Bringing the Heat with Trey Lyle is back with just a few weeks left in the 2025 season. This week's guest is Ryan Ellis, who caught up with Caleb Barnes ahead of last weekend's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega. You may know Ellis as the driver of the No. 71 for DGM Racing and one of the top X follows in the Xfinity garage. What you may not know is that Ellis is a spelling ace, going back to his days in the classroom.
Bryan Nolen makes a return to the show after the interview, and there are plenty of hot topics to hit on this week. The two start by reviewing the course layout unveiled for NASCAR's highly anticipated race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego next summer.
Another future race, the 2027 Daytona 500, had its date announced. With the Super Bowl happening a week later, the Daytona 500 will also be pushed back. Nolen says NASCAR fans might have to adjust to the Great American Race starting a week later than it traditionally has.
As far as on-track news, Spire Motorsports announced Daniel Suarez will replace Justin Haley in the NASCAR Cup Series No. 7 next year. The two discuss the quality of the ride Suarez is stepping into, as well as connections between Suarez and other Mexican-born drivers in other racing series.
This week, crew chief Cliff Daniels breaks down the strategy at Talladega that ultimately resulted in Kyle Larson running out of gas. After the soundbite of the week, Nolen adds why Larson and the No. 5 team will need to go after the victory at Martinsville Speedway, despite being 36 points above the cut line.