Kim Coon and Alan Cavanna dive into the current standings as the NASCAR Cup Series has the playoffs looming. Is Indy's road course the breakthrough one driver needs?
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00:00 Blaney takes a peek to the bottom and he's blocked by Redick.
00:02 All right, all right, all right.
00:03 Run him off, that's ****.
00:06 Screw this guy, do what you gotta do.
00:08 He will get penalized.
00:09 Tyler Redick.
00:10 5-2, bring him back to the bricks here, bud.
00:12 Out to five, baby, let's go kiss those bricks.
00:14 You're the man.
00:16 All right.
00:17 Way to not take no **** from nobody.
00:19 Hey, race fans, welcome to the preview show delivered by DoorDash.
00:32 I'm Kim Coon alongside Alan Cabana in Studio 3.
00:35 And speaking of 3, there are only three regular season races left until the playoffs kick off.
00:40 And the hottest driver as we head to the Indy road course, Chris Buescher.
00:44 Who saw that coming?
00:45 If you predicted that, I don't believe you.
00:47 Because Chris Buescher, it's mid-August, he has two straight wins.
00:50 The hottest team in NASCAR, Rausch Fenway, Kieslowski Racing.
00:53 Are you kidding me?
00:54 What a story.
00:55 One of the biggest stories of the year.
00:56 Because it's not only Chris Buescher and his team, it's also Brad Kieslowski in the sixth car.
01:00 Just being up front, leading lap.
01:02 But in terms of getting those checkered flags, two in a row for Chris Buescher.
01:05 And it only gets better for him.
01:06 Listen to this.
01:07 He is currently the road course king of NASCAR.
01:10 That's a bold statement.
01:11 The stats show eight straight top tens at road courses in the next-gen car for Chris Buescher.
01:17 Indy road course this weekend.
01:18 Another road course after that.
01:20 What a stretch.
01:20 He is establishing himself as a championship contender.
01:23 Where you can get those victories.
01:25 That's what it takes to win a title.
01:26 I don't disagree.
01:27 The next couple weeks shape up good for him.
01:28 He's great on the road courses.
01:30 But if he's going to get a win, if he's going to make it three in a row, he's got to get past a guy that's back in the field.
01:35 Shane Van Gisbergen makes the return to the NASCAR Cup Series after his dominant performance at the Chicago Street Course.
01:41 So can he bring the same performance and intensity?
01:44 I say yes.
01:45 But there's one difference.
01:46 Chicago, it was new for everyone.
01:48 The Indy road course, the Cup Series regulars, they've got a couple years' experience on Shane.
01:52 But I think if he gets comfortable, he absolutely becomes a threat, becomes a weapon.
01:56 And you think back to Chicago, post-race, he said he left stuff on the table, if that's possible.
02:00 That's scary, because I think the field underestimated him in Chicago.
02:03 Maybe the unknown.
02:04 Well, guess what?
02:04 Everybody knows who SVG is now.
02:06 A little different.
02:07 Everyone has experience at Indy.
02:09 There'll be more double-file restarts.
02:10 Remember, it was only single-file restarts in Chicago.
02:13 So it'll be a little harder for SVG.
02:15 I don't think he has as much of an advantage as he did in Chicago.
02:19 But I still think he's a top-ten car, the 91 car, a ton of speed.
02:22 And you can't deny the talent of him and the rest of the guys in the field.
02:25 It's a stacked field.
02:26 Yeah, and speaking of SVG, he's not the only international player in the field this weekend.
02:31 Brody Kostecki is joining RCR.
02:33 Kobayashi, 23-11 racing.
02:35 Jensen Button's in the field.
02:36 Now we're hearing Mike Rockenfeller also coming to the Cup Series this weekend.
02:40 So it's going to be a hard one to get to victory lane.
02:42 It's going to be so tough.
02:43 I mean, it's already hard week to week.
02:45 And then you add all this international talent.
02:47 Think about the Cup regulars still on the bubble, still trying to make that playoff spot,
02:52 because there's a lot of good talent there.
02:53 You think Daniel Suarez on the bubble, previous winner at a road course race.
02:57 Ty Gibbs has won at road courses before in NASCAR.
03:00 Michael McDowell, so good at road courses.
03:02 All these drivers need victories.
03:03 And now they have to go up against this international field as well,
03:06 as well as all the regular Cup Series drivers,
03:08 who all they have to worry about is going for the wins, the Truexes, the Reddicks of the world.
03:12 It's going to be so tough on Sunday.
03:14 It just gets tougher as we get closer to the playoffs.
03:17 Yeah, the field very deep for this weekend.
03:18 But if an international player wins, that could be to the advantage of maybe a guy
03:22 that doesn't think he can make it to victory lane,
03:24 because it takes a win away from a regular season guy,
03:27 leaves more spots open to get in on points.
03:30 So it should definitely be interesting.
03:32 But as we talk points, not looking good for the Chase Elliott fans.
03:36 It's our chase tracker, our chase watch.
03:38 He was looking really good coming into Michigan weekend after his performance at Richmond.
03:42 Now it seems like he is in this must-win situation.
03:44 Oh, yeah, the chase tracker shows him 55 points out with three races to go.
03:49 And we know his past at road courses.
03:52 We know he has the skill, but that only gives us so much to talk about,
03:56 because in the next-gen car, he's never won at a road course.
03:59 And if all he needs to do is win, that's a lot of pressure on a team
04:02 that's not running well right now, that's never won at a road course again in the next-gen car.
04:07 When second place isn't good enough, that makes your team desperate.
04:10 And that can go one way or the other, but points don't matter.
04:13 So that's on his side, if you're a Chase Elliott fan.
04:16 The points really don't matter anymore. It's one place and one spot only.
04:18 I think that's the only thing going for this team.
04:20 But if you think about in years past, they have proven this nine team,
04:24 with their backs against the wall, they can perform under pressure.
04:27 It's just channeling that frustration, that pressure correctly.
04:30 So Chase Elliott will be a must-watch this weekend.
04:33 The only way he can win is if he's there at the final lap.
04:35 And we know this race gets crazy.
04:37 And we know this because our NASCAR 75 flashback goes back to the inaugural race in 2021.
04:43 We'll take it right to overtime, because this is why we love this track.
04:46 Denny Hamlin, rookie Chase Briscoe on the front row.
04:49 Briscoe gets shoved into the grass, but then comes back onto the track.
04:53 That's a penalty. But before he can serve the penalty, he bumps Hamlin out of the way.
04:58 Total chaos behind him.
04:59 And it opens the door for AJ Allmendinger to drive away and get the Indy win.
05:05 That was a surprise then. It's why we love the track.
05:07 And if you remember, AJ wasn't full-time in the Cup Series.
05:10 That win didn't put him in the playoffs.
05:12 If that happens this year, AJ Allmendinger gets a playoff spot.
05:15 So much on the line.
05:16 And we'll see what drivers surprise us this weekend in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard,
05:21 Sunday, August 13th, 2.30pm Eastern on NBC.
05:24 Enjoy the race. Make sure you join us right back here next week for the preview show
05:27 delivered by DoorDash.
05:29 She's Kim, I'm Alan. We'll see you then.
05:32 [car engine revving]
05:34 [crowd cheering]
05:37 [music]
05:39 (upbeat music)