Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Kyle Larson Dominates at Vegas!

Transcript

Kyle Larson Dominates at Vegas! · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Hi, Kyle. Crystal Clay from
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  racingrefresh.com. It's NASCAR's 20th anniversary
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  year for the D4D program. And in the last two weeks, we've
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  seen three winners, three graduate winners of the D4D
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  program, including yourself. So have you recognized that?
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  Is that important to you and why?
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  Well, yeah, I mean now. Yeah, that you mentioned it.
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  Yeah. I mean, I think that is really
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  important. That's really cool with with
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  Suarez winning last week was super proud and happy for Raja
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  on Friday night. Not only because it's Raja and
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  everything that he means the sport but you know with
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  hindercarson.com on on his truck and then you and myself went in
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  to here today, it is it is pretty cool for sure.
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  So you know the D for D program was was good for my career, kind
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  of gave me my introduction into stock car racing and and gained
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  a lot of experience not only on the racetrack but but off of it
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  as well with everything that they offer there at Rev Racing
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  when I was there. I'm sure it's changed quite a
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  bit you know since 2012. But regardless, you know they've
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  produced some great drivers and and it's cool to see and you
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  know, hopefully we can add some more D4D guys on to the new
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  championship lifts you know down the road.
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  Yeah. And just a note, thank you for
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  bringing the D4D program up. Kyle's the 4th this year,
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  starting with Nick Sanchez, also at Daytona.
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  We'll go to Lee next. Spencercatchments.com and NASCAR
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  SiriusXM Radio. Typically you and Reddit grace
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  really well together. You guys put on some exciting
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  events, but you also both like ripping the top.
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  But today the bottom line seemed preferable, he said You kind of
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  took the bottom and he would have liked to have been down
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  there. Can you just kind of talk about
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  a little bit of the cat and mouse going in the closing
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  stages? Yeah, I knew it was going to be
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  cat and mouse. I knew I was going to have to
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  kind of catch him off guard with you know a late kind of block.
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  You know, I'd yes, the bottom was good, but he was making some
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  time up top and three and four and you know, I felt like going
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  back to the fall, you know, like Bell was catching me around the
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  top and I didn't quite move up early enough or or thought that
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  I at the time I I could have maybe not had that last lap
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  battle if I moved around a bit more.
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  So I thought I had a decent gap. I don't know it 8:00-ish laps
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  left and I was like, OK, I'm, I need to get go going up top and
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  three and four to you try and build some momentum and that was
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  the wrong move and it really allowed him to get much closer
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  to me. And then I was like, crap, all
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  right now I got to block air, block him and tried it one and
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  two, I don't know, three or four laps left.
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  He was running a little bit higher than me and 1:00 and 2:00
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  and I was trying to take you his airway and and really mess his
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  angle up off of two but it didn't hurt him that bad and and
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  he was close to me in three and four or down the back stretch
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  for three and four. I don't remember what happened
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  you know that next corner but you're there with two to go.
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  He expected I think me to run the middle or bottom or sorry
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  top or something and I was able to do kind of a nice lazy arc to
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  the bottom and take his airway in the center three and four and
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  got him tight and yeah, that that that killed his run down
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  the front stretch and and thankfully that was the white
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  flag. So I knew as long as I hit my
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  marks I was going to be safe to the checker, just because you
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  would seem like when I blocked him maybe once earlier, it took
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  him like a lap and a half to get that run built back to me.
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  It's where I was gonna have to block again.
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  So yeah, thankful it all kind of worked out there.
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  But as you mentioned, yeah, I I have a lot of fun racing.
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  Tyler, you know, we've grown up together racing.
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  You've had great races back to when we were like you know, 7-8
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  years old. So cool to to have another, you
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  know, fellow Northern Californian from the outlaw Kart
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  ranks. You know, race up front on
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  Sundays. Jerry and then Jeff.
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  Jerry Jordan kicking the tires like that.
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  So I know we're only three races in, but when you got on your
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  roll to win your championship, it came, started here.
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  Any vibes for you, for, you know, looking forward to the
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  rest of the season and getting this win the the fashion you do
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  today and going forward? I don't know.
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  I mean next Gen. Racing is so much different than
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  2021. So you know who knows, I mean
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  yes I I think you know we we have the potential within our
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  team to do that. I think it would be much harder.
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  You know when we won here in 2021 we you know kill them at
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  the end in this you know we had to fight really hard for it.
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  So as Cliff mentioned, you know the field is much tighter.
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  So that's going to make winning much tougher then back then.
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  But again I think our team is you know well capable of it.
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  I feel like we've done a really good job of executing to start
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  the year. You know, Daytona was going
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  really well until you know it didn't there at the end.
