Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Harrison Burton Describes Winning at Daytona!
Transcript
- 0:00Yeah, I've struggled in all the interviews I've done.
- 0:02Sorry we're so late. I've done like a million
- 0:04interviews. I've struggled to put it into
- 0:07words for me, just the circumstances.
- 0:10Obviously the way the last three years have gone has not been the
- 0:16way I wanted to represent myself, the way I wanted to
- 0:19represent this team. And then to have the kind of
- 0:23walls closing in on, you know, there's a definite end to the
- 0:28the my time to get to drive this historic car and then to find a
- 0:31way to win while those walls are kind of closing in to me is
- 0:36really, really special. It almost makes the last three
- 0:39years worth it. But I'd much rather one before
- 0:41now. But just it's just been so hard.
- 0:45And that's the way it should be. The Cup Series is really, really
- 0:47hard. But to get The Wood Brothers
- 0:50100th win, to get my very first cup win, it's just, it's really,
- 0:56really hard to put in words. I cried my whole cool down lap.
- 0:59I've never cried after a race win ever in my life.
- 1:01Never even thought about crying after a race win.
- 1:03But this one just means a lot. Awesome.
- 1:07And Jeremy, we'll, we'll go to you.
- 1:08Can you talk talk us through a little bit about tonight's race
- 1:11strategy, anything that you can share and how you guys got to
- 1:14this win? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know,
- 1:17you look at Speedway racing in general, there's always a little
- 1:19bit of a luck factor, right? You have to miss the Rex and you
- 1:22know, we've been on the bad end of that a lot.
- 1:24And then, you know, the odds are in your favor when when you're
- 1:27at that point. So tonight Harrison and and
- 1:30Jason Jarrett did a great job of of talking their way through the
- 1:33recs and, and missing everything.
- 1:35And, you know, even the last one that we missed, we had the
- 1:38discussion on the radio of, you know, did you flat spot the
- 1:41tires? I don't think I did, but I might
- 1:44have. But you know, we're in a spot
- 1:46where the only thing that mattered was winning.
- 1:48And so we took the chance of staying out and, and, you know,
- 1:52taking that gamble and I, I'm almost speechless of sitting
- 1:57here thinking that I'm sitting at a table with Eddie Wood and
- 1:59Lynnwood and John Wood and Bailey Wood and, and Harrison
- 2:03with the, you know, the 100th win.
- 2:06So I everything past that just doesn't really matter right now.
- 2:11And I'll open this one up to Len, Eddie or John.
- 2:14Can you guys tell us what this win here means to your
- 2:17organization? I think Lynn would save a lot of
- 2:21money. I would.
- 2:25I would say that's our 8th decade of winning NASCAR races.
- 2:29I think that's what I'm most proud of.
- 2:32Yeah. I mean it, it's it's just beyond
- 2:35words. Just like Harrison said it.
- 2:38These races are so hard to win. You know, it doesn't matter
- 2:42where they are, you know, whether it's short tracks, Rd.
- 2:45courses, speedways, whatever it is, it's they're hard to win.
- 2:49And you know, I, I don't really have the words to, I just want
- 2:54to thank everybody to it supported us.
- 2:57You know, you know, Harrison is done.
- 3:01He done such a great job tonight.
- 3:02I mean, missing those wrecks. It just seemed like, you know,
- 3:07they run a little while and then, you know, have another
- 3:09crash and he was so close. Just a matter of, I'm not even
- 3:14going to say an inch, that one wreck there, there really one
- 3:17seem like about like 1/4 of an inch.
- 3:19But it just means so much to our team to get that finally get
- 3:24that other win. And I'm looking forward to
- 3:26putting. We've got a wall in front of our
- 3:28museum that's got 21 winners. That's that's 21 different
- 3:34drivers. It's one races in our cars and I
- 3:37get to put him up next week, but yeah, probably tomorrow.
- 3:43It is tomorrow, yeah. It is tomorrow.
- 3:47Today. Today.
- 3:48Yeah, today. I'll just say like the the
- 3:52irony, we sat in these seats. I don't remember maybe 2016 when
- 4:02we didn't get a charter and we were talking about it and it was
- 4:06the lowest point of lows. And we had to do it.
- 4:10We had to come here, face the music and and say, I think we'll
- 4:14be OK and we are. You're going to make me cry and
- 4:21I don't cry. You know that.
- 4:25That's the that's the part that's just so surreal in this
- 4:29is sitting in the same seat and thinking that where we were and
- 4:35where we are now, you know, you go from the lowest of lowest to
- 4:40to just on top of it. And I don't know what else to
- 4:46say. I mean.
- 4:48Well, I mean, it's like John said, I mean, the people that
- 4:51supported us from for years, you know, Ford Motor Company and I
- 4:56mean the, there's so many things in, in, in, in you guys life,
- 5:03everybody's life, that one phone call or one place you happen to
- 5:08be at a certain time. You know, timing is everything
- 5:12they say. But you know, there was a phone
- 5:15call from Edsel Ford back in 2008 and we were really
- 5:21struggling. And he said, I'm going to have
- 5:24a, a gentleman call you tomorrow that's going to help you.
