JACK ARUTE'S WIND TUNNEL

This is the final Episode in Season Two So it was time to get some opinions from a couple of the sports insiders in regards to NASCAR’s three Premier Level Series.

For more than a dozen years Vince Welch has patrolled the pits as a reporter and more importantly is the anchor of Fox Television’s Camping World Truck Series coverage. He drops in to review the 2022  Truck campaign and some of the key stories around the season. Vince also shares his thoughts about the trucks moving forward into 2023 and talks about some “truckers” that bear watching.

Adam Alexander is all over Fox’s NASCAR Coverage, Anchoring Fox Television’s Xfinity schedule as well as hosting NASCAR Race Hub and Raceday all season long. When Adam. Steps into the old wind tunnel, You’ll hear his take on BOTH the Xfinity and the Cup Series seasons.

And while most of NASCAR’s action be it at the top or in a region or weekly has wound down, Wind Tunnel visits with  NASCAR’s Jusan Hamilton. You may recall that Jusan became the first African American to run NASCAR’s Race control for this past year’s Daytona 500. Hamilton and his team just completed a 3-day Combine for  13 drivers that showcased their talents but also taught them some new skills as they pursue their dream of rising to the top.

It was the epicenter of attention for Race fans. Three races over 3 days to crown NASCAR’s Premier level Champions. This week’s Episode of Wind Tunnel focuses  on NASCAR’s Championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway where Zane Smith, Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano all realized their lifelong dreams capturing  a championship.

Wind Tunnel takes you inside the Press room after each of the Championship events and hear the thoughts of the drivers that took down NASCAR Premier Championships. 

You will hear from Camping World Truck Series Champ Zane Smith who finally on his third attempt took home the Truck Title. 

 You also hear from Joe Gibbs Racing’s young phenom, Ty Gibbs that took home the Xfinity honors despite having to deal with his actions from Martinsville and has his moment of joy turn to sorrow when his father passed away that evening.

And of course you will hear from Joey Logano who captured his 2nd NASCAR Cup Series Championship  

Also, you will hear from Jimmie Johnson who announced his return to NASCAR as part owner of Petty GMS Racing and a part time return to the cockpit of a Cup Series car

It has come down to a final weekend in the Dessert. It is Championship Weekend for NASCAR’s Premier divisions…Trucks, Xfinity and Cup at Phoenix Raceway!

It has been a long and winding journey to a title and 4 drivers from each series now will race head to head. The Championship 4 in the Truck Series have been prepping for a couple of weeks and kick off this weekend’s action. NASCAR on Fox’s Phil Parsons drops in this week to set up that Championship.

Mike Joy is the undisputed voice of NASCAR. I’ll check in with Mike and we will unpack the Championships in Xfinity in Cup. Of course, he will also weigh in on some of the things we all saw at Martinsville.

In addition, you will hear highlights from Martinsville where teammates were not teammates and where video games intersected reality.

Santino Ferrucci grew up in Connecticut and went to Europe in hopes of landing a ride in Formula One. When That didn’t work out, he came back stateside and joined Dale Coyne Racing’s Indy Car operation.  His driving wowed all that watched but was relegated to a part time substitute role for the last 2 seasons.

That all is about to change. Ferrucci drops in to share his expectations now that he’s signed with AJ Foyt Racing for the full 2023 Season.

Taking this week’s Advance Auto Parts Victory Lap is Mady Stichal that decided 5 years ago that she wanted to drive a race car. And, drive she does!

A regular at Alaska Raceway, Mady competes in 4 different classes at Alaska Raceway and on off week’s twists it up on dirt. 

 When Kyle Petty was just 18, he scored an ARCA 300 win at Daytona in his very first time behind a race car. After a successful career in CUP, KP is part of NBCs NASCAR coverage and lately he has disagreed with some of NASCAR’s decisions…specifically the 1 week suspension of Bubba Wallace after he intentionally crashed Kyle Larson at Las Vegas.

