Groovy Hollow returns October 24th:
More NASCAR content at
Shop OOTG merch and diecasts at
Sportsnaut article:
Support the Show:
TikTok:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Thanks for watching and please SUBSCRIBE for more NASCAR content!
Thumbnail Cred: Getty
34 comments
Waking up to Eric. This’ll be a great day
Eric’s in Miami. I’m sure he will agree!!
I think Hemrick being moved to Cup rather than Chandler was the catalyst to him leaving. He has a high opinion of himself and I imagine he felt insulted.
I think he needs to get his ego in check. You shouldn’t get a cup ride with 1 win and 13 top 10s. Hemric may not have the wins, but he’s got more top 10s this year and is a champion.
I won’t disagree that judging Chandler Smiths Xfinity stats, and only 1 year in the series, don’t exactly make you a top cup prospect. But, Chandler has shown he that he is a cup talent. Only 1 Xfinity win but that’s in his first season in a Kaulig car and they havent been fast. They’ve been a good bit behind JRM and JGR, even SHR in speed.
Chandler went to Kaulig with the strong chance that he’d be in a cup car soon. He’s leaving and he should. Kaulig hasn’t been improving at all and then they put Hemric in the cup car. You can’t compare Hemric to Chandler Smith. Chandler is a top level talent and will be a cup star. That’s been obvious to most people for quite some time.
If so, that’s a weak reason, Hemric has been with Kaulig longer, has Cup experience with over 40 races, and is a champion. Smith has one year in Xfinity with some success. Bouncing back and forth with teams/manufacturers shows he has no loyalty, so why should teams show any to him.
@Greg Vandy Nobody is saying he can’t or won’t be good. He just doesn’t deserve a cup ride right now because he’s been so lackluster. If he goes to Gibbs next year and wins 4 races, makes the final 4, and gets 20+ top 10s, then maybe he should move up.
Hopefully Noah Gragson!!
He was my first thought!
He might be going to SHR
Bare in mind it’s likely Chicago will have stage cautions next year (it didn’t this year), so that could well add some time back into the the race if it runs in fine weather. That may end up taking the place of the time taken for some of the cautions caused by incidents in the wet conditions we saw in 2023.
Good point! Forgot about the no stage cautions this year.
There will also be double wide restarts
Just a thought…could the pipeline because of the next gen be truck to cup? I could see Heim going to the #19 before C. Smith unless Smith has an outstanding year in 24.
Now Eric the weather definitely played a huge part in the Chicago street race being as chaotic as it was, but I think it will still be great with normal conditions cause of the point you brought up before, the way the car is built. The car is obviously built perfectly for the road races, but with no run off area and very small braking zones, someone will still make a mistake. So the “fish out of water” style race should still apply, and I really hope it will stay for a really long time
If they get desperate, could Kaulig go for Marty D. This would be a worst case scenario but I’ll throw it out there
It’s funny no one has mentioned this driver since Sammy Smith got the 8 car, but there is a driver that brings funding to a ride if a team would just give him a chance, and that’s Jeffery Earnhardt. So maybe there’s a chance he could get the open RCR seat or maybe a chance at the open Kaulig seat.
He may have sponsorship $ but he doesn’t have enough of it for RCR just like didn’t for Jrm. It cost 2-3x more for them rides than what does for who he is driving for this year
i think rfk has got to open an xfinity team again, it’ll set them up for when they want to open a 3rd cup car and will help bring more ford prospects through
Bring back the 60 and 16
They should’ve did that for next year with Zane smith but now Zane next year will be in cup with spire!
My picks for the kaulig no.16 are Derek Krause,Layne Riggs,Ty Dillon,Noah Gragson or Matt dibenedetto.
I think everyone on this list is a legitimate candidate for those potential two seats. That is if AJ Allmendiger stays in the
Cup series.
Chandler Smith made the right move. Hes going to be the man to beat in a JGR car. Chandler is the best driver in Xfinity and will be a cup winner many times over. Should not have left For Kaulig to begin with. Chandler should replace Truex when he retires and after he dominates the Xfinity series next year, Im sure he’ll be first in line for that ride. Most times when a manufacturer loses a driver, it doesn’t matter, no big deal in my opinion . Lots of talented drivers out there. Not the case this time. Toyota wanted Chandler back and Who can blame them. There isnt another Chandler Smith. He’s on another level as far as talent and shown maturity beyond his years. He also has alot of experience with 3-4 years in Nascar and more in late models etc. He’s fast, hes smart and aggressive. Hes the guy I’d want driving if i was the car owner. The only drivers with potential comparable to Chandler are already in cup.
Fr I think the only people that may be able to compete is if Custer stays back (but probably not) or if AJ goes xfinity again. Other than that maybe Matty D if he can even get a half decent ride but even then idk
Terrible year for Kaulig. Losing Haley to RWR, Smith (their top prospect) to JGR, and Dinger going back to Xfinity after he just won the cup race at the ROVAL. AJ has built a solid foundation on the cup side.
Kaulig did it to themselves expanding to fast. Sure it was a buyers market for Charters in the cup series when they did and that’s fine but should have cut back in the xfinity series and wouldn’t have been burning through so much money
Could rcr roll the dice on ty majeski cause I’m not sure if he resigned with thorsport for next year so I think that would be interesting option (watch now as someone replies to this that majeski was extended)
A year ago Toyota had the fall out from all the drama around losing Kyle Busch. I think this year Smith found out the grass is not always greener on the other side. I’ll be watching Smith and Creed next year at JGR.
I’m hoping Matty D can get the 16 in Xfinity. dude’s too talented to not be driving
He is over rated and sponsors don’t want the maga supporter and never did but especially after saying let’s go Brandon
Could it be that Chandler figured out a loophole to get more money by jumping teams like that? NASCAR doesn’t disclose their financial information, but this is something we’ve seen in other sports.
Gotta remember there’s a solid chance that 75 lap Chicago race will have stage breaks, which increases the time the race will take.
I think for Chicago if we get a dry track we might still get chaos. Maybe drivers can find an extra lane if they don’t have to worry about being stuck to the one dry lane.
I hope you have a good time at the NASCAR race Eric.