- 5:28And that man's name is Jim Farley, who is now the CEO of
- 5:31Ford Motor Company. So that's how far back things
- 5:35go. You know, our family has raised
- 5:38Ford Motor Company products since the beginning, 1950.
- 5:42And I think that's one of the most, most things I'm really,
- 5:46really, really proud of. And I'm proud of this young man
- 5:48right here. Well, congratulations to all of
- 5:52you. We'll go ahead and open up for
- 5:53questions. If you have one, please raise
- 5:54your hand and we will get a mic over to you.
- 5:56We'll start down here with Zach and Cameron and Bob, and we'll
- 6:00keep going from there. Zachsterniolonascar.com
- 6:03Congratulations to all of you. Eddie, I'll start with you and
- 6:07maybe for John as well, but what what do you see from Harrison
- 6:11behind the scenes that the general public is oblivious to
- 6:16the the, the work and effort that he puts in that has led to
- 6:20this moment? Yeah, I mean, I know all, you
- 6:24know Harrison, but Harrison's the type kid.
- 6:27When you see him, you want to hug him.
- 6:30He's like, he's just a good kid. And you know, he's, he's like
- 6:34the rest of us, You know, he's been beat up lately.
- 6:37And for things to turn around like this, you know, and he did
- 6:43a great job tonight. I mean that last restart, the
- 6:48outrun Kyle Busch. Yeah, he earned this one.
- 6:50I don't. Know whether you know that or
- 6:51not. Kyle.
- 6:53Busch And that's that's a day's work right there because you
- 6:57know, he's a two time champion. I said something a while ago
- 7:02about I was talking to Jeff. Winning this race effects so
- 7:09many people in a good way. I mean, it just helps everything
- 7:14in every direction and I'm just honored to be in this room with
- 7:17you guys. Yeah, I mean, you can't help but
- 7:20pull for him. Like that's the, that's the
- 7:23thing about Harrison that I think a lot of, a lot of our fan
- 7:28base, a lot of fan base just doesn't see.
- 7:30And, and when you're, when you're running bad, you don't
- 7:33get a lot of coverage. You don't, you don't get the
- 7:35chance to, to have that exposure and opportunity to show people
- 7:38who you are. And, and this is a great time to
- 7:41do that. And, and you see the real
- 7:43Harrison sitting here and, and we're so stoked to be with him.
- 7:47And it's the, again, you just can't help but want the best for
- 7:52him. He it's just, it's he's not like
- 7:55most of them. Yeah, I want to chime in here
- 7:58like this. The question wasn't directed at
- 8:00me, but I've probably worked with him closer than anybody up
- 8:03here for the last. I don't have many races and you
- 8:07know we've had, we've not performed like we want to and
- 8:12neither one of us, right, where are our expectations are much
- 8:15higher. It's not been the year we
- 8:17wanted, but nobody's quit, nobody on the team, certainly
- 8:22not Harrison and I. I will sit here and tell you
- 8:27that, you know, I've worked with a lot of drivers over the years
- 8:30and some guys are quicker than others to point fingers when
- 8:33things aren't going right. And not once, not once has he
- 8:38questioned anything or questioned us or what we were
- 8:42doing. We we all just kind of kept
- 8:44pulling the rope the right direction and good things
- 8:47happen. Thank you for that.
- 8:49And Harrison, understanding the history of this team, the the
- 8:55beat, the drivers who have won for this team, knowing that your
- 8:58face is going to be among them at The Wood Brothers Museum as
- 9:00well, has has any of that set in for you.
- 9:04No, not at all. But what's special is what all
- 9:11these guys just said to me. I mean, yeah, it's been like
- 9:15they said, we haven't performed the way we wanted to, but I try
- 9:19and, you know, show up the same way every day, like we have a
- 9:23chance to win the next weekend because you do.
- 9:25I mean it, it resets every weekend.
- 9:28How you finish last weekend doesn't matter this weekend.
- 9:30And and the way our format is we, I knew especially coming to
- 9:35here, Darlington and now, you know, land after that, now that
- 9:38we're in the playoffs, those are all great race tracks for us and
- 9:42great race tracks for this race team.
- 9:43And and yeah, just you just don't quit.
- 9:47I mean, yeah, it means so much. I especially when I was the
- 9:53first year, I wanted to be so badly with those guys that were
- 9:57up on the wall. And I still did, obviously.
- 10:00But to go through what we went through, to go through what I've
- 10:05gone through, doubting myself, doubting everything.
- 10:10I mean, I didn't know if I was wanted to do this anymore at
- 10:13times. I mean, it's so hard.
- 10:15And when you get kicked in the teeth over and over and over and
- 10:18over again, you really find out who you are and why you do what
- 10:22you do. And it's for moments like this
- 10:24that you just can't put into words.
- 10:28And have all these people next to me that still were believing
- 10:32in me still. We're trying every weekend to
- 10:34try and put their best foot forward so I can put my best
- 10:37foot forward. It's just really, really
- 10:40special, really, really cool. And so like I said earlier, when
- 10:43the walls are closing in, I think we won the 100th wood
- 10:47brother win in the most wood brother way possible.
