Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Will NASCAR Ever Have Another Superstar?

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Will NASCAR Ever Have Another Superstar? · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  I mean it's the age-old question, right?
• 0:02
  It's it's what do you want? I mean if if you want to see
• 0:06
  certain drivers be able to do what other drivers cannot, you
• 0:11
  have to make things different. You have to make it harder to
• 0:18
  harder to drive, harder to all that stuff.
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  But right now I think you know if you put 20 cars in the lead
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  with 10 to go, they're they're going to win and that's you know
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  that's the star and that is is the track position because the
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  cars are all the same and they're there's not as difficult
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  to drive. So I think it's it's all
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  relative certainly the it's less likely now you can have those
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  big seasons and NASCAR as long as you've got a really good pit
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  crew, good team, you still got to you know set up, set up the
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  cars the drivers still got to have a good skill set execute
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  all those things. So I still think you know 8-9
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  win seasons are are very possible but it's I don't know
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  if it's you're going to grow any superstars currently, you know
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  the way it's going. I I think that's just really,
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  really tough for sure. What what is a you've been in
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  the sport long enough. What is a talent that you were
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  able to display 1015 years ago that maybe today's fans don't
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  see as often, maybe don't have the opportunity to appreciate as
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  much as the sport has evolved. I think just the ability to
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  control pace of a car throughout a run.
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  That was really my specialty kind of growing up is that the
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  ability to let cars go early and runs to save something for the
• 1:53
  later part of the run. So then you know there'd be
• 1:56
  multiple passes through a run for me and other cars, so maybe
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  four cars, 5 cars sometimes would pass me in Martinsville
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  and then later in that run I'd pass them back.
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  So that's a double the passes that would happen and now it's
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  everyone fights for the first few laps of restart and then
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  you're you're stat you're just staying from that point on.
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  So that's where when you kind of get into green flag passes and
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  stuff it's it's all really dependent on how many cautions
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  there are. Every caution is 600 green flag
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  passes just because we're lined up two by two.
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  So I think that it's that's kind of what I was really good at in
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  in the short track days. But as tire wear started to
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  reduce and power started to reduce, it's all become you
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  know, just run as fast as you can and relap and then you know
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  hang on from that point on. So it's just, it's just
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  different and I've had to evolve my skill set to accommodate, you
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  know, each car and each change that we've had.
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  John Newby, NBC Sports. So Kamui was in here earlier and
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  you said that, you know, there's an audience in Japan that would
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  embrace have NASCAR over there. As a team owner, can I get your
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  perspective on that? You know, it's that an
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  opportunity you would lead back to, I guess, grow like your
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  team's brand. Yeah, certainly.
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  I think it's, you know, internationally is this
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  certainly opens up opportunities for you know, brand awareness
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  and team awareness and things like that.
• 3:22
  Yeah, I mean the the the problem is our schedule is there's just
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  nowhere to fit it in, especially going over that that far across
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  the world. I I think it'd be very, very
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  difficult to to make that happen.
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  But I definitely think that there's there's a market for it,
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  but it's just I don't know whether it's feasible or not.
• 3:41
  Jacob. Jacob, C1 race face digital.
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  You've had success here in the night race.
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  I know you're still looking for your first springtime went on
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  the concrete, but given the concrete surface and the fact
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  that it maybe isn't as temperature sensitive and isn't
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  liable to change as much, can what you have success with in
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  the fall translate to success in in the spring race even though
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  we're running in the daytime? Yeah, I think so a a lot of it
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  is because I think nothing has changed since last fall with
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  with the cars, you know other than the bodies of the Toyotas
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  nothing else has changed. So yeah, we we probably will you
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  know stay kind of in our home base where we feel pretty
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  comfortable and but yeah I I I don't think there's any relation
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  to you know Daytona's the same way I've won the 500.
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  I've never won the the other race, you know won the Bristol
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  Knight race, just never won the other race right.
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  So I think it's just more circumstances and things like
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  that that in coincidence but certainly believe that you know
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  since we've only been, I don't know probably about 12-14 weeks
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  since the last time we were here.
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  I I think not a ton has changed, so we can lean on that.
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  But Matt, then the Steven. Then the lead, then the Kelly.
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  Matt Weaver, sports. Not given that the last two
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  years you were kind of right there on the edge of making the
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  Final Four, and you could probably make a case that it
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  came down to playoff points earned over the course of the
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  year. It's early, but you're sitting
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  at 0 now. When do you guys start to think
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  about, hey, we need to be getting stage wins, race wins,
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  stuff like that to be able to pad yourself a little more going
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  into Martinsville. We're trying, certainly.
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  You know, I don't know where we're usually at at this point
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  of the season. I'd say we're probably, you
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  know, as good as we've been, maybe not since a few years ago.
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  But just generally speaking, gap to the lead and points is we've
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  been as close as we've been here this year.
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  But certainly no stage wins and stuff to to show for it.
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  But we've just been close, just haven't really closed it.
