Takes

Natural luge is a cooler spectator sport than traditional Olympic luge

Italy does natural luge... which you gotta look that up if you haven't seen that. It's like real sledding, but they go on ice through the woods. It's like F1 on a mountain. We're kind of happy that people haven't realized how cool natural luge is because there's a little bit bigger of crashes.

I am convinced that I am the best driver in the world.

I have a reputation for crashing, but there's no one here today that's gonna go faster. ... I am convinced that I'm the best driver in the world. If someone's going faster, I'm gonna like, obviously I could just do it.

Red Bull is my family and where I truly belong in F1

Now going back like full circle to Red Bull... it's like, oh, like, yeah, this is, this is the family. Like this is where, you know, I, I'm happy to come home to and where I feel like I truly belong.

The F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix will be the biggest sporting event in the world in 2023

I think it's gonna be the biggest sporting event globally this year. I really do. I think that the interest and the hype around that race, I mean, a Saturday night race down the strip in Vegas, who doesn't wanna be there?

McLaren is dead to me for dumping Daniel Ricciardo

Danny Ricciardo got dumped by McLaren. McLaren is dead to me now. I hate them. I always hated them, but now I really hate them. Kind of fucked up.

IndyCar has a better pool of drivers than Formula 1 because of car parity

I would say the best series of drivers, in my opinion, and this might get me in trouble, is IndyCar. Because there's 24 guys who race every week and all 24 of them could win... Where in Formula 1, it really is contingent upon what car you're in.

Rich Strike's 80-1 win saves the sport of horse racing

Wouldn't it be perfect if you have an 80 to one a shot that everyone's going to look at and be like '$30,000, we could have bought this horse.' I guarantee everyone was saying that after... it's going to save horse racing this year. When you had Bob Baffert looming over everything and some bad vibes, 80 to one fixes everything.

Don't worry about Taiba's lack of experience in the Kentucky Derby; horse racing has changed and horses run less often now.

No horse in more than a century has won the Kentucky Derby with only two previous lifetime starts. I don't care about that. Staff times have changed and thoroughbred racing horses are running less and less often than they used to. So if you like [Taiba] to win, the Kentucky Derby don't pay any attention to his inexperience.

The Kentucky Derby is the best litmus test of greatness of any race in America.

The Derby is probably the best litmus test of greatness of any race in America. So the 20 horses is part of that... what it takes win the Kentucky Derby: the patience, the acceleration, the ability to hit the holes when you need to hit the holes, the overall talent to beat the best horses [of] a generation.

I set the fastest lap on the final lap at Monza just to prove I can handle the pressure

Putting in the fastest lap of the race on the last lap when the victory's in my hands, that for me was like a little like, just to say, like, guys, I did not feel the pressure this whole time. Just for my peace of mind, I'm going to set the fastest lap to say I told you so.

Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s nickname 'The Intimidator' is an all-time great moniker because of the fear it struck in opponents

I'm going to go a little NASCAR. Maybe the greatest nickname. I know. Time... The intimidator, Dale Earnhardt Sr. I mean, what are you going to do when the intimidator comes for you?

Mercedes' current F1 strategy is intentionally taking out Red Bull at every turn

Mercedes, essentially their strategy now is just take out Red Bull at all times, which is sick. And then yeah, Lewis Hamilton, Sir Lewis Hamilton is the goat.

The crash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was just a 'racing incident'

I actually took Lewis Hamilton's side. I thought that he—Robbins racing. They call it a racing incident... Like a bang-bang targeting call that isn't targeting... football incident. Let's keep playing. My whole thing is, I can't get up for the F1 races.

F1 cars are too soft and need to be louder.

I think the cars are too loud. [Wait, no] make them a little bit softer or make them just really fucking loud... the cars are too soft. They're basically racing toy cars. It's the pussification of America, of Europe.

If I could do it all over again, I might not choose to be an F1 driver because of the lack of control

If I could do it all over again, like, I don't know if I would pick this sport [F1] because there's so many other variables and so much out of your control. So you could perform perfectly and something might end it for you.

Christian Horner's obsession with Max Verstappen is 'weird as fuck'

Christian Horner... he is obsessed with Max [Verstappen] and obviously rightfully so but it's it's a little weird sometimes he talks about him like he is his son and there is some some serious love there. [Ricciardo]: Yeah. No, it's weird as fuck.

F1 teammates in Europe generally hate each other because they are each other's biggest career threat

Call a teammate in Europe, they fucking hate each other. Because it's the one guy that's going to kill his career. So they play team, but the reality is they both want to beat each other.

Formula One needs a star American driver for the sport to truly take off in the US

That's what the U.S. need. We've got to get a decent American driver running in Formula One. And as soon as that happens, I think the US will just take off even more.

