AFP Podcasts

What to be excited about with AEW 'Forbidden Door'

AEW is gearing up for its annual "Forbidden Door" pay-per-view, with world champ Swerve Strickland defending his title against Will Ospreay headlining a packed night of action.

Ray Petree joins the show to break down "Forbidden Door," and to preview the week in AEW's lead-in shows - "Dynamite," "Rampage" and "Collision" - that will get us there on Sunday night.

The latest on NHRA legend John Force

NHRA legend John Force is in intensive care in a Richmond hospital after a harrowing crash at an event in Virginia this past weekend.

AFP racing reporter Rod Mullins updates us on Force's condition, which is very much touch-and-go at this early stage.

The podcast also covers the pending move of Chase Briscoe to Joe Gibbs Racing, and Christopher Bell's win in New Hampshire on a rainy NASCAR Sunday.

Ryan Blaney didn't run out of gas this time

Ryan Blaney lost out on a chance to win a few weeks ago when he ran out of gas on the final lap. In Iowa on Sunday, Blaney, leading late, didn’t have any worries about gas, though tires could have been a concern.

Blaney ended up getting the win in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at Iowa Speedway.

Rod Mullins breaks down the race, and Rod and AFP editor Chris Graham discuss the retirement announcement of 2017 series champ Martin Truex Jr., the comments from two-time champ Kyle Busch about his future, and continued discussion over the business side of NASCAR.

 

AEW is on the struggle bus

It’s only being honest to say that AEW, approaching its fifth anniversary, is struggling right now, with TV ratings at an all-time low, and ticket sales at its live shows flagging.

AFP wrestling columnist Ray Petree joins the podcast to break down how AEW got here, and what the company’s founder, creative director and chief bottle washer, Tony Khan, needs to do to get his promotion back on track.

Zero to 300 in four seconds

Podcast: Recapping a wild weekend in NHRA, NASCAR, college baseball

AFP auto racing reporter Rod Mullins spent the weekend in Bristol at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, and takes us inside the action at Bristol Dragway.

Rod and AFP editor Chris Graham also recap the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma, which was won by Kyle Larson, with Martin Truex Jr. running out of gas within sight of the finish line before he could finish as the runner-up.

Wrapping things up, the guys preview the 2024 College World Series, with a focus on the local teams – UVA, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.

New UVA radio guy, Bennett, Super Regional

AFP editor Chris Graham previews the UVA-Kansas State Super Regional, which begins Friday night at The Dish.

But before we can get to the happy place, there’s the news about the new UVA Football radio color analyst, the guy who made up a story to whip up his online mob to go after Chris last fall.

People can fail up in this world, which is nice to know.

Chris also updates folks on the latest on Tony Bennett’s contract status.

Even a NASCAR driver can run out of gas

Ryan Blaney was cruising to victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway when the unthinkable happened – he ran out of gas.

The err in fuel technology allowed his Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric to race to his first victory since the 2022 Daytona 500.

Rod Mullins and Chris Graham discuss the race, which also included a dustup between Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch, and talk some more NASCAR business on this week’s podcast.

#12 UVA set for Charlottesville Regional

Virginia has been able to work around its dearth of pitching with a historic offense. But will the ‘Hoos translate what they’ve been able to do in the 2024 regular season to the NCAA Tournament?

AFP editor Chris Graham talks us through the four-team Charlottesville Regional field – which includes Mississippi State, St. John’s and Penn – and guesses along with coach Brian O’Connor as to how the coach will use what he has with his pitching staff to get through the weekend.

Stories referenced in this podcast

• Preview: Virginia, the #12 national seed, hosts Penn, Mississippi State and St. John’s
• How will UVA coach Brian O’Connor set up his starting rotation for the regional?

Stewart-Haas Racing is getting out of the NASCAR business

Stewart-Haas Racing is getting out of the NASCAR business at the end of the year, putting its four charters out on the market, and adding to the questions about the sustained viability of the NASCAR race team business.

Rod Mullins joins the podcast to help us break down the Stewart-Haas story, and we review the rainy Sunday that ruined the attempt at history from Kyle Larson, who was trying to complete the Indy 500-Coca Cola 600 double.

Logano wins, but all the talk was about the fight

Joey Logano won a snoozer of a NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Sunday night at North Wilkesboro, in which he led 199 of the 200 laps, but while the race itself was nothing to write home about, well …

There was the dustup between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch after their Lap 1 swapping-of-paint that gave us something to talk about.

Rod Mullins joins the show to break it all down, and to share his insight into the attempt by Kyle Larson at the Indy 500-Coca Cola 600 double this coming weekend.