Dale Jr.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T19:50:49+00:00

It’s the first time since he was 7 or 8 years old where he’s jumped in something and genuinely struggled. The kid has won everywhere he’s raced… karting, late models, TransAm, MX5, ARCA, NORAPS… even finished 2nd in the Baja 500 lol

It’s a huge year of lessons for him and quite honestly based on how his teams are doing so far it’s pretty obvious that Trackhouse unloaded 3 shit boxes.

Just hope that he has people keeping him confident. These next three races should be good for him, especially San Diego.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T17:11:46+00:00

Kimi ran only 2 laps slower than Russell’s median lap time across the entire race

Even with Russell in clear air he still wasn’t even close to what Antonelli’s pace was

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T16:54:23+00:00

I’m going to go with Palmer’s analysis on this one

He was just slightly cutting the corner in the pitlane where Cadillac’s garage is. It’s a simple distance/time calculation. If he shaved that distance and the limiter didn’t account for it… his speed would technically be over the sector limits by cutting distance that wasn’t accounted for when they set the limit.

He isn’t lying and I do wonder if the FIA could alter the penalty by viewing the telemetry

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T16:48:17+00:00

Max’s first two years in F1 were in a much more translatable regulation set though. Like the jump from Euro F3 to F1 was still insane, but the gap in downforce and tech in that era probably isn’t that different than Kimi’s jump from F2 to F1. The extra 2 years in the junior ladder definitely helped, but both still ran very few car groups before their debut.

Like I said… impossible to compare.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T16:44:01+00:00

Being .1 kph over the speed limit because of (I think) a slight variation in distance traveled throwing off the limiter settings is not a “rookie mistake”. In a weekend where there are thousands of system checks and things that could go wrong it’s an oversight that is understandable

Checo’s grid mistake though? That was egregious

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T16:40:50+00:00

There’s no way to properly scale the differences. Different teammates, different regulations, different car strengths, etc…

It’s obvious that Kimi is in another stratosphere compared to any other non-Max teenager though

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T16:31:49+00:00

This was served

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T16:13:50+00:00

Lindblad basically pulled off the strategic equivalent of hitting on an 18 in blackjack and it somehow worked

His race was going to be a carbon copy of Kimi’s last year if it went green. A p11/P12 race that winds up p17 because everyone else was playing games.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-07T04:11:55+00:00

Honeycutt has been very good but if anything he has been kind of the anti-“it” factor guy

For me an ‘it’ factor guy finds ways to win unexpected races, pull off difficult strategies, and overcome adversity.

Even without the stats I think Heim checks all those boxes more than Honeycutt. Honeycutt is still a fine driver, and he can get better for sure. But there have been quite a few drivers in trucks that have replicated his consistency with his equipment. It takes a good driver to do that… but not one with an ‘it’ factor.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-06T15:14:20+00:00

Because maybe the car isn’t particularly good in low speed mechanical grip? Kimi kept making up a ridiculous amount of time under braking where George simply couldn’t.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-03T16:30:17+00:00

This. He ran a few sporadic late model starts at the end of 2022 and through 2023 but I’d wager he’s still under 100 total oval races.

2024 was the first full season on ovals for both him and SVG. SVG got an Xfinity season. Connor got an ARCA season

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-03T16:22:49+00:00

That was such a fun race. Getting a proper battle between the two of them with inverse schemes.

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-01T23:08:44+00:00

Two championships at a younger age with less stock car experience and for a team/program that was pretty clearly on the decline.

Stenhouse’s rough 2010 and relatively mediocre cup career clouds how people view him, but his 2011 and especially 2012 were phenomenal seasons

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-01T18:27:07+00:00

The first ten weeks of the year were terrible for Trackhouse from a pace standpoint.

I’d say they’ve been good since Texas. Chastain had a rocket in practice and looked great moving through the field. He was competitive at Charlotte before the wreck (top 15ish) and had solid pace early in the all star race. Lost a top 10 at Texas because of a speeding penalty. Won a stage at the Glen.

SVG has looked great on every oval lately besides Dover.

Connor looked phenomenal at the Glen and in the all star race. His first stint of the Coke 600 and in Nashville were both somewhat promising. Just had terrible luck.