- 10:49I mean, just we've been down and out and we came back swinging
- 10:53and, and we're going to continue to do that until my time hears
- 10:57up. And you know, I know these guys
- 10:59are going to continue to to do that in the future as well.
- 11:03We'll go to Cameron, then to Bob.
- 11:05Cameronrichardsonnascar.com, Harrison You, Todd Gillen,
- 11:09Austin Cindrick All. Came into the Cup series.
- 11:11Together off the track, you guys seem like a pretty.
- 11:13Tight knit bunch. Given the successes that
- 11:16they've. Had.
- 11:17This year, especially with Cindrick winning at.
- 11:18Gateway. Just how much?
- 11:20More does tonight mean given and how important is that fringe of
- 11:23the have given that you guys are still trying to prove yourselves
- 11:25and. You know and but now.
- 11:27You all can share your successes together.
- 11:29Yeah, it's been pretty special. It's pretty rare you get, you
- 11:33know, a group of friends like that, especially as competitors.
- 11:37I was the best man in Todd's wedding.
- 11:39Cindrick's not married, so it wasn't bad yet, But I don't know
- 11:42if I will be or not. But, you know, he, he that those
- 11:47guys were the first. Todd came and hugged me on the
- 11:50front straightaway. I think Austin almost blew up
- 11:53his engine, revving it next to me and fist pumping.
- 11:56And we had dinner, actually in Michigan during the rain delay,
- 12:00and we were all sitting there. And we're like, very selfishly,
- 12:04all of us were thinking it was us, right?
- 12:05But we were all saying the winner of the Daytona race is
- 12:09sitting at this table, which is ridiculous that it worked out
- 12:12that way because the odds are so slim.
- 12:15But that was pretty cool. And then this little dude right
- 12:19here is asleep told me all day over and over and over and over
- 12:21again that I was going to win and that today was my day.
- 12:26And so it was just cool how like, you know, sitting through
- 12:28the the restart, you thinking about that like, oh, I guess the
- 12:31other guys are kind of towards the back.
- 12:33I got to carry it for the friendship and carry it for him
- 12:36who told me I was going to win. So it's pretty pretty neat.
- 12:40We'll go to Bob, then Anthony, then John.
- 12:42Bob Parker's Fox Sports Harrison, did you have
- 12:45confidence in yourself going into the final restart?
- 12:48Or you know. It's not really, yeah, not
- 12:51really, not really a position that you've been in.
- 12:54So like we've heard other guys say, man, I got to learn how to
- 12:58win again. Yeah, I did.
- 13:01I've been really fortunate and won a lot of races when I was
- 13:04younger at New Smyrna Speedway and and been racing.
- 13:09I remember racing time Majeski every night and having to beat
- 13:13him and looking over and thinking, yeah, he was older
- 13:15than me and he was going to be better than me on this restart
- 13:17and finding a way to beat him. And you know him in a super late
- 13:22model, he's really, really, really, really hard to beat.
- 13:25And then you look at Kyle Busch in a Cup car next to you and and
- 13:27think kind of the same thing. And so you just have to rely on
- 13:31the film you've watched, rely on the situations I've been in.
- 13:33I've been fortunate to win or not to win, to lead races at
- 13:36this racetrack, make mistakes at this racetrack.
- 13:40And, and in situations that, yeah, I mean, I had a chance to
- 13:43win, but not like tonight when you have a restart on the front
- 13:47row with a green white checkered.
- 13:50So I kind of just relied on that and and relied on, you know,
- 13:53just the opportunity and, and just focus in the moment on
- 13:57really getting my side drafts right and keeping Parker Ratzlaf
- 14:01hooked up, who, by the way, in his second Cup race ever, I
- 14:05think did one of the best jobs I've ever seen pushing.
- 14:09He had me crossed up a few times where I was sideways out of
- 14:12control. And I could tell even through
- 14:14the restart, he gave me space enough to where I could gather
- 14:18the car and then push me again. And you see a lot of guys just
- 14:21kind of run through you in that moment, especially at the end of
- 14:23these races. So huge hats off to him.
- 14:25I owe him, you know, I don't, I don't even know how old he is.
- 14:28I'll owe him a beer, I guess if he's old enough or what.
- 14:31But he did a great job for sure. And obviously you haven't
- 14:36announced what you're doing next year.
- 14:38A lot of the talk potential could be in any of the three
- 14:41national series. Were you looking at these last
- 14:4412 races as not knowing whether you'll ever be back in Cup
- 14:48again? Or do you look at it like, I
- 14:50know I'll work myself back and I'm not going to put the
- 14:53pressure on myself? I've got to win in these next.
- 14:5512 I mean, yes and no. I mean, you never know when you
- 14:58have a chance to drive again. You never know when you have a
- 15:00chance. This could all fall apart
- 15:02tomorrow. This is such a privilege to do
- 15:04every weekend. Even, you know, if you run in
- 15:07the Truck Series of the Xfinity Series or Late Models, it's just
- 15:10such a privilege to get to drive a race car and I get the
- 15:14privilege to drive the number 21 for wood brothers racing.