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  Atlanta was going great, you know, until it didn't and then
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  today you know we did everything great from start to finish.
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  So you know, pit crew, pit calls, restarts, the car itself,
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  you know, myself in the seat, you know, blocking the right way
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  and and making speed while doing it was good.
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  So you know if we can carry that on, I think you know there is
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  definitely, you know potential to have a a great season like we
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  did in 21. But eleven wins that year?
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  I don't know that that'd be really hard in the next Gen.
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  era. So also was, did Owen plan to
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  hijack your celebration? Did he know you were know, know
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  he was going to do that or look pretty fun out there?
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  Well, I wasn't surprised, I guess, because when we won here
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  in the fall, he did the same thing.
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  He ran all the way, I think from watching it, your grandparents
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  motorhome to all the way to the start finish line.
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  So he was huffing and puffing when he when he got there.
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  But it's it's fun. It's really fun to celebrate
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  with the family. And you know, these are core
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  memories that, you know, my kids are going to be able to remember
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  for their rest of their lives. So I can only imagine, like, me
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  being nine years old and, like, staying on the roof of my dad's
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  race car, staring at this crowd, like how that must feel inside.
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  I don't know if he, like, understands either, but it would
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  have to be pretty, pretty special, at least to look, look
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  back on, you know, decades and decades on the road when he's
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  got children of his own and you know, I'm old and he's taking
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  care of me. No, I don't think Cooper
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  understands much other than just stuffing his face full of food.
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  So no. Kyle, when you're trying to
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  airblock, like with the battle with Reddick, how much are you
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  looking behind you and how much are you looking forward?
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  Is it like a 5050 split or how does that go?
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  Yeah, I would say it's got to be somewhat 5050.
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  You know, like once you're like in the corner especially I mean
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  three and four, you're more out the windshield because it's a
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  more like line sensitive corner, especially when you're trying to
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  run the bottom. But as you'd like even before
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  you exit turn 4, you're already like looking in your mirror and
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  trying to judge the run that's coming behind you.
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  And then you as you turn off into one you kind of like at
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  least for me, I don't know about other people but kind of like
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  you're looking where you're going.
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  But the way the mirror is, you can kind of like out of your
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  peripheral, see, you know, his angle and then like once I get
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  loaded, then I can, you know look again and and and add wheel
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  if I need a block or release wheel, you know, to let it wash
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  up or whatever. So and then yeah, same thing
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  down the back stretch. So yeah, I know it's, it's,
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  it's, it's fun when you do it right.
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  It's tough. I almost, you know, kind of
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  messed up a couple times. But yeah, there's some guys that
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  are really good at at mere driving and, you know, I felt
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  like I did an OK job of it there at the end.
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  Any further questions? OK.
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  We'll go stay up here to Bob and then go back to the middle
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  there. About Packers, Fox Sports, don't
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  seem like there was a whole lot of difference from four months
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  ago. I'm curious just is that, is
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  that a relief? Does that give you confidence?
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  Just, you know, I assume there's always questions when you come
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  back to a place that you kind of dominated.
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  Well, you know the next Gen. stuff so far, you know
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  especially for a mile and a halfs and all that and I mean
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  going back to 2022, I don't think the rules have changed at
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  all. So we've been good.
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  We were good back then and so yeah, I think we've every team
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  has progressively gotten their stuff better.
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  But you know we had a good base starting spot in 2022.
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  So I assume that we're going to be better and better every time
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  we come back to these places. So you know when we won here in
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  the fall, you come back here again in the spring, you know
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  you're going to have a shot. At least you hope you know that
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  this one was maybe a little different just because the Fords
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  and Toyotas with their new cars and stuff and and offseason you
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  know who got their stuff better. But I felt like we were going to
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  be good again. Did I think that we would win
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  both stages in the race? I don't know, but I felt like
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  we'd have a shot. See, I know it was good.
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  My car, my car felt better than it did in the fall.
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  Obviously in the fall the conditions are warmer.
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  In Vegas, I think it was like 20° warmer.
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  So that has a big, big effect on the balance of your race car,
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  especially in the long run. But I thought my car drove
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  better, as Cliff mentioned, from the beginning of the run to the
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  end of the run. Where in the fall I would get
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  really, really loose and even all the other Vegas races, I
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  would get really, really loose on the long runs.
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  But today my balance stayed not bad.
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  I know those guys were a little bit better than me, but it helps
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  when you're getting big drafts on the straightaways.
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  Mitchell Brewer, Black Hat Sports Kyle, back here.
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  Kyle, you mentioned that you won both stages today, obviously
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  picking up a lot of playoff points.
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  What's it mean to get a lot of those in the bank early in the
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  season? Yeah, I mean it's good how you
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  hope to keep stacking up stage points and stage wins.