You will hear all that as well as highlights from NASCAR’s “Triple Header” Homestead weekend on this week’s Wind Tunnel

This week Jack introduces you to two individuals at opposite end of the racing spectrum. One just captured the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Rookie of the year honors and the other has logged more than 50 years in the sport rising from a wrench turner for legends like Butch Lindley , Bill Elliott and even Richard Petty to now command a racing enterprise that includes, Dirt and asphalt late models, Trucks, a chassis company as well as a two car NASCAR Cup Series operation.  

Canadian Steve Bernier has been wheeling dirt modifieds for more than a dozen years but when Autodrome Granby and RPM Speedway joined NASCAR’s Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series this season, this veteran earned National Rookie of The year honors. Bernier and Autodrome Granby and RPM President Domini Lussier plays translator for the French Canadian and they explain how this anomaly came about.

Mike Beam has spent more than 50 years in the NASCAR World from wrench tuner to his present spot as GMS and Petty GMS Racing, Beam swings by and reflects upon his career as well as sharing his “dinosaur” philosophy.

Jack also takes a look at Kurt Bush’s decision to step away from racing full time in Cup. Jack will  look at his legacy in the sport. 

All that plus the action both on and off the track from Las Vegas last weekend on this week’s Wind Tunnel.

This week’s Wind Tunnel takes you inside one of Honda’s flagship teams, behind the scenes in a pursuit of one of racing’s most unique trophies and analysis of a team’s attempt to manipulate a race’s outcome.

When the Bank of America Roval 400 went to overtime, it set up n exciting finish that catapulted Christopher Bell into the Round of 8. It also set up a desperation laden final 2 laps for SHR’s Chase Briscoe who needed to gain several spots to knock Kyle Larsen out of his transfer spot. As Briscoe carved through the field on new tires, his teammate, Cole Custer slowed on the backstretch which resulted in several of the spots Chase was pursuing to slow as well. A post race analysis of Custer’s actions resulted in $200,000 in fines as well as hefty points penalty. In a rare departure for normal Wind Tunnel episodes, Jack breaks down the situation and offers his opinion on the optics as well as the actions.

Meyer Shank Racing finished off their 2022 IMAS Campaign the same way that they started it….by Winning! They kicked off the year taking the Rolex 24 and capped a Championship campaign by taking the top honors at the Petit LeMans 2 weeks ago. MSR’s  Michael Shank drops in and we talk about the team’s IMSA success as well as a review of their IndyCar efforts.

Jack checks  in with Peyton Sellers. Sellers and Layne Riggs took the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Championship right down to the final races at Dominion Speedway and only after a post season audit did Sellers discover that he had lost the title that he left Dominion thinking that he had won.

But Sellers found a silver lining to that cloud when he took the top honors after 15 years of trying  at MARTINSVILLE Speedway’s Valley Star 300 adding a Grandfather clock to his Trophy Case.  Sellers takes this week’s Advance Auto Parts Victory lap and we talk about the roller coaster ride of emotions those 7 days created.

All that as well as a recap of the NASCAR Playoffs stop at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval on this week’s Wind Tunnel.

Of all the assorted NASCAR Championships, the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Title may have the most expansive geographic reach.

It takes a commitment to winning.

There are 46 weekly operated short tracks that operate under the NASCAR Banner. Every weekend thousands pack their grandstands to cheer on their neighbors. 

These drivers are “heroes that fans can not only see but touch and not only touch but know!”

There are 5 national championships in the NASCAR Advance Weekly Series standings and in this week’s episode Jack visits with 3 of them to give you a glimpse of the passion and commitment that it takes to succeed at the highest level.

Austin Paul calls the Adams County Speedway in Iowa home. Austin scored 8 wins, 15 top 5’s and never finished out of the top 10  in his modified to take the Division 3 title over Bobby Ozman of Irwindale Speedway.

