Grip Strip Podcast

Phil and Josh return for E191 of the GSP to discuss Kyle Larson's busy and successful week which culminated with a dominant victory at Las Vegas.  Yung Money also earned a berth into the Final Four of the Cup Championship after passing his ROP for the Indy 500 and winning his High Limit Sprint Car title.  Chris Bell and Brad Keselowski were the other two key leaders in a relatively clean affair, while the cutoff becomes more interesting. 

On the XFinity side, Riley Herbst earned his first career win at home in a Stewart-Haas benefit.  Cole Custer and Chandler Smith led along with Herbst while the championship four will have two drivers advance on points at a minimum heading to Homestead.

For NFL Week Six, Phil deals with San Francisco's first loss of 2023 along with a 1-3 fantasy week.  Josh attended the Jaguars game and watched his team win over former starting QB Gardner Minshew, while Trevor Lawrence avoided serious injury on a terrible late game play call.  The guys look at other key results and player injuries leading to Week Seven.

The GSP Roundup covers IMSA, NHRA, MotoGP/Moto2, F1 Academy, BTCC and Robert Wickens inspirational return to motorsports culminating in a TCR championship with co-driver Harry Gottsacker in the Michelin Pilot Challenge.  Phil and Josh preview and make picks for the US Grand Prix at CoTA behind Fish Lips before doing the same for the NASCAR triple-header at Homestead.  Josh lets you know about all things sim racing and gaming in his Sim Segment before Show Close.

Phil and Josh return for E190 of the GSP for Charlotte Roval, Qatar GP, NFL talk and more.  AJ Allmendinger earned his first Cup victory in 50 starts last weekend along with his first win as a father.  The guys look at how The Dinger held the field off along with who advanced into the Round of 8. 

On the XFinity side, Sam Mayer took a Hail Mary win to advance while the likes of teammate Josh Berry fell out of championship contention.  Points are reviewed as the series head to Las Vegas.  The crew discusses the 2024 schedules and what they like, don't like and more plus Deegan's move up to XFinity in 2024. 

The usual person won at Qatar in the main race but rookie Oscar Piastri scored his first pole and win during the Sprint.  McLaren continues to emphasize their strength since Silverstone in the process while Mercedes had an teammate confrontation in turn one after Lewis started on soft tires and George played dumb. Points are reviewed heading to CoTA in a couple of weeks.

In the NFL, Josh's Jaguars take down two consecutive victories in London while Phil's 49ers opened a can on the Cowboys on SNF. Fantasy football updates are discussed as well before the GSP Roundup looking at the Bathurst 1000 for Supercars, MotoGP/Moto2 in Indonesia, NHRA in Dallas and IMSA Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

The guys combine to preview and make picks for the Las Vegas Cup and XFinity races before Josh looks at iRacing making a deal to make a NASCAR console game plus IndyCar putting out content regarding their release from Motorsports Games during the Sim Segment. 

Phil and Josh return for another episode of the GSP to cover the carnage that is Talladega with Young Ryan Blaney earning a third photo finish victory over Kevin Harvick (prior to his DQ).  The guys get into the race which saw plenty of Ford's lead with Joey Logano leading the most laps and Blaney and Keselowski winning the stages.  The fans saw 70 lead changes among 24 drivers plus the usual wrecking with Keselowski causing the big one.  Brad and Ross are among the drivers stressed going into the Roval at Charlotte with the points cutoff. 

For the Trucks, Brett Moffitt in a one-off won for Front Row Motorsports but the defending series champion Zane Smith will be in a must-win situation heading to Homestead. Nick Sanchez and Parker Kligerman won the stages but Sanchez ended up in the news after a big wreck with Matt Crafton, after the three-time series champion sucker punched the rookie post race.  The crew goes over the points heading to Homestead and the story of KBM being sold to Spire Motorsports.  

In the NFL, Phil and Josh have mixed fortunes with their actual teams while the fantasy football side is providing varying results.  The guys discuss their favorites and the players that are good/bad for them in real and fantasy sports.  The GSP Roundup looks at MotoGP/Moto2, WSBK, NHRA, Supercars at the Bathurst 1000 and Andretti Global being approved as the 11th team for Formula 1.  Speaking of F1, Phil and Josh preview who will finish behind Fish Lips at the Qatar Grand Prix after he gets a second title, along with previews and picks for the Charlotte Roval and who advances before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close. 

