We Break Down The Real Cost Of A Car Payment

Affordability And Auto Loan Shock

Mike Marrs 0:03

Morning from the Texas Gulf Coast. It's in wheel time. I'd like to thank you for joining us today. And our first guest today is going to be Chip Lupo from Wallet Hub. And we're going to be talking about something that affects every driver out there. So stand by, hang with us. Morning, sir.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Morning, Michael. How are you?

Mike Marrs 0:22

I'm doing well, doing well. Things uh I got this uh information from Wallet Hub, and and it's affordability is the best word of the day. That's all you hear on TV and everything. Everybody's talking about affordability and everything. Gas prices fluctuate daily, bread prices fluctuate, things like that. But car notes don't fluctuate quite so much. And everybody, almost everybody out there that's got a car note knows that. So I thought it was real interesting to see some of the statistics you have on the average auto loan, particularly after the Fed just bumped up the interest rates.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Right. Now, with that with that hike in interest rate, that's going to make it even harder for um people of um marginal credit to secure auto loans, and if they do, of getting a favorable interest rate. And you're right, because um things like gasoline and um bread prices, egg prices, milk prices, you can kind of ride those up and down. But auto loans are pretty much fixed for the most part, but there are things that you can do on the front end individually from a personal finance point to kind of mitigate that because interest rates are going to be high and they're gonna be hovering high for a while. But you there are things you can do to kind of mitigate that.

Texas Interest Rates In Context

Mike Marrs 1:43

So, like I think in some of the information, uh the statistics that I got was Texas is at number 27 overall rank as far as interest rates go. So I assume that that means they're kind of high.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Yes, now in Texas, the average interest rate on a on a car loan is 11 and a quarter percent, which is way high. It's like 16 types in the country. Now, to put that into perspective, the average interest rate on loans for new cars nationally is about 8% through commercial banks and about 6% with other finance companies like credit unions. So that's something to be concerned. But um, now again, there's a number of reasons for that. Um, part of the reason is that um Texans carry a very high average auto loan debt balance of a little over $23,000 with an average monthly car payment of $568. Now, you probably could conclude from that with Texas, people, it's a big state, it's a well-traveled state, people are gonna be buying big trucks, big SUVs, which sort of push that average price up. And that's the price with a high interest rate tacked on, it's gonna be a very high car payment. And a lot of folks in a lot of areas of Texas that are low-income areas, particularly along the southern border, sometimes those car notes can be uh can be tough to maintain those payments every month.

Mike Marrs 3:02

Right,

Insurance And Taxes Change The Math

Mike Marrs 3:03

and then particularly when you factor in insurance. Like uh I recently learned that there's another county, my kid, the grandkids going off to school. Fine, I was checking on what their insurance was going to do. Their insurance was actually going to go down in another county where the school was because the distance it was from interstate 10.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Right, and I think we talked about that a few several weeks ago about the car insurance and how it can differ not only from state to state, but from municipality to municipality or county to county.

Mike Marrs 3:32

Yeah, right, and that has to factor in, although it doesn't really impact the exact car note, but if you got to have full coverage of the overall cost, the overall cost of the car, and people tend to tend to kind of um overlook that.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

And in some states also, there's a property tax levery on your car, uh, x percent of the car's value. So in some states, that's in it is here in South Carolina. I get a tax bill. In fact, mine came this this week for Oct, or at least for the month of October.

Mike Marrs 3:58

So so you pay a tax to own it?

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Yeah, just like just yeah, just like a property tax on your house. A vehicle has there's a property, a vehicle property tax every year. But fortunately, I have a 2016 G Patriot with a gazillion miles on it, so it's not and I live in a pretty low-rent, um, a low-tax county outside of Columbia, South Carolina. So it's it's reasonable, but still I'd rather not be paying any taxes at all on my own vehicle.

Mike Marrs 4:26

Well, it's really pretty out there, but I'm gonna stay right here and not have to deal

New Car Timing And Incentives

Mike Marrs 4:30

with that. So, so what are some of the things that that a person can do up front going, you know, you've decided you need a new car or a new UR car? Let's start with because the new cars, every once in a while you can catch some deals from the manufacturers, rebates, things like that.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

And particularly this time of year, too, as the as the 2027 start to roll out, the dealers are gonna be looking to get rid of some of that inventory. So you could get some really good deals on a new 2026 or even a new 2025 if they're on the lot.