- 15:17And you know, that to me is, is all you need, right?
- 15:22Like I've had a chance to do that for three years to work
- 15:26with these guys for three years, learn all I can.
- 15:29I'm confident myself as a driver that I can.
- 15:31I can do things when I'm, you know, at my best.
- 15:35And, and tonight I feel like I was at my best and you know, I
- 15:39feel like it, it worked out And, and obviously we got, we got
- 15:41fortunate at times too. But you know, when the chips are
- 15:45down, we, we all did a good job. And Jason Jarrett, I spotter,
- 15:48did a good job of of making things work out perfectly.
- 15:51We'll go to Anthony and then we'll make our way this way.
- 15:54We'll go to John and Kelly. End.
- 15:57Up anthony.damcot@frontchurch.com
- 15:59this question is. Really.
- 16:00Really for any of. You on stage?
- 16:01But I'd like to hear Harrison's thoughts.
- 16:03The Wood Brothers in Daytona. Is such a winning combination.
- 16:06I believe this is the 15th. Time that The Wood Brothers.
- 16:08Would go on to Victory Lane here at Daytona.
- 16:10That's pretty good. So, you know, combine that with
- 16:14the one. 100th victory. How special is it to get it
- 16:16done? Here at a track.
- 16:18Where you guys have had? A lot of success before and you
- 16:22guys are me first, I'll go. I mean, I wasn't here for any of
- 16:25those. I I but what I do know is like
- 16:30Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500 or or Pearson, all these
- 16:35guys throughout the years, you see all these great finishes in
- 16:37the 20 ones always involved. And to have my name above the
- 16:41door of the 21 crossing the line at Daytona.
- 16:44I mean, that's pretty awesome, right?
- 16:47I mean, that's just stuff as when you're racing quarter
- 16:49midgets and late models growing up, that's what you dream of.
- 16:52Is this a situation like this? And so it's it's just really
- 16:57cool. I don't know.
- 16:57I mean, you know, just to be involved with this group and get
- 17:00to have spent the last three years with this group has been
- 17:03special. And now to win for them is even
- 17:05even cooler. All right, we will go to John I.
- 17:12Did that good, John? You'll be all driver.
- 17:16So, Harrison, you kind of already addressed this,
- 17:18answering Cameron's question. But when you see people like
- 17:21Logano, Blaney, all these, you know, strings of drivers coming
- 17:24to Victory Lane congratulate you even though they're upset they
- 17:27didn't win. Yeah.
- 17:28I mean, how much more special is it knowing that these
- 17:30competitors, your peers, guys you look up to, they want to
- 17:34make their way and, you know, be part of that celebration.
- 17:36It's cool. I, I spent a lot of time with
- 17:38those guys, especially, you know, Joey Ryan Austin as our
- 17:42kind of alliance members, and I've asked them a ton of
- 17:44questions and bothered them at times.
- 17:46And, you know, just try to learn as much as I can from them and,
- 17:51and try and do right by them as well.
- 17:52Try and help them throughout the race and hopefully it will be
- 17:56reciprocated at the end. And and, you know, today it was
- 18:00and, and you know, and then for Bubba Wallace to come up to who
- 18:04I think that really hurt him in the point situation, for him to
- 18:08come up and say congratulations meant a lot to me.
- 18:11I know that takes a lot when you're a competitor and he's
- 18:14been working really hard to try and get in the playoffs.
- 18:17You know, it's just, it's just how the sport is.
- 18:20It's so cutthroat, you know, and, and for those guys that you
- 18:24race in week in and week race with week in and week out to say
- 18:28congratulations is really cool And and you know, it means a
- 18:31lot. We'll go to Kelly, then a Deb,
- 18:35then a Claire and Chris, and then Dustin.
- 18:37Kelly Crandall, racer.com, John, You and I.
- 18:41You and I. Had had a.
- 18:41Conversation for the. Podcast a couple weeks ago and
- 18:44you said that since you've been in this new.
- 18:45Role. Something you.
- 18:47Found is how much you enjoy or how much it's meant to wear Wood
- 18:50Brothers racing gear. How much will you be wearing now
- 18:55and how much more does it mean having this under your belt get?
- 19:00A collar just got to step it up. Yeah, See, they they, they stay
- 19:08on my ass about that. Like, it's, it's a different
- 19:12time now. You know, it is agree to
- 19:18disagree. You know, it's I find myself
- 19:23wearing this stuff like, like a hat, like I don't even wear
- 19:25hats. And it's like I'm now a part of
- 19:29this. And like, like I talked with you
- 19:31about in the podcast, it's it's this win in 2017.
- 19:36I would have been in that back corner looking at my watch.
- 19:40How much longer is this going to take?
- 19:43I didn't feel a part of it. But now it's like it's just
- 19:46different. And and I think it took that
- 19:48promotion for me to feel that way.
