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Joe Gibbs Has 2 Shots at a Cup Championship | NASCAR Press Conference · Kenny Wallace Media

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Coach Gibbs, thank you so much for joining us today.
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I really appreciate it. Obviously on good terms to be
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able to chat on championship four week for you with Denny
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Hamlin and Chase Briscoe going this weekend to Phoenix in hopes
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of capturing the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
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Obviously last night you guys had Christopher Bell not
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advancing. So I know you have mixed
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emotions most likely, but can you just tell us what the last
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few weeks have felt like for your organization?
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Well, I felt like kind of going into yesterday it's, it's been,
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you know, an outstanding year for us.
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But in pro sports, you can have some tough Mondays.
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And we're having 1 today because, you know, yesterday we
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hate it with the the 20 kind of missing being in the playoffs
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there. And it was just one of those
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days where, hey, you got to give credit to the Henry cars did a
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fantastic job and you got to give them credit on a day like
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that. But the way everything worked
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out for us, our playoff schedule is so tough.
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The 20th had a heck of a year, but we just wound up yesterday.
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We just weren't quite good enough to get in.
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So that part of it is a downer. But we have two cars that
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obviously to be in the final four is a thrill for us.
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You got the 11 with Denny and Chris Gayle and all the emotion
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and stories that goes with that car, and then you got our first
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year car with Chase and James just having a heck of a year
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with the 19. So we got two stories there.
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We're really excited about that. It's just today's been tough to
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get back excited. Yeah, Coach Denny has had a few
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mechanical issues over the last 5-6 weeks.
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Do you have any concerns or doing anything additional for
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quality control? No, we've been on that all
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morning. We've all been got the parts
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out, looked at everything. And I think issues with the
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motors are always concerning. You never want that to happen.
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But I think we're kind of have understood where we are and what
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those parts were and have made adjustments for sure.
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And really those parts will not be in the cars for this weekend.
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So I feel good about that. And as What do you think Denny
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has learned from the championships that have slipped
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away that will help him this time?
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Well, I think he's the the experience, as you know, in pro
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sports, that's something that you just can't teach someone.
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They've got to experience it and I think Denny over these years,
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sixty wins and and being here for this amount of time, I think
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you listen to him in meetings and he really with the
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experience and everything is really good.
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I think for the young drivers that are in that room because he
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sees things just as a as a veteran would.
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He's been through almost everything.
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He kind of understands it. He works extremely hard in the
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same. But his preparation and
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everything, I think a veteran guy like, like him, it's just
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it's hard to, you know, that kind of experience really means
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a lot. So hopefully our sport is so
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hard, it shows and how hard our sport is.
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You got to be able to get to the final, final four, which we've
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done with Denny. Now you got one race and you
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know you got to make it happen. Coach 2 drivers from Joe Gibbs
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Racing 2 drivers from Hendrick Motorsports in the Championship
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4. It's the second time in four
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years so this is nothing new for you and Rick Hendrick, but
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what's it like for you going up against Rick Hendrick in the
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Championship 4? You know Jeff Gordon was talking
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last night about how you and Rick exchanged messages a lot
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just as friends rather than competitors.
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What? What's this like?
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I guess facing the best team in NASCAR in terms of playoff
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victories, both as competitor and his friend.
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Yeah, what it's like, I don't like it.
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OK, yesterday's a good example. I got to give Rick and his crew
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over there, the 24 and the five and the 9, this everybody over
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there, 48, everybody was fast. And it shows you what a quality
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organization and how good they really are.
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And so no, I, I would, I would prefer to go against somebody
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that's not very good. The problem is that doesn't
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happen at NASCAR. And so to get to the Final four
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is just so hard. And so now we got one race, we
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know what we're up against, somebody that's really, really
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good. Two cars in there for them, two
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for us. And so hopefully this will be
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good for the fans and everybody. And excitement probably won't be
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good for me. I'll be so nervous and uptight
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about it. But you know, to get the Final
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Four is a thrill and we're thrilled to be in it.
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It's great for our sponsors and our entire organization.
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You got to give Rick and them to solve the credit in the world.
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And a quick follow up about Rick Coach, if you can think back,
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I'm sure you've told us 1000 times, but you can think back 30
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some years. How instrumental was he in
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helping you get into NASCAR? What did he do for you to get a
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team started in NASCAR and and how important was it just to to
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being in the sport? It it was really, really
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important for us. And so when I started thinking
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about trying, but you got to remember I was a football coach.