Mike Marrs 4:59

But it okay, and in generally, I'm thinking those interest rates are going to be a little bit lower, at least the ones I've seen at the banks.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

They they they'll tend to be, yeah. But now again, you the the interest rate that you'll end up paying will depend on your credit history, your credit score, your income, your current debt levels. They'll figure all that into to um decide what your credit rate is, your your credit scores and what kind of rate you'll get. So the first thing you need to do is check all of that before you even begin to shop for a car.

unknown 5:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Also, you want you yeah, you want to do all of that and you want to make sure that you're you the preferred the preferred way to go is to be is to get pre-approved. Go to the dealer with the paperwork already in hand. This is the rate they're gonna give me. Let's start talking, let's start haggling over the price of the car.

Pre-Approval And Dealer Financing

Mike Marrs 5:49

Okay, so so let me stop you right there. So I go to my bank, credit union, whatever, and I say, I want to get pre-approved. They give me the interest rates, and they say, Okay, you can afford to buy this much of a car. You can we'll loan you this much money, so you can, with your down payment, you can do this. Is there any advantage in talking to a dealership about their financing? Because they always want to put you through the finance office.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Well, dealer interest rates tend to be a little bit higher because they start adding cost in into the interest rate. Now you can negotiate that maybe down to what you would have originally gotten through through a traditional lender. So it would save you a few steps if you particularly if you want to um if you want to get in and out of there quickly, because I don't know if you've purchased a new car recently, but it's almost like closing on a house nowadays. The amount of time you spend in a dealership from the time you walk in to the time you walk out with your new vehicle.

Mike Marrs 6:39

Right. Uh yeah, we don't even want to go there right now. So okay, so uh let's talk about used cars. Is

Used Cars And High-Risk Lots

Mike Marrs 6:48

would the process be significantly different for a pre-owned?

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Uh not significantly different different. You would probably you could probably um be able to um negotiate a somewhat lower interest rate. And with that, you would expect to um well the first one we talk about used cars, you want to make sure that it's a quality used car and one that's maybe at least um five years old five years old or newer, because most um most lenders won't um finance you for anything less than five years. Then you're talking if you're looking for something older, then you're then maybe you're talking about a dealership or even some of these less than savory used car lots that will charge you some exorbitant interest rates. And that's usually a last resort for people who just simply cannot get a car loan anywhere. So if you see a dealership or one of these um used car lots on the side of the road that says um no credit check, or you know, we take all types of credit, that might be a good thing on the surface, but you can expect to pay a very, very high interest rate on that.

Mike Marrs 7:54

You're gonna you're gonna pay for it one way or the other.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Absolutely.

Mike Marrs 7:58

Okay, all right, all right. So, okay, so I I've gotten and looked at my credit rating and I've done what I can to get it up as high as I I think I can. Uh, got the errors out of my credit reports and things like that that might hurt me. And and uh I go get pre-approved at my bank because that's where I do business. But is there besides the dealer, is there some other should I shop banks maybe?

SPEAKER_02 8:23

Yes, definitely, absolutely shop. Yeah, now you might have an advantage at your traditional bank if you're a long-standing customer and you might be able to get some sort of benefit from being a long established customer, but always shop around, particularly with credit unions, which tend to offer more favorable rates. But yeah, don't feel obligated to just go straight to your trad to your regular bank. Always shop around because banks are always competing for business and they have different and you know, varying interest rates and and other types of incentives to in order to take you on as a customer.

Mike Marrs 8:55

Okay, okay. And then from there, uh, I know that like my credit union, if I do it a certain way, if I have uh have it deducted automatically out of my accounts every month instead of making a payment. I just tell them I set it up, you automatically take it out of my account every month. It'll give me a little bit of a uh interest, a quarter of a point. A rebate on interest rate, something right, something like that to that'll help bring it down a little bit. Then from there, I guess do you just shop deals? I mean, is it for interest rates in particular?

SPEAKER_02 9:33

Yeah, you definitely want to shop for deals for interest

Online Retailers And Convenience Costs

SPEAKER_02 9:36

rates for sure.

Mike Marrs 9:36

Well, I guess what I'm wondering about is online. A lot of people are doing their car shopping online, which I don't particularly understand. I like to go kick the tires personally, but if they're if they're doing that shopping, uh, I know that there's several of them I've hit been hit approached with through the emails, you know, uh, we'll finance your new car from a company I never even heard of.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Now you're talking about like online car retail car retailers like Carvana and those things.

