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Jimmie Johnson Discusses The State of NASCAR/Racing · Kenny Wallace Media

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  I'm Packers Fox Sports. I'm curious if you did you watch
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  any of Kyle's testing Larson's Indy 500 testing earlier this
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  week and or what type of advice you've given him?
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  About that I didn't watch live, but I've checked in on social
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  media and I saw that he had a good day and I'm certainly
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  excited for him. I didn't talk to him before
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  after that specific test, but before Phoenix.
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  Maybe after Phoenix I talked to him.
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  Just checking in to see what he thinks about the car and the
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  experience, and looks like he's off to a good start.
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  And what do you think will be his biggest challenge in doing
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  the double? Double I mean getting back and
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  forth, the stress and time commitment.
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  I mean I I was really surprised how much time is required to get
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  through the month of May which just a couple weeks of May it at
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  the track in India itself. Thankfully the NASCAR schedule
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  is much more relaxed and and I guess he has a week before
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  racing to deal with as well. Yeah, I I think travel and and
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  being able to spend the time that he'll want to spend in
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  Indy, that's going to be you know compromised a little.
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  And then it depends on weather in Indy and if if it's dry and
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  he can get all the laps that he intends to to get, I think that
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  will help him tremendously. If it's wet and he has some
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  conflicts and can't be on track because of a NASCAR schedule,
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  you know that that track time starts to shrink.
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  And that's really what it's about is getting reps in the
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  very unique situations that you see in the race practice.
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  I personally didn't see the aero situations and the traffic
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  situations that came about in the race and that's where I I
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  wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been.
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  Are we going to go back there and then up to Jeff Luck?
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  Yeah, James Harris, Toyota's race week back here.
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  Jimmy it the sports changed quite a bit since you stopped
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  racing full time. You know the playoff system, now
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  that we have maybe geared a little bit towards stopping
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  somebody like yourself from dominating for so long, trying
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  to strike a competitive balance in the sport, kind of like F1 is
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  sort of going through the same thing with the competitive
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  balance. Is that been good for the the
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  health of the sport from your perspective as to how they've
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  changed things since you were on that dominant run that you had?
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  Be hard for me not to say that the way I won the majority of my
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  championships is the best way. You know statistically there's a
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  lot of evidence that supports the changes we've made and and
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  where it is. The generation I think anyone
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  grows up in is the generation that they they love the most.
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  And I I think our fan base you know we're always trying to find
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  new fans but I I think in time we'll we'll know the true
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  opinion of the new fans that we're gathering and and what
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  they think of it. So I think what we live and
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  experience right now is the older generation in their
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  opinion and then balancing that against statistics.
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  So I don't know if I have a great answer.
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  I I kind of prefer, I'd say I I prefer the playoffs where the 10
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  races, the point still totaled up to a champion.
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  I felt that was a good representation of both.
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  That's not the world that we're in now, but I I personally like
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  that variation the most. What What are some of the
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  memories that pop into your mind first when you come back here?
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  Of all the success you've had one of your best tracks, what
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  what are you thinking of when you roll through the tunnel?
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  It's funny now, the way the place drives, I just have a lot
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  of anxiety about turns one and two.
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  And the previous configuration that was really the most fun
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  that you could have on a mile and 1/2 was turns one and two.
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  So bummed that it's it's still not there, but it didn't, you
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  know, same for everybody as what it is.
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  But the track you know in in where I've had most of my
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  success and the fact that you could run from line to wall the
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  bumps were in the worst places possible.
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  But that was great. They they created mistakes for
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  the the drivers and technical challenge for the teams.
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  I I thought made it a really really race to racetrack.
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  So I I've recently rewatched the battle with Kenseth.
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  We suckered Matt to come into our come into the shop and and
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  relive that and I guess I'm not sure if it's out yet.
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  It'll come out on social and just reliving those moments and
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  just how racy the track was. And of course I came out on top
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  of Matt and love to give him trouble over that.
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  But yeah, I really miss the that old circuit.
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  It was a lot of fun all. Right.
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  We're going to go right up here to the right.
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  Tadhazelnascar.com Jimmy Kind of piggybacking on that.
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  Regarding your success you've had here in the past, clearly it
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  implies you had at least some level of comfort at this track
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  with the new car. Is all of that out the window,
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  or is there still some level of comfort?
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  No, I I found last year with the limited races I ran it, it is
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  really really different. I I think the 1st 80% is is
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  normal but maybe 90% but that last little bit and where you
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  run the car and I spent a a lifetime running a car off the
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  right rear and this car you just cannot do that from the aero
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  platform the the tire and the the I believe the the side wall
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  stiffness of the tire you can't slip and slide this car around
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  like I'd like to do and it it got me in Charlotte the last
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  mile and a half I was on in Charlotte got out from under me
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  and I crashed. So I keep telling myself coming
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  in this weekend that I need to drive it off the right front and
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  you drive through the right front and not my typical style
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  of of driving on or through the right rear tire.