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  But we've only really run 2 tracks that, you know, I, I feel
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  myself and my team can control, really outright control, winning
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  those stages and we just been closed, just not there.
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  We've we've got some good stage points.
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  We haven't had great finishes. There's also zero in the top ten
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  column if we're really looking at it.
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  But we know we're we're running, we're running well.
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  So it'll it'll come for sure. And then kind of part of this
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  larger horsepower conversation we're all having, if for
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  whatever reason horsepower is just not on the table, it's not
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  happening. There's a lot to talk about how
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  you know whether it's the the, the width of the tire, then you
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  have to buy new wheels. I don't.
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  Want to do that? Yeah.
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  Yeah. So I guess A-Team order that's
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  not even something that's on, Is it cost or is it just the
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  logistical? Racing, yeah, just the cost.
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  And then you got to redevelop another tire again and then
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  which means we also have we'll have to do testing, tire testing
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  along with that. So I'd rather I'd rather not do
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  that for sure from ownership standpoint.
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  Yeah. So then for you then, is it just
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  then we need to have more power period?
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  We do, yeah. It's yes.
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  The answers. The answer's the same for sure.
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  Steven. Steven Toronto, CBS Sports,
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  Denny. I remember the last time we had
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  the spring race here on concrete in 2019.
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  And the big point of conversation after that weekend
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  was how they didn't sell the Turn 1234 grandstands and and
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  everyone was kind of bellyaching about, you know, oh, they
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  screwed up Bristol. They ruined the track when they
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  changed it. And I go back to the night race
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  last year and even the year before that.
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  You know, this track has big crowds again.
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  A lot of energy. Fans are into it.
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  They're popping off. Do you feel like Bristol, as a
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  venue and as a destination racetrack, has gotten its mojo
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  back the past couple years? I mean, hope so for sure.
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  I think it's, you know, always puts on great racing as long as
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  you're willing to look around, right.
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  I mean certainly there's always passes going on whether it be,
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  you know, because such a small race track, there's always side
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  by side or some sort of overtaking going on.
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  So there's a lot to take in that's that's very positive but
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  it's just it's dilution at some point, right.
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  I mean it's you've got here Martinsville, Richmond all
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  really, really close proximity and both and all with multiple
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  dates. So the the fan, you know I think
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  we're, we would all be guilty of it if we were just fans, right.
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  And we lived in this area, maybe we have something going on this
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  week or not, no problem. We'll catch the next one or
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  we'll catch, we'll just go to Martinsville instead or we'll
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  just go to Richmond. You're when you have that many
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  options, you're always just going to put off and then not
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  really capitalize on the actual moment.
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  So it's really, really hard unless you're, you know this,
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  the Phoenix Daytona's really seem to do really well with
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  their two dates for whatever reason.
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  It's just hard because there's so many tracks in this little
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  area that run multiple times. And then do you think having
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  this race on dirt for a couple years kind of helps the demand
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  for the spring concrete race come back a bit just to, you
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  know, have it go away for a little bit?
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  And then people say, yeah, you know what, I'd like for the
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  concrete race to come back. I'd like, I like Bristol this
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  way. I'd go to Bristol if if it was
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  like that, do you think? Yeah.
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  Do you think there's validity? In that I think there is
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  certainly we've seen in the sport many times we changed to
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  one thing when we go to the back and then we go back and we just
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  we just keep flipping back and forth.
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  A lot of it is just just create, hey, here's the storyline, this
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  is different this week. So you know and so I think that
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  it keeps things from getting stale but certainly when you
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  don't have it as much you always tend to want it more.
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  And so that goes back to the the the dilution of of how much we
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  got here. Thank you, Danny.
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  Go to Lee. Then to Kelly, then to Davey.
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  Lee Spencer SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and Catch fence.com.
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  You've really embraced the role of being the heel Denny and and
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  you know clearly with your your comment about I beat your
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  drivers, all of them. But my question to you is when
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  you go to your home track Richmond, which you grew up.
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  I mean, you know, so close to that track, you would think when
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  you come home, you're the hometown hero and you get booed
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  there. What kind of effect does it have
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  knowing that, you know, you should be the big swinging.
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  You know what? Walking into Richmond and I.
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  Don't know what? Tell me.
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  And. People would call me that
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  anyway. Well, probably.
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  The what? I haven't talked to.
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  Jordan lately, though. But, you know, it's, you know,
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  just kind of, what does that feel like, 'cause, I mean, you
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  know, just to be even hated by the hometown crowd has to be
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  brutal. I just used to beat up their
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  favorite drivers in the short tracks days too.
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  So that's why I don't know. I mean I I just don't mind it.
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  I really don't because it's it's just noise.
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  It's noise. I mean there was there was many
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  moments kind of sort of mid career where there was just
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  claps and it's like that's just not a needle mover one way or
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  another and so you know and and a lot of it comes just with
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  success as well if you're if you're a contender each and
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  every week you're going to get more noise and and typically you
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  know I I've had so many altercations with you know
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  really popular drivers and that just kind of fuels it as well.