Mike Marrs 10:02

No, well, all right, let's go there first. Usually that's probably a better question than what I was fixing to ask. But somebody like Carvana, I mean, it wouldn't that be just about like a dealer, like a new car dealer?

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Yeah, exactly. And and they would let you do all that online, but again, through them, you're in you're probably gonna bang a little bit higher interest rate because well, primarily for the convenience and any other fees that it would tack on. But you would also have the option to go to show them that you're pre-approved for a loan, also, so you can skip that. But like you, I'd like I prefer to go actually kick the tires and drive the thing around beforehand. So yeah, it's like dating profiles. The car you see online is not always what it looks like when you actually see the vehicle on the lot.

Mike Marrs 10:44

So well, yeah, okay, that's fair enough. Yeah, that's that's definitely true. So uh, are there any other tips that that a person I mean, if if I was really shopping it, I mean, because sometimes we may look at it and say, Well, I want this car, I want this car, and I'm willing to pay the extra two or three percent because I don't worry about it because they'll finance it out for 50,000 years, and uh and I don't think about the repercussions of going out for truly seven-year financing on it. But if I take it, I understand you know I'm just gonna take it. But if I really wanted to try and minimize uh that impact, are there any other tips that I could

Shorter Terms Beat Being Underwater

Mike Marrs 11:26

use?

SPEAKER_02 11:26

Yeah, definitely opt for a shorter loan term. Yeah, 72 and 84 month terms are yes, you'll get a long your payment, your net payment will be smaller, but you're gonna be paying, I think, for seven or eight years. And what happens, cars are not houses, they don't appreciate at all in value. And about maybe six or maybe six years into this, you'll realize that this vehicle is probably is worth less than what you owe on it, you know, which they call being underwater. So, but um offer maybe a 36 or 48 month, but you'll get a lower interest rate by doing that, and your payments will be a little bit higher, but you want to make sure that that's an amount you can manage. But overall, you would pay significantly less in interest by just making the higher payment for shorter term rather than the short, short, smaller payment over a longer period of time.

Mike Marrs 12:17

So you'd have to look at it and say, you know, the real dollars here. Um I'm gonna shorten my payment. I got to pay more because shorter time frame, but my interest rate comes down, so my overall cost at the end of the period that I get it paid for is less because of the lower interest rate.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Right now, what you can do, and the dealers usually reluctant to do this, but look at the amateur amateurization schedule that will show you how much you're paying, and then you look at the bottom line, you say, Well, this $27,000 car, and I'm just throwing numbers at random here. Sure, at the end of this seven-year term, you're gonna be paying $27,000 in interest. So if you if more people broke it down like that, and we have auto loan calculators on Wallet Hub where you can log on and type in all this, and it will tell you how long for how many months, how much your payment will be. And you can vary the numbers to if you want to have a flat minimum payment, how long will it take to pay it off and how much you'll be paying in interest. But I do think that if more people look at it in those terms at the end of the term, how much you're paying in interest, I think more people would opt for a shorter, for a shorter loan period.

Mike Marrs 13:25

And that's wallethub.com. I'm gonna throw that out there where everybody's thinking about it. Okay, yeah, because um that's that's one of the things that notoriously, I'm not gonna say notoriously, for a while, all the dealers, advertisers, and you walk out there on the car lot. Well, what do you want your car note to be? And they can juggle numbers around where if you can afford $500, they'll put you into a car for $500 a month. And and and regardless of that, it may be, like you say, in a number of years, you're upside down in it, and uh you're still paying for it. You can't sell it with unless you do some serious, put some more money down, basically refinance it or something.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Right, and plus any any money you might have to put in repairs, maybe to repair a couple of scratches and dings, and maybe take care of you know, new tires and maybe up, you know, revitalize the air conditioner and those types of things. So you'll be putting money in it to make it more roadworthy, even though the car is not as worth as much. But if you're gonna go that route, if you feel like you want to trade it, if you feel like the car loan is too expensive and you consider trade, do it early on in the term, maybe one or two years in the term while the car still has some value because the longer you wait, the less value that car is gonna have.

Mike Marrs 14:40

Yes.

