Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Chris Buescher Talks COTA, Phoenix & More! | Press Conference

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Chris Buescher Talks COTA, Phoenix & More! | Press Conference · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
Kind of to put a bow on Coda there.
0:03
You know what, for us, we it's been our hardest Rd. course
0:08
getting there. I don't know if it's the first
0:10
one of the year or what, but trying to, to, to knock the rust
0:15
off takes a takes a minute or two.
0:17
So we didn't qualify near as good as we would have liked as
0:21
a, as an organization, but team had had some really good
0:25
strategy through the day. We had a good race car and it
0:28
definitely stayed with us through a longer run, which was
0:31
beneficial there in, in the 1st 2 stages, unable to to make a
0:35
little headway. And then the last stage really
0:40
was probably set up to be, you know, really about as good as we
0:43
could ask for there. And and then that caution came
0:46
out and changed it up for us. So took AI don't know if you'd
0:51
even call it a gamble or or not, but decided to come in, put
0:55
tires on and and hope that that, you know, couple lap deficit
1:01
that the others would have would, would pay off for us.
1:03
And, and honestly, I think I go back and biggest thing I wish is
1:09
just that that caution would have been faster.
1:12
We ate up so many laps getting the car out of the gravel and I
1:17
guess repairing a a tire pack seems like is the consensus on
1:21
why it took the longest. So we had a couple more of those
1:25
laps back. We were we were in a heck of a
1:27
place that we were rolling there at the end.
1:28
So really happy with everybody on this Fastenal team.
1:31
They worked so hard to to make sure we go these Rd. courses and
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we are prepared and and we don't have anything silly happening to
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us. And that's a it's really another
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solid effort for us there. Not not a race winning day at at
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CODA. We haven't had one of those yet.
1:50
You know, where we've been able to say all these other Rd.
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courses, I, I feel like we've had chances to win or, or speed
1:57
that if we'd have done everything right, would have had
1:59
a chance to win. And haven't quite been there at
2:01
Coda yet, but we're, we're, we're inching up on it.
2:04
I did like the new layout. I thought that was overall
2:06
better from a driving standpoint.
2:09
I know got a lot of friends out there that, that enjoyed it and
2:13
liked it. So seems like it's being well
2:15
received and the small circle that I asked around about.
2:19
So that part was good. I think there's certainly some
2:22
areas that we can clean it up and make it better next time.
2:25
But yeah, overall it was a pretty solid weekend, yeah.
2:28
Chris, I'm curious if you think that that teams will have a
2:33
driver either 1 of theirs or maybe affiliate driver, try
2:37
something different with the option tire, different of your
2:40
strategy or different go for certain length just to see what
2:43
could happen with it, considering it might be the tire
2:46
for the championship race. Yeah, so you you ignored all of
2:51
the road course talk. It went straight to Phoenix.
2:53
I like it. You know what I would say that
2:59
you know what we're we're kind of new again to this three car
3:04
deal. So we're we're kind of going
3:06
through everything and and we actually haven't had our our big
3:10
meeting pre race for Phoenix yet on, on what each individual
3:13
team's planning. But I would say there probably
3:16
are some opportunities to to do some different things.
3:20
But I don't think it's necessarily based on just
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feeling like you're sacrificing one team or the other.
3:25
I think for the 17 group, we've been really good there the last
3:30
several races. So we have a very solid
3:33
baseline, which I think gives us opportunity to try some stuff.
3:36
So if that puts us on the option tire, maybe off the truck, I, I
3:42
don't, I don't know if we'll do that, but you know, maybe try
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and get that longer run in on the option and kind of have
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trust in our, our standard tire being the being what it has been
3:54
the last several times and being very competitive.
3:56
Then maybe that's an opportunity for us.
3:59
And, and maybe the 60 bunch needs to, to get on track and
4:04
get some laps in and and get a baseline.
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I, I'm kind of talking for them in this way and maybe for some
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others that, you know, if you have a solid baseline, you feel
4:13
good about it, then you probably do open up your, your
4:17
opportunities to, to try out those, those Reds a little bit
4:20
longer. So Bob went to Phoenix by I'm
4:22
going to go back to Coda for a second.
4:25
You talked about how there are some, you know, things that you
4:28
want to see cleaned up for next time.
4:29
So I guess twofold, did you want to go back to Coda and what were
4:33
some of those things that you were thinking of?
