Team Penske veteran and recent Cup Series winning Crew Chief Brian Wilson joins Davey Segal this week (6:25) to reflect on the No. 2 teams triumph at Gateway a couple weeks ago and why the win was a validation of the process he and Austin Cindric have been trusting together. He also shares what Roger Penske told him after the win and the gains that Ford Performance and Penske have seemingly made in recent weeks.

Wilson details his 21 illustrious years at the company, starting out as a shock specialist before working his way into an engineer role, winning 50 (and counting) times along the way, garnering multiple championships and working with countless drivers. He also touches on his start in racing growing up in Michigan, why his father's influence loomed over him and helped get him started in the sport, why his driving career was short lived and memories working for Frank Kimmel's ARCA team as a 21-year-old fresh out of college.

Wilson also explains what makes he and Austin Cindric work so well together, if anybody ever confuses him with some *other* famous Brian Wilson's out there, previews New Hampshire Motor Speedway and why he said some may be right to write the No. 2 team off come playoff time, but they may surprise some people.

Davey also recaps the Cup Series' inaugural trip to Iowa Speedway, Martin Truex Jr.'s impending retirement and Papa Segal pays homage to a legend of Le Mans.

Episode 231: Brian Wilson

Did we just predict the future? Well, maybe. Davey Segal welcomes on Chicago Street Course winner Alex Bowman (7:30) to the show, despite recording the interview with him PRIOR to his winning weekend in Chicago. Nevertheless, Davey jokes with Alex about winning the race to kick things off before diving into a conversation surrounding his four-legged furry friends and why that's become such a passion for him thanks to his friends at Ally.

Bowman also dives into his relationship with crew chief Blake Harris over the last couple years, how he compares to former shot caller Greg Ives, what makes team owner Rick Hendrick such a good leader, racing in the Cup Series for a decade and with HMS for seven, recovering from a back and brain injury over the last couple years, his drifting intrigue and more, including why he's in a good spot in his personal life, his decision to stop sprint car racing and a preview of Pocono Raceway.

Davey also dives deeper into the second annual Chicago Street Course weekend, the officiating calls made by NASCAR that were widely applauded, previews the Tricky Triangle and Papa Segal also pays homage to a Hall of Fame and champion crew chief.

Episode 234: Alex Bowman

'Lil Gator is in the house! Justin Allgaier kicks off the Olympic break by joining Davey Segal (7:00) for an extended conversation about the various chapters in his illustrious motorsports career. They discuss what life is currently like as a softball dad, getting started racing quarter midgets at 5-years-old, the Allgaier family racing legacy and how it all came fill circle when he won the ARCA championship on a memorable day in 2008.

Allgaier also discusses his move to Penske and the now Xfinity Series in the late 2000s, gets candid about his his time in the Cup Series with HScott Motorsports and why things didn't work out, whether or not he's open to a Cup Series return, how a well-timed sequence of events led to a conversation with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and eventually his ride at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series and how much pride he takes in being the longest tenured and winningest driver in JRM history.

He also dives into his mindset having never won a Xfinity Series championship despite coming so close so many times, why he's slowly migrated off social media, tries to pick the favorite paint scheme he's run in his career and explains how his nickname of 'Lil Gator came to be.

Davey also recaps the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400 won by Kyle Larson, dissects NASCAR's calls at the end of the event and Papa Segal pays homage to anther NASCAR Hall of Famer and (thankfully) shares a final Tour de France update.

Episode 236: Justin Allgaier

Matt Swiderski, the man affectionately known as "Squid" joins Davey Segal (7:40) to discuss his intriguing career that has spanned motorsports and aerospace. He explains why and how Daniel Suárez and the No. 99 team have turned a corner and flipped a switch ahead of the playoffs, why they were experimenting throughout the spring and summer and reflects on the option tire used at Richmond.

Squid dives into his background in racing growing up in the midwest, working on street stocks and super late models in and around Chicago and how he wound up being a first-generation racer before getting hired at Richard Childress Racing after college as a data acquisition engineer. He explains what the role entailed, winning a then Busch Series title in 2007 with Clint Bowyer, working with Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears and others before making a career change.

Swiderski explains why he opted to leave motorsports for a job at SpaceX, how his skillset transitioned to aerospace and his one-on-one interview with, you guessed it, Elon Musk. But his time there was short-lived, and he explains why racing was calling him back home to Welcome, North Carolina and RCR just 8 months later.

He discusses his eventual rise to the crew chief role, why he was never dead set on pursuing that full-time, but once he got a taste he wanted more of it, stops along the way at Team Penske and Kaulig Racing, the recruitment process to Trackhouse, an ironic story of when he interviewed for the No. 99 crew chief position the first time, the culture at the team being similar to SpaceX, what he's learned in his 100+ Cup races as a shot caller, his realistic expectations ahead of his first playoffs and more.