- 19:51I've really done anything. I mean, I'll take the credit for
- 19:54it and the change in leadership's what brought us
- 19:56here, but and the truth is I haven't done anything but yeah,
- 20:02I mean it, it's it we had a big that was like a it was like
- 20:06therapy when I talked to you. But yeah, it again, it's I'm I'm
- 20:13really proud of these guys and I'm I'm proud to be a part of
- 20:15it. We'll.
- 20:17Go to Deb. Deb Williams Auto Week.
- 20:20Jeremy, this is for you. When we were here in February,
- 20:24on media day, Harrison told us that you had taken.
- 20:27Him aside. And told him he needed to take
- 20:29more of a leadership role. This.
- 20:31Year. This year, How have you seen him
- 20:34mature this year as a. Driver and as a person.
- 20:39You know, I, I just, you know, it's like I told him, like if
- 20:41you want to take the next step as a driver, that's a big part
- 20:44of it, right, Is being the leader of the team.
- 20:46Like we can prepare the cars and we can prepare him all week
- 20:50long. But when the race starts, it's,
- 20:52it's really up to him to get the job done.
- 20:54And I think today is, is kind of like the, you know, you look at
- 21:01the situation he's put in and Eddie alluded to it earlier of
- 21:03having to race Kyle Busch at the end for the win.
- 21:06And I, I think there's a little bit of irony in the fact that,
- 21:08you know, 99, you know, Blaney had to race Kyle for the win.
- 21:12There's some irony there. And to see these guys, these
- 21:17young kids step up when they get that opportunity, that that's
- 21:20really what what that means, right?
- 21:22Is, is trying to you put yourself in that situation where
- 21:25you have to be. You know, I can't help him at
- 21:28that point, right? We've done all we can do.
- 21:29He's got enough fuel, he's got good tires.
- 21:31Like he's he's on the front row. I can't help him.
- 21:34We're not doing anything. We're a spectator like everybody
- 21:36else. And for him to step and step up
- 21:38and, and get in the position to do what he needed to do to win
- 21:41the race, you know, that's what becoming a leader is as a
- 21:44driver. And you know, for him, it's just
- 21:47part of the process of, of growing and maturing and
- 21:49learning the things that, you know, once you learn how to win,
- 21:53once you, once you figure out what that feels like and, and
- 21:55what it took to get there, it gets a lot easier for these
- 21:59guys. I think, you know, and, and
- 22:01Eddie told me when I started in 1999 that you never know when
- 22:05you're going to win the next one.
- 22:07So you know, for him, you know you got to savor the first one
- 22:11and and work work your butt off to get the next one.
- 22:14Thank you. And Harrison?
- 22:15How would you? From that day here on media day
- 22:19in. February How would you evaluate
- 22:21yourself as? Maturing and and the.
- 22:24Change you've seen in yourself yeah I mean if you told me then
- 22:28that I would be in the playoffs and have a race win I'd be like
- 22:31sweet. So that's cool but as a person
- 22:37I've just grown a lot and and and the hardship and that's
- 22:40where you grow as a person is when things are hard.
- 22:46I've just had to, more times than I want, I've had to go to
- 22:51the shop and look at a mistake I made on film or look at a move I
- 22:56missed on film or look at, you know, a racket I couldn't
- 23:00control or whatever. And, and just all these things
- 23:02that seem to add up and add up and add up.
- 23:06And, and then, you know, this is going to be cool on Monday to go
- 23:11to the shop and be the race winner.
- 23:12I mean, that's really, really cool.
- 23:14So for me, I think I've grown a lot in that hardship, found out
- 23:20a lot about myself, found out what drives me, what makes me
- 23:23want to do this. And it's just, it's not
- 23:27necessarily the moments like this.
- 23:28I think it's the moments that lead up to this, the
- 23:32relationships I've formed with guys like the the people at this
- 23:35table, the guys that work on the race car, the management at, at
- 23:40The Wood Brothers and at Team Penske.
- 23:42Our alliance, our alliance partner made a lot of great
- 23:45friendships and that means a lot.
- 23:48And to kind of find a way to come through for those guys is
- 23:52is really, really, really cool. We're.
- 23:54Going to go to Claire and then to Chris.
- 23:59The player be laying couple of moments of chaos during this
- 24:02race obviously two big ones you get to the end of the race you
- 24:05know Kyle Busch is in in the race you're looking at him in
- 24:09your mind right. You have to force yourself to
- 24:13think what a big moment it is force it out of your mind you
- 24:17see that you can win at Daytona a huge win for you.
- 24:22What are you thinking? Yeah, I think the red flag was
- 24:25kind of nice, really, because I got to sit there and kind of
- 24:28work through that, work through what I wanted to do, what I
- 24:31needed to accomplish, what I wanted to do on the launch.
- 24:36You know, if he did clear me like he did, what is my next
- 24:39move? What is my move after that?