4:36
Yeah, I like Koda. I enjoy, I enjoy it.
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You know, I think First off when you talk about our schedule and
4:47
road racing and Oval short tracks, whatever you Ave. you
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take there, I think 5 road course races a year is good.
4:56
I'm not the guy over here raising my hand saying I want to
4:59
do this 8 or 10 * a year just to start that out.
5:02
But I do like Koda, maybe I'm a little biased going going back
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home, but at the same time it's I think this was the the single
5:13
largest improvement for our racing was just shortening up
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the course and seemed like it made it to where you had to be a
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little bit more strategic in your passes versus versus all
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the dive bombs that we certainly had those in the turn 1 still
5:27
back one. But you know, overall it was a
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better, better raise and I thought it was better from, from
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from behind the wheel. You know what, when we talk
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about cleaning it up and it's really just going to come back
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to track limits. And I'm we've run a street
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course a couple Times Now. There's pretty solid track
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limits when there's a wall on both sides.
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We're capable of doing that. So how we keep having these
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discussions of, of certain corners are going to be policed
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and, and others aren't. And you know, you're out in the
6:05
dirt in some corners and, and watching people straight up
6:08
shortcut corners. And, and you know, the, the
6:10
drivers meeting video that we watched beforehand says you
6:14
can't shortcut any corner and they will all be judged just
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like terms 3-4 and five ended up being judged.
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Just a lot of confusion from from my side and to me, I think
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it's an easy fix. It's just to put physical
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barriers up is is my my thought process.
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It worked great in 6A nobody shortcut that one.
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You know, it's 6B same thing. There's a wall there.
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Nobody shortcut it, I promise. So that's just my my two cents.
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I don't know how far it'll get, but I just seemed like go back
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and watch some of the fast laps of the race and trying to
6:54
compare our data and it's like, well, yeah, that was faster.
6:58
They, they cut off 4 feet of the apex of, of turn 6.
7:01
I I'm sure that was better. I didn't know that was an
7:03
option. So I, I think that's just some
7:08
of my frustrations of it are, are just understanding how we
7:12
got to where we did. Thanks for the time, guys.
7:14
Chris, as a competitor, do you think the auction tire was
7:18
needed for Phoenix or is that place challenging enough behind
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the wheel? I wouldn't say it was needed.
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I thought I thought we'd have some pretty good races there as
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of late. But I think it worked out pretty
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good at Richmond, created some storylines.
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So I'm not going to say that I'm against it.
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But yeah, I guess I was surprised that it did come
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around and that it will be utilized for the end of the
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season. You know, it's just another,
7:50
another curve thrown at us that that we got to got to try and
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get right and, you know, bring strategy back into it, which is
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a good thing. But I think, you know,
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Goodyear's done a good job at working on getting tires that
8:07
that have more fall for us. And I think case in points, you
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know, the Glen and and Coda now we've had tires that have real
8:13
fall off that that you can pay a penalty for for overusing.
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So I, I know that, you know what we keep on that, that path that
8:23
that'll really has big potential for short tracks without having
8:27
to have an optional tire to do that.
8:29
Now, that being said, I, I think this just kind of opens the door
8:33
to see if what we can get away with.
8:36
You know, maybe I'm speaking for Goodyear on this, but if if you
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can get away with something softer and it and it works and,
8:45
you know, it creates good racing, then maybe that becomes
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the standard and and we don't have to have the the option in
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there. So yeah, I guess I don't think
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it was needed, but I won't I won't sit here and say I'm
8:57
against it necessarily. My questions are two what are
9:03
the goals for the upcoming weekends and which are winning?
9:12
On the next Oval races. Yeah.
9:15
So talking about the next several weeks, we got our, I
9:21
guess our miniature West Coast swing now Phoenix and Vegas out
9:25
there, I'd say they're pretty high for us.
9:30
And RFK this season, probably one of my biggest, what it was
9:36
my biggest goal this season is to to get the year started off
9:40
right to to be more competitive these first eight races and to
9:45
get a win early on. So we've been very good at
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Phoenix. We've been very close.
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So just a little bit of tweak in there.
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I I feel like we have a a real opportunity heading into it.
9:58
Vegas, we got some, you know, a lot of work's gone into our mile
10:04
and 1/2 program through the offseason.
10:05
We're really hoping that we're we're better when we get around
10:08
there. We weren't bad last year and we
10:12
first Vegas, we qualified really well and, you know, had some,
10:17
some real speed and then second Vegas wasn't as strong.
