by Patrick Zier | Oct 30, 2025 |
It was supposed to be a warm-up. It might have been a warning. Three top Toyotas, two of them headed for Phoenix and a shot at the NASCAR Cup championship, all blew up Sunday at Martinsville.
Denny Hamlin, who has 20 years at Joe Gibbs Racing and 19 playoff appearances without a title, and JGR newcomer Chase Briscoe, also in the final four, both lost engines during the race along with Riley Herbst, who drives for Hamlin’s 23X1 team.
This is starting to become a bit of a concern for Toyota and particularly Hamlin, who has had some problems prior to the race at Martinsville. The week before at Talladega, Hamlin had a throttle issue. The throttle regulates the air-fuel mixture flowing to the engine which is obviously critical to the car’s performance. And before that in the Kansas race, he had trouble with his power steering.
While these issues seem unrelated, if any of them – or something else – pops up at Phoenix, Hamlin could once again be denied any chance at a championship, as has happened numerous times in the past.
“I could be worried but I can’t do anything about it so I’m still optimistic,” Hamlin told reporters at Martinsville according to NASCAR’s website.
“We’re gonna put our best foot forward and hopefully it’s enough. That’s all I can do. Our performance is good, we’re running up front,” Hamlin said. “As long as we can keep it together we’re fast and capable. I think I’m gonna have to win next week to win the championship, and we’re gonna come prepared to do that,” Hamlin declared.
Team owner Joe Gibbs said Toyota and JGR examined the faulty engine parts after the Martinsville race in an effort to determine what went wrong and correct it.
“We got all the parts out,” Gibbs said according to NASCAR.com’s website. “We looked at everything. I think issues with the motors are always concerning. You never want that to happen.
“I think we kind of understand where we are and what those parts were (that caused the engine failure) and have made adjustments. Those parts will not be in the cars this week so we feel good about that,” Gibbs declared.
Neither Gibbs nor Toyota have identified what parts failed, but it is reasonable to assume Toyota thought they were reliable when they were originally installed, and if that’s true then there’s no way to be sure replacement parts won’t break as well.
Engine failures are a rarity in NASCAR now but Gibbs’ comments, while reassuring, didn’t seem to indicate that Toyota knows for sure exactly what happened and if that’s the case, it can’t be sure something won’t happen again.
Whether or not he wins the championship, which is about the last thing Hamlin has left on his racing to-do list before he retires, possibly in two years, he has clearly been the dominant driver in Cup this year.
Extremely perceptive and with the most analytical mind in the sport, Hamlin has been able to make adjustments as he ages that has kept him on top at a time, he’s nearly 45, when almost all of his competitors would be getting out of their cars.
His six wins are the more than any driver this year and his ability to understand and get the most out of his equipment, his ability to pace himself, to know when he needs to make a move and when he doesn’t, give him a mental edge over the competition.
“I think his experience, as you know in pro sports that’s just something you can’t teach, gives him an advantage,” Gibbs, who was a Super Bowl winning coach before he went into racing, commented.
“You’ve got to experience things and he understands that,” Gibbs continued. “He works extremely hard on the sim (the racing simulator), his preparation and everything else he needs to do to get ready to race.
“That’s where his experience really means a lot,” Gibbs remarked. “He understands you’ve got to be able to get to the final four, and we’ve done that, and now it’s down to one race and you’ve got to make it happen.”
There’s no question Hamlin will do his part. The question is, as it has been in the past, whether situations beyond his control and his supporting cast will do theirs.
NASCAR NOTES
Old Guy Sport pre-playoff final four picks: Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, William Byron. Drivers in the final four: Hamlin, Briscoe, Kyle Larson, Byron.
Three most likely winners at Phoenix Sunday: 1-Blaney, 2-Hamlin, 3-Larson. First race winner at Phoenix this year: Christopher Bell. Top five in first Phoenix race: 1-Bell, 2-Hamlin, 3-Larson, 4-Josh Berry, 5-Chris Buescher.
Last week’s OGS Martinsville picks: 1-Blaney, 2-Bell, 3-Hamlin. Martinsville winner: Byron. OGS record after 29 races: 13-15 (no Pocono pick) .464.
