The Build Log
Updates from the shop, the engine program, the AI layer, and the partnerships desk — what we built, what broke, what we learned.
Oct 9, 2026
One meeting
The team had one meeting about the NASCAR Sundays T-shirt: the one where they decided to make it. Everything after that just happened, 76 minutes from the email to a working store.
Oct 2, 2026
We took our driver pages down
Grand National Today had a written profile for dozens of drivers. They weren't good enough, so they're gone until we can do one right.
Oct 2, 2026
Nobody finds us through the news
We checked what search shows strangers from Grand National Today. It wasn't one of our race stories. It was the track guides.
Sep 26, 2026
Could we make this show without AI?
How We Make the Show, No. 14. An honest ledger: what the machine does, what the people do.
Sep 25, 2026
Checking our own copy proved nothing
How We Make the Show, No. 13. A sync check is only as good as what it compares against.
Sep 24, 2026
The clip sounded worse than the show
How We Make the Show, No. 12. Raw camera audio, twelve decibels of noise, and the fix.
Sep 23, 2026
Every graphic was in the wrong font, and nobody could tell
How We Make the Show, No. 11. One broken font path, and the v08 standard that came out of it.
Sep 22, 2026
Recording day, by the numbers
How We Make the Show, No. 10. Twelve tracks, 8.5 gigabytes, 343 checks before anyone watches.
Sep 21, 2026
The rundown is a PDF the panel can actually use
How We Make the Show, No. 09. Built from the episode record, so it cannot drift from the site.
Sep 20, 2026
Episode 4 or Episode 5? Let the record count
How We Make the Show, No. 08. Why the site counted wrong, and what counts now.
Sep 18, 2026
One camera ran two percent slow
How We Make the Show, No. 07. Where nine overlaps came from, and the check that now stops the build.
Sep 17, 2026
Two shows in one week
How We Make the Show, No. 06. Truck Series launch week, by the numbers.
Sep 14, 2026
Our backups skipped the show for ten days
How We Make the Show, No. 05. The job and its watchdog shared one hand-typed list.
Sep 13, 2026
We rendered the graphics in a web browser
How We Make the Show, No. 04. No image model. Real photos, real numbers, a screenshot as the proof.
Sep 12, 2026
Forty files. Four manifests. One checksum each
How We Make the Show, No. 03. How a show package leaves the building.
Sep 11, 2026
Eight gates between the recording and the upload
How We Make the Show, No. 02. The production line, and what stops it.
Sep 10, 2026
The episode is a database row
How We Make the Show, No. 01. Rundown, documents, picks, people, packages: one record drives the page.
Sep 9, 2026
We Were Talking About a Driver. Where Was His Picture?
One note on the Jeremy Clements segment gave us a better way to look at the whole Episode 3 graphics package.
Sep 9, 2026
Making a Weekly Racing Show With AI
At Queen City Garage, the test is how much work we can move from a recording to editorial review before the next race.
Sep 8, 2026
What owning it gets you
Nothing Rented, No. 5. The data, the brand, the pages, and the one honest cost.
Sep 5, 2026
Paddock
Nothing Rented, No. 4. Our own RSVP system: one page, one form, one list.
Sep 4, 2026
Email first
Nothing Rented, No. 3. Two days after launch, NASCAR Sundays sent its own email.
Sep 3, 2026
What it would have cost to rent
Nothing Rented, No. 2. The cheapest paid plans for a website, an email list and RSVPs, priced. The money was never the reason.
Sep 2, 2026
The list is the audience
Nothing Rented, No. 1. A watch party that moves every week runs on one list. We stopped renting it.
Sep 1, 2026
Sold out at the Hall
In April we were a few tables at the Corner Pub in Charlotte. On Friday we filled the theater at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Aug 28, 2026
The show is not done when it publishes
Episode 1 of The Grand National Show went live Friday morning. The part worth writing about is what the four of us walked away holding.
Aug 28, 2026
The audience is the asset
Tonight NASCAR Sundays takes the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The room is the visible part. The list that fills it is the thing we actually built.
May 10, 2026
P7 to P8 at Florence. Saw Jesus in Three. Hemi Next.
Started seventh. Finished eighth. The chassis spoke. The Hemi listens next.
May 9, 2026
The Board
Three cars, one thousandth of a second.
May 9, 2026
Mother's Day at the Track
Saturday at Florence. Fifty laps, Limited Late Model. The chassis benchmark, in public.
May 8, 2026
Friday at Florence. Like Riding a Bike.
Practice day before Saturday's race. Faulk drove first. I followed.
May 8, 2026
Project Never Lift Is the First Project. Here Is What Comes After.
Project Never Lift is the first project. The engine is the first leg. Drivers come next. Crew after that. Built in Charlotte, in public, starting Saturday at Florence.
May 7, 2026
Queen City Garage Is Live. Project Never Lift Is the First Build.
Asked in 2022. Said on Kevin Harvick's microphone this week. Florence on May 9 is the answer. Watch us build.