10:20
So just kind of back to, I won't say completely back to the
10:25
drawing board, but trying to, to get that one locked in a little
10:30
bit better and then all the way across the country back to
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homestead, right. So racetrack that I I really
10:36
love. It's at a way different time
10:39
this season. So we'll, we'll make that I
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guess that call and what that's going to affect from a weather
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standpoint when we get there. But yeah, another, another mile
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and a half one that's just extremely wore out.
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So we're getting into our more typical Oval season now that
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we've gotten through these first three races.
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So this is going to be where we, I think really where we start to
11:01
get a read on what our season can look like and what we've
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been able to accomplish through the offseason.
11:07
Hey. Chris, appreciate the time kind
11:08
of following up on that. You've, you started the year
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with two superspeedways, then you go to a road course.
11:13
Is it, I don't see frustrating is the right word, but I can't
11:15
think of a better word. Is it just maybe odd that you
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really don't have a read on who is strong and who you know who
11:20
needs to pick up their game three races into the year
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because you've had three non traditional tracks?
11:26
Yeah, it's it's not frustrating. You're right.
11:28
That's not the it's not the word, but comical is the word I
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would use when I'm sitting there watching Coda weekend and
11:36
they're talking about, you know, who's been good and who's not.
11:40
And you're showing stats from the previous two weeks and it's
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it's two superspeedways and you're like, man, this
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somebody's been all over the board and and you know, this one
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is, you know, two top 10s to start off the season.
11:51
It's like, yeah, there there's something to that, but that's
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not really a a stat that I feel like you can put a whole lot of
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weight behind. So it was strange.
12:01
And I did actually get a good laugh or two through the weekend
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watching some of those little statistics pop up at the bottom
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of the screens and watching Xfinity races.
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It was, it was, it's different, right?
12:13
It's not, you're not going to come out of these first three
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races and be able to tell who's going to have a a breakout
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season. It's not a great representative
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of who's got got everything figured out.
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It's going to show you who's, you know, who did their homework
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and who fired off and, and was smart and had speed and and good
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decisions and good strategy. But it's not really a way to
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check the pulse of the of the field to start off.
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It's it's, it's a bit strange. I don't know that I didn't think
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it would be that big a deal, but I don't think I'm loving the two
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super speedways back-to-back. That one man, it can mentally I
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can get to you because it's that part is frustrating is being a
13:02
little bit out of control for two of them.
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But yeah, it's it can it can get to you pretty quickly if you
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don't take that step back and say, all right now we're going
13:12
to get our real read on the season.
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And you talked about wanting to come out of the gate stronger,
13:17
right, and kind of get that win early in the year and kind of
13:20
solidify your playoff spot, right?
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So knowing that beyond the obvious, which is having more
13:24
speed in the race car performance, except like that,
13:26
have you guys had a made a concentrated effort saying,
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listen, we need to be more aggressive.
13:30
We need to go for it when the opportunity arises to go for
13:33
wins, whether you know some kind of strategy call or do something
13:35
different Because if we have an opportunity to maybe steal, I
13:38
don't see steal one, but we maybe have an opportunity to
13:40
grab a win that maybe it wasn't there.
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Otherwise, we need to go for it to get to get ourselves in the
13:45
playoffs. Not necessarily by by making
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crazy moves, no, Simply by having fast race cars, right, by
13:54
being in position. We were, we were in a place to
13:57
have an opportunity to win several races last year in the
14:01
first half of the season and we didn't seal the deal.
14:04
That's that's the number one goal is seal the deal when that
14:08
opportunity presents itself, we have to to be ready for that.
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So you know, for for us, that's that's where I'm at.
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That was our our biggest goal as a team is we've been very good
14:20
as we've hit the summer stretch and even in the playoffs, even
14:25
when we're not in the playoffs, we we've been able to to run
14:28
really, really strong. That's that's great in in so
14:33
many different ways, but but for how much weight is thrown at the
14:37
playoffs in our sport nowadays, you got, you got to be ready to
14:41
set that up earlier in the year. So that means that means this is
14:45
the time, right? We have good race tracks coming
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at us, tracks that we've been very good at in, in the in the
14:52
fall when we've come back to them, tracks that we've even
14:55
been good at in the spring the first time around.
