Race Weekend Central

Frontstretch Podcast: Battles in Bristol, Welcome MJ; Noah Gragson Previews Xfinity Playoffs

In this week’s edition of the Frontstretch PodcastDustin Albino and Mike Neff discuss the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, which saw a classic battle for the victory between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

How many wins do we see Harvick ending the season with? Will Busch win before the season ends, or will the frustration post-race continue? Meanwhile, the Round of 12 is set, and Ryan Blaney is not a part of it. The duo discuss how big of a surprise that is given the speed Blaney showed early in the season.

The gang revisits the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races where Chase Briscoe got back to victory lane for the seventh time this season and 17-year-old Sam Mayer won his first national touring race, becoming the second youngest winner in Trucks history. Albino and Neff give their Xfinity playoff predictions, with the postseason beginning this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Finally, the duo give a silly season update, including a busy news day on Monday (Sept. 21). It started with Ross Chastain being announced as the driver of the No. 42 for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, only for Denny Hamlin to later announce he and NBA legend Michael Jordan have teamed up to form a single-car team with Bubba Wallace as the driver next season. Albino and Neff discuss how monumental it is to have one of the most recognizable people in the world join NASCAR as a team owner.

Noah Gragson joins the duo at the end of the show to preview the Xfinity playoffs and where his No. 9 team is at entering the postseason.

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About the author

Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.

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