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Shane Van Gisbergen is Ready For NASCAR · Kenny Wallace Media

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  It was pretty full on weekend for me.
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  I learnt a lot. I got involved in seven crashes
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  and only one was my fault really.
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  But yeah, I just, I tried to like analyse everyone and you
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  know, all the six that I got involved in, I couldn't figure
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  out a way I could have done things different, you know, it's
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  it's just this style of that racing and something I have to
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  accept. You got to run the risk of
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  getting that good result, but you're probably going to get
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  into a crash and it's a amazing mindset to go racing with
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  something I've never had to do before, going to a race thinking
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  you know it's 5050 whether you'll crash or you won't, So
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  it's it's pretty different. Going into Daytona, did you have
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  certain ideas of what you thought was what it was going to
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  be like? And then did those preconceived
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  notions change at all? Not really.
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  I try never to have any expectations.
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  I did as much study as I could, got a lot of advice from good
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  people. But until you feel when you're
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  out there and you know it's, you're going like 3 seconds a
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  lap faster when you're in the pack.
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  And when you're the 4th or 5th car, there's just no air and
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  you're sliding around like crazy.
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  It's like drifting into the corners at 300, it's or 180,
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  whatever it is in your language. But it's yeah, it's a it's a
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  it's a crazy feeling. And until you feel it, you you
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  don't really know. And obviously Daytona and Lynn
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  are are. Different.
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  But there are some similarities. So what did you feel like you
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  learned from Daytona that you can apply this weekend?
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  Just knowing how to place the car to get air on it, to change
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  the balance and grip and how to stay in line.
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  And then you know, learning the proximity of the car to the wall
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  on the right side. It took me a while to know where
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  the right side of the car was. Just learning the width of the
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  car. I hadn't really driven around
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  people. We did some single file stuff in
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  practice, but no double file. So I was always a bit, a bit,
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  you know