Grip Strip Podcast
The Grip Strip Podcast created by Philip Mathew and co-host Josh Huffine looks at all types of motorsports and sports with an unfiltered perspective. Phil and Josh invite other passionate media and fans to speak about the current and past stories that are interesting and thought-provoking.
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Episodes
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Monday Apr 03, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E162 to discuss all of the events at Circuit of the Americas with a major focus on the carnage that took place. Tyler Reddick continues his road racing prowess with his first win for 23XI after a long race battle with William Byron and fighting through multiple Green-White-Checkered finishes. Outside of those two, plenty of drivers left angry and with damaged race cars.
In the XFinity race, AJ Allmendinger cleaned Sheldon Creed out late to repeat as a winner at CoTA while Zane Smith burned his truck down literally after earning his second consecutive win at CoTA along with Front Row Motorsports continuing their unbeaten streak in the Craftsman Truck Series there.
The GSP Roundup covers MotoGP/Moto2, NHRA, Supercross, Formula E, F2&F3 along with Supercars before Phil and Josh preview and make picks for the IndyCar race at Goosage World, the F1 Australian Grand Prix and NASCAR's Cup/XFinity at Richmond with the Trucks at Goosage World. Josh provides his insights on iRacing and gaming in the Sim Segment prior to Show Close.
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Phil and Josh return and pay homage to Mike Joy for a busy E161 of the GSP. Joey Logano finally earned his first win at Atlanta on a last lap pass of former teammate Brad Keselowski. The crew discusses the race, the track and issues that exist with the superspeedway setup they run along with great performances from an ill Tyler Reddick and the best finish of Corey Lajoie's career.
In XFinity, Austin Hill continues to dominate with another plate-type victory to increase his points lead and add crucial playoff points, but the real story was Josh Williams getting parked by the series due to extending a caution because of his DGM Racing team's repairs to the car. Phil and Josh give their thoughts on that whole fiasco and what it says about NASCAR and their officiating. For Trucks, Christian Eckes takes McAnally Racing's first Truck Series win in a complete wreckfest at Atlanta.
F1 raced at Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian GP, which saw Sergio Perez continue his street course mastery with a lights to flag victory. His teammate defied team orders (per usual) and took the fastest lap on the last lap. MV finished second after starting 15th due to a driveshaft issue in qualifying.
Verstappen was assisted greatly by a full safety car thrown for Lance Stroll's mechanical issue on his Aston Martin. His teammate El Plan took the lead on the start after driving out of his start box and incurring a five-second penalty. The team then received another penalty for working on the car, but that was amended along with his second podium of the young season.
NFL talk briefly then leads into the GSP Roundup, discussing IMSA, WEC, F2, Supercross, WRC, MotoGP/Moto2, NHRA, and Formula E prior to making previews and picks for the tripleheader at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. Josh provides his info during the Sim Segment prior to show close.
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E160 of the GSP to recap White Bread William Byron's second consecutive Cup Series win after a late-race caution screwed Kevin Harvick out of a 10th victory at Phoenix. The guys discuss the Hendrick domination prior to what would transpire in the penalty phase. Harvick takes the points lead and sets a record in the process while Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe finally get decent finishes in 2023.
Sammy Smith added his name to the record books with his first career XFinity win the day before and solidifies both Joe Gibbs full-time cars into the playoffs after four races. Phil and Josh cover other keys and the points for both series heading to Atlanta.
NFL Free Agency saw the San Francisco 49ers make a blockbuster splash, signing Javon Hargrave away from the Philadelphia Eagles to bolster arguably the best defensive line in the NFL while the Jaguars lost tackle Jawaan Taylor to the Super Bowl winning Kansas City Chiefs. The guys get into those two signings and much more across the league.
The GSP Roundup is busy as always with recaps of NHRA in Gainesville, Extreme E in Saudi Arabia, Supercars at Newcastle, Supercross at Indianapolis and previews of the 12 Hours of Sebring for IMSA/1000 Miles of Sebring for WEC and F2 at Jeddah.
F1 returns for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the question is who will finish behind Verstappen? Phil and Josh preview, make picks and bring out the Tate Fogleman Algorithm for the super-speedway slot car racing that is current day Atlanta Motor Speedway. Josh provides plenty of info on the world of sim racing in his Sim Segment prior to Show Close.
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E159 of the GSP after a busy weekend in the world of motorsports. IndyCar opened their season at St. Pete with flying cars, tempers and running over the TV time. However, #thesneakyswede Marcus Ericsson passed Pato O'Ward coming to three laps to go for his fourth career IndyCar victory and third on a street circuit. The guys talk about the incidents, the key players and what to look at as the series takes a break for essentially a month.
