Thinking Straightly: Recent Episodes
Thinking Straightly Crew
For race fans old and new, this racing podcast is just for you! Join Rebecca, Sarah, and Michael as they talk about each lap in the world of racing!
We exceed the Damaged Vehicle Policy clock on this one but we did have four entire races to cover...including the longest race in the history of racing. If you think its dragging on for too long, we suggest making some homemade butter to pass the time. During unlucky Episode #13, we cover the very confusing "Free Pizzagate" of 2022, which INDYCAR driver Sarah hates, and which NASCAR driver she would date. To make things more exciting, bets are made and Scott Dixon will owe one of us coffee by the end of next weekend. We're all for double screen Sundays and the 1-10 rating scale so be sure to leave us a good review! The Indianapolis 500, The Coca Cola 600, The Detroit GP on Belle Isle for one final time, and the Cup Series at World Wide Technology Raceway for the first time are all covered here!
It’s the Ryan Blaney episode or, as normal podcasters might call it, episode 12! Blaney really did us a favor by finding victory lane on Sunday night at the All Star Race, making this recording very nice…so nice, he won it twice. And speaking off winners, shockingly enough, Sarah does not pick her favorite IndyCar driver, Colton Herta, to win this year’s Indianapolis 500. You should tune in to hear who she thinks will kiss those bricks on Sunday. If that’s not incentive enough to listen, the Thinking Straightly crew does some quality impersonations of impressionists impersonating drivers during this episode because that felt necessary to share with the public. Heather joins the show to voice her frustration with a specific driver’s merchandise provider in comparison to the fastest guy on track and with shipping, Alex Bowman. To tie up the episode like a window net, we discuss just how much produce could be bought with a million dollars and a non-points race happened. Enjoy!
We could make a hundred excuses as to why our podcast went from weekly to monthly, but the real reason we’re so behind is because our tow truck got stuck in the grass. But don’t worry, we only mention that once or twice. We’re back! And more energized than ever to catch up and bring you our eleventh episode…even Ian was nice enough to return to the crew! During this episode, Sarah takes all of her bottled up anger towards racetrack security workers out on the mighty Midwest. Kansas listeners, this one’s for you but we apologize in advance. We recap our great Dover tailgate, Chase Elliott’s Monday win, Darlington throwback schemes, as well as the beef between Byron and Logano. And, well, you can’t have a racing podcast during the Month of May without mentioning IndyCars on track at IMS. One Thinking Straightly host correctly predicts the winner at Kansas and by the end of the episode, one thing is for certain: this group will never leave a track until we’ve received the official word from Bob that it is safe to do so. Tap your shoes together three times and give it a listen!
Recorded live from wild and wonderful West Virginia, the Thinking Straightly Crew talk about "turning up, slowing down, and cars that go real fast" in this week's Talladega episode. However, maybe we should leave the singing to Eric Church. With the month of May right around the corner, an INDYCAR segment felt appropriate to add before catching up on the Cup Series. All of the preparation for this year's Indianapolis 500 have Becca and Sarah feeling very nostalgic and eager to get back to IMS one day. Is it too early to predict who will kiss the bricks? What will become of Alexander Rossi at the end of this year? During this episode an unannounced guest poses a challenging question to one of our hosts in regards to a particular points race on a dirt track...you know the one. Eventually we move on to discuss the main event, the "Big One" as they say. With Talladega delivering an unpredictable race to the finish, even submitting Clint's Stage 2 Contest picks as a group did not help us win the cash. With no such luck, it looks like we will have to charge admission to Sarah's Birthday Party. But don't worry, there will be plenty of watermelon to go around. We know a guy.
This is an episode of firsts! It's the breakdown of our first in-person race of 2022, the first episode where one of us correctly picks a race winner, and the first episode with a special guest...welcome Ian Lee! Fresh off of a 22-hour race day in Martinsville, the Thinking Straightly Crew dives right in with early morning wakeup calls, the woes of checking into a hotel early, the Pre-Race Experience, and the famous Martinsville hotdog. We also divulge more information about track bathrooms and proper paper towel etiquette than is necessary. But don't worry, even after all that and only a few hours of sleep, we still had time to talk about the race itself. INDYCAR as well! We experienced extreme levels of exhaustion and extreme levels of frigidness that you can't miss during the Chase Elliott episode! Episode #9-a night race at the Paperclip!
Unfortunately, this will be the last episode of Thinking Straightly. After the heavy penalty assessed to Chase Elliott and the #9 Team this week, Michael and Sarah can simply take no more of Becca's dejected mood. APRIL FOOLS! It is no joke however that Michael, for the first time ever, does not choose Chase Elliott as his race winning pick on Sunday. Also during this episode, Sarah makes a very bold playoff prediction after taking a look at the points breakdown after Richmond. Speaking of Richmond, it was the first official short track race of the season and, let's just say, we are really looking forward to putting it behind us and heading to Martinsville! To keep things entertaining, "The Interview Game" is introduced and Sarah leaves us with her list of driver nicknames. They may or may not be as cringey as Fox's Pre-Race Show. Take notes...there will be a quiz!