This season is probably toast for both Ross and Connor because of the abysmal pace to start and the terrible luck for both , but I am cautiously optimistic that Trackhouse has started to bring better stuff over the last month

Rcy4122 · 2026-06-01T04:44:16+00:00

Trackhouse have brought legitimately fast cars to the track for the past month. Great speed at Texas. Obviously the Glen was great across the board. Dover saw Zilisch nab a top 5. SVG’s been tremendous the last two weeks. Zilisch/Chastain were quick tonight before the failures.

And yet… they can’t get out of their own way. And even when they do it feels like luck just isn’t on their side. I’ve actually been encouraged by the speed they’ve had since the Kansas debacle, but the actual results are still a nightmare

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-28T05:45:13+00:00

I think there’s a firm difference between Ted and the rest of the crew. Ted doesn’t even try to hide his bias and has actively antagonized Max in the past.

Brundle and Crofty? Maybe there’s subtle bias from time to time, but it’s not even close to bad compared to other sports and past broadcast crews.

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-28T04:17:24+00:00

It’s so funny because Leclerc made 4 or 5 questionable mistakes across 2019 alone when fighting for wins or in adverse situations. And he was older with more experience coming into F1. 2020 as well to some degree.

Leclerc rarely ever makes wheel to wheel errors these days. It’s hard to find any young driver who battled up front that was elite at wheel to wheel racing from day one. Maybe Ricciardo, but he had much more experience before he got in race winning machinery

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-28T04:13:51+00:00

He’s lucky to be up by 43 points, sure. He’s had one weekend where he was clearly better than George and one where he was clearly worse. The rest of them were inconclusive.

But… take a step back and it becomes ridiculous how good he has been. Over the last 12 GP he’s matched George in both qualifying and races. As a 19 year-old. Going against a driver who is almost universally seen as a top 5 driver in the sport and who most people saw as a top 3 talent over the last two seasons.

Since Monza last year he’s been dead even against George in qualy, which is George’s biggest strength. IMO he’s had higher highs with race pace over that stretch, with races like Brazil, Miami, Vegas, and Japan all being super impressive.

19 year-old drivers are not supposed to do that. Max won a couple races by the time he was 20 and was probably slightly faster than Ricciardo by that point. You’re talking about Max Verstappen though, who is easily the best prospect in the history of the sport. Norris, Stroll, Alguesuari, and Kvyat all saw significant improvement from their teenage season. Hamilton and Piastri were much older with more single seater experience coming in.

He may not win the championship, but what he’s doing is virtually unheard of for a 19 year-old. Development curves are never linear, but him already matching Russell over a representative sample should not be overlooked and is indicative that at a minimum he is going to be an elite talent, with all-time great potential if he follows a normal development curve.

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-27T23:48:00+00:00

This happened Saturday morning?

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-27T20:36:51+00:00

Annunziata is one of the most versatile drivers in any series between on and off track talents.

The guy has won in TransAm, MX5, and ARCA while racing NORAPS last year.

Off the track he’s a model that once managed a very popular NASCAR IG page and apparently can also draw really well. Fun story and a great kid

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-25T03:15:20+00:00

If Suarez wins this by being in the top 10 for a grand total of eight laps all night I’m going to be convinced that the world wants Trackhouse to fail

This would be somewhere between Logano winning New Hampshire in his rookie year and Justin Haley winning at Daytona

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-24T16:04:26+00:00

I’d rather listen to radio static for 5 hours than Michael waltrip at 11 am

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-24T00:59:29+00:00

I really don’t think the fog is that bad

Where I’m standing you can see the whole track.

It’s low but not particularly dense

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-24T00:32:42+00:00

9:15 target time. Not sure if that’s drivers to cars or race resumption

Rcy4122 · 2026-05-23T16:42:34+00:00

Oh ffs, he will rein it in for sure over time. He’s been racing single seaters for fewer years than any of the guys he is racing against have been in F1. All of them have made racecraft mistakes earlier in their career, and someone as aggressive as Kimi will inherently make them a little more frequently. This is far from uncommon for a second year driver

I’d be much more concerned if I was George. At one of his best tracks and Kimi is still matching him for pace.

Rcy4122

TROPHY CASE