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We just again need to need to close the deal when we have
15:01
those opportunities. So for us, it's been, it's been
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a goal of the entire organization.
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It's been the number one goal for for the 17 team is, is to be
15:12
better in these first eight. That's been our weakness the
15:14
last several years. After taking a look to the
15:17
statistics when the next year came out, you have a 7.7 average
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rate result. So I mean you're really good on
15:27
this type of tracks. Do you have any pressure on
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what's next and and the way they're the way they are racing
15:36
this year? You know what, there's always
15:42
pressure in our sport. There's always weight on it.
15:45
We got we got stats because we've consistently done well
15:50
and, and been consistent these things.
15:52
So I wouldn't say no, it's not extra.
15:57
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves each and every week
15:59
and you know, it's you know, it gets talked about.
16:04
We kind of joke about during the week and we headed into CODA and
16:07
you know, everyone says, ah, y'all, y'all have the best
16:10
average finish on road courses since the new car.
16:12
And it's like, yeah, that's a that's a great stat.
16:14
We'll means we'll be fine. And we knew that and you know,
16:18
we get there and that's the last we talked about it.
16:20
Didn't think about it during the weekend, didn't think about it
16:22
as we were setting up and running all our simulation
16:26
leading up to the weekend. It's just, it's just a just a
16:29
stat that's a product of the the same hard work that we put into
16:34
these things every single time we go to them.
16:36
So no, that that's, it's not something that adds any, any
16:42
difference to how we prep for a weekend.
16:43
It doesn't change our mindset. It's just, it's just a stat at
16:48
the end of the day, that that is proof to us is concrete evidence
16:53
that that we are good at these things.
16:55
And then if we keep pushing and and be a little bit better yet
16:58
that, you know, we've got a real opportunity to to win some of
17:01
these races. Thanks, also Roche is making a
17:07
three car full time this year so does it change the way the the
17:12
team structure this weekend? Not, not a whole lot.
17:20
It is early in the season and having three cars, we're working
17:24
out a little. I wouldn't even say bugs, but
17:27
we're finding a rhythm, right? And how does that has that
17:31
process flow through the shop? How do our meetings flow?
17:34
How do we make the best opportunity at the racetrack to
17:39
be competitive with all of our cars?
17:42
I wouldn't say that it's, it's that there's, I don't even want
17:49
to say growing pains because I don't know if that's necessary
17:51
the the word. It's just, it's just finding,
17:55
finding the rhythm of it. How does this, how does this
17:57
flow as seamlessly as possible? And I think everyone's done a
18:01
really good job. It was a busy offseason, but I
18:04
haven't really noticed much difference as we've gotten into
18:07
the year since we hit the clash. It really, and I may not be the
18:12
right person to ask you might ask, you know, some of our our
18:15
crew chiefs or or mechanics back to the shop and they might say
18:19
it's chaos and maybe I'm not seeing it, but from where I'm at
18:23
it, it sure has been made to appear quite seamless and easy
18:28
and and I think that's probably the goal you.
18:31
Know after your performance at the road course, Brad Pitlowski
18:35
tweeted that you were the best in Cup Rd. course racing of all
18:40
the drivers and he included on the expost hashtag the factory.
18:45
What you think about the factory and and what does it mean to you
18:48
that that Brad gives you that kind of compliment?
18:53
Yeah, it's Brad came up with the factory a few years ago.
18:58
He said you just so you keep plugging away and you just keep
19:00
turning out results. I was like, well, it's that
19:05
that's great. If they're wins, you know, if
19:07
it's it's just a constant win, then you know, I'd, I'd say
19:12
maybe it holds a little bit more merit.
19:13
But obviously coming from coming from, from Brad and a champion
19:21
in our sport and you know, our our team owner here, it's it's a
19:26
massive compliment. I certainly feel like I have way
19:31
too much to learn to be able to to take that as as the truth
19:36
right now. Always trying to figure out how
19:38
to be better at these and to learn from, from people that I
19:42
believe to be better than me at them.
19:44
So you know what, there's a slightly goes into it, but
19:48
ultimately at RFK we have very good Rd. racing cars.
19:54
We have very good people that are making sure that we show up
19:57
to the racetrack and our our cars are ready to go.
20:01
That we're not having mechanical errors, that we're making good
20:05
decisions and and calls during races that we're staying out of
20:09
some of these massive pile UPS that we're seeing at some of
20:11
these Rd. courses. Right.
