When NASCAR announced their new weekly show, NASCAR Inside the Playoffs, last week, they also announced a new YouTube series, NASCAR Daily, that will also be hosted by Shannon Spake. That show premiered Monday and to this point, has had four episodes that we're going to take a look at.

But, before we do, let's talk about Spake. She is filling up her dance card after leaving FOX Sports following the cancellation of NASCAR RaceHub. In addition to NASCAR Inside the Playoffs and NASCAR Daily, Spake has another new job.

On Wednesday, Bally Sports Southeast announced that Spake will be joining their broadcasts this season as a host/reporter for Charlotte Hornets games. Think of this as a sideline reporter job, along with working on pre and post-game shows.

Spake worked with the Hornets franchise back in the mid-2000s, when they were known as the Charlotte Bobcats. The role is somewhat similar to a lot of her recent work with FOX Sports (remember that she would work as a sideline reporter on NFL games in addition to her NASCAR RaceHub duties).

Spake's new gig could make for a very busy 2025 season and even a busy fall. There is a non-zero chance that she'll have to miss an episode or two of NASCAR Inside the Playoffs due to her Hornets commitments.

That said, her dance card has enough free time that she could potentially be part of the new TV deal for the NASCAR Cup Series next year. Given the fact that she's currently hosting NASCAR Inside the Playoffs on TruTV, a spot on the Warner Bros. Discovery races that will air on TNT next year wouldn't be out of the question. Those races, which will air from late June to early August, would not conflict with her other work.

Getting back to NASCAR Daily, it was announced as a show that would "...[balance] breaking news with entertaining conversation. Spake will infuse her perspective while welcoming regular guest appearances from drivers, industry personalities and other contributors in episodes running approximately 10 minutes every weekday morning. The show will also introduce a rotation of recurring segments that put a spotlight on different aspects of NASCAR and the fan experience, including checking in on the latest social media chatter, and a weekly sports betting segment featuring analyst Erica Renee Davis."

Monday's episode served primarily as a race recap show. Spake reviewed the race and talked about some of the more notable things that happened. Then, she brought in Kim Coon to discuss some of the major stories (Kyle Larson's big wreck, big surprises, etc.).

It seems to me that the show is a little difficult with just Spake. As a natural interviewer for most of the last 20 years, she's better when she has someone to bounce things off. The first half of the show seemed awkward to me, but it got better once Coon showed up.

Tuesday saw Spake talking about the then-upcoming announcement of Kyle Larson going back to Indianapolis. We thought that it was a foregone conclusion, but the show posted five hours before the announcement.

Primarily, Tuesday will be social media day. This show will be focused on viral videos pertaining to NASCAR. Here, Spake interviewed Connor Bergquist, a Chase Briscoe fan whose fiance recorded him rooting Briscoe to victory in the Cook Out Southern 500, then posted it on social media.

Bergquist described Briscoe as being very down-to-earth when Spake interviewed him. From the brief amount of time that I've spent with him in the past (a sit-down interview in 2019, plus a brief chat at Daytona six months later), it's a fair way to describe him.

I thought that this was a good idea. Granted, the show will need to be a little careful about who they pick for these fan segments, but I thought that this worked really well.

Wednesday's show started off with coverage of the actual Larson announcement teased on Tuesday's show. It included quotes from Larson (since NASCAR had a reporter at the press conference) and notes about the occasion. This included (as noted in yesterday's newsletter) the fact that Rick Hendrick point-blank stated that the Coca-Cola 600 will be the focus.

Here, we got our first crew chief guest, Luke Lambert of Spire Motorsports. So far this season, Lambert has quietly built up what was previously one of the worst teams in the series into a decent squad. Lambert talks about the slow build with the No. 77 team and what Watkins Glen could look like.

In the case of Davis, a gambling expert for FOX Sports, her first appearance on the show was today. I'll state upfront that I am not a gambling man. I don't do daily fantasy and I'm extremely stingy with my money. I'm not going to spend it betting on sports.

That said, a number of you find it interesting. Davis clearly knows her stuff and it's great to have that knowledge. It also appears that she is an educator at heart, which I'm here for. Spake will likely spend Thursdays for the remainder of the season learning about gambling (she admitted that she is something of a greenhorn on the show).

It's not every day that the term "vig" comes into play when discussing NASCAR. I had never heard of it until I read Artie Lange's first book, Too Fat To Fish, where he spent a fair amount of time talking about illegal sports bets that he made in the 1990s. And how he apparently swindled a bookie called Bobo by betting on daytime NHL games that had already occurred.

There was also discussion about the runoff changes at Watkins Glen. A clip of Austin CIndric talking about how it will change the race. I'm excited, since I'll be there for Frontstretch this weekend (I'm leaving for my hotel later today).

Overall, I think the show has potential. I think I'd want to give Spake a co-host, though. The show just seems to work better when she has someone to talk to as compared to just talking to herself in her rumpus room.

Who that co-host would be really doesn't matter as long as they have a decent knowledge of the sport. I just want Spake to have someone to bounce things off of. This show is at its best when that is the case.

There haven't been any live driver interviews on the show to this point. I hope they can get some more going forward. The early morning slot might make that hard, though.

Despite the 10 a.m. ET air time, this show is not live. Davis lives in California, so she had to be up before 6 a.m. PT to do her appearance on today's show. Getting anyone outside of the Eastern time zone other than Davis will likely be tough going forward.

Can this show be a replacement for NASCAR RaceHub? No. 

The early runtime by itself would likely prevent that. However, with time, I think that it could settle into a niche. It would be a place to get some insight on the sport from knowledgeable individuals in small bites. That'll work for some fans. For me, I'd want more.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of FOX Sports via the Internet Archive.