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I didn't have anything and so when both boys, JD and Coy, we
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talked about getting in racing, could we do that?
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Could you do something in NASCAR?
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Then everybody referred me to Rick and thank goodness he was a
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big Redskin fan and got him to a football game.
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Get him to tell you that story where his shoes came apart on
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the sideline and he almost lost his toes.
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It was so cold. That was the story.
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But Rick helped us a lot. He let Jimmie Johnson, his
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general manager at that time, kind of go with me to a lot of
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meetings and he just helped and gave advice.
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And then we started off originally leasing motors and
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everything from Rick. So it was a huge deal for us,
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you know, for us to be able to get off the ground.
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Rick played a huge role in that and I just really appreciate
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that. Thanks a lot.
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Hey, Joe, you know, a year ago at this time, you're coming off
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the end of the season where you guys didn't win the last half of
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the season, didn't have a team in the Championship four and
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Cup. What, what was that period like
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and why did you feel, what was it that made you feel like you
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had to make the big change with Gabe Hart to change the
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direction of this organization to where now you you've had this
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great successful season and and having two cars in the
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Championship 4. Yeah, Destin, I think for us,
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it's never just me making big decisions.
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And so our team, we kind of all got together.
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We got people that really care about JGR and have spent their
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most of their working lives here for sure.
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And so it's a team effort. And so when we talked about it,
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we laid out some things where we felt like we could really make
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an improvement. And so that was one of them for
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sure, getting Chris move him to be in the competition director.
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Then that met Chris Gayle moving over and some other changes that
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we made here with our four cars. And so, you know, this year to
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wind up kind of where we are with all of that is been, you
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know, very rewarding, I think for all of us.
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But you're constantly in pro sports.
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What I've learned, you know, I said the same thing in the NFL,
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I think pro sports, they, they changed at a rate of about 30% a
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year. And if you're setting still,
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you're falling behind. And so you got to be on the
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forefront of what's taking place.
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And so we kind of felt like some changes the were needed for us
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and just appreciate all of our guys and way they fought this
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year to to get where we are and have the success that we've had.
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And Joe obviously is spending a lifetime in sports.
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You understand how so many people look at these athletes or
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what they can do as superhuman. And it's easy to forget that
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they are actually human. You've gone through things in
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your life. Look, Denny Hamlin's going
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through things with, you know, he's talked a little bit about
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his father. It's the things with his his
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race team. What is it that you see in terms
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of the human side of Denny Hamlin that maybe most people
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that sitting in the stands don't see or realize of the things
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that he's going through and what he's trying, what he's over
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overcoming to try to reach this sport goal as he's dealing with
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life matters? Well, that you're right.
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That's man that you know, it's we look at these guys.
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Very few people can do this. Get in a car, you go 200 miles
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an hour, compete against somebody and so when you get 1,
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it's a huge deal for a race team.
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So for them though to be able to achieve that.
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And then there is the whole personal side.
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It's your relationships, everything.
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I know I've experienced a lot with JD and Coy not being here.
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And so you go through those emotions and sometimes we have a
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tendency to forget about that and only think about somebody
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being an athlete. But there's so much to this.
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And if you think about Denny, where he is right now with
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Dennis, his dad and all that the family went through to sacrifice
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for him, he brings that up all the time.
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Then everything he's got going at 2311, OK, and then what he's
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got going with us, you just realize that's a lot.
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And so I think he's a very unusual person to be able to
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handle all that. He's also a gifted athlete.
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So I would say from the time that Denny first came on board,
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you know, 20 years ago, I think probably where he is today is
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probably one of the biggest changes that I've seen in a
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person. And I think a lot of it's
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because of his family now and Jordan and the kids, you know,
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there's just, there's just a lot there.
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And so I think our fans appreciate that because they
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know a lot about the drivers and certainly our our four guys are
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totally different. They they got different things
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that are taking place in their worlds and so you make a good
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point. Sometimes we have a tendency to
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forget that, but it plays a major role I think, with great
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athletes. On the topic of Denny, when,
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when you have two drivers in the championship, right, I mean, 22
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opportunities to win a championship.
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And I, I'm, I'm assuming it'd be like asking to pick your
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favorite child. But how much of your heart, how
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sentimentally to try to do this and see Denny again get an
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opportunity to win a championship?