Amortization Schedules And Loan Calculators

Mike Marrs 14:41

And before we run out of time, just a real quick story. I know a young lady got a divorce, found out that her husband had bought Ford Explorer several years ago. Brand new Ford Explorer Sport, really nice car, financed it zero down, zero down, finance this car. You know, 18 months in, they're getting a divorce, and he gives her the car. And she thinks, Great, I got a big car, nice car, take the kids every place. And she was so upside down in that car by the time that she realized what was going on, and uh it took her forever to pay it down enough, and she ended up did a couple of trades, okay, where the dealer was willing to say, okay, you're upside down, I can add this to the new car. And and it took her probably three car trades in 10 years before she was no longer upside down, and it's just you get in that mess and it can be terrible.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Right now, the thing about zero percent deals, those can be a good thing, but they're usually for shorter term, so you're probably gonna have a pretty hefty monthly payment at that zero. But what happens if you if you still owe a balance at the end of that um 36 months, that zero percent interest rate goes away. Yes, and then whatever just and then the standard interest rate will apply, so that's gonna up your payment even more. And zero percent APRs are generally an okay deal if you're not picky about what kind of car you have because they're not your Ford Explorers, or that's it's rare that you would get a zero percent.

Mike Marrs 16:07

You see, your more popular vehicles are it wasn't zero percent interest, it was zero percent down. He didn't any down on that car, okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Zero percent down.

Mike Marrs 16:16

But it just it made her so far upside down in that car, it was terrible.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Gotcha. Okay,

Down Payments And When To Refinance

SPEAKER_02 16:21

yeah. Now that's another route to go too, because you can also like like with a home, consider doing 20% or more. The higher your down payment, the more you're able to put down the lower interest rate, because that shows the lender that you're not as much of a credit risk and you have a smaller balance to work with. So they'll they'll the trade-off will be a smaller interest role. So think about the 20% rule just as if you were purchasing a house.

Mike Marrs 16:44

Okay, okay, just real quick, speaking of if looking at it like purchasing a house, what about refinancing? So you so you've got the car for a couple of years, interest rates drop. Would you they need to drop a point or two points maybe before you could really you should really consider it?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Well, you could go that way. You yeah, you can kind of you can kind of keep an eye on what the Fed is doing and how the interest is going, but also your own situation, if your credit score jumps several points during the midst of your um car loan payment, go back to the bank and refinance. You don't have to wait on any jumps in the interest rate. You it can be an individual decision. If you if you receive a windfall, like a bonus or something like that, or if you're or if you've paid off all your other debts, if your income, if your debt level drops, yeah, go back and refinance them. But always, but again, that all come back reviewing your credit report. So you know, review your credit report in like six months. And if you see a 30 or 40 percent jump in your credit score, okay, this might be a good time to refinance.

Mike Marrs 17:43

The worst they can do is say no.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Oh, exactly. But you still have the you still have the loan at the current interest rate. But yeah, but it never hurts to ask, but you want to make sure before you do anything, make sure that you check your credit credit score because you don't want to walk in there and find out your credit score dropped 50 points.

Mike Marrs 17:59

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we'll refinance you at a higher rate. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

WalletHub Tools And Final Takeaways

Mike Marrs 18:05

all right, all right. Well, Chip, we appreciate the time, appreciate the information. Uh coming up this, like you say, this time of year. A lot of people are going to be looking. Go to wallethub.com, find all the calculators, and a lot of information that'll help you make these kind of decisions.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Thank you, Mike. Appreciate it as always.

Mike Marrs 18:23

All right, sir. We appreciate it. Thanks again to Chip Lupo with wallethub.com. Got lots of information for you out there regarding new cars, buying new cars, financing, insurance, a lot of things like that. And they got calculators out there. So it's wallethub.com to get your information before you go car shopping.

Veterans Day Car Event Spotlight

SPEAKER_00 18:45

It's that time again. Fire up those engines. Heroes and hot rods is rolling into Bastro for Veterans Day weekend. Friday night, cruise downtown. Saturday, 400 of the coolest rides in Texas take over Main Street. Enjoy local food and shopping and help support local charities and scholarships. Presented by Craig's Jewelry and over 200 local sponsors. November 13th and 14th, downtown Basco. Don't miss it.

Show Updates And What’s Next

Mike Marrs 19:16

Cars, trucks, SUVs, motorsports, road trips, and the people who make the automotive world interesting. In wheel time is changing and we're expanding. We're bringing you more automotive stories, more interviews, more destinations, and more of what you may have missed. From Texas to the automotive world beyond, in wheel time is your place for automotive talk without the politics or the nonsense. Join us for the next generation of In Wheel Time Cars, trucks, and the people who love them.