Phil and Josh return for E188 of the GSP to discuss Big Hat Byron sneaking through for his sixth win of the 2023 Cup season at the Texas dump.  Darrell Wallace, Jr. led the most laps after qualifying on pole but was brutal on himself after a late race restart ended up working against him.  The guys talk about Bubba, Byron and the stage winners (Yung Money & Reddick).

Numerous yellows and wrecked race cars made up the majority of the day.  This would also be the case for the XFinity Series, where John Hunter Nemechek won for the seventh time in 2023.  Justin Allgaier won both stages and Custer continues his consistency.  Josh Berry, Sam Mayer and Jeb Burton are in trouble leading into the Roval.

Formula 1 raced at Suzuka with the usual result up front, but the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri taking a double podium finish.  The Australian rookie became the first rookie to score a podium since 2017, but the inter team battles for Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine provided the drama. 

IndyCar announced their 2024 schedule, so Phil and Josh give their thoughts on the Milwaukee Mile's return with a Labor Day weekend doubleheader and the other changes coming along for the 17-race slate.  The guys also speak about the demise of TMS after 26 years hosting American Open Wheel Racing. 

Phil and Josh talk about their actual teams and fantasy football for Week 3 before the GSP Roundup looks at MotoGP/Moto2, WSBK and WRC.  The Tate Fogleman Algorithm comes out of hibernation for the last time in 2023 as Phil and Josh preview and make their picks for Talladega Cup and Trucks before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.

Phil and Josh return for E187 of the GSP to discuss the NASCAR triple-header at Bristol, where Dennis Hamlin trolled the crowd and finally closed the deal to advance into the Round of 12 after his third Bristol night race win.  The crew goes over all the action and who ended up on the wrong side of the cut line after 500 laps. 

Justin Allgaier held off Daniel Hemric to start his XFinity playoff with a win while Dale Earnhardt, Jr. returned and led before catching fire!  Outside of those two, the rest of JR Motorsports had a rough evening and other teammates definitely left Bristol in a bad mood.  Corey Heim advanced to Phoenix with his victory at Bristol for the Truck Series while Christian Eckes and Zane Smith also featured as the series goes to Talladega.  

The guys spend time to acknowledge Sherry Pollex and her untimely passing after a long battle with ovarian cancer and the input from someone who has been a virus in motorsports with Miss hUMMer.  Zane Smith announced he will be driving for Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series starting in 2024 through a partnership with Spire Motorsports after the team principles bought Live Fast Racing's charter for $40 million.   

On a rare weekend where Formula 1 fans were spared from seeing and hearing Fish Lips dominate (even when he did break rules and not pay for those transgressions), Carlos Sainz proved why he's a smooth operator with a pole and a second career F1 victory at Singapore.  Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium after George Russell bungled the finish taking a possible win and ending up in the wall.  The guys go over other key battles and points before the series moves to Suzuka in Japan.

Phil and Josh go over all things NFL after a chaotic Week 2, which included a live discussion of Nick Chubb's season ending injury for the Browns during MNF.  Josh has his thoughts on the play-calling after Jacksonville ends up losing to Kermit The Frog along with his fantasy team.  Phil looks at San Francisco's tight victory against the Rams and their TNF home opener versus the Giants. 

The GSP Roundup reviews SuperMotoCross Playoffs, NHRA, Extreme E, IMSA, Supercars, MotoGP/Moto2 in India and WSBK at Aragon before Phil and Josh preview and make picks behind Fish Lips for the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.  The guys preview and make picks for the worst active track on Planet Earth (Cup and XFinity at Texas Motor Speedway) before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.

Phil and Josh return for a jam packed E186 of the GSP to discuss the IndyCar Series finale at Laguna Seca, which saw Scott Dixon close his 2023 season with his first win at the track while Alex Palou officially received his second series title in three years.  The guys talk about the carnage filled race, restart issues, the pace car running out of gas and Silly Season updates leading to the longest off-season in motorsports.

NASCAR continues their 2023 playoff with a triple-header at Kansas Speedway, where Tyler Reddick continued the 23XI domination of the track with his second win of the season along with advancing to the Round of 12.  Phil and Josh go over the atrocious restart Reddick's team co-owner Denny Hamlin had along with other key players in the race leading into the cutoff at Bristol. 