Tim Devos used his 2022 campaign at the Berlin Raceway to not only score the Division 2 National Championship but  he also surpassed 104 career wins at the Michigan Track  tying the great Bob Senneker for 2nd on the rack’s all time win list 

And then there is the Division 1 National Title holder. All summer long Peyton Sellers and Layne Riggs engaged in a torrid battle for Late Model supremacy. Their tussle came down to the final weekend and a pair of 60 lap races at Dominion Speedway. Sellers was chasing Layne Riggs and struck first. Winning the  1st 60 lapper but then Riggs parlayed  a 7th and a 2nd to win his first National Crown.

It is a Champion’s Celebration that you are part of on Wind Tunnel.

Across every racing platform, there has been a wave of young, fearless and “balls to the walls” drivers. They challenge the old guard. This Week’s Wind Tunnel shines a spotlight on two that have taken on NASCAR’s “Old Guard”.

Ty Gibbs burst onto the NASCAR Premier Level Scene one year ago when he took the win in his very first Xfinity start. Since then, his meteoric rise has been stuff of legends. During his stop inside the Wind Tunnel, this phenom recounts his season and why he doesn’t let pressures get to him.

The path to stardom for watermelon farmer Ross Chastain has been a winding one. His 1st Cuo win came this season and  his playoff run is in full swing.   When Chastain drops in to the Wind Tunnel he shares his “take no prisoners” philosophy and how he sees his season.   

If you are a dirt track Modified fan you will enjoy this week’s Advance Auto Parts Victory Lap. Craig Von Dohren is Grandview Speedway’s winningest driver and is considered  the king of the Pennsylvania dirt modified “Posse”. He shares his passion for dirt racing and “Modifieds in the Mud.”

All that and the weekly Wind Tunnel racing update on this Episode of Jack Arute’s Wind Tunnel!

There is little debate that this year’s IndyCar Championship chase was a nailbiter right down to the final checkered flag in Laguna.

At age 41, Team Penske’s Will Power captured his 2nd Series Title and when he visits on this Episode, he will share his thoughts about why this time was different.

As tight as the IndyCar tile chase was, it was the opposite in the IndyLights Series

23 year old Linus Lundqvist just had to show up at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to win the Indy Lights title Nobody else was even close to overtaking him for the series points lead When the Swede drops in and you will get his take on his future.

Taking the Advance Auto Parts Victory Lap this week is a driver who was forced to shelf his racing career during the Pandemic. After 2 years Alex Brock returned to the short track scene and  returned to winning. And last weekend wrapped up the Virginia late Model Title at the Dominion Speedway. He swings by and to talk about the silver lining that his forced hiatus to his racing created.

All that and a look at last weekend’s racing action on this episode of Wind Tunnel.

It was a soap opera that had been percolating for several months, in fact speculation started as an undercurrent when Longtime Busch and JGR partner M&M Mars announced last season that this would be their final season in NASCAR.

That sponsor announcement  started a journey that ended Tuesday with the 2 time Cup Champion’s announcement that he was joining Richard Childress Racing in 2023. 

But there remains several  issues yet to be resolved.

On this week's Wind Tunnel we will attempt to unpack the obvious and not so obvious ramifications of Kyle Busch's move.

The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi was one of the first to break the story.

Jack and Jordan will explore the event’s timeline, the “domino effect” as well Richard Childress’s comparison of Busch to Dale Earnhardt, Sr. 

Bob Pockrass has a reputation for breaking news. His work on Fox has become such a reliable source that many of us follow the leads that he uncovers first.

Jack will visit with Bob and get his take on what this move by Kyle means for Toyota, JGR , Tyler Redick and Richard Childress Racing.

And Lenny Batycki of Performance Racing Network and their Short track show AT THE TRACK will take this week’s Victory Lap when he and Jack trace the short track implications. KBM Motorsports has been then launching pad for many aspiring young short trackers and 

Batycki will weigh in on what if anything changes there.

All that and a comprehensive recap of the weekend’s racing events on this week’s Episode.