20:14
Yeah, you think about it one. One loose, loose nut somewhere
20:19
along the way and or an oil line left loose or something like
20:22
that. And one bad race and all of a
20:25
sudden all the stats and these averages that look so small with
20:28
those, those disappear. So it's not, it's not simply me,
20:32
right? It's there's, there's a whole
20:34
lot into this. So, so to lean on to Brad here.
20:37
Brad also had a saying that I haven't heard a whole lot
20:40
lately, but this was a big thing when he came over and, you know,
20:44
I started going with him to some of these Fastenal conventions
20:47
and talk in front of large crowds of people.
20:49
And he said, you know what, as as drivers, we probably get 80
20:54
or 90% of the credit for doing about 30% of the work.
20:58
And, and maybe that was even high.
20:59
He might have said 20. And I was like, man, it's, it's
21:02
a great point, right? This is not, this is not just
21:06
driver versus driver. This is team versus team and
21:09
organization versus organization.
21:11
There's so much more that goes into it and and those, you know,
21:14
ingrained within our sport, right.
21:16
This is nothing new to anybody in this setting right here, but
21:20
you know, to some of our our more casual fans to understand
21:23
how much goes into this thing and how many people touch our
21:26
results at the end of the day. It, it, it starts to starts to
21:31
sink and makes you realize this isn't, this isn't just me going
21:35
to a road course and, and simply having a good understanding and
21:38
enjoying it and, and running well at them.
21:40
It's our team making great decisions and all the way
21:45
through the several 100 employees that we have to make
21:47
sure that we have these, these kind of results and these kind
21:50
of kind of stats to look back on.
21:52
So it is more fun because we do get to talk about that Watkins
21:56
Glen win. We finally got that road course
21:57
win last year. So that's, that was kind of the,
22:01
the icing there. We finally got to it.
22:03
But you know what? It's it's something that that I
22:08
I surely appreciate, but but I have a lot to a lot to learn yet
22:14
and a lot to figure out. As we head into the mini West
22:18
Coast Swing and I've covered your team through ups and downs
22:21
and a lot of changes over the years.
22:24
Brad, when he first came, I wondered if he was going to be
22:27
patient enough because he wanted it right away, right?
22:30
Where do you think you you are on the patient side of it,
22:34
seeing where you need to be, seeing the changes you've had
22:37
and entering this year as you head to the West Coast Swing?
22:40
Yeah, I think I've been, I've been awfully impressed by, by
22:47
Brad's tenacity and his his attitude towards this thing.
22:54
And how do you approach it methodically that it's not
22:58
always a, a, a blow up that's needed, you know, and RFK has
23:03
taken a huge turn and you know, that's due to many of factors,
23:08
but you know, Brad has been a huge part of that, that culture
23:12
shift And, and this, this, this change has gotten people excited
23:17
to to be a part of our group and be back winning races.
23:20
And that tell you to, to simply just to, to see Jack in Victory
23:24
Lane at the Glen last year track that he's been so dominant at
23:28
many, many years ago, to see him smiling and cutting up like
23:32
that, that's incredibly rewarding knowing how the last
23:37
decade plus has has gone. Right.
23:40
And and you're right, I'm no stranger to this thing either,
23:43
right. I signed up with Roush when I
23:45
was 15 years old And, and I've watched it.
23:49
I think I, I that ink may have dried when when they started to
23:53
hit their their wall and and to be on the up upswing of it all
23:58
is a whole lot more fun. I think the third car was a a a
24:05
big goal of of Jack of Brad, I believe of the the Fenway side
24:12
as well. I think everybody wanted to see
24:13
this thing grow back, but that the patients required to make
24:17
sure that we were competitive with two cars before we put that
24:19
extra workload on an organization that needed to be
24:22
taking that energy and using it to be better, not just not just
24:26
good enough. I think that was a strategic
24:30
play that that is that we've seen play out very, very well
24:33
for us. And I think we'll continue to
24:35
see that kind of show the fruits of that as we go through this
24:40
season. I think we have a lot of good
24:41
stuff coming. It's going to be a really great
24:43
year for all of us. Hey.
24:44
Chris, a little bit earlier on the call, you mentioned
24:46
Homestead, Homestead earlier in the season this year,
24:49
Darlington's also a little bit earlier in the season this year.
24:52
Both of those tracks, typically the fastest way to get around
24:54
them is right up against the wall.