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I mean sentimentally, how much are is your heart with him this
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weekend? Well, you kind of take a look at
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both of our drivers in the Final four and you know, if I take
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Chase first, here's somebody I noticed I think yesterday on
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Sirius radio, they were talking to him about the couch that he
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slept on for like 2 years while he's trying to get an
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opportunity in the sport. And to see him, a first year
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guy, be able to get everything done and he's got done, be on 7
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poles, won three races to wind up and in the final four.
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So that's a great story when you think about that.
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All right, then you, you move over to Denny.
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Here's somebody that's won 60 times in our sport.
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All the things that he does now, he's an owner of a race team,
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OK? He races for us and all he's
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done over those years, his family, where he is today, when
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he first came with us all, that's just a huge story.
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His dad and everything that's taking place there.
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So it's two definite different stories.
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And I think for everybody, the only thing that Denny has not
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claimed is a championship. And so I know everybody asked
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him about that in every interview.
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And so if you do that for 20 years, I can tell you there's a
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burning desire for him to win a championship.
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This weekend, getting an opportunity to to win a
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championship. It's been since 2019 since you
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all have done that. I'm sure you don't need to be
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reminded of it. Has it?
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Has it felt that long, Joe? Has it felt like it's been a
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drought or a slump? What, what?
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What have these last few years been like?
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Trying to get back atop the mountain, so to speak.
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Yeah, I think it seems like it's been forever.
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I think that's the thing about pro sports.
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You worked so hard and you get down and with our championship,
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it goes to the last race and she's just, it's really, really
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hard. And the other thing, you know,
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you go 38 weekends, everybody's put everything that they, the,
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that they, all the work effort and everything they put into
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preparing our cars. All the people here.
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It's when you stop and think about it, so many people kind of
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depend on this. And our big deal is you want to
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try and win. You know, I don't think we have
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any of our sponsors that I've ever got that said it's OK just
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to ride around the back. They they don't want to do that.
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They want to win. And so that that's obviously the
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goal up here for everybody. So in this case, you're going to
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have Rick and his two drivers. You're going to have me and
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everybody here, Heather, and everybody and our ownership and
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everybody in management, everybody here at the race, our
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race, our race shop, our entire team pulling for our two cars
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this weekend. So it's going to be a huge deal.
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I think our fans love that. It's the best in the world
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competing, you know, and one race is it should be really
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exciting. Can you discuss the parallels
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between coaching a championship team in the NFL and coaching
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championship teams in NASCAR and have the, you know, have the
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parallels grown closer over the course of the evolution?
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When were you first got here, you had the crew chief and the
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driver, and now it's kind of blossomed into you've got to
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have the entire team and special teams, you know, AKA the pit
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crew has become more important than ever in this sport.
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Yeah, I, I think the thing, I've kind of said this before, but as
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far as the two sports, it is kind of amazing how much they
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are alike in football. You're not going anywhere in
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football unless you got a great quarterback over here.
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It's what the driver, OK. And football, you got it.
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You got to have a coach who knows what's going on.
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Hopefully you have a great coach over here that becomes crew
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chiefs. OK.
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And so the two sports are are are the fact that our pit crew
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guys, it's almost exactly like football.
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They have mandatory weight training twice a week.
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They have mandatory practice. It's all videoed and filmed.
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They're paid bonuses on pit stops.
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I mean, the two sports in that way are a lot alike over here.
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We got a car. And many times that thing will
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not obey. It doesn't.
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It doesn't. You can't chew it out or
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threaten it. OK.
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But I do think that two sports are a lot alike.
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My role is totally different, you know, and in football I can
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make it happen. I was over there, I grew up in
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it. Technically call plays, make it
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happen over here. I can't, OK.
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And so my role over here is totally different.
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Pick the people, work with the people, try and keep our
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sponsors happy. And I said my biggest thrill is
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trying to pay the bills the 1st of every month.
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So my role here is different. I would say this, the there are
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a lot of similarities between this sport and the NFL.
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Those are the only two I've been in, but it's kind of amazing
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really. And you're trying to win a
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championship. The one thing that we talked
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about is different over here, you have four teams.
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That's a real challenge, really difficult.
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How do you get four teams to work together?