It’s the longest recording yet but only because Michael felt the need to keep reminding everyone that he is the only Thinking Straightly host who has been to COTA and has smelled the track. Yes, you read that correctly. Fitting in with the duration of the episode, The Circuit of the Americas delivered what felt like the most prolonged 68 laps, consisting of both right and left turns, with a pretty exciting overtime finish. However, does an exciting finish qualify a race as a good one? Becca and Sarah have the answer and more as they breakdown the final results from COTA…not to be confused with CODA: the recipient of Best Picture at the this year’s Oscars which also took place on Sunday. We talk about those too…no wonder Michael disappears.
It’s no coincidence that the 6th Episode of Thinking Straightly celebrates the 600th Team Penske win brought to you by Josef Newgarden. We totally planned it that way…and Josef, if you’re listening, we owe you one. None of our picks came out victorious over the weekend but Atlanta is a Super Speedway and Texas finally delivered a good INDYCAR race so there was much to unpack! During this episode, we discuss track conditions, forbidden formulas, and we ask a very important question about our trip to Martinsville. Halfway through the episode, Michael disappears but only after calling Denny Hamlin out for not Thinking Straightly. What else is new? Sarah and Becca hold their own to wrap up the show by breaking down the final laps from both races. It's safe to say that our hearts were racing almost as fast as the cars.
Much like how Tom Brady announced his return to the Buccaneers this week, the Thinking Straightly crew also make their return to the podcast after taking some time away to recover from…some time away. Even after losing an hour of sleep, they manage to recap both of the NASCAR Cup races in Las Vegas and in Phoenix and they hash out some very strong opinions on if race teams build better cars for certain drivers. Without any transition at all, the episode takes a turn and becomes a movie review podcast including the proper etiquette for hiding a cough in a theater. Many different tweets are mentioned during this episode but Michael’s Tweet of the Week leads the crew to consider quitting their day jobs. Denny Hamlin may not have gotten it done in the desert but, other than wanting to put a cactus in our rooms, we are so done with the desert and are looking forward to some racing back on the East Coast. Back it on in and check it out!
Having a slow week? We can assure you that nothing is as slow as Ryan Blaney’s pit stops were in Fontana but we’re hoping to help you through the rest of the week by bringing you up to speed on all things racing. During this episode, we spend an abnormal amount of time talking about Tyler Reddick’s workout routine and we realize that the reason we won’t be crossing anymore racetracks off our bucket lists this year is because the cost of smoothies is too high. It’s also not likely that any professional race car drivers listen to the podcast or tuned in for story time, however Michael hopes to catch the attention of a select few throughout the episode. From INDYCAR kicking off their 2022 season on the East Coast to seeing NASCAR 5-wide on the West Coast, episode 4 covers it all…just not with a blanket.
The Great American Race has quickly come and gone but the Thinking Straightly Crew carries the momentum and energy from the Daytona 500 throughout Episode 3! We all agreed that the race had it's ups and downs but never reached as low as Trace Adkins sang the National Anthem. Sarah may or may not be happy for Austin Cindric, Michael gets his own segment, and we also discuss what we would buy if we won $25,000 from Clint Bowyer himself on the FOX Bet Super 6 app. But don't worry...even with all that money, you can bet we would still save at the pump. Join us as we recap what went down in Daytona during Speed Weeks and on Race Day as well as the anticipation of the West Coast swing and the start of the INDYCAR season!
Hey race fans! Welcome back to the Thinking Straightly Podcast! During this week’s episode, Michael chooses between racing for 24-hours straight or racing in below freezing temperatures while Sarah searches for the long lost footage of an angry Ryan Blaney lashing out in Los Angeles. That’s right, NASCAR finally kicked off the 2022 Season with the highly anticipated Clash at the LA Coliseum! Becca collects pre-race Hot Takes as well as a post-Clash analysis in between chatter about the Next Gen car, Daytona 500 predictions, and Super Bowl picks! The stars were out, including Sarah, as she is now NASCAR’s new promo girl. You can see her shining on TV and hear her on this week’s episode!
After hours of technical difficulties and lots of learning, here it is! Episode 1 of a brand new racing podcast, Thinking Straightly. In this episode, Becca, Sarah, and Michael introduce themselves to race fans everywhere, talk about their racing roots, favorite drivers, and what they've done to pass the time during the grueling off-season. They preview what their 2022 race season will look like, the structure of future episodes, and if you stay till the end, they tell you where you can find more great Thinking Straightly content. They hope you enjoy The Pilot and remember to tune into The Clash on Sunday, February 6th!