And I was reeling from the new Dave Grohl vs. Taylor Swift feud!

Shortly after Christopher Bell got done whipping the field in the wet on Sunday, The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi reported some changes for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

In an episode of "The Teardown" podcast, Bianchi indicated that Atlanta, Watkins Glen and Homestead-Miami are out of next year's playoffs and Gateway, Darlington and New Hampshire are in.

OK. Darlington needs to be in. If the Roval is still a thing, Watkins Glen probably needs to be out and as long as Talladega is still in, Atlanta can probably be excused as well.

But Homestead?

Looks like Miami and the NASCAR championship race may never, ever get back together.

The reasoning is reportedly that in the post-Fontana era, NASCAR needs another warm-weather date early in the season and Homestead fits the bill.

So does the Daytona road course. Or about a half dozen other options.

But Homestead-Miami is about as good an embodiment of Cup Series racing as any track we have. There's multiple grooves, the surface changes dramatically over the course of a race and, oh yeah, it produces awesome racing.

Instead, if Bianchi's report comes to fruition, we get Gateway and New Hampshire, two shorter flat tracks where passing is difficult to say the least.

Maybe that changes over time, but my instinct is that Homestead's place as one of the best race tracks in the world for stock cars won't change. And we should be there when it matters most.

Let's go through the gears:

Is it time Kyle Larson got rough with Denny Hamlin? (First gear)

Is it time Kyle Larson got aggressive with Denny Hamlin? His spotter Tyler Monn thought so Sunday.

In a heated, NSFW exchange between the two, Larson tells Monn to, "Shut the (expletive) up". This after Monn suggests Hamlin races Larson aggressively because it's allowed to happen.

The two drivers have had their share of dustups, with Hamlin usually if not always coming out on the better end. On Sunday, it was minor contact, with Hamlin knocking Larson out of the groove with both drivers running in the top five.

Yet, fans on social media, along with Monn, were left wondering when enough will be enough for Larson.

Here's some of the reaction on Twitter:

Joe Gibbs Racing set to announce a new driver Tuesday ... We've got a guess! (Second gear)

It's a good thing Bell scored a pair of wins on the track this weekend, because he sure took an "L" in the media room.

While answering a question earlier in the week, Bell let it slip that "Chase" would be driving the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing car and followed it with a sheepish, guilty grin. And unless Chase Elliott has some big news, something joked about by Larson on Twitter, the Gibbs Racing Chase should be of the Briscoe variety.

Lo and behold, Joe Gibbs Racing announced a formal press conference on Tuesday to introduce the new driver of the 19.

We've got a guess. Thanks Chris!

NASCAR points standings update: Logano in, Bubba out. (Third gear)

The battle for regular-season points supremacy, and the 15 playoff points that come with it, reached a stalemate this week with Hendrick teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott deadlocked at 620 apiece.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the standings, Joey Logano leapfrogged Bubba Wallace for the final playoff spot despite crashing, aided largely by 17 stage points. Wallace is now 13 points below the cutline, in 17th place with eight regular-season events remaining.

Nashville Superspeedway trends (Fourth gear)

Last year's winner, Ross Chastain, also has the best average finish across the three Cup Series events at Nashville at 2.7. Kyle Larson is just behind at 3.3 and also has a victory, while in two starts in the Gen-7 car, Chase Elliott has a win and a pair of top fives.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR to shaft Homestead-Miami? Bell breaks Joe Gibbs Racing news