Formula 1 was a rinse and repeat affair with Verstappen winning at Bahrain for the first time and Red Bull getting a 1-2 finish. The story of the weekend was Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who battled back after a poor start to get on the podium. Aston Martin showed great pace in testing and that also came through during the race weekend.
On the flip side, Ferrari's reliability issues bit Charles Leclerc again and cost him a likely podium while Carlos Sainz struggled but finished fourth. Mercedes is well behind and has similar tire deg issues as Ferrari, but both cars finished with Sir Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top five. Phil and Josh cover all of this and Logan Sargeant's F1 debut which saw him finish 12th.
NASCAR had a triple-header at Las Vegas, with William Byron, Austin Hill and Kyle Busch winning in Cup, XFinity and Trucks respectively. The biggest news though was William Clyde Elliott II breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident, having surgery and no announced time table for a return.
A packed GSP Roundup covers F2 & F3 at Bahrain, World Superbike at Mandalika, Indy NXT at St. Pete, AMA Supercross at Daytona, NHRA season preview with the Gatornationals this weekend, Extreme E season preview with the Desert X-Prix in Saudi taking place and Supercars starting their Gen 3 era with Mustangs and Camaros at Newcastle.
Phil and Josh get back to make their picks and preview the weekend at Phoenix for Cup and XFinity prior to Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Phil and Josh come back for E158 of the GSP to cover all things motorsports and the season really takes off with F1 and IndyCar having their season openers. However, the guys cover NASCAR at Fontana (likely for the last time) with Kyle Busch winning in only his third start for RCR in Cup and John Hunter Nemechek in XFinity for JGR after rain affected the entire weekend. Both races are reviewed and early points checks are done for both series.
In depth previews of the NTT IndyCar Series and Formula 1 World Championship come next with Phil and Josh making predictions on champions, rookies and other key story lines to focus on leading into St. Petersburg and Bahrain accordingly.
The GSP Roundup covers Formula E at Cape Town, WSBK in Phillip Island, F2 & F3 at Bahrain and Indy NXT at St. Petersburg before the crew previews the Las Vegas triple-header for NASCAR with win and wild card picks prior to Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
After a busy weekend at Daytona to open up the 2023 NASCAR season, Phil and Josh are back to cover all the action on E157 of the GSP. OH RICHARD (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) broke a 199-race winless streak by capturing the 65th Daytona 500. The race actually went 530 miles due to overtime but the JTG-Daugherty driver is now immortalized as a 500 champion along with a playoff berth. The guys get into the race itself, the wrecks, standouts and picks made before moving into XFinity and Trucks, which saw repeat winners in Austin Hill and Zane Smith respectively.
F1 is gearing up for their only pre-season test of 2023 prior to the season opener at Bahrain in a couple weeks and IndyCar is also looking towards their opener at St. Petersburg, so Phil updates any pertinent news items prior to a full preview next week for both series. The GSP Roundup is short and sweet with Formula E in Cape Town, South Africa for the first time along with WSBK opening their 2023 campaign at Phillip Island in Australia.
Phil and Josh preview what likely is the last race at Auto Club Speedway for Cup and XFinity and make their picks for both races before Josh covers his exploits in the iRacing Daytona 500 (both fixed and open setup attempts) and the show close.
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E156 of the GSP to get into Speed (half) week at Daytona for NASCAR, culminating in the Daytona 500. However, the guys get into the Super Bowl which saw KTF (aka Patrick Mahomes) and the Kansas City Chiefs win their second Super Bowl in the last four years, coming back against the upstart Philadelphia Eagles. Phil and Josh discuss the key plays and players in the game along with other significant moments. Updates on coaching and GM searches are looked at before moving onto NASCAR.
All three major series open up their season, so previews of the Craftsman Truck Series, XFinity and Cup Series are done with final four and championship selections made. Formula 1 car reveals and IndyCar news is brought up next prior to the GSP Roundup that includes Formula E, WRC and MotoGP.
The Tate Fogleman Algorithm makes its return to the GSP for Daytona, with Josh getting the machine out of hibernation to possibly make another insane choice. Phil and Josh make their picks for all three races, wild cards and who gets the front row and goes home for the 500 (Phil whiffed on both open choices). Josh gets into the iRacing Daytona 500 with an opportunity to join legends in racing as winners of both Indy and Daytona among other races for this week prior to the Show Close.