- 24:40So I could kind of put a game plan together of, you know,
- 24:44cover the bases, right? And obviously there's split
- 24:46second decisions you have to make that are not scripted,
- 24:49right. But I could kind of come up with
- 24:50my own little game script of, OK, I want to do this to, to
- 24:54Kyle to slow him down. If we're side by side going in
- 24:57turn one or if he clears me, I need to get back to Christopher
- 25:00to pull him apart from Kyle so he doesn't have 4 momentum and
- 25:03we don't get 3 rows back. And, and I was able to work
- 25:07through that and, and it just made the last lap slow down
- 25:12until off of turn 4 and I was like, holy shit, I'm leading.
- 25:17Hey, it worked, That's cool. And then I had to make a few big
- 25:19blocks and sorry for cussing, but but I had to make a few big
- 25:23blocks and, and, you know, just at that point, it's, you know,
- 25:29just, you have to do it right or you're not going to win.
- 25:31And Jeremy and under the caution told me about, you know, having
- 25:35to make the blocks that you need to make to win these races.
- 25:39And I got to make one of those and it worked out and was
- 25:41sideways across the line doing all kinds of crazy stuff.
- 25:44But it it worked out good and we got the win.
- 25:46And at the end of it, is there ever that moment you're like
- 25:50realizing you're going to do it or do you really not do that
- 25:53till after? I didn't do that till I cross
- 25:55the line. You just First off, you can't
- 25:57count out Kyle Busch, right? And, and I was thinking, trying
- 26:00to put myself in his shoes of what is he thinking?
- 26:02What is he trying to do to pass me?
- 26:06Where is his help with Christopher and all that?
- 26:10And and you know, once I to be honest, once I made the block
- 26:14and like pulled across his nose and and kind of took all his
- 26:18energy by making a late block to where I obviously almost
- 26:23crashed, but that was what I needed to do to kind of take the
- 26:25energy away from him. Then I thought I had kind of
- 26:28done it, but until then I had not really not wasn't feeling
- 26:33comfortable out there, that's for sure.
- 26:35Congratulations. Thank you.
- 26:36We're. Going to go to Chris and then
- 26:38over to Dustin. I I want to open this question
- 26:42to oh. And Chris Call and News Daytona
- 26:43Beach. I want to open this question
- 26:45both to you, Harrison, and to whomever in the woods would care
- 26:48to. Weigh in so.
- 26:49It seems like the common thread between.
- 26:52You, Harrison and the team. Is is that this is a big family
- 26:55thing, Harrison. For you, your your dad got to
- 26:58call your first win and he got to run down there and.
- 27:01And give you a hug and. Did you actually call it or were
- 27:04you quiet? He's quiet, he keeps doing that.
- 27:09I want an Xfinity race and he didn't say a Dang word other
- 27:11than that he felt bad for Noah that I passed him on the last
- 27:14lap. What is that dude?
- 27:16Like you can be excited it's OK, but no I'll let this is what
- 27:20you. Call Harrison's opportunity to
- 27:22get back at. Jail.
- 27:22Yeah, he's quiet. He has no microphone.
- 27:24I have microphone but. But yeah, you know, you got to
- 27:27have that. Incredible.
- 27:29Moment with your dad that almost no other drivers get to have.
- 27:31And then for the woods. You guys just climbed a heck of
- 27:36a mountain in NASCAR. History.
- 27:37As a team, you just put a a. Huge milestone with all the
- 27:41history with this team. So for both you Harrison and for
- 27:43the Woods, I would love to hear how does this.
- 27:47Resonate differently from other wins you guys have had in your
- 27:50careers because of that. Strong family aspect.
- 27:54Yeah, I guess I'll finish on my dad without making fun of him.
- 27:57He's been there for me. He's called me when I don't want
- 28:00to answer his phone call after a bad race and talk me through
- 28:05what I need to do, how I need to handle things.
- 28:08He obviously, you know, raised me and, and my mom as well both
- 28:11raised me to be the guy that I am today.
- 28:15And I'm proud of that. Off the racetrack alone.
- 28:18And then to, you know, make the night set my mom spent on the
- 28:24road core Midget racing with me while my dad was Cup racing to
- 28:27make the effort that my dad took away from his Cup racing
- 28:31opportunity to help me and quarter midgets and late model
- 28:33racing to make that worth it to win at the Cup level.
- 28:37I mean, I've, I've been told by him that he's not basically
- 28:41proud of me based off of when I whether I win or lose, it's how
- 28:44I handle myself and what I do. But for me, winning is way
- 28:50better than losing. So, you know, it's, it's just
- 28:53cool to make that for them seem like it paid off.
- 28:58And for me, all those nights that I spent working and
- 29:01thinking and watching film and my fiance Jenna watched me watch
- 29:07sit in the motorhome all day while she was bored out of her
- 29:09mind watching different Daytona races and how they ended.
- 29:12That's all I watched today was how these races ended and what
- 29:15the people had to do to win. And it's cool to make that all
- 29:18worth it. And the anyone?
- 29:21From The Wood Brothers, I was wondering if you guys.
- 29:23Wanted to touch on that too. Basically, I mean, it's like he
- 29:28said, winning at Daytona. There's nothing better than
- 29:33winning at Daytona. I'm going to start our season
- 29:36out here with the biggest race of the year and Daytona is my
- 29:41favorite track. So winning, winning here is a is
- 29:46is is bigger to me than just winning somewhere else.