The new financial cap is ultimately healthy for the long-term future of Formula One

I think it's ultimately a positive thing... I think ultimately it's a good one. It's going to take a couple of years to settle down, but I think it's healthy for the whole sport.

The medication in Medina Spirit's system made zero difference in the Kentucky Derby outcome

The amount of beta-methasone that he had in his system absolutely positively in my opinion and according to the opinion of some of the top veterinarians that I've talked to made zero difference whatsoever in the way the horse ran in the derby. It was one one millionth of a gram... There's no way that it had any impact at all on the way he ran.

Jockey changes among elite riders make zero difference in major races

When you're betting and you get into a race like the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness, the jockeys involved are all so good and so competent that the difference between jockey A and jockey B, jockey B and jockey C is negligible... just ignore the rider and focus on the abilities of the horse.

Bob Baffert is the most successful horse trainer of all time

When Bob retires, I think he's in his late 60s, but he's going strong. He'll be the most successful horse trainer of all time.

Secretariat is the greatest of all time

Secretariat. Well, exactly. Secretariat. It's got to be. American Pharaoh. It has to be Secretariat.

Cycling is just a more boring version of NASCAR

I'd watch basically anything except for cycling. Cycling is it's a more boring version of NASCAR.

Saratoga is the best horse racing track in America and it's not even close

Saratoga for me is not even close [to other tracks]... I go to Saratoga and I used to go for the opening weekend... getting up early and watching those horses work out. It's beautiful there. The whole set up in the old school feel the town. Yes. It's so much history. There is such a beautiful place.

Being a NASCAR driver is harder than being a podcaster

Oh, it's definitely harder to be a NASCAR driver... What is our physical risk right now?

Justify should be branded with an asterisk like cattle

You know what they should do? They should fucking brand him with an asterisk. Like a cattle brand. He's going to have to wear that on his hindquarters for the rest of his days.

It is harder for a jockey to transition to NASCAR than for a NASCAR driver to transition to horse racing

I think a jockey trying to go race NASCAR would be the tougher transition. [NASCAR drivers] would have the tougher transition... I mean, the horses take when that horse takes off it's hard... but I think a jockey trying to go race NASCAR would be the tougher transition.

NASCAR crew chiefs must bend or break the rules to be successful

If you take a car that's legal from front to back, completely legal through the rule book, you're not going to run very well. You're not going to do well. And the crew chiefs, the crew chief that I want, the team that I want, are the ones that are willing to gamble and be aggressive with the rules, bend the rules, maybe break a few rules, because I know that that's what I'm competing against.

Joey Logano is a 'baby back bitch' for blocking me on Twitter after I called him 'Slowy Slogano'

My other who's back is that baby back bitch, Slowy Slogano, who blocked me on Twitter for calling him Slowy Slogano. How soft is that? He basically tweeted and said, 'I had a great car, but sometimes it doesn't break your way,' which is a classic... So I filled it in for him, and then he blocked me.

Fights are good for NASCAR and the league secretly loves them

Is it good for the sport? Absolutely. They secretly are high-fiving. You know, you don't want anyone to get hurt. They'll put out there that, you know, we don't like it. No way. It's like Dana White. They love it. Gets eyeballs.

I am officially an anti-Joey Logano podcast

Fuck Joey Logano. We're an anti-Joey Logano podcast, officially. We got a lot of things that we, a lot of hats we wear, but Joey Logano is not one of them.

NASCAR drivers should be allowed to wreck cars during high-speed police chases

The only sweet move I've ever seen while driving on the road was literally a police chase that passed me. I so wanted to wreck him. Because I knew... I'm like, I wanted to wreck the shit out of this guy. I know how to wreck someone safely. [PFT says I should be deputized] I agree. That would be so awesome and I'm going to work on that.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a 'good, not great' driver

[Big Cat asks if they let him win once a year] Is that true? No. You sure? No. He's good. Good, not great.

The 1.5-mile distance makes the Belmont Stakes an unpredictable crapshoot because American horses aren't bred for it anymore

the Belmont is also much more unpredictable than the Derby or the Preakness... horses in America are no longer bred to excel at a mile and a half... performers in the Belmont over the last maybe 10, 12 years have just fallen off the cliff. It really becomes almost a crapshoot.

Nyquist the horse is the weakest, most sensitive horse for blocking haters on Twitter

I got officially blocked by Nyquist, the horse. I think I called him a pussy for not racing in the Belmont. This horse is the worst. He's clearly a bully horse. Either you're against horse trolling or you're not Nyquist. Weakest horse I know.

Dying as a champion racehorse is better than living as an old-timer in a pasture

I would say that that's more of a hurt [than an injury] because if you die a legend like that after winning a race, your legacy lives on longer than anybody else... You don't remember him as some old-timer getting jerked off in a pasture somewhere.