The XFinity Series finished their regular season at Kansas with the status quo of John Hunter Nemechek winning for the sixth time in 2023 while Austin Hill won the regular season title.  Parker Kligerman overtook Riley Herbst to get the last playoff spot while Bruckshot Jones tried to save his season but fell one spot short. Christian Eckes used a last lap three-wide pass on Corey Heim and Zane Smith to advance into the Round of 8, while Nick Sanchez and Carson Hocevar took the stage wins.  DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton saw their 2023 championship chances end, even with Matty D finishing third in the race.

Phil and Josh get into all things NFL with a Week 1 recap for their teams along with a fantasy team review before the GSP Roundup.  Phil reviews MotoGP/Moto2, WEC, Indy NXT, WSBK (where Garrett Gerloff had a breakthrough round), WRC, SuperMotocross, NHRA, Extreme E, IMSA and Supercars. 

The crew comes back together to preview the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix and who will finish behind Fish Lips, before looking at the triple-header at Bristol and who will advance to the Round of 12 in Cup, start the XFinity playoff on a high and who will start the Round of 8 in Trucks with a win.  Josh lets us know all things going on in the world of gaming in his Sim Segment prior to Show Close.

Coming off a holiday weekend, Phil and Josh were ready to go with E185 of the GSP.  Kyle Larson utilized a great pit stop late in the Southern 500 to take his first Cup victory at Darlington.  The guys look at Toyota's domination (specifically Dennis Hamlin), Christopher Bell's pit road issues and Kevin Harvick's missed opportunity to advance.  A review of the playoff drivers and their points standings heading to Kansas led into Dennis Hamlin winning at Darlington for the sixth time in the XFinity Series.  Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek were his closest pursuers but Hamlin's one XFinity race provided another trophy.  With one regular season race remaining, Riley Herbst and Parker Kligerman are separated by one point heading to Kansas. 

Alex Palou proved yet again why he was the dominant figure in the NTT IndyCar Series for 2023, using primary tires on the first stint to overcut the alternate runners and win his fifth race of the season at Portland.  Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing earn the series title along with a double podium with Dixon finishing third.  Felix Rosenqvist was sandwiched between the CGR duo, on the weekend he announced his move to Meyer-Shank Racing for 2024.  A newly repaved Laguna Seca welcomes the drivers and teams to end the 2023 season, plus more silly season news.

Carlos Sainz proved he is a Smooth Operator by actually making an F1 race interesting in 2023, for 15 laps.  The usual result took place and Checo eventually advanced to second, but Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc battled for the last podium place.  Drivers and Constructors points get reviewed before Phil and Josh preview their NFL teams and discuss their fantasy football prospects for 2023. 

This weeks GSP Roundup has MotoGP/Moto2, Indy NXT, NHRA at the U.S. Nationals, F2/F3, WSBK returning from their summer break with huge rider news and WEC at Fuji before previews and picks for IndyCar at Laguna Seca and the triple-header for NASCAR at Kansas.  Josh lets us know all things going in iRacing and gaming during his Sim Segment prior to Show Close.

Phil and Josh return for E184 of the GSP to lead into a busy Labor Day weekend of motorsports.  Phil returns from spending the majority of his cruise trip in an F1 simulator, wishing he could race instead of having to watch the current F1 product.  Josh was able to attend the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and see the destruction and horrendous incidents for Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece. Both Josh and friend of the show Joe Passero watched Christopher Buescher take his third win of 2023 in an RFK 1-2 finish. 

The guys cover the issues and the playoff grid leading into Darlington.  Phil and Josh provide their thoughts on Kurt Busch officially announcing his retirement from racing. Justin Allgaier held off Sheldon Creed in a photo finish for his first Daytona XFinity win along with an opportunity to sneak in and get the regular season title.  Grant Enfinger utilized his experience and a great setup to earn the Truck Series win at the Milwaukee Mile, their first appearance since 2009 along with a spot in the round of eight. 

Scott Dixon continues to show why he is a GOAT with an epic pit strategy in going back to back at Gateway to keep his slim title hopes alive against his teammate Alex Palou.  Phil and Josh discuss the introduction of red alternate tires on an oval for the first time ever and other key players heading to Portland. 

Fish Lips continues his singular demolition of F1 with his third consecutive Dutch GP victory.  Due to the mixed weather conditions, Pierre Gasly benefited to earn Alpine their first podium of 2023.  Drivers and constructors points are reviewed leading into the Italian Grand Prix.  The guys talk about their respective NFL and Fantasy Football teams with the end of the preseason, along with their prognostications for 2023.