- 29:51It's just, it's just special. Our dad raised on the beach
- 29:57actually on the sand and that was God.
- 30:02That was almost 75 years ago. I think he ran the first race he
- 30:08ever run on the sand was in 1953.
- 30:13So that's that's a long time ago.
- 30:14But I mean, I said when in Daytona is just just really
- 30:18special for our family all. Right.
- 30:21We'll go ahead and go over to Dustin.
- 30:26Dustin Long, NBC Sports for Harrison and and I guess also
- 30:29for any of the woods or even Jeremy.
- 30:33Look, you guys have gone through a whole.
- 30:35Lot here in the. Last two hours and I'm sure
- 30:38there's. Just a rush of things that have.
- 30:40That have taken place, but when things settle down, whether it's
- 30:45two weeks, two months, 2. Years or whatever.
- 30:48Of all the things that you're experiencing here in the last
- 30:50two to three hours, what are the things?
- 30:53That you hope. That you remember.
- 30:55That you hope you never forget and are able to take.
- 30:58Away because no matter. What you know.
- 31:00Even for The Wood Brothers race when one O 110-2103 is never
- 31:04going. To feel like this and and
- 31:06Harrison, you know. Even if you win the Daytona 500
- 31:09next time, it's not going. To feel like this, what are the
- 31:12things that you hope that? You remember from this night?
- 31:19I hope I remember the feeling when you cross the line and you
- 31:25know you win. I hope I remember that.
- 31:28I like I said earlier, for the first time, my wife cried after
- 31:32I won. Hope I remember not doing a
- 31:35burnout because Eddie last year told me if I win, do a burnout.
- 31:38That's not cool. So that was that was cool.
- 31:43I like my dad never did burnout. So I kind of got to do the the
- 31:46full picture there of the Allen quickie kind of Polish victory
- 31:50lap there across the whole front stretch and just waving at what
- 31:54seemed like a million fans out there was really cool.
- 31:56And then then to me, what hit the most when it hit home the
- 32:02most was when I got out of the car.
- 32:03I turn around and there's like everybody that's laid a finger
- 32:07on this race car, laid a finger on the media side of things,
- 32:11laid a finger on the management side of things, laid a finger on
- 32:15me and my and my life as far as raising me.
- 32:17And then my fiance has been, you know, at my side through all
- 32:21this stuff is all I turn around. They're all right there.
- 32:23I mean, that's pretty cool. So watching them all run out and
- 32:27and celebrate with me was was. Awesome.
- 32:28Kim was excited. I can only imagine I'm.
- 32:31She was pumped. I hope the pit box is OK I'm.
- 32:39Sure, I've never seen anybody twist themselves up the way she
- 32:44can contort. That's.
- 32:46These intense races, it's, it's A and Jeff is just so like he is
- 32:52right now, just just it's, it's such a contrast between the two.
- 33:00I don't know. We'll believe you on it.
- 33:06I don't. I mean, the thing for me, like
- 33:08I'm, I'm sitting here thinking like how bad I feel for the guys
- 33:11on the airplane that are waiting on us.
- 33:13Oh, gosh. But the reason that this is
- 33:15happening is because so many people appreciate what these two
- 33:20have done for the sport and, and, and they, they've just been
- 33:25here for so long and formed all these relationships that it, it
- 33:30just feels like it doesn't ever end.
- 33:32And and that's, that's, that's just a testament to what they
- 33:35mean to so many people that are in this garage and, and fans
- 33:39alike. And it's, it's really neat to
- 33:41just stand back and watch and, and see it and see the, the
- 33:44caliber of people that go out of their way to, to, to say
- 33:49congratulations, Lynn, you saw Lynn get up a second ago.
- 33:53That was Jim France that called him.
- 33:56And I mean, who bigger to get a phone call from?
- 33:59I'm sure that's why he ran over there and took the call and and
- 34:03and Jim Farley too, like those are that that's a but to them
- 34:08getting a call from them is the same as anybody, any one of the
- 34:13longtime fans in Stuart, same thing like they, they treat
- 34:15everybody equally. And, and it's, it's, it's really
- 34:20just a it's something to to, to sit back and watch.
- 34:24It's it's really, it's really neat experience all.
- 34:28Right. I know it's late.
- 34:29We have a few more questions. We're going to go up to the
- 34:31press box and see if they have anything.
- 34:33Press box, you guys have any questions?
- 34:39No questions from I thought. This.
- 34:41Was a thank you God. We will come down here too,
- 34:45Jerry. We'll go in the back to Jordan
- 34:47and we're going to wrap up here with Zach.
- 34:50Jerry. Jordan kingofthetires.net We all
- 34:53know Kyle Busch needs a win to continue his, you know, career
- 34:57seasons in a row. You've raced for him in the
- 35:00past, he said there was a right way and a wrong way to beat you
- 35:03and he he wasn't going to do it the wrong way.
- 35:06What does that mean to you, to have that respect from a guy
- 35:08like Kyle Busch? Yeah, it means a lot.