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  You know, I look at like last year, yes, we made it to the
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  Final four, but you know, I didn't do a great job in the
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  regular season. I crashed a lot.
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  Yeah, we didn't finish as high up as the speed in our car in
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  the regular season. So yeah, there's a lot of bonus
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  points on the on the table for the end of the regular season.
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  So, you know, it's kind of a priority of mine this year's to
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  try and do a better job in the regular season to make life a
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  little bit easier once you get to the playoffs.
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  So yeah, having days like today early in the year definitely
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  helps things, but you still have to carried on throughout, you
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  know the recs next, 20, whatever it is, 2/3 races before the
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  playoffs start. And then yeah, once you get the
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  playoffs there's still a lot more points out there.
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  So just try to be more consistent than I was last year
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  and and like I said finish all the laps and and hopefully the
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  points will kind of take care of themselves.
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  We'll stay up in the middle and then come up to Jenna.
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  Hello, Gary. You know I'll be back here.
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  Obviously Phoenix is next. It's a track where you won one
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  of your biggest milestones in your racing career.
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  So what are going to be the keys for you to go back-to-back over
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  there? Yeah, I don't know.
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  We, we have a different, slightly different Arrow package
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  I believe for for next week than what we've had at any other
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  race. And you know I was a part of
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  that Arrow test at Phoenix at the offseason but I don't even
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  remember you know what exactly is on the car for next week or
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  what run from the test that was. But yeah, regardless it's a it's
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  an important race next week to gather data.
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  You know hopefully we're fast and and all that.
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  You know Phoenix is is not honestly been like a great track
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  for me. I feel like in the next Gen.
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  stuff, we were pretty good in the spring last year, but there
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  was others that were a lot faster.
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  And then you know the the championship race, our team just
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  executed super good to even give us a shot at winning.
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  But Blaney was like way faster than than we were at in the fall
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  race. So yeah, just try to gather,
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  gather data and and, you know, assess and and build on your
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  package for short tracks and in hopes that you're racing for a
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  championship in November. I noticed when you climbed out
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  of the car in victory, then you had the Prime bottle with you.
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  Congrats on the deal. So how did that deal come
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  together and do you think we will see a paint scheme in the
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  future with them? I don't know.
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  I mean, I think, yeah, there's definitely, hopefully
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  opportunity there for that relationship to grow.
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  It's you know a massive brand for sure.
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  So I'm happy to be a part of it and and you introduce it to the
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  to the NASCAR world. So yeah, it's great.
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  It's cool to get a win with them and and and be chugging the
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  bottle in Victory Lane. So yeah, I I look forward to
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  that relationship growing and and hopefully you know they they
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  enjoy having me a part of of their brand as well.
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  Go to Jenna. Kyle, I want to ask you about
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  the Bells. Is that just a #5?
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  Is that just a Team Five thing? I believe so.
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  I don't know if William, if they did that in Victory Lane at
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  Daytona, but so the the bell thing, I'm sure like you would
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  know, like the bells are pretty important.
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  Yeah, at the shop and you know, I, I don't know where it like
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  originated from just 'cause I'm much newer at Hendrick.
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  But I know like even at Rick and Linda's wedding anniversary last
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  year like they had a bell, you know that you everybody would
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  when they left you would ring it.
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  So the bell has always been important to to Rick and Linda
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  and Hendrick Motorsports and you this offseason or preseason I'll
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  call it we all got together the team the five team at Hendrick
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  automotive group and you just kind of get pumped up for the
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  season and and Daryl Jackson he's he's hilarious but yeah he
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  brought you know 3 bells to to the the little get together and
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  told us keep one on the hauler for whenever we win And then I I
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  got to take one home and and Cliff as well.
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  So yeah, that bell will travel with us every week and we'll be
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  ringing it loud and proud in Victory Lane hopefully a lot
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  this year. Is that because you expect to
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  win so much? You can't get back to the shop
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  in time to win all the the to ring the bell so much.
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  I don't know. I'll I'll we they they work
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  around my schedule quite a bit. So yo aside from 20/21 with
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  COVID and all that, every win since then yeah I I've gotten to
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  go through all the different areas of Hendrick Motorsports
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  and shake everybody's hands and and let them ring the bell and
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  and get to celebrate a little a little bit with them.
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  So yeah that's special. It's a really cool thing that
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  they do. Even junior Motorsports has
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  adapted it. You know when we won a race with
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  them at Watkins Glen a couple years ago, I got to go to their
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  shop and and you know, same sort of thing.
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  You have everybody ring the bell.
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  So yeah, it's cool and hopefully you know now it's a tradition
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  for the Five team going forward.