This week on Bringing the Heat With Trey Lyle, Alex Bowman speaks with Luken Glover ahead of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. Bowman provides insight into his decision to step away from full-time racing in the Cup Series, sharing that he felt that decision was “always going to be in this timeframe.” While Bowman’s recent injuries — including in his back — have been an issue, Bowman says there is a lot outside of Cup racing that he would like to do.
Bowman adds his goals for the remainder of this season and his final season in 2027, adding that the organization overall is currently looking for speed. According to Bowman, there’s more than one thing contributing to this down year, but he believes “Hendrick Motorsports isn’t going to stay down.”
Bowman reflects on the early years of his career. He also shares whether or not fans may see him around past 2027, and he dishes on returning to the No. 48 for next year’s Daytona 500. In classic Bowman fashion, he says he hopes people remember that “I was an okay racecar driver.”
After the interview, Caleb Barnes joins Lyle to discuss a heap of hot topics from this past week. That includes talking about the announcement of the next driver of the No 48, Connor Zilisch. Lyle wonders how the lame duck season could affect Zilisch, who knows a Hendrick ride awaits. Barnes says it’s an opportunity for Zilisch to settle in after a rough rookie season and focus on putting solid runs and finishes together.
This past weekend, Kyle Larson had an opportunity to run a unique double by racing at Richmond and Knoxville in the same night. While Barnes feels that an Indianapolis-Charlotte double holds more weight, he believes this specific achievement is something that will never be replicated again.
On Aug. 18, the NASCAR world remembered Kyle Busch. Barnes and Lyle hope to see tributes to Busch continue well into the future, with ideas of how some tributes could even become tradition. The two also briefly discuss further schedule announcements as the 2027 season continues to take shape.
This week’s interview comes from Chase Briscoe, who said he felt like he was the meat in a “Penske sandwich” Saturday night at Richmond. With the Fords once again flexing their muscle on short tracks, Barnes thinks Blaney and Logano can compete for the championship despite the new points format, while Lyle disagrees.
Watch Bringing the Heat With Trey Lyle here or listen 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 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.
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!
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a news writer before elevating to a columnist, where he served as the longtime writer for The Underdog House. Currently, he is an editor for the site and conducts feature interviews. Glover has covered several forms of racing for the site including NASCAR, CARS Tour, and SRX events.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a promotional writer, elementary athletic director, and basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.