This Week In Automotive History

Mike Marrs 19:45

Now let's take a look at what's coming up this week in automotive history. As we look at some of the people, the machines, and the milestones that helped shape the automotive world, including an unusual General Motors acquisition and some of the championship-winning race cars. October the 25th, 1917, the Dodge brothers moved into full-scale truck production, building on the reputation for rugged engineering that they had established with their passenger cars. Dodge vehicles were already getting attention for the reliability, and the trucks represented an opportunity to get into the commercial business and military transportation needs. As America's involvement in World War I increased demand for dependable vehicles, the truck business became an important part of the company's future. More than a century later, the Dodge brothers' early commitment to utility vehicles remains part of the heritage behind today's RAM trucks. General Motors continued its early expansion on October 26, 1909, with the acquisition of Carter Car. Now, this was an unusual automobile manufacturer that was known for its friction drive transmission. Instead of using conventional gears, Carter Carr used a system of friction wheels to vary the speed, offering drivers a different approach to operating an automobile. CBT anyone? GM founder William Durant reportedly believed the technology had considerable potential. Unfortunately, the friction drive never became an automotive standard, and the Carter car eventually disappeared. But it remains one of the fascinating reminders of the experimental era when automakers were still searching for the best way to build and operate cars. On October the 27th, 1996, Bobby Hamilton earned his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory at Phoenix International Raceway, driving the famous number 43 STP Pontiac for the Petty Enterprises. The victory was especially meaningful because the iconic Petty Car had gone years without a trip to Victory Lane. Hamilton, a Tennessee short track racer who worked his way into NASCAR stock division, proved that determination and experience could still produce results against the sport's biggest teams. The win helped restore pride to petty enterprises and became one of the memorable underdog victories of the 1990s. Then on October, 28th, 1989, Stuart Crow captured victory at the Bosch VW Super V race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Now, Formula V is an important developmental category for aspiring professional drivers. Combines Volkswagen-based engines with lightweight open-wheel race cars. Now, this gives young competitors experience with sophisticated racing machinery while providing spectators with some close competition. Street circuits added another challenge, demanding precision around concrete barriers and unforgiving corners. Although Formula Super V eventually disappeared, its contribution to American open-wheel racing remains significant, and St. Petersburg continues to be associated with major motor sports events today. October the 29th, 2000, marked an important milestone in professional drag racing when Angele Sealing, who we interviewed recently as Angele Sampei, became the first woman to capture an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship. She was competing aboard a high-performance drag racing motorcycle. She demonstrated the precision, reaction time, and the mechanical understanding necessary to succeed at the sport at the highest level. The championship helped establish her among drag racing's elite competitors and represented another breakthrough for women in motorsport. Drivers Tony Mags and David Piper brought a Ferrari 250 LM to victory in a nine-hour endurance race in South Africa. The Ferrari 250 LM was developed as a mid-engine competition car, combined the powerful V-12 performance with a lightweight racing chassis. Endurance racing demanded more than outright speed, requiring careful management of brakes, tires, fuel, and mechanical reliability. Now the victory added another chapter to Ferrari's growing international racing reputation. And today, surviving examples of the 250 LM rank among the most celebrated and valuable competition Ferraris ever produced. And that's a look at our automotive history the week ahead, right here on In Wheel Time.

Weekend Car Shows And Local Events

Mike Marrs 24:20

Cars, people, and places. Now, if you're looking for some place to show off your ride this weekend, we're going to take a quick look at the weekend update for October the 24th, 2026. Coming up, we're going to start with Big Red's Ride Classic and Antique Car Show. Now, this is at the Spindletop Boomtown Museum over in Baumont. 10-2. This could be classic and antique cars roll into the Spindletop Boomtown Museum on the Lamar University campus. Spectator admission is free. $10 vehicle entry fee. Awards include Best in Show, People Choice, and Best Bikes. That's going on today. October the 24th, also, Big Boys Toys 13th Annual Corvette Show. This is out at Twin Peaks in Beaumont from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Big Boys Toys Corvette Club brings its annual show to Beaumont. Registration runs 9 to 11. Trophies Club Participation Award, and all proceeds go to benefit the Garth House in Beaumont. Also, this weekend, over in Houston, it's the Slammed Enough Texas Car Show at the NRG Center, 3 to 8 p.m. So you've got plenty of time to hit some of the local shows. Run over to Houston to the NRG Center where you're going to find custom imports, lowered vehicles, and creative automotive bills that take center stage at Slamed Enough, Texas. The event scheduled for Haul E at the NRG Center with an afternoon and evening showcase. That's a quick look at what's happening this weekend around the area. A little bit later, we're going to hit what's going on a little bit further down the road, a little bit later in the calendar. And with that, we're going to wrap up this episode of In Wheel Time. Thanks for joining us today. Be sure and join us Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. Central. Well,