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Phil and Josh are back for E155 of the GSP to recap Martin Truex, Jr's win at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. The cluster of the "race" featured 16 caution flags and an average speed just over 22 mph. The guys get into this event and who stood out, like Ryan Preece and Darrell Wallace, Jr.
While they had an opportunity, the RFK Racing duo of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher missed the main for a second consecutive year. Phil and Josh look at that, who else of value missed the main and key news stories leading into Speedweek at Daytona.
The Super Bowl is on-tap with the Eagles and Chiefs facing off in the Andy Reid/Kelce Bowl or the KTF coronation ceremony. The crew make their predictions known along with what to watch from both sides in Glendale. IndyCar, F1 and other pertinent news items are discussed prior to the GSP Roundup, which includes previews of the Indian E-Prix in Hyderabad and Rally Sweden for the WRC.
Josh lets us know about all things sim racing in his Sim Segment before Show Close.
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E154 of the GSP to discuss a wild NFL conference championship weekend and the Rolex 24 at Daytona amongst other events. Kansas City and KTF made their third Super Bowl in the last four years after withstanding Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, which means JD Harmeyer is a mush-mouthed bald guy.
Prior to that game, the San Francisco 49ers season ended six plays into the game after a Hassan Reddick sack and forced fumble on Brock Purdy, which left Mr. Relevant unable to throw and looking at elbow surgery. Phil goes off in frustration and anger after another close call and the Eagles basically being able to coast to victory. Also, tech difficulties happened, just like the entire 49ers team had that day.
In more positive news, Josh attended the Rolex 24 and let us know about how the atmosphere was for the first race of the new GTP era in IMSA. The guys get into the race and talk about all the class winners including the Meyer-Shank Acura team repeating as Rolex 24 champs with new hire Colin Braun. With plenty of talk that the GTP's may not make it, the race came down to four cars (Two Acuras & Cadillacs) battling at the end. However, Porsche and BMW struggled but they all have time to adjust prior to Sebring in March.
Phil and Josh cover NASCAR news before the GSP Roundup looks at the Race of Champions and the Formula E Saudi E-Prix doubleheader. For the second consecutive year, the NASCAR Cup Series will start their season at the LA Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash. The crew previews the race and makes their picks before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E153 of the GSP with more NFL Playoff talk and a preview of the Rolex 24. With the Jaguars exiting the playoffs at the hands of Mahomes, Josh was disappointing but knows the future is bright for his team after a lean period for the organization. San Francisco has now won 12 consecutive games going back to a loss versus Kansas City in October, giving Phil a healthy jolt on his birthday week. The crew discusses Divisional weekend along with previews of both championship games with picks.
The 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona takes place this weekend with the GTP nomenclature returning to IMSA for the first time since 1992. Nine cars from four manufacturers will take the start on Saturday, looking for reliability and the opportunity to earn overall accolades along with some nice Rolex watches. Each class is covered along with some familiar names for NASCAR fans racing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Over the past week, there's been plenty of NASCAR news, so Josh and Phil get into the key stories with the Clash only a couple weeks away. One big topic involved odds for winning the 2023 Cup championship, which had some interesting lines.
The GSP Roundup looks at Sebastian Ogier's record-breaking ninth victory at Rally Monte Carlo, Supercross in San Diego, Nitro Rallycross at Trois Riviere, along with previews of Formula E in Saudi Arabia and the Race of Champions. Josh gives us the latest news from the world of sim racing during the Sim Segment before the Show Close.
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E152 of the GSP to discuss the NFL playoffs, which saw Josh's Jacksonville Jaguars make one of the biggest comebacks in NFL history vs. the LA Chargers. Josh was on site for the game and with his brother who happens to be a Chargers fan. Phil celebrated after a difficult first half for Mr. Relevant Brock Purdy, since the 49ers advanced and will host the Cowboys in the divisional round. The crew covers all the games and make their choices for divisional weekend.
Kevin Harvick officially announced his retirement from Cup racing after the 2023 season. Phil and Josh give their thoughts on the man known as Happy and many other nicknames. Jimmie Johnson returns to Cup in 2023 as a car owner and introduced Legacy Motor Club aka PettyGMS. Travis Pastrana was announced as a third driver for 23XI at the Daytona 500, adding more spice to the open field, including Seven-Time.
Phil and Josh review the 2022 Weathertech Sports Car Championship with the Roar on tap. The guys give their views on the champions and early observations for 2023. The GSP Roundup looks at the Chili Bowl, Dakar Rally, Mexico City Formula E and previews the Roar Before the 24 and Rally Monte Carlo.