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I think the they that NASCAR is really tough from that
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standpoint and you in your spare time do a lot of motivational
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speaking. And when I was in Victory Lane
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at Martinsville with the Hendrick Group, it seemed like
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they all had a pep rally, you know, talking about loss with
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the members of Hendrick that they had lost on the plane
18:56
crash. You know, something about severe
18:59
loss as well. How can you use certain life
19:03
lessons as catalysts to motivate your squads down the to the
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finish line? Yeah, I, I think Rick and I, you
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know, have talked a lot about that, our boys and the fact that
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they're not here. And so we've had discussions
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about that and it's, it's really hard.
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And so we both have experienced that.
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Yeah, I'm not not sure as far as motivating factors.
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I do know that with my two boys and I'm sure with Ricky, you
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know, their dream was to be a part of racing and the future.
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And certainly I, I think that's what Rick kind of had planned.
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That's what I had planned. And sometimes in life, you know,
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God has a different idea. And so you we're in a totally
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different place, both of us. But I think also we share a lot
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of similar heart breaks. So anyway, that's, that's part
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of our life and that's where we are now.
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We got, we got all I got my grandkids involved.
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I got Heather involved. Everything is taking place here.
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I think my grandkids are a number of them will want to be
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with the race team and be involved with it.
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So that's exciting for me. It's not what I the way I
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thought it would go. But then again, God's plans many
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times are not ours. Thank you for your time, Coach.
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You've obviously participated in football playoffs and then the
20:43
Super Bowl, and you've experienced every iteration of a
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NASCAR championship format. So I'm curious, have you
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provided NASCAR any feedback from your standpoint about what
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direction they should go or what are your feelings overall about
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this time period we're in right now, thinking about what our
21:02
future looks like? Yeah, I, I think there's no, I
21:06
haven't, but I think they've gone about this the right way.
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If you got a committee, Heather's been on there and a
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lot of real bright people are thinking about our playoffs and
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is this the right format for us going forward.
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The one thing I would say one race is man is it is tough
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because things can happen to you that they're out of your control
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and that one race. And so I think they've done a
21:38
good job. I'll I'll leave that to NASCAR.
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I hear some rumors about it and I think we'll probably make a
21:47
change in there if I'm guessing, but I think that'll be something
21:52
for the future. And what we're focused on right
21:57
now is the way we do have our championship four, and this is
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the way NASCAR is, and we're in it and we got two cars in it.
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This is a thrill when we get here because it is exciting.
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You got one race to make it happen, but that's the way I
22:16
look at it. And so we got to find a way.
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And I'm sure Rick's thinking the same thing.
22:22
And then with the. Taylor.
22:24
Winning on Saturday and and Ty's car.
22:27
You're talking about the future of the company and you know, the
22:31
way that the family structure is moving forward.
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Is there something in that dynamic that you've kind of
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tasked tie with? Trying to learn or.
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From a team management, like do you have him doing homework at
22:45
all in terms of what it's like to to run a team in any way?
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I think he's so consumed with racing right now.
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That's been his world ever since he was two.
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He's been on something with wheels and after it.
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And so I, I think when you're trying to climb the ladder and
23:06
it is so hard to be successful in racing, I think he's totally
23:11
focused on that really. And so now I, I think that
23:17
that's been his whole focus is to try and win and climb a
23:23
ladder and be a part of NASCAR going forward as a driver.
23:28
And so, yeah, we haven't other than that he's totally
23:31
concerned, assumed with that, I can tell you that.
23:34
You know, you're talking about the parallels to the NFL and
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NASCAR. As a head coach, a Hall of Fame
23:39
head coach, you had to mentally prepare your players for that,
23:42
you know, one game to win a championship.
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How involved are you with crew chiefs, drivers and and picker
23:49
members? Just getting them mentally
23:50
prepared for the task at hand, which is just a one race to to
23:53
win a championship. I think over here to be able
23:58
what it's, it's mostly the crew chiefs and they have that close
24:03
working relationship. They're constantly in the SIM.
24:06
They're going over thing with their drivers and they're trying
24:10
to climb the mountain, get it done.
24:13
And so the crew chiefs over here deserve the credit and and I'm
24:18
obviously in the background. I'm in the competition meetings
24:21
and stuff and I share things at different times, but it is over
24:26
here. I look at the crew chiefs and
24:30
it's just the same role that I did play in the NFL and they're
24:35
kind of the motivators. They're the guys that make it
24:38
happen. They're the guys that make the
24:39
calls. And so that's a very close,
24:43
tight knit relationship between drivers and crew chiefs.
24:46
They really depend on each other.
24:48
And so this world, those are the guys that make it happen.