Race Card And Where To Watch

Mike Marrs 26:02

I think it's time to look down the track and see what's coming up on the In Wheel Time Race Card, sponsored by the Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge. You can find them on Facebook. Great place to go. Drag racing with a bunch of friends, bracket racing, car clubs. It's all there. Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge. This week on our race card. We're not going too far. This is what's happening this weekend, October the 24th, 25. Formula One, United States Grand Prix. Circuit of the Americans up in Austin, Texas. It's the big event weekend at Coda. So you got a lot of qualifying going on today, Saturday with the 56 lap Grand Prix scheduled for Sunday, 3 p.m. A lot of things going on there. Then we're going to go down to the Battle of the Full Size. Now this is at Houston Motorsports Park. Now, this is where you're going to find full throttle promotions. They're bringing their full-size pickup truck shootouts to Houston Motorsports Park. Program includes 7.5 and 6.0 truck classes. Advertised payouts at 7,000 and 3,000, respectively. 3 p.m. So you got a late afternoon start. You can get things done around the house and still head out. Also, October the 24th, today, it's the fan festival at Rocket Raceway Park in Paris, Texas. Got lots of points. Racing continues with the Southern Winged Modified stock cars, factory cars, and additional divisions. Gates open at 4 p.m. Also today, Touring Outlaw Modified Series Nationals. This is the RPM Speedway in Crandall, Texas. Now that it brings the modified racing to the RPM Speedway with the event listed for 7 p.m. Saturday. Again, lots of time to go out, get a few things done, and make it to the track. That's all that's going on this weekend. So we're going to look a little further down the calendar in case you need a little more time to make some plans. October 30, 31, 105 Speedway up in Cleveland. Now this is the Halloween weekend, so it's got lots of dirt racing going on. Sixth annual Halloween Havoc. Friday and Saturday racing scheduled and uh give fans in the greater Houston and Southeast Texas region a chance to enjoy some short track competition. Friday starts 8 p.m. Saturday's listed to start at 7 p.m. Then over in Louisiana, Battle Rouge Raceway at Baker, Louisiana is the Louisiana State Championship. Three days of championship racing scheduled at this raceway. The program includes dirt late models, street stocks, factory stocks, limited modified, and some additional classes. This is a 3.8 mile dirt oval, so you've got plenty of opportunities to come out and see the competition for the state championship. November 5 to 8, Racing America at Coda, Circuit of the Americas. Road racing returns to Austin with Trans Am Competition and the Sports Car Vintage Racing Association season finale. Now, this is the vintage race cars from a lot of different eras. They're going to share the weekend with a modern road racing machinery. So it's a great opportunity for fans to enjoy seeing historic automobiles doing what they were built to do, and that's race. November the 6th to 8th and NASCAR Championship Weekend. If you're ready for a drive, want to make a road trip, Homestead Miami Speedway. And this is in Homestead, Florida, the 2026 NASCAR National Series Championship is going to be decided at that Homestead Miami Speedway. Truck series runs on Friday. The O'Reilly Auto Parts series runs on Saturday. And the Cup Championship race is on Sunday, November the 8th. So it's a little further away, but it's a lot of opportunity to go see some serious racing on this week's racing card. This week on the In Wheel Time Race Card. And thank you again to the Texas Missile Card Club Challenge for sponsoring this segment of our program.

Final Wrap And Listening Options

Mike Marrs 29:46

And with that, we're going to wrap up this episode of In Wheel Time. Thanks for joining us today. Be sure and join us Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. Central, streaming on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and our website, inwheeltime.com. And of course, we understand life gets in the way. A lot of things happen on Saturday mornings. So you can always find us and keep up with things on our podcast. You can go to Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Sirius XM Podcast, or our website, in Wheeltimepodcast.com. I'm Michael Mars. Thanks for riding with In Wheel Time.