OGS competition index top 10 after 29 races: 1-Hamlin 652 points, 2-Briscoe 507, 3-Larson 500, 4-Bell 473, 5-Blaney 465, 6-Byron 439, 7-Shane van Gisbergen 368, 8-Chase Elliott 274, 9-Bubba Wallace 186, 10-Joey Logano 185.
OGS competition index top 10 on short tracks (tracks similar to Phoenix): 1-Blaney 222, 2-Hamlin 211, 3-Byron 185, 4-Bell 161, 5-Larson 147, 6-Briscoe 122, 7-Logano 96, 8-Elliott 91, 9-Brad Keselowski 80, 10-Alex Bowman 74.
by Patrick Zier | Oct 26, 2025 |
Denny Hamlin is in. He was the first of the three from Joe Gibbs Racing to make the final four. Chase Briscoe is in. He survived Talladega. And Christopher Bell is in; well sort of.
He’s the highest ranked playoff driver who hasn’t got a win, one of a group behind Hamlin and Briscoe vying for the final two spots at Martinsville Sunday. And if Bell makes it, that gives JGR three of the final four in the race at Phoenix which will determine the 2025 NASCAR Cup champion
And Bell is in pretty good shape. First off, he’s pretty strong on the short tracks, like Martinsville. And second, because of the way the playoff points are structured, even if he doesn’t win at Martinsville he’s so far ahead in points it will be difficult for anybody to catch him, and if he finishes second he’s guaranteed the last spot in the final four.
And that would give Joe Gibbs Racing three contenders vying for the 2025 NASCAR Cup championship in next week’s race at Phoenix. The last spot could go to Hendrick’s Kyle Larson, right behind Bell in points, or maybe Penske’s Ryan Blaney, one of the sport’s most underrated drivers (despite winning a championship) and the Penske team leader despite all the talk about Joey Logano.
So what does that mean for JGR? How do you handle a situation where all three playoff drivers, assuming that’s the case, are going for one trophy and all of them are working out of the same shop?
“I don’t think it will be any different because at JGR you compete for wins against your teammates all the time,” Briscoe, the team’s most recent winner with the victory at Talladega, commented according to NASCAR’s website.
“If I’m going to go against anybody I hope it’s them because I feel like at the end of the day, if one of us can’t win it then we hope the other guy does, right?” Briscoe said.
“I hope Bell gets in because it would be a huge thing for our company to have a three-in-four shot. And I feel good about Chris going into Martinsville,” Briscoe continued.
“Hopefully he can get in. Hopefully all three of us can be going for it (the championship). That would be a pretty special thing. Hopefully, we don’t screw it up.”
And Briscoe knows it can be screwed up because he watched it happen during the playoff race at Kansas. JGR and Toyota had the race firmly in control, with Hamlin dominating, until the end, when one-by-one, the Toyotas started taking each other out.
On the last two restarts, Bell was in the front row when he got run up the track by Bubba Wallace, also in a Toyota, once the green waved with both going for the win.
Briscoe, right behind Bell and with a shot at the checkers, had to check up once Wallace slapped Bell and Bell slapped the wall, losing his momentum and taking him out of contention.
That left Hamlin and Wallace charging toward the finish, but in turn three Wallace and Hamlin bumped, allowing Chase Elliott to slip underneath them and win the race
So Elliott sneaked off with the win. And the others? Well, Hamlin was second, Bell third, Briscoe fourth and Wallace fifth. That’s really good, really close. But close doesn’t count except in horseshoes and it certainly doesn’t count in playoff racing.
So what about the season-ender at Phoenix? Well, in the first race there early this year, Hamlin won and Bell was second. Briscoe, new to JGR, was still figuring out how to drive a super fast car, which he now knows how to do.
So you’ve got to figure one of them has a very good chance to win the championship – if they can figure out how to get to the finish line in one piece.
NASCAR NOTES
Three most likely winners at Martinsville: 1-Ryan Blaney, 2-Christopher Bell, 3-Denny Hamlin. First race winner at Martinsville: Hamlin. Top five in first race at Martinsville: 1-Hamlin, 2-Bell, 3-Bubba Wallace, 4-Chase Elliott, 5-Kyle Larson.
