NASCAR’s hot-button issues at the midseason of 2023: A panel discussion and debate with Mike Forde, Jeff Gluck, Steve Letarte, Pete Pistone

What’s going on with Ross Chastain since Darlington? (2:00); or is it what’s happened to Trackhouse Racing? (4:00); why the timing of Chastain suddenly being managed more directly by the team (7:00); NASCAR’s view of Chastain (11:00); was the team too public? (13:00); the Rick Hendrick factor (15:00); Denny Hamlin in the era of the driver podcast (17:30); do some drivers need to leverage their success into bigger platforms and voices? (22:00); should NASCAR penalize drivers ex post facto? (27:00); the resurrection of Kyle Busch as a franchise driver at Richard Childress Racing (32:00); does Joe Gibbs Racing feel regret about letting Busch go? (38:00); the Austin Dillon effect (40:00); the car vs. driver through the Next Gen lens (44:00); trying to assign a percentage to a driver’s impact (48:00); the Next Gen culture shift in NASCAR (54:00); are penalties and fines dominating the Cup Series narrative too much in 2023? (1:00); state of short track racing in 2023 (1:04); should future track schedules feature more rebalancing to fit where the cars are delivering the best quality of action? (1:10).

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