. While Barnes is sad to see the points race taken away, he thinks it’s an opportunity to go to work on the short track package. Meanwhile, Lyle shares his excitement that the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is returning to the historic venue in 2027.
This week’s soundbite comes from Christopher Bell, who reiterates some of his frustration with finishing in the runner-up spot yet again. Barnes and Lyle review if Bell could have handled the final run to the finish any differently at Iowa, and what the remainder of the season could look like if the No. 20 team does wind up breaking through to get to victory lane in the next few weeks.
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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!
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.