Old Guy Sport Talladega picks: No picks. Talladega is a super speedway race and OGS does not count super speedways in its standings because the winner is determined primarily by luck and avoiding the “big wreck.” OGS season record: 13-14, .481, no Pocono pick.
OGS competition index top 10 after 28 races: 1-Hamlin 652 points, 2-Chase Briscoe 507, 3-Larson 490, 4-Bell 473, 5-Blaney 409, 6-Shane van Gisbergen 368, 7-William Byron 364, 8-Elliott 244, 9-Wallace 186, 10-Joey Logano 185.
OGS competition index top 10 on short tracks (tracks similar to Martinsville): 1-Hamlin 211, 2-Blaney 166, 3-Bell 161, 4-Larson 137, 5-Briscoe 122, 6-Byron 110, 7-Joey Logano 96, 8-Brad Keselowski 80, 9-Alex Bowman 74, 10-Josh Berry 65.
by Patrick Zier | Oct 23, 2025 |
TAMPA – South Florida Coach Alex Golesh was talking about this week’s matchup with Memphis, a game that will have a major impact on both teams and a game whose outcome will create a ripple effect throughout the American Conference and beyond.
That’s because the winner of this game will establish itself as one of the favorites to win the championship in the American and the team that wins the championship in the American will be an odds-on favorite to be the Group of Five representative in the College Football Playoff.
Golesh doesn’t want his team thinking that way, though. He wants his players zeroed in on the things that have gotten them to this point, what they can do to get better and not what it all means and what it might lead to.
“If we don’t take care of business right now, there’s nothing to look forward to,” Golesh said. “I think you can either put pressure on yourself in that regard or you can just go to work and worry about being the best version of yourself and then there is no pressure because all you can do is be the best you can be.
“I think elite teams, that’s how they operate,” he continued. “The really good football teams I’ve been a part of operate on a day-to-day basis regardless of the opponent, regardless of any sort of situation and what better proof do you need than what the team we’re playing went through last week.”
Which brings us to Memphis. Like the Bulls, the Tigers are 6-1. Unlike the Bulls, whose only loss is to powerful Miami, Memphis, then a top 25 team, lost to UAB, a constant back marker in the American with only two wins, one over a nondescript Akron team and the other over Alabama State from the FCS, a division below the American.
The loss follows a pattern in college football this fall, where top teams are unexpectedly ambushed be lesser opponents and brought to their knees. “You can say what you want,” Golesh said. “UAB played high level football last week and was able to win a game against a team that was in the top 25.”
Then Golesh issued what might be construed as a warning to his own team. “Is Memphis a worse team because they got beat by UAB?” Golesh asked. “I mean they’re still the same team, they’re still the same players. It truly is a mindset that you have to take care of your business today and only today matters,” Golesh added.
USF has been on a roll recently, averaging 57 points a game over the last four weeks. That includes a 63-36 win over a good North Texas team and a 54-26 shellacking of Charlotte.
But hidden in those stats is the fact that the Bulls allowed 62 points in those two games, which means the defense wasn’t exactly stellar. And it’s things like that Golesh wants his team honing in on, not how important this game might be and its ramifications over the long run.
“It’s about us,” he declared. “It’s about our process and our daily habits and creating a sense of confidence through our preparation as we go through the week.”
And the defense can play better. If you throw out the North Texas and Charlotte games, USF is giving up an average of just 12.4 points per game. That would be sixth best in the country.
But as UAB proved, you have to be at your best all the time, every game, or bad things can happen, as Memphis has found out. And now, with one unexpected conference loss, Memphis has its back to the wall.
“It’s just like I said in the past,” Memphis Coach Ryan Silverfield commented according to the school’s football website. “Whether it’s a big win that one big win can’t define our season and that one loss certainly can’t define our season.
“All our hopes, goals and dreams are still in front of us, right?” Silverfield remarked. “When we started the season the goal wasn’t to be 7-0 or 6-1. It was to win the conference championship and that’s still out there in front of us.
“We’ve just got to stay focused, dialed in and find ways to execute at a higher level. One loss will not define our season,” he emphasized. Maybe not. But two could.
PAT’S PICKS
USF over Memphis: This is a good South Florida football team. And it’s not slowing down for Memphis.
Miami over Stanford: This is a “beware” game. Beware of what Stanford did to FSU.