24:56
If I were to ask you set who, who comes to mind when you think
25:00
of who is the best right now in the Cup series as far as ripping
25:05
it inches, inches away from the wall?
25:08
Yeah, I think, I guess the joke in practice is always who's in
25:14
your group, right. And we talked about our we need
25:17
to run the fence and, and that's where we need to practice.
25:21
And and usually it's, it's probably usually Reddick that
25:25
you're looking for to go RIP the fence and see if it works.
25:28
So, you know, that's something that shows up at those race
25:33
tracks, right? And you have to be, you have to
25:36
be good at it. You have to be calculated in, in
25:39
how you approach it. And there's speed there, there,
25:42
there has been for for a long time.
25:46
You know, the difference has been in the last several years
25:48
without steel bodied cars the risk is much lower than it was.
25:55
You know for a long period of time if you got up there fence
25:58
and you were three inches off and you made a mistake and you
26:01
pushed a Fender in on a tire, then you hit pit Rd. 3 laps
26:04
later with a flat, we just we don't have that anymore.
26:09
You know, you just don't get flats from from that kind of
26:13
contact. So it's changed how aggressive
26:18
you're able to be when you go up to the fence.
26:21
And I think it's taken people that were really aggressive back
26:25
with the old car and paid penalties for it at times had
26:30
great speed, but paid big penalties.
26:31
It it took away most of the penalty to where now they're
26:35
they're ahead of everybody else when it comes to that.
26:38
So, so we're working towards trying to understand how, how
26:42
aggressive you can get with it and, and what, how do you
26:46
balance taking care of equipment versus the, the understanding
26:49
that it's just not really going to tear stuff up.
26:52
And, you know, it's changing in our series and the X wing
26:56
series, right when they went to the composite body, it did the
26:58
same thing. You know, it made, made heroes
27:02
out of a lot of drivers that that otherwise were tearing
27:05
stuff up pretty pretty regularly over there.
27:08
And, and it made it's where you're able to get away with a
27:12
lot more. So it's just a different, it's a
27:15
different approach to it now and just constantly trying to figure
27:20
out how to get better at it because there's a, there's skill
27:23
to it and and it's it's hard. Hey Chris, as Goodyear and as
27:29
the sport has worked to soften these tires and kind of change
27:33
the handling of the cars, how much is that impacting what
27:38
drivers are able to do? Is it, is it starting?
27:40
Is there been enough change that it's changing how you have to
27:43
drive the car and what you need to do to be successful is
27:48
different than 4-5 years ago? Yeah, it's, it's a good
27:53
question. I think that it seems pretty
28:00
rare right now that from behind the wheel you can make a big
28:05
difference in how that tire is going to wear out or or fall off
28:10
on you. I think the bigger differences
28:14
are coming from how you show up the racetrack from a setup
28:18
standpoint. I think that it's directionally
28:24
right. And in the past you were able to
28:28
now many, many years ago, there were, there were races you go
28:32
to. And I remember from the ARCA
28:35
series, if you push for 10 laps, you better be ready to give up
28:37
20 to recover that tire, you know, and, and that wasn't
28:42
Goodyear, but it was the same way talking to a lot of, I'll
28:47
just say my elders because that makes me feel better.
28:49
But talking to my elders throughout the, the Cup series
28:51
when they were on good years as well, that it was just
28:55
different, you know, back 2010, you know, right around that era,
29:01
yes, as they've gotten softer, we're definitely seeing more
29:03
fall off and more movement through the field.
29:05
And it's creating some different strategies, which is great,
29:09
right? I don't think we're quite to the
29:12
point where where I am sitting, I can make a huge difference in
29:17
how that looks throughout a run. It's getting there.
29:20
But maybe if you think about the most extreme case, Bristol,
29:26
right? Bristol won last year once we
29:30
figured out we had issues like, all right, we just need to, to
29:33
take care of this thing. I want you to run 75%, no
29:35
harder. And we went from a run that we
29:38
ran 100 to 75. And I think we made 2 apps
29:42
longer before we had issues. It's like that's not really
29:45
making a difference. So you know, with that, it's,
29:50
it's on the right path. And I think, you know, the
29:53
option tire has been a, a way for us to have an understanding
29:56
of what is, is feasible and it is creating different strategy.