Josh gets into the 24 Hours of Virtual Le Mans controversy and other happenings in the world of Sim Racing prior to the show close.
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Phil and Josh return for E151 of the GSP and bring on 49ers #FTTB fan Niner Nate to discuss the playoffs and all the happenings in Week 18. Josh gets to mark out after the Jaguars won the AFC South and advanced to a home playoff game vs. the Chargers. Phil and Nate cover the 49ers victory vs. Arizona to lock up the two seed and hosting divisional rival Seattle at Levi's.
All three discuss the match-ups and their picks along with who fell short of making the playoffs. Black Monday for NFL coaches took place, so the guys went over who is out and who may be in play for those jobs. Phil and Josh recap the FallBrawl fantasy football league in 2022, with both guys making some money.
Racing talk starts with the Andretti Global intent to join Formula 1 with Cadillac support and Alpine/Renault power units, and the push back received by the FIA/FOM and the teams. Both guys had strong opinions on the current situation.
The GSP Roundup has Supercross Anaheim 1, Dakar Rally, a preview of the Chili Bowl and Formula E along with IMSA and NASCAR news. Josh's Sim Segment has plenty of iRacing info before Show Close.
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Phil and Josh are back for 2023 and Season Four of the Grip Strip Podcast! The show starts on a somber note after the events that saw Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapse on the field during Monday Night Football. Thankfully, Hamlin is on his way to recovery after the show was recorded. The crew goes over the concerns for Hamlin and how the game stoppage will affect the Bills, Bengals and the AFC Playoff Picture.
Josh gets into the massive Jacksonville Jaguars Week 18 game vs. Tennessee with a division title and playoff spot on the line. Phil discusses the 49ers close call vs. the Raiders and what's at stake going into the last week vs. Arizona. The guys let you know who's in and out of the playoffs and run down the Week 18 slate.
Following on the somber tone after football is the passing of Ken Block. Phil and Josh pay their respects to the man who made Gymkhana a worldwide fascination and brought so much more to the world in general. Season recaps for XFinity and Trucks are next with key stories from the season past and a preview of the upcoming year plus the viability of the series at this time.
The GSP Roundup covers Dakar, IMSA, NASCAR, Formula E, Formula 1 and Supercross at Anaheim 1 before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
Phil and Josh close out Season 3 and 2022 with the GSP recapping Formula 1, NFL and more. The breaking news that definitely affects former iRacing Indy 500 winner Josh was IndyCar taking away the license from iRacing and the fallout from that decision. The guys go over what has been a terrible off-season for the IndyCar Series in general and how the decision truly goes at a core part of the fan-base.
Afterwards, NFL discussion with Josh's Jaguars and Phil's 49ers both doing well along with their fantasy teams in the midst of a title run in FallBrawl. The F1 Season recap started with Fish Lips and the dominant season, which saw him win his first legitimate World Drivers Championship. The crew gets into all the issues with Ferrari, even though they finished 2nd in constructors and drivers with Charles Leclerc.
Checo Perez becomes the new-age Mark Webber and loses out on 2nd in drivers while Mercedes takes a huge step back with the new regulations. However, George Russell becomes the second legitimate driver to defeat Lewis Hamilton over a full season after winning two poles and his first race at Brazil. Can Lewis return to form after going win-less and without a pole for the first time in his illustrious career?
The midfield was tightly packed and had great battles throughout the season plus 2023 driver & team principal changes, manufacturers committing to the 2026 power unit formula and the controversial ban on personal and political statements - due largely to certain places F1 hosts races.
The GSP Roundup covers Porsche Penske Motorsports announcement of drivers in IMSA and WEC, NASCAR news updates, Coca-Cola becoming the presenting sponsor for Erebus in Supercars, F1 Academy for Women teams announced, WRC lineup updates for the Rally 1 class, NHRA news and the announcement that the 2023 SuperMotorcross season will be shown exclusively on Peacock.
Josh comes back for the Sim Segment before the guys finish out their 2022 season. Happy Holidays and see you all in 2023 for Season 4 of the Grip Strip Podcast!
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Phil and Josh are here to discuss all things NFL and recap the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season. For the NFL, Josh and Phil go into the Jaguars and 49ers respectively before reviewing their fantasy teams and the league itself.
Afterwards, the crew recaps the IndyCar season, which saw Will Power win his second title in a year where the Penske drivers finished 1-2-4 in the standings. Phil and Josh detail the exploits of Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin along with Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson.
Pato O'Ward, Colton Herta and the strong rookie class get their due as well in the recap. During all of this, Phil's basement drains were being snaked after the basement bathroom overflowed.