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  So I think certainly I've I've checked all the boxes of things
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  that that fans despise of. You know, we've seen one that,
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  you know, previous drivers, Joe Gibbs Racing, he just changes
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  teams and all of a sudden he's more alike.
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  So you know, when you have all the things that I've got, you
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  know, in that box of negativity checked, you're you're just
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  going to have to live that life. Go next to Kelly, then to David
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  and my man in the back. There.
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  Kelly Crandall, racer.com Danny Tomorrow's 5 races in next week,
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  we get on a road course for the first time.
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  Are we at the point where we're starting to see, Do you think
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  any trends of kind of who has it, who doesn't when it comes to
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  this season or does anything stand out so far early on?
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  Yeah, I mean, I certainly think so.
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  I think after this weekend you certainly will be able to draw
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  some sort of comparisons to who's good to start the season
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  because we've we've gone to these tracks kind of you know
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  that are that are different. But if you have cars that can
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  consistently are running up front no matter what the track
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  then clearly their team has some sort of process that's really
• 12:41
  really good and and bringing fast cars to the track.
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  So I think certainly after this weekend you can start to write
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  some of those headlines of you know who's looking good the
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  first part of the season and then it will we'll go through
• 12:54
  the summer right and you're going to see some start to pick
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  up their performance from there and and start to peak right at
• 13:02
  the right time at at the playoffs.
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  So you'll you'll definitely see some conclusions, but you know
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  it doesn't mean anything really to the to the very end of the
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  season. Does anyone or anything stand
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  out to you so far of just kind of big picture looking at at
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  things, 'cause I know obviously you like to review things and
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  you have the podcast, you can kind of talk about everyone and
• 13:21
  everything, so you watch these races closely.
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  Has anything stood out to you? Yeah, I mean, from a media
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  member I would say, yeah, there's some teams struggling
• 13:32
  that that you don't usually see. But I'm not going to give them
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  any poster material, not today. Davey Siegel with SiriusXM
• 13:42
  NASCAR Radio Your crew chief Chris Gabhart.
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  He gets really jacked up when he comes here.
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  I think that was part of the reason why his emotions after
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  you guys won the fall was so evident.
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  Do you notice anything different from him when you're leading
• 13:54
  into a Bristol race, whether it was last year, this year,
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  anything like? That yeah, he's certainly
• 13:58
  motivated most really. It's a lot of the short tracks
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  because that's what he grew up doing as well as is the overall
• 14:03
  short tracks. And so, you know, this is, you
• 14:06
  know, kind of what he feels like.
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  It's his Super Bowl. So when we win the Bristol
• 14:10
  Knight race, it certainly is always really, really big for
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  him and we've just been really good here over the last few
• 14:16
  years. So he just always, you know he
• 14:19
  he just, I don't know if he puts more emphasis on this race, but
• 14:23
  he certainly wants it more. So he's probably a little more
• 14:27
  critical of my driving on weekends like this than he is
• 14:30
  others. And off of Kelly's question on
• 14:32
  the road courses, you you seem to have upped your game a little
• 14:35
  bit and especially in qualifying.
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  I know you pointed to Tyler in the past as a reason as to why
• 14:40
  that performance is kind of up ticked a little bit.
• 14:42
  Can you speak to your evolution in terms of Rd. courses, whether
• 14:45
  it comes to qualifying and or the race?
• 14:48
  Yeah, I think there's been a lot of factors.
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  I think that, you know, this is kind of the benefit of having,
• 14:53
  you know, one of the stronger Rd. course drivers in the Toyota
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  family. I think that there's many other
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  Toyota drivers that are up and coming that are going to be
• 15:01
  challengers as well. And I just use any information I
• 15:05
  can to try to get better. Certainly I know I'm one of the
• 15:08
  lower, lower talented guys on the on the road courses, so I
• 15:13
  just try to do everything I can to learn from them and use all
• 15:16
  the resources I have. Casey Marler, WJHL here in town.
• 15:22
  Can you comment, Danny, on the return of the road course next
• 15:25
  week at Coda and kind of the drastic change between where
• 15:28
  you're at this week to where you go next week?
• 15:31
  Yeah, it's a lot different for sure.
• 15:33
  You know with the extended practice of next week, I
• 15:36
  definitely feel a little better about getting up to speed before
• 15:40
  qualifying goes. But yeah, I I I'll put the same
• 15:44
  to maybe a little more time on it simply because I'm not as
• 15:46
  familiar how to make really good speed on on that track quite
• 15:50
  yet. But I feel confident we'll get
• 15:53
  there by the end of the week. It's just going to take a little
• 15:55
  little time and certainly a lot different mindset from my
• 15:59
  standpoint from you know just leaning on my experience and
• 16:02
  know what I'm fighting at one track.
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  You know, if I'm working on it for this track this week, I kind
• 16:06
  of know what I need to look for. Where code.
• 16:08
  I'm just kind of looking at everyone else's stuff to see how
• 16:11
  do I compare?