Florida, FSU and UCF off.
Last week: 3-2. For the season, 25-9, .735.
by Patrick Zier | Oct 16, 2025 |
It was hours before he would win the 60th race of his career, tying him for 10th all time with Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin was in the drivers meeting for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas.
A win here would guarantee him a spot in NASCAR’s championship race, give him another chance to fill in the one blank page on his resume; despite all he has accomplished in the sport Hamlin has never won a championship, and he was going over everything he needed to do to make sure he was ready.
“I have a mental checklist that I go through before I leave the bus for the drivers meeting,” Hamlin said according to the NASCAR.com website. “I check all the things I think are going to be important today (Sunday).
“One small thing just kind of slipped through the cracks. Maybe I was distracted, I don’t know,” Hamlin continued. “I was so antsy during the drivers meeting thinking ‘I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to get out of here because I’ve got to get back to the bus and look at something.'”
Hamlin paused. “I don’t know,” he said. “It would have just…I don’t think I could have…It would have mentally bothered me the entire race had I not gone back and looked.
“Then I would have said, ‘How did you let that slip? How were you not prepared for this? Had you known this, you would have been in a better position to win.’ It’s just the way my brain works,” Hamlin explained.
There are many reasons why, hands down, Hamlin is the best driver in the sport despite the fact he will turn 45 in November, shortly after the NASCAR Cup championship is determined at Phoenix.
But his biggest edge is preparation and execution. Nobody prepares for a race more meticulously then Hamlin, who, among other things, spends countless hours on the simulator each week. And that gives him the ability to adjust and execute on the track better than anybody else.
Which is why, at a time when a lot of drivers have hung up their helmets or are just riding around because they are no longer competitive, Hamlin is still charging to the front, still winning races – six, in fact, more than anyone in Cup this year.
But for all of that, the blank page is still there, the championship that has eluded him. And it has seemed farther away then ever since the advent of the Next Gen car in 2022, with Hamlin being eliminated after the round of eight each of the last three years.
So this will be his first shot at the title in quite a while. And while he shows no signs of slowing down, Hamlin knows he only has a limited number of opportunities left to fill in that blank page. And he doesn’t want to waste this one.
“I don’t get nervous anymore (about winning the championship)” Hamlin said. “But at some point, I will think about it. Is this my last chance to do it? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.
“I just know I’m going to do the work and hope it works out,” he continued. “If it doesn’t, I’m going to be OK with it. I’ve had a season that far exceeded what I thought it would,” he added.
“I don’t think I’ve been in the championship four in the Next Gen era (he hasn’t, as has already been pointed out). I can’t sit here and make false promises and things like that. I don’t have the answer (as to whether he can win or not),” Hamlin said.
“I’m going to try as hard as I can. Maybe I’ll get lucky,” he concluded. Or maybe he won’t have to be lucky. Maybe being the best driver in the sport will be good enough, and this time, he’ll finally get his chance to hoist the trophy. Because trophy or not, everybody in NASCAR knows who the champion is.
NASCAR NOTES
No race this week. The Cup cars are at Talledega, a super speedway, and Old Guy Sport does not count super speedway races in its standings because who runs well and who wins is purely determined by luck, not skill. You have to avoid the “big wreck” and be in the right lane at the right time on the last lap and the drivers and teams have virtually no control over any of that.
Last week’s OGS Las Vegas picks: 1-Denny Hamlin, 2-Chase Briscoe, 3-Kyle Larson. Last week’s Las Vegas winner: Hamlin. OGS season record after 28 races, 13-14 (no Pocono pick), .481.
OGS competition index top 10 after 28 races: 1-Hamlin 652, 2-Briscoe 507, 3-Larson 490, 4-Christopher Bell 473, 5-Ryan Blaney 409, 6-Shane van Gisbergen 368, 7-William Byron 364, 8-Chase Elliott 244, 9-Bubba Wallace 186, 10-Joey Logano 185.
by Patrick Zier | Oct 15, 2025 |
So, how good is Florida State? Well, we know they’re good enough to beat Alabama, which is pretty good. And we know they weren’t good enough to beat Pitt, which is not so good.
And whatever wave they were riding after beating ‘Bama, which was followed by the slaughtering of two lesser foes and had the ‘Noles soaring up the national rankings, is gone now.