This week's GSP Roundup saw Phil discuss Indy NXT, IMSA GT, F2/F3, MotoGP/Moto2 and NHRA at the U.S. Nationals.  Previews and picks for F1 at Monza, IndyCar at Portland plus Cup/XFinity at Darlington led into Josh's Sim Segment before Show Close.

Phil and Josh come back for E183 of the GSP interviewing the 2017 ARCA Series Champion and Maine House of Representative Member Austin Theriault.  The guys talk to Austin about his racing return at the Oxford 250 super late model race and his results at Oxford Plains and his involvement with the Travis Mills Foundation and how this race will assist in fund raising. 

Phil and Josh also ask Austin about his driver development program and connection with Team Hornaday, his NASCAR career in all three major series and his thoughts on the differences in how drivers behave in and out of the race car today relative to when Austin was a prospect himself.  Josh asks Austin about his other role as a House Member for his local district and what how the responsibilities there coordinate with racing.

Phil and Josh then get into the Cup and XFinity events at Watkins Glen, which saw dominant performances for William Byron and Ty Gibbs respectively.  However, the XFinity event had an interesting finish due to the ongoing rivalry between Gibbs and eventual race winner Sam Mayer.  The guys get into the issues with the Next Gen Car and how it has affected the product, the pace of the race itself and what they saw between the two young guns.  Other key players and points are discussed heading to Daytona.

The crew gets into their drafts for the FallBrawl fantasy football league and how they both got the worst grades based on analytics but definitely aren't out of the mix.  Josh discusses injuries and key battles for the Jaguars while Phil laments the continued QB saga behind Brock Purdy for San Francisco.  

A leaner GSP Roundup covers the SRX season finale at Lucas Oil Raceway, NHRA at Brainerd, MotoGP/Moto2 at Austria, Supercars at The Bend, Indy NXT at Gateway, F2 at Zandvoort and IMSA GT at Virginia International Raceway.  Formula 1 returns from their summer break for the Dutch Grand Prix, with Phil and Josh previewing and picking whoever will finish behind FL. 

IndyCar has their last oval race of 2023 at Gateway, so the guys pick whether they believe Josef Newgarden will sweep all of them or not along with wild cards.  NASCAR Cup and XFinity race at Daytona, which means the Tate Fogleman Algorithm makes a return.  The crew make their picks and wild cards while Josh lets us know who TF believes could win at the World's Center of Racing. 

The Craftsman Truck Series returns to the Milwaukee Mile for their second playoff race, so can Ty Majeski make it 2-2 or will one of the other contenders advance? Josh lets us know about all things gaming and iRacing in the Sim Segment before Show Close.

Phil and Josh return for E182 of the GSP to discuss all the racing at one of the motorsports capitals of the world: Indianapolis.  Scott Dixon does his best Danny Sullivan by spinning and winning the Gallagher Grand Prix over pole-sitter Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard amongst others.  Dixon takes the Ironman title over former teammate Antoine Kanaan and extends his streak to 19 consecutive seasons with a win.  While Dixon celebrated, teammate Alex Palou was in the news stating he will not honor his contract with McLaren and that he is likely to return and race for Ganassi.  The crew goes over all the craziness that has existed with Palou's contract situation and management while he races towards a second IndyCar title.

For the Cup event, Michael McDowell put a whooping on the field and held off William Clyde Elliott II for his second career victory and a spot in the 2023 playoffs.  Daniel Suarez won pole but a bad pit stop cost the Trackhouse driver and the same issue plagued defending race winner Tyler Reddick and his 23XI team.  Keebler Gibbs dominated the XFinity race on Saturday evening after weather affected the early part of the event while Ty Majeski opened the Truck playoffs with a comprehensive victory.

The GSP Roundup looks at Smoke's domination at his house (Eldora) in SRX while an early crash in Heat One eliminated three drivers and the points contenders were rendered to backup cars.  NHRA raced at Topeka for the last time and they move to Brainerd, Indy NXT at IMS saw argy bargy between teammates, Larson destroys the field for his second Knoxville Nationals victory over his buddy Rico Abreu, 11-time winner Donny Schatz and the stout A-Main lineup.  Kenny Schrader won a Pinty's Series event on dirt at 68 years of age!  MotoGP/Moto2 will be back at Austria along with Supercars at The Bend Motorsports Park.

Phil and Josh talk preseason NFL and preview the FallBrawl league before leading into previews of the Cup and XFinity races at Watkins Glen.  Josh talks iRacing and more in his Sim Segment before Show Close.