Josh and Justin open with a season-retrospective question — knowing what they know now, what would they have done differently? The answers: Reddick on everything, ditch Zilisch, and maybe think twice about Briscoe. From there, they recap a snooze-fest at Martinsville where Chase Elliott wins via pit strategy, Denny Hamlin dominates and finishes second (after walling Blaney), and Tyler Reddick posts his worst finish of the season — a P15 — while somehow still holding the top fantasy driver spot at a whopping 1.7 average points per race. The guys crown Elliott the Fantasy Winner and split the Fantasy Loser between Bubba Wallace (two straight weeks in the 30s, dropping from 2nd to 12th best fantasy driver) and Ty Dillon, who brings home dead last — with a fun reveal that the other Ty Dillon owner, Team Piston Cup, is actually sitting in the playoffs at 87th. The standings see a first-time shakeup at the top as rookie Rit Racing claims first place, while former leaders 2Z Designs and JLAS Racing tumble to 5th and 6th. The track set a new Martinsville record with a 49-point average — nearly the all-time low at any track. Swap talk highlights 17 more this week (83 total, closing in on all of last season), including two teams making the puzzling decision to drop Chase Elliott for Reddick and Blaney. Best swap of the season holds at Bowman-to-Gibbs (+85 points, worth 179 standings spots). Looking ahead to Bristol after the bye week, Norton takes Christopher Bell with the pit box advantage and Josh counters with Denny Hamlin. Series picks are now tied 4-4. They close with a PSA: starting April 20th, recording moves to Tuesdays because golf league.

Josh and Justin recap a solid-but-not-spectacular Darlington race — they compare it to a "6 or 7 out of 10" and debate whether consistent good racing is better than the boom-bust cycle of duds and classics. On the fantasy side, Brad Keselowski steals the show as the clear Fantasy Winner, with two stage wins and a P2 finish pushing him to 4th in the driver standings — all with a broken femur. Tyler Reddick wins for the fourth time and is somehow sitting at negative fantasy points on the season through six races. Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace are the Fantasy Losers, with Logano raising real concerns about his speed on ovals. The top of the standings remains a two-team arms race between 2Z Designs and JLAS Racing, who have swapped first and second three weeks running. The Bowman/Zilich swap exodus continues — 25 swaps this week alone, bringing the two-week total to 47, already half of last year's entire season volume. The bottom of the league gets a hard look at Fast and Flawless, sitting dead last with Larson, Logano, Bowman, and Kyle Busch. Josh closes with a shoutout to listener Tanner Crosley (Lap Dancers), who demanded his swap get called out on air. Looking ahead to Martinsville, Justin grabs Ryan Blaney with the pit box advantage, and Josh counters with Brad K. Series picks stand 4-3 in Josh's favor.

Denny Hamlin put on a masterclass at Las Vegas, and fantasy teams with him are finally feeling it. Josh and Norton are back to break down a race that rewarded the patient and punished the impatient — five weeks in, the cream is officially rising to the top.

The guys dig into a top 10 that got completely reshuffled, with four new teams crashing the party — including Tool Hangers and K-Stud making their top 5 debuts on the strength of the Hamlin-Byron-Elliott trio. Meanwhile, the teams holding onto struggling low-value drivers like Shane Van Gisbergen (dead last, 36 fantasy points) are now staring at some tough decisions.

Swap mania has officially hit the league. 22 swaps in a single week — more than half the season's total — driven largely by Alex Bowman's vertigo situation. Josh also makes his own swap live on air (Zilisch for Byron), and Norton barely keeps a straight face when he realizes the "listener question" was coming from his co-host all along.

Plus: RFK Racing is quietly becoming a fantasy powerhouse, Bubba Wallace is the most underrated player in the game at only 23 ownership teams, Brad Keselowski continues his quietly impressive top-10 streak, and the Connor Zilisch reality check is getting harder to ignore. Josh leads the season picks challenge 4-2, and both hosts make their calls for Darlington — a race the drivers are already calling a potential tire-shredding nightmare.

atopthepitbox.com | #ATPB #NASCAR

Josh and Justin break down a genuinely great race at Phoenix — tire wear drama, strategic gambles, comers and goers — and all of it hit the fantasy standings like a wrecking ball. Ryan Blaney's -9 fantasy score is the best of the 2026 season so far, and the teams that had him shot up the charts while the teams that didn't tumbled. The guys dig into exactly who rose, who fell, and who is quietly becoming a major problem on rosters across the league.

Josh and Norton break down the first road course of the NASCAR season at COTA, where Tyler Reddick scores his third straight win, holding off SVG and Christopher Bell in a surprisingly dominant performance from Reddick.They discuss the state of road courses in NASCAR, driver fatigue issues, and several cooling suit failures that impacted the field.

On the fantasy side, Ty Gibbs, Michael McDowell, and Reddick headline the winners, while Chase Briscoe and Alex Bowman anchor the losers. The new top 10 features a big shakeup, including 2Z Designs jumping from outside the top 100 to the overall points lead. Major movers include Scooby Doobies (+214) and Refuse to Lose (–194).

The hosts also analyze early-season swaps, surprising overperformers like Ty Dillon, and struggling premium picks. Looking ahead to Phoenix, they outline key track stats, highlight drivers poised for strong runs (Bell, Larson, Blaney), and make their picks: Justin takes Kyle Larson, while Josh selects Ryan Blaney.

Josh and Norton break down a massive leaderboard shift following the high-speed action at Echo Park Speedway, where the gap between the top contenders and the rest of the field is beginning to widen. They analyze how standout performances from drivers like Tyler Reddick are reshaping the standings, while high-priced favorites like Kyle Larson continue to struggle, leaving many managers searching for answers. They review the Top 10 and update the top and bottom fantasy drivers. They also preview the race at COTA and make their picks.

Josh and Norton break down the massive growth of the Atop the Pit Box Fantasy

NASCAR League, including a record 403 entries and 63 rookies joining for 2026. They dive into roster trends-like Kyle Larson's league-leading ownership and Ryan Preece's surge as the most popular mid-tier pick-before recapping Daytona, highlighting fantasy winners and losers, and previewing next week's race at Echo Park Speedway. The episode also covers website updates, league payouts, and listener questions to kick off the season.

These guys put out consistently great content, and if you’re a short‑track fan—or just a racing fan in general—they’re absolutely worth following. Check out everything they’re doing:

DeezLugNutz.com

@deezlugnutz

https://www.facebook.com/DeezLugNutzPod/

And make sure to give their podcast a listen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deez-lug-nutz/id1635269621