AFP contributor Rod Mullins breaks down the field for this weekend's Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Rod Mullins covers NASCAR for AFP, and co-hosts the mid-week “Street Knowledge” focusing on NASCAR with AFP editor Chris Graham. A graduate of UVA-Wise, Rod began his career in journalism as a reporter for The Cumberland Times, later became the program director/news director/on-air morning show host for WNVA in Norton, Va., and in the early 1990s served as the sports information director at UVA-Wise and was the radio “Voice of the Highland Cavaliers” for football and basketball for seven seasons. In 1995, Rod transitioned to public education, where he has worked as a high school English, literature, and creative writing teacher and now serves as a school program coordinator in addition to serving as a mentor for the robotics team.

This week's "Jerry Ratcliffe Show" with Chris Graham has the latest on UVA hoops recruiting, and we talk running with Dr. Siobhan Statuta from UVA Sports Medicine.

Photojournalist Randall Wolf is making a run at the 20th District seat that represents Waynesboro, Staunton, Highland County and portions of Augusta County and Nelson County in the Virginia House of Delegates. Wolf joins Chris Graham on "Street Knowledge" to talk about why he is running for his office, and his work as a community advocate.

It's hard to choke when you were down 10 at the first media timeout. Chris Graham offers this observation on Gonzaga-Baylor, then talks transfer portal (spoiler: he gets a number way wrong at the outset), UVA football, and wraps with how Trey Murphy III may not be long for college hoops.

"Street Knowledge" welcomes Sam Rasoul, who is getting the endorsement of Augusta Free Press for the Democratic Party nomination for lieutenant governor.

VMI football is off to its first 5-0 start since 1960. Coach Scott Wachenheim joins the podcast to preview this weekend's key SoCon matchup with ETSU.

AFP NASCAR correspondent Rod Mullins joins Chris Graham on the podcast to review the wild dirt track race at Bristol Motor Speedway from Monday.

Jerry Ratcliffe and Chris Graham report on and break down the latest news regarding Virginia basketball, and the latest news from UVA football with the start of spring practice this week.

Lyme disease is more common than you might think. The CDC estimates that there are 476,000 new cases in the U.S. each year.

With the arrival of spring, you’re more likely to be outside enjoying life – planting flowers, taking the dog for a walk, anything to get some fresh air.

A tick that can infect you with Lyme disease can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence.

“It mimics conditions such as arthritis, bell's palsy, migraine, fibromyalgia, among others. It can be misdiagnosed as over half the people bitten by a tick do not remember it. I was one of those people,” said Rhonda Howdyshell, founder of the Valley Lyme Support Forum and an education ambassador for the Global Lyme Alliance.

Howdyshell had an embedded tick removed by camp counselors in Harrisonburg in 1962. She came down with a rash afterwards and has experienced many health challenges since.

“Lyme disease just wasn’t on our radar in the ‘60s, so I wasn’t properly diagnosed and treated until four years ago,” Howdyshell said.

If your group/organization/church would like a presentation about Lyme disease you can contact her at: (540) 292-0978 or on Facebook at Valley Lyme Support Forum.

UVA wide receivers coach Marques Hagans joins the show to talk about the upcoming start of spring practice, his work with the Groundskeepers group that is trying to effect positive change, and his memories of the 2005 upset of FSU.