In fact, with three losses in a row to Virginia, Miami and Pitt, there are those who are ready to pull the chair out from under Mike Norvell – again.
Norvell and his counterpart at Florida, Billy Napier, have been on pretty much the same trajectory ever since they took over at the state’s two spotlight schools, although Norvell has been on the roller coaster longer.
He looked to have made a place for himself in 2023, when he went 13-0 and won the ACC championship during the regular season. But then, despite being unbeaten, the ‘Noles weren’t picked for the playoffs, lost in the Orange Bowl to Georgia and their momentum stalled.
The end of 2023 carried over to 2024 and the ‘Noles crashed and burned in a big, big way. From 13-1 to 2-10.
So maybe, going into this season, the expectations were too high. FSU had lost most of the 13-1 team but that didn’t matter, people said. They had also lost quarterback Jordan Travis, who threw 20 touchdowns against just two picks, but that didn’t matter either, people said. Turns out it did.
And it left everyone uncertain of what was ahead. Who were these guys? Could Norvell coach ’em up or not? Was he the right guy for the job? All the old questions were back.
Then the Seminoles signed quarterback Tommy Castellanos out of the transfer portal. Brash and outspoken, Castellanos confidently predicted FSU was ready to make its mark again and created instant buzz in Tallahassee. Alabama? They don’t have Nick Saban to save them anymore, Castellanos declared.
Turns out he was right. FSU won, and went from nowhere to No.8 in the AP poll after it’s 3-0 start. Then came Virginia, a 46-38 double overtime loss, and the ‘Noles were 3-1.
And then came mighty Miami, a 28-22 loss after a furious rally which saw FSU score 19 points in the fourth quarter. Now they were 3-2. And then came Pit, and surely, this was where the ‘Noles would get back on track, turn things around. Nope. Final, Pit 34, FSU 31, and now the ‘Noles were 3-3, figured as fakes with hapless Stanford next up Saturday.
“At the end of the day we have three straight weeks finishing with a one possession loss,” Norvell commented according to FSU’s football website. “Ultimately if all falls on my shoulders that we’re not getting it done. We’ve got to see application and execution from all of us, every one of us, of what we want to look like, what we want to be and find a way to get the job done,” Norvell declared.
While many seem to see this three-game losing streak as a disaster, in reality, it is not. This is not Penn State losing to hapless UCLA and struggling Northwestern.
This is a team still trying to find itself after the bitter 2024 season. This is a team which, if it plays to its potential, could still win as many as 10 games.
It has two toughies left in Clemson and Florida, both on the road, and the Gators in particular could be problematic because both Norvell and Napier – if he is still the Florida coach at that point – could need a win to save their jobs.
But FSU, with better execution, might be 6-0 right now instead of 3-3. As Norvell pointed out, change just one possession and you change the outcome.
FSU lost to Virginia 46-38 in double overtime, but if the ‘Noles hadn’t fumbled at their own 38, setting up Virginia’s first touchdown, there might never have been overtime.
FSU lost to Miami, 28-22, but if Castellanos hadn’t been intercepted at the ‘Noles 44, setting up the ‘Canes second touchdown, the outcome might have been very different and the ‘Noles might be ranked in the nation’s top five instead of Miami.
And if FSU hadn’t fumbled at its own 49 in the fourth quarter, setting up Pitt’s tying touchdown in the Panthers’ 34-31 win, Pitt might not have gotten a 34-31 win.
“I believe this team will continue to fight,” Norvell said after the Pitt loss. “I believe you’ll get everything they have and we will get it right.”
And if they do get it right, this could still be a good year for the ‘Noles. And an even better one for Norvell.
PAT’S PICKS
FSU over Stanford: ‘Noles start the long road back.
Florida over Miss State: The Bulldogs’ bubble has burst, and there’s still a lot of fight in Florida.
Miami over Louisville: Can anybody beat Miami? Not Louisville.
USF over FAU: Until somebody proves otherwise (Memphis maybe?) the Bulls are still the best Group of Five team in the country.
UCF over West Virginia: West Virginia isn’t very good, although it somehow beat Pitt. But this is in Orlando and that should give the Knights an edge.
Last week, 3-1. For the season, 22-7, .760.