- 35:09I mean, yeah, I mean, for a guy like Kyle Busch, who has been,
- 35:18you know, through what he's been through this year and and kind
- 35:21of similar story where his expectations were higher than
- 35:25where their year has been, this was a chance for them to turn
- 35:28that around the way we did tonight, too.
- 35:30He could have very easily wrecked me, I think.
- 35:32I mean, I wasn't in his shoes, but I was pretty sideways.
- 35:34So, you know, I mean, for me, it means a lot.
- 35:39Kyle, I think has has done a lot for a lot of young kids careers.
- 35:45And so, yeah, for him to race me the right way when I'm the guy
- 35:48that is, you know, blowing points and and, you know, if he
- 35:54wrecked me, I don't think people would really look twice about
- 35:57it, right? Like it's just the way these
- 35:58races have gotten and he did things the right way and, and I
- 36:03think that means a lot for him as as a person.
- 36:05And it's it's cool for sure going.
- 36:10Back to Jordan and then, oh, sorry, go ahead.
- 36:13I just want to say it, every Tuesday night at Millbridge, the
- 36:17little go Kart track, I sit with Tom Bush, which he's the only
- 36:24guy that's got a got a blanket to sit on.
- 36:27So, you know, you don't get dirty.
- 36:29But I sit with him every Tuesday night and, and when I see him
- 36:35this coming Tuesday, I, I want to tell him what a how proud I
- 36:40am of Kyle, the way he raced Harrison.
- 36:44That's the way you're supposed to do it.
- 36:46And they did it. Jordan Bianchi, The Athletic.
- 36:52This question is for John and then anybody else who would
- 36:54like. To chime in, John.
- 36:56You said you were. There in 2017 and you kind of
- 36:59took this in and. You've taken on a bigger
- 37:01leadership role over the last several years.
- 37:03The new appointment this year. Did doubt ever creep in at any?
- 37:07Point of saying. Hey, are we going to?
- 37:09Get to that. #100 is that really going to happen?
- 37:14I don't know that it was that it's doubt.
- 37:16It's just it's something that we just at least I'd never just
- 37:20never thought about. Like it just never crossed my
- 37:23mind. Like the day you die or the day
- 37:28you get married or I don't know, like it, it's it never crossed
- 37:31my mind. People would ask about it.
- 37:34They would say, like, do you have a a logo for for for your
- 37:38hundredth win? And it's like, why would I do
- 37:40that? Like it's just not something
- 37:42that you think about. And it's not not I'm not
- 37:45directing that at Harrison. It, it, it's just not something
- 37:48that you forecast. It's not something that you
- 37:51expect to experience. And and then it happens and it's
- 37:55like, I probably should have prepared for this a little bit
- 37:57better because we did it. Yeah, I don't.
- 38:02I don't. I don't have a better answer
- 38:03other than like, it's just something I never really thought
- 38:06about. Come down here to Zach.
- 38:14Harrison I spoke with Jenna and Victory Lane there and to see
- 38:18her emotion, kind of just trying to soak in everything that's
- 38:21happening. She called the French such
- 38:23celebration, just such as the real moment.
- 38:25For you to be able to have that moment with her in the grass and
- 38:29lift her up it, you could tell how special that was.
- 38:33What's going through your mind in that moment and what has she
- 38:35meant to you through this whole journey as well?
- 38:41That's a hard question to answer.
- 38:44I I think I look back at just the things that I've done.
- 38:49She's videoing me, so I got to say something good.
- 38:55I look back on the things that I have screwed up at or the things
- 39:03I haven't done right. I always try to do right and I
- 39:06always try to do the right thing and just even the other way.
- 39:11My cup career is gone and I've never had someone that's been
- 39:15committed to me the way that she's been since we were 15
- 39:20years old. You know, we've been together
- 39:23from really forever for me in my entire high school, my entire,
- 39:29her entire call. I didn't go to college, but her
- 39:31entire college. We've just been through the
- 39:34failures, been through the success together and she never
- 39:39has changed the way she looks at me because of my finishing
- 39:41position or because of, you know, you know, good or bad.
- 39:49She just First off, when we first started dating, she didn't
- 39:52care. And now that we're, you know,
- 39:55engaged, she, she's invested in me and she helps me, motivates
- 40:00me to do the right thing. And, and to share that moment
- 40:04with her is just amazing. All right.
- 40:08And with, oh, go ahead. Best way to celebrate?
- 40:11Just go ahead. And get married.
- 40:12Yeah, that's why. I've been telling her that all
- 40:15day. Yeah, I know you guys told me
- 40:16that and then off week too would appreciate that for.
- 40:22Sure. And with that inspection has
- 40:23cleared, you guys are officially, officially the
- 40:25winners. I was going to say, pockers, you
- 40:27can go ahead and tweet that. We're good.
- 40:30Bob ain't listening to you. He's busy.
- 40:34There you go. That's right.
- 40:35Tweet it. Tweet it.
- 40:36Thank. You all for your time and.
- 40:37Congratulations. Thank you.