30:00
And I think, you know, we're starting to see the, the tire
30:03
from this weekend from from Coda, a lot of marbling and a
30:08
lot of just rubber out of the groove that that is showing that
30:13
we are getting wear. It's just a matter of how do we
30:16
take that last little step? Well take 11 little step in
30:20
being able to feel like I can make a difference from behind
30:23
the wheel. What would be a big change as
30:26
well as the fact simply that they are wearing out and
30:29
creating better strategies? They also last three times at
30:34
Phoenix practice. You've you've been no no faster
30:38
than 19th on the speed chart, but by the end of the weekend
30:42
you've got top 10s. I don't know if that goes back
30:45
to what you referenced earlier. You feel like you've got a good
30:47
setup and you can try some different things in practice.
30:49
Or can you explain to me just the progression of your group
30:54
from practice where it doesn't seem like at least on speed
30:57
chart wise, that maybe at least for one lap you're as strong and
31:00
yet by the end of the weekend you're a top five, top ten car?
31:05
Yeah, we're really just trying to give people good picks for
31:08
DraftKings so that they can cash in at the end of the day.
31:12
I think you know what for for us, our strengths have come from
31:18
mid, mid run to to long run pace.
31:22
Our fire off speed is what we're trying to get better AT and
31:26
that's showed up for those races that you don't see it in
31:30
practice. It just doesn't, you know, no
31:32
one, no one looks for that pace at that point of run.
31:35
They look for the top 10 best laps or you know, you look for
31:40
that, that fast lap, whatever it may be.
31:42
But it doesn't really measure everybody at lap 10 and at lap
31:46
20 in practice. And you know, you really just
31:48
you don't get everybody making those long runs either because
31:50
everyone's wanting to make changes.
31:52
Still us involved with that as well.
31:54
So the, the long run pace has been very strong for us.
32:01
You know, fire off is something that's our bigger goal this time
32:04
around is how do we we be better and look better on that speed
32:07
chart and be able to be more aggressive on restarts and feel
32:11
like we're not not on defense as much as we are on offense and
32:16
ready to roll forward. So, yeah, it's it's we're well
32:22
aware of I have a lot of those numbers right there and how it
32:26
plays into our overall weekend. And, you know, it always gets us
32:29
towards the front and, and we've been been really good there, but
32:34
want to be better for, for fire off speed so that, you know, 1,
32:38
you know, qualify better, get a better spot from the get go and,
32:40
and get that track position. 2 is to guard against late race
32:44
restarts, which you know, with the with different tires out
32:48
there, I feel like there's a, a slightly larger opportunity
32:51
that, that we might see a, a shorter run at the end versus
32:54
the last couple of races. Hey.
32:56
Chris So on Sunday, Christopher Bell broke the streak of
33:00
back-to-back winners in the Cup series, which was the longest
33:03
drought in series history. You were the last one to do it.
33:06
So do you believe that's because the parody of the car, the
33:10
current field of competitors, or the schedule?
33:15
I would say mostly do the parity of, of the race bars.
33:20
You know, we, we have, I mean, we've seen this over and over,
33:23
right is you, you, you look at the amount of winners that we
33:31
have as we head in the year towards the end of the year and
33:35
who makes playoffs that didn't have a win and it's one or two
33:38
cars. You know, we're just having more
33:41
winners. It's more more sporadic.
33:45
You don't have as clear of an idea when you go to certain race
33:51
tracks. It's not quite as clear that
33:54
this is the car that's going to be great when we when we come to
33:57
Martinsville. You know, it's just it's harder
34:01
to to consistently keep an advantage over the field.
34:06
And I think that that's that's a lot of why why you see that.
34:10
Yeah. The fact that the, the schedule
34:12
is as crazy. It wasn't the beginning of this
34:15
season. You know, 1 was a race, you
34:21
know, last week where they were really good the entire race.
34:25
And then I think of Atlanta and we were back there struggling to
34:31
to make laps to begin that race with the 20 car, you know,
34:34
trying to get a handle on all of our, our hot rods back there.
34:37
And, you know, it ended up being able to get that win there for
34:43
for them as well, right. You know, so obviously make make
34:46
good calls and and good plays at it and got it better.
34:49
So it, it is, it's just the the, the pair of the sport.
34:53
It seems like if you gain an advantage, it doesn't want it.
34:58
It's not a a very large advantage to where it it works
35:01
out at all different styles of race tracks into it.
35:04
It, it, it just doesn't last long.
35:07
It just doesn't seem to last long.