Davey also touches on Tyler Reddick's Michigan win, previews Daytona and Papa Segal pays homage to a NASCAR pioneer.

Episode 240: Matt Swiderski

Ahead of his home race, Garrett Smithley (6:05) joins Davey Segal to discuss his new sponsor and what it's like racing at home with friends and family in attendance. It'll be his third race of 2024 with Alpha Prime Racing, but Smithley explains why it's felt like way more and his longstanding relationship with team owner Tommy Joe Martins.

He also dives into the troubles Johnny Davis and JD Motorsports have been dealing with in 2024 and his own up and down journey as a race car driver, starting in high school in bandoleros and eventually landing him in the Cup Series. He explains how the Richard Petty driver search and a candid conversation Ken Schrader had with his parents that helped embark him on his racing journey and more.

Davey also discusses Chase Briscoe's upset win in the Southern 500 to vault him into the postseason, previews the final 10 races and 16-driver playoff field and Papa Segal pays homage to a name synonymous with The Lady in Black.

Episode 242: Garrett Smithley

Guests: 2024 IndyCar Champion Alex Palou, 2023 NASCAR Cup Champion Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Driver Rajah Caruth

SpeedFreaks National Radio Show 09/15/2024

Crew Chief Charles Denike joins Davey Segal this week (5:45) to discuss the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team's playoffs to date in the Truck Series, having only one finish outside the top 10 to this point, goals and expectations for the remainder of the postseason and the stop/start nature of the NCTS playoffs.

Denike also dives into his background in racing in Virginia before enlisting in the armed forces for almost a decade. He details what he did in the U.S. Army and why he opted to return to motorsports upon finishing his time serving.

He also touches on some parallels in racing and the Army, goes through his rise from K&N to GMS to MHR, explains what kind of a boss Bill McAnally is and more, including what his 2025 plans may include.

Davey also recaps Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s win at Talladega Superspeedway, looks ahead to the Round of 12 cutoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL and Papa Segal pays homage to Les Richter.

Episode 247: Charles Denike

Industry veteran and OG pit spotter Walter Cox joins Davey Segal this week (2:20) to explain what the role of a pit spotter entails and how he and the role began over three decades ago. Cox explains how many feeds he listens to at once during races, what he provides on-air talent with, how he goes about information gathering ahead of races and how the job has evolved over the years.

Cox also dives into his famous trades in the garage area, where he gives canned fruits and vegetables for racing memorabilia, and explains how Kasey Kahne helped make them more known. He also shares anecdotes from his interesting life in and out of racing, including his time as a "Waffle Belly," a radio host and being in a music video.

Davey also recaps the Martinsville manipulation and penalties divvied out in the wake of the penultimate race of the season, Ryan Blaney's impressive win and previews the Championship 4 weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

Episode 251: Walter Cox

Davey's better half joins him to recap Championship Weekend from Phoenix Raceway that saw Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier and Ty Majeski triumph in the Cup, Xfinity and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, respectively. They discuss the playoff format, those calling out Logano for not being a worthy champion based on the format, the possibility of the title race rotating venues, the current antitrust lawsuit between 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR, the Martinsville manipulation, look ahead to 2025 and more.

Episode 252: Racin' with Robin (Part 4)

After 45 years with the company, 42 of which in motorsports and 26 in NASCAR, Goodyear's Greg Stucker is calling it a career. Goodyear Tire & Rubber's Director of Racing joins Davey Segal ahead of his retirement (5:55) to discuss how he got involved in motorsports with Goodyear after graduating from Vanderbilt, learning racing on the fly with little prior knowledge and getting thrown into the fire from short tracks to IndyCar.

Stucker also dives into some major takeaways from 2024, including the use of wet weather tires and potential future use of them on intermediates, option tires and how soft of a compound they can actually make, what happened at spring Bristol (if they even know, still) and the differences in concrete vs. asphalt as it pertains to tire wear and temperature.

He also reminisces about the good and bad days on the job, including the 2008 Brickyard 400 and why that wound up changing things for the better with their processes, tire wars in the 1990s, the famous Goodyear Blimp, gold car and the meaningful styory behind his patented aviators at the track.

Episode 254: Greg Stucker

Irreverant? Yea. Honest? Ask Smoke. Legendous? Check! SpeedFreaks airs LIVE on Sunday nights 7-9p PST on The Freak Radio Network. PLUS, Sirius 94 - XM 208, live on the net & the Cable Radio Network... Motorsports to Music to some TMZ. And thanks to SoundCloud, if you miss a live show, just listen to them here at your convenience. We are Motorsports Radio, REDEFINED.

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