The GSP Roundup includes SRX, NASCAR, Formula 1 and IMSA before Josh's Sim Segment with his new Fanatec pedal set and Show Close.
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Phil and Josh return for E147 of the GSP starting with NFL talk with both of their teams having major injury concerns at the Quarterback position. Josh's Jaguars get demolished by Detroit, but avoid a catastrophe with Trevor Lawrence while the 49ers destroy the Dolphins but lose Jimmy G for the season. Fantasy talk also ties in with the last week of the regular season in FallBrawl upcoming and both guys looking for a win to get in.
Phil and Josh start the season recap portion of the year with the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season and Joey Logano's second championship. The guys discuss the meaning and significance of Logano's triumph at Phoenix for Penske and Ford along with the future as the likely leader of the blue oval brigade once Kevin Harvick decides to retire.
Phil and Josh cover the parity that existed in 2022 with 19 different winners and five first time winners. The crew goes over the other members of the final four before making picks for who under-performed in 2022 and can rebound and who over-performed and is due for a letdown.
Phil starts the GSP Roundup and trusts Motorsport.com too much regarding the Adelaide Supercars race before he recovers to the series site. Snowball Derby, Rolex 24 testing and news from around the world of motorsports is looked at before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Phil and Josh discuss the events at Darlington in the Cup Series Toyota 500 at Darlington and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte which saw Chase Elliott pay the price in both events. Phil and Josh also recap the emotional victory for Chase Briscoe at Darlington and Kyle Busch's 97th Xfinity win at Charlotte. While previewing the Cup Series Alsco 500 at Charlotte, Phil and Josh also give live reactions to the Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 which saw Chase Elliott take down Kyle Busch and get $100,000 for charity. Plenty to dive into on the GSP!
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Phil and Josh return for E146 of the GSP to discuss the NFL and motorsports. The guys get into their favorite teams and fantasy teams to start the program along with a review of records and who is in contention for the playoffs.
Phil and Josh went over key news topics not previously discussed on the show prior to the GSP Roundup which went over Extreme E in Punta Del Este, WTCR in Jeddah and Supercars in Adelaide for their season finale.
The crew goes over what or who made them angry or frustrated in the world of motorsports in 2022 before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Phil and Josh return for E145 of the GSP to discuss the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which saw Max Verstappen win his 15th race of the 2022 Formula 1 season. The guys also go over the battle for second in the drivers and constructors championships plus other news leading into the post season test.
NFL Talk comes up next with Josh's Jaguars and Phil's 49ers coming up plus their fantasy teams before the GSP Roundup covers F2 at Abu Dhabi and whether Logan Sargeant would earn enough points to get his Superlicense. Previews of Extreme E in Punta Del Este, WTCR in Jeddah and the South Carolina 400 which Junebug raced in at Bass Pro Shops throwback late model.
Phil and Josh lead into Thanksgiving and the holiday season by discussing what they were thankful for in the 2022 motorsports season before Josh's Sim Segment and Show Close.
Tuesday Nov 15, 2022
Tuesday Nov 15, 2022
Phil and Josh return for E144 of the GSP to discuss George Russell's first career Formula 1 victory at the Sao Paulo/Brazilian Grand Prix. The guys get into the feature and sprint races along with the qualifying, which saw Kevin Magnussen qualify on pole for Haas F1.
Controversy reigned with current double world champion Max Verstappen getting into it with Sir Lewis Hamilton yet again along with ignoring a team directive to move over for teammate Sergio Perez in his battle for 2nd in the driver's championship.
Hamilton finished second to provide Mercedes their first 1-2 of the 2022 season with Carlos Sainz finishing third after taking an engine penalty. Sainz teammate Charles Leclerc and Perez are tied with one race to go while Ferrari holds a 19 point lead over Mercedes heading to Abu Dhabi. Other aggressive issues took place with the Alpine teammates while Nico Hulkenberg is returning to drive for Haas in 2023.
Phil and Josh then got into a discussion about who they would add to the Top 50 drivers in NASCAR history with the 75th year celebration starting in 2023. Some interesting choices were covered by both before Phil got into the GSP Roundup reviewing NHRA's finale at Pomona, WEC at Bahrain, WSBK in Indonesia last week and Phillip Island this week, WRC Rally Japan and a preview of the F2 finale at Abu Dhabi.
The NFL discussion gets into Josh and Phil's actual teams and fantasy teams before they previewed and made picks for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix along with giving their thoughts at the end of Sebastian Vettel's legendary career. Josh does his Sim Segment before the Show Close.