'Nightcaps' is a daily column that catches you up on the biggest sports, news and culture stories you may have missed while pretending to do work at your desk. It runs Monday–Friday on OutKick.com.
Final Friday of August. Can you believe it? We had 22 FCS games last night, and a couple were wild. What a return for football!
We have Bill Belichick in Dublin tomorrow. We have NASCAR in Daytona tomorrow. We have a full weekend of Sox-Yanks in the Bronx.
And yes, the Fever play tonight, which means we are obligated to cover it. But after tonight? We officially start spending our weekends watching football.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Live it up, WNBA! Your time is short. Let's roll.
Welcome to a Friday Nightcaps — the one where NASCAR WAG Jordyn Mallory goes for a test ride and holds on for dear life in a Daytona tuneup.
What else? I've got a couple insane moments from the world of FCS last night, Al Michaels still pumping his fastball and Kirk's dog, once again, being shoved down our throats.
Did y'all miss Kirk's dog?! Well, he's back! This guy is amazing. It HAS to be a bit at this point, right?
OK, let's get this show on the road. I've gotta head on up to Daytona for a big weekend of automobile racing, and I'd prefer to not hit the terrible stretch of traffic in Melbourne and Cocoa Beach.
Grab you a $11 Busch Light from the Daytona International Speedway infield — Lord knows I will — and settle in for a Friday 'Cap!
I took that picture a few years ago — the first Daytona 500 after Trump got re-elected — and all folks could talk about was Anheuser-Busch changing it from "Domestic" to "American" beer. That was a big story that week in the infield.
They never came out and admitted it, but it was very clearly because Trump was back in office and everyone was trying to cover their tails from the wokeness of the last four years. Hilarious.
Anyway, this will be my 11th summer race at Daytona, dating back to my years at the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Eleven! Time flies. My first ever race I covered was way back in 2016 — a month after I got married.
Fun fact from that race: I didn't know what to do or where to go. Had no idea. More importantly, I had no idea where I was ALLOWED to go.
So, naturally, I walked straight into a TV interview after a big wreck in an area that was very clearly restricted to just drivers.
If you scroll to the 2:00:25 mark, you'll see young, dumb, ignorant Zach on his phone as Jimmie and Jamie argue about the wreck:
I nearly got kicked out of the track once the PR folks figured it out. What a rush! And now, here we are, 11 years later and ready for another race weekend.
Can't wait.
On that note, here's Ross Chastain's girlfriend, Jordyn Mallory, going for a ride to help get us ready for the green flag:
Chastain, for those who don't know, is a seventh-generation watermelon farmer from down here in Alva, Florida. His family owns Chastain Farms.
True story.
He's also a good little driver, and probably ain't the worst bet at +3500. You never know with Daytona. This place is quite literally the Wild Wild West.
Carson Hocevar at +1600, Denny Hamlin at +2000 and Austin Dillon at +2800 probably aren't bad sprinkles, either.
You're welcome! (Or not)
OK, let's keep this class moving and head on up to Cleveland, where Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit got in a little preseason work last night and managed to take a dig at Donald J. Trump in the process:
"That is Lake Erie. We think it is still called Lake Erie... We're not quite sure at this point. But we'll be by Lake something like Ontario or whatever it's going to be called by the time we get to Buffalo. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about... Read the news."
Al! Some folks are pissed at Michaels today for mocking Trump's shiny new acquisition (Lake America!), while others loved it.
LONGTIME REPUBLICAN AL MICHAELS TOOK A JAB AT TRUMP AND NFL FANS WENT SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL
Shockingly, the internet was divided on this one. That almost never happens! Al, by the way, has a long history of donating to the GOP. Not saying he's a Trump guy, but I'm certain he's not a Kamala guy.
OK, let's rapid-fire this Friday class into a big weekend. First up? You know what the internet is NOT divided over today?
Herbstreit's dog:
ENOUGH! I love Kirk Herbstreit. He's the best analyst in the game right now, in my opinion. Love him on GameDay. Love him on Thursday nights. Love him on Saturday nights.
But I'm so out on the dog shtick. I've been quietly out on it for years now, but, clearly, I don't need to be quiet anymore. Everyone is sick and tired of the dog. Peter is EVERYWHERE.
He's on the plane. On the field. In the booth. He's on the GameDay set every Saturday. It's too much.
Please, for the love of God, give Peter a rest this year. We're begging you.
Next? For those who didn't feel like subscribing to ESPN+ last night (all of you), we had an incredible first night of FCS football:
Amazing. What a start to the season! The best.
My question? What in the world is the point of ESPNU? There were 22 (!!!) FCS games last night, and the big-wigs in Bristol couldn't put one on ESPNU? What the heck is the point of that channel?! I was stunned.
Anyone else think it was odd?
OK, that's it for today — and this week. We haven't done enough baseball today, so here's umpire Laz Diaz accidentally trolling 70,000 fans in Atlanta last night.
See you Monday.
Was Al out of line? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.