24:54
Over here, it's not as much I'm there certainly around it, care
24:59
about it, but they're the ones that make it make it happen.
25:04
Awesome. And, and with the, the crew,
25:06
she's being essentially the, the head coaches in NASCAR, do you
25:09
think they get enough credit for, for what happens on
25:12
Sundays? I think I think our fan base is
25:16
very knowledgeable. I love Sirius radio.
25:20
You hear the fans come on there, everything on TV on the
25:24
weekends. We're 38 weekends, which is a
25:27
huge window, TV and everything that takes place.
25:31
I think our fan base is very knowledgeable and they
25:35
understand and I think they really appreciate crew chiefs.
25:39
They know what it takes. Our fan bases, they're after it
25:43
and I appreciate that and there's an excitement there when
25:47
you hear them call in on the radio or have discussions with
25:50
them. I think they definitely
25:52
understand how important the crew chiefs role is.
25:56
And so I appreciate that about our fans.
25:59
And I think in pro sports, they get a lot of attention.
26:03
Pro sports do and certainly NASCAR does.
26:07
And people know, you know, I think the crew chiefs are, you
26:11
know, they deserve a lot of credit and I think they're
26:17
they're keys to what happens here with your race teams.
26:21
I find it interesting because you're such a motivational guy
26:25
and competitive guy, but really up close.
26:28
You're so down to earth, right? And I wonder if you could take
26:31
us through the issues that you had with Chase's car and then
26:35
Denny's car. Where are you?
26:37
What do you do? How involved do you get?
26:40
Then you come back and they digest it, right?
26:43
But then are you banging on tables?
26:45
Are you calling? Like, I'd love to hear what it
26:48
is that you add to all of that and kind of take us.
26:51
Yeah, I'm not sure what I had, Claire, but what we did, what we
26:54
do, we got a great group of technical people.
26:58
Here are Toyota people, particularly with the motors,
27:02
which was a yeah, a huge issue for us.
27:05
It makes you really nervous and it makes them nervous because
27:08
there's perfectionist. So this morning, what we did, we
27:12
got all the parts, we laid them out.
27:13
We had a full discussion on where we are, what happened.
27:17
That's the first thing. And and certainly in racing, you
27:21
want to make sure you understand what did happen.
27:25
That's really important what what did 'cause and don't miss
27:29
that. I think we've kind of we got
27:32
that detailed. And so the decisions then were
27:37
made by Toyota. This is what we're going to do
27:40
for this coming weekend. And so we feel like that we've,
27:44
we've made the right decisions and the we kind of discussed
27:50
what did happen and we're convinced that we made the right
27:53
decisions about what's going to take place on Sunday.
27:57
So I think it's made by Toyota and a lot of our technical
28:03
people. And I'm kind of a bystander, but
28:06
I kind of I kind of know what they're doing.
28:10
I gotcha. And, and a quick follow up, it's
28:13
on Chief James Small and Chase Briscoe, obviously, and then
28:18
interviewing James Small forever.
28:20
But to see him kind of rise to where he's refreshed with Chase
28:25
Briscoe after kind of what he went through.
28:28
What do you see in him to field an effort for the championship
28:32
finale in Phoenix? Yeah, I, I think Claire his what
28:38
he did this year with taking Chase and for them, he ever part
28:44
of Chase's time here. Yeah, James has been in it.
28:50
They've been just like this. And so to see them kind of work
28:55
together and at first, you know, they got the first pole and I
28:59
went, oh, that that's exciting. We got one pole and then they
29:03
just kept upfront fast. And I think that's the thing
29:07
that you look for in our sport. You want, you want a driver
29:12
that's fast. And in order to get there, the
29:15
crew chief has to help him for sure.
29:17
And so as their year went, I, I, I think they set some records,
29:23
almost 7 poles and all that they did this year.
29:26
I think James is everybody that knows James, he cares.
29:32
He is after it. It's a big deal.
29:35
You know, you can see him worry about stuff.
29:38
And so I appreciate that his his the way he cares about it.
29:44
And certainly you're seeing somebody like Chase who came up,
29:50
sacrificed all that he sacrificed with his family and
29:55
him, Marissa, everything that they've gone through to get to
29:59
this level. And it's so exciting to see them
30:02
have a year like they've had. So none of us expected it.
30:06
I don't think any of anybody, I don't think I didn't hear
30:09
anybody in the press say that was going to happen.
30:11
I think it took us all by surprise.