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  So those tracks very treacherous and it's nice to see it widening
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  out. I think last night with the
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  truck race had some reports back to how the second groove was
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  coming in and and hopefully we're on the right pathway now
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  to to really start working in the middle of the track and can
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  widen this place out and just just go have some fun.
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  I mean I I of course want to run as well as I can.
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  I want to run all the laps and I want to be able to help our
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  company grow and really kind of work through this first quarter,
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  first half of the season with our change of Toyota.
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  There's just a lot of new things for us that we're trying to get
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  our arms around and trying to know we've had some speed at
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  times. But consistently having the
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  speed is is a big objective for us right now and I hope that my
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  participation this weekend helps us take a step in that direction
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  all. Right.
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  We're going to go right up here and then to Jeff and then to
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  Jerry. Eric Ceda, Eric Cerrita Game Day
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  Productions So you're driving a Toyota now.
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  How does it feel? What are your impressions about
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  it? I don't have a lot of time
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  behind the wheel, but I've really enjoyed the relationship
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  with everyone from TRD and Toyota North America.
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  They race in a different way that they have very meaningful
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  relationships and and I'd call them part, you know the true
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  definition of a partnership. So I've I've enjoyed really the
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  last two years of getting to know them in the last, I don't
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  know, six or seven months of really working hand in hand with
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  them since the end of last season.
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  And I think we have a very long and bright future together.
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  I'm very excited to work with them.
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  Jeff. So back to Larson for a second.
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  Is there any way to describe to people the difficulty level of
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  what he's trying to do in in going to win that race?
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  I mean you've you've obviously been on both sides of that most,
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  most people haven't. Can you describe that?
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  Yeah, I and I can only speak from the experience that I had
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  practice qualifying, if you can get your arms around that and
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  safely find the edge. But when it comes race time and
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  you're dealing with guys that drive those cars day in and day
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  out and know how to Just Dance on that edge, it's tough and the
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  cars are a much bigger arrow, disadvantage deeper in traffic.
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  Unfortunately, we lost some track position trying to short
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  pit and trying to gain track position in the race and we
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  never got it back. And I ran back in the 20s and
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  you just, you just can't go anywhere from back there.
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  So if they're able to maintain track position to keep him up
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  front, I I think you'll have a a really good day.
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  And I think Kurt's experience, you know, really showed that if
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  you can keep clean air on the car, I think it it helps the
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  lack of experience that a stock guard driver would have going
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  in. Thankfully you do get a fair
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  amount of laps with the open test session and the way the two
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  weeks unfold you do get a lot of laps and in that environment
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  with some air on the car, you can get a sense for it.
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  But come race day, I mean, you don't want to put in the fence
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  and oh, by the wall. Oh, by the way, that wall hurts
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  in an IndyCar. I mean it.
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  There really are consequences for your mistakes made in an
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  IndyCar. We're.
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  Going to go to Jerry and then Steven.
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  Jerry Jordan kicking thetires.net.
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  Jimmy is a team owner and the driver as well in the
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  negotiations going on with NASCAR, it seems in speaking
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  with some of the drivers they have a few different issues that
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  they're they're talking to NASCAR about then then maybe the
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  the team owners are your thoughts on what any of the
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  those negotiations are like and and you know from from both
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  perspectives for for drivers and owners.
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  It's been a long road and I still think there's plenty of
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  Rd. left for all sides and if it's drivers negotiating what
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  they would like to see team owners and then certainly on
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  NASCAR side and and what they're what they want to see for the
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  future of the sport. And I think it's going to come
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  down to deep in the year when you know everybody has to and
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  right now it's still posturing. I I know we feel like the clock
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  is ticking, but if you look at how much time is left, we're
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  just getting into the probably 8th inning, maybe 9th inning of
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  of what really needs to happen in negotiations for all parties.
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  Is it as much a money thing or maybe an insurance thing or a or
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  a competition thing? Where?
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  Where are some of those areas that you you think might be hang
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  ups? The drivers probably have a
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  different lens they're looking through than the owners.
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  But to still a Mr. Hendrick line, it's not about the money
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  until it's about the money. And so ultimately if there are
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  protections I think that team owners are looking for for
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  longevity that absolutely sure things up for them financially.
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  I'm sure there's discussions around monies that come on the
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  front side through the the TV partnership that that are
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  important. You know, it's it's been
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  interesting to watch. You know, this is my first time
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  really in this world as a team owner and I've done a lot more
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  listening than I have have talking and and letting the pros
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  really do their job. But what's ultimately been most
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  impressive to me is just how the team ownership group has stuck
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  together. And I I think we're a lot
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  stronger as a unified group carrying a consistent message
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  and then that's something that's been more difficult for owners
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  in the past. But the ownership group's been
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  very committed to that and I I think that's been very useful.
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  Steven. Steven stumfriendships.com,
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  right? Here.
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  Sorry. You're good Jimmy.
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  It wasn't really till COVID that we kind of began this you know
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  process of trying to truncated practice session smaller ones
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  maybe 1 instead of two. It wasn't you can't you for all
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  your career until 2020. You you had the, you know, the
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  experiences of doing multiple practices per weekend.
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  Usually, given you know how different this new car is, is is
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  kind of having those larger practice sessions something you
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  wish that could return? Yeah, without a doubt.
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  I mean the practices are not long enough to make a meaningful
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  change to the car and it's tough to develop and and I certainly
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  understand and appreciate the effort for for cost savings,
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  we're not going to sit still. You know, now we've put so much
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  reliance on our simulation and what's tricky with simulation is
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  trying to feed the pipeline of data and the pipeline of
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  information so that your simulation works correctly and
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  crosses over the real world and then the simulator that you
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  drive crosses over the real world.
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  And you know it's just really tough with how little track time
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  there is for all teams to benefit that because as you
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  unload that, that's what you have.
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  And so the bigger teams with more resources and really
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  resources far and wide to unload on is is where it's at.
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  And it and it affects the smaller teams that are trying to
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  that don't have the access that they need that are trying to
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  feed their pipeline and make good decisions.
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  It it just continues to make that a more challenging dynamic.
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  And then you think of new teams, new drivers, you know, there's
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  just a lot of layers there that I think more track time would
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  benefit and it doesn't need to be like it once was where you
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  have 4 hours of track time but double the track time that we
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  have now. If it was 40 minutes, 45
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  minutes, I I think you could, you know, really help the the
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  field in its entirety be more efficient with their spending
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  because right now it's man, you're just throwing darts,
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  hoping you're spending in the right way and different things.
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  And then after running four races of Legacy, so, so far,
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  you're going to begin to, you're going to begin having four races
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  in the next six weeks. In terms of learning this car,
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  you know how important is it to be, you know, not doing this
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  many races, but also having them relatively in a quick time span
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  to kind of get familiar with it. Yeah, super helpful.
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  You know, last year I intended to rent, run more events and you
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  know, the unfortunate tragedy that our family experienced it,
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  it put the brakes on that as as it should have.
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  But to come back this year, you know again on last year's agenda
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  was much more Rd. course focused, trying to help our
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  program be a bit stronger on road courses.
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  We've we've shifted this year for a variety of reasons to run
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  more mile and a halfs and you know the bulk of my schedule is
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  mile and a halfs. And so to have them in close
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  proximity to one another and then to be able to go back to
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  Kansas twice, you know, I really think it's going to help me
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  extract the most that I can out of the car, help me give the
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  best feedback that I can to my organization and and
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  directionally help us grow. Yep.
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  Back up here. Eric Serita Game day Which up
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  and coming driver do you believe has the brightest future?
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  John Hunter Nemechek, Do you expect anything else?
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  No. In addition to that, you know
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  it's I haven't watched the Support Series races as closely
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  the last couple of years in IndyCar and sports car racing.
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  But to see the young crop of of truck drivers last night duking
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  it out was was impressive. And even the Xfinity field,
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  there's there's some young talent there and new faces, at
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  least new for me watching because I've been removed for a
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  few years and just impressed. It looks like there's some
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  really hungry and talented talent coming up through the
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  pipeline. We will take our final question
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  here with Jeff. I want to ask you about Dover.
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  Obviously Texas has changed since a lot of your wins, but
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  Dover, same place. I know it's a different car, but
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  what's your level of optimism going there?
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  I ran it in the SIM on Thursday and it drives a lot different.
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  I don't know how accurate that will be in real life, but you
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  know given the opportunity to pick a track to go back to, I
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  was like this is easy going to Dover.
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  I love the area, I love the track and it's certainly hopeful
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  that it leads to a a competitive performance.
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  But I I'm anticipating it's going to be quite different.
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  And part of my success at Dover was what I was touching on
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  earlier and just driving a really loose race car and and
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  driving it with my right foot. You can't do that with this car,
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  the diffuser and the sidewall, the tire and everything.
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  That's with it. So I assume I'll have a steep
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  learning curve. We're actually going to take one
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  final one from Lee up right up here.
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  Lee, Spencer Series, XM, NASCAR Radio and catchments.com.
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  Just curious. Do you have aspirations of
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  expanding Legacy to four cars at some point I would do three
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  first and then 4-4 would be quite the commitment.
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  We we don't have any plans to now that that is not part of our
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  objective in time. I understand the benefits that
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  come with three cars, 4 cars and the scaling that comes with
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  that. So from a business proposition
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  standpoint, yes, I would be open to it, but we're we're not in
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  that position now and we, we need to make sure our 2 1/2 cars
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  are running the best of our abilities that are paint.
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  You know, our our cars are full of sponsorship and that all
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  those economic markers are in place before that expansion
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  would happen. Yep.
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  All right. Thanks for the time, Jimmy, and
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  good luck this weekend. I appreciate it.
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  And real quick, one last thing. We have a a new partnership that
• 16:55
  I wanted to bring to everyone's attention and offer you some
• 16:59
  free lollipop over at the Transporter.
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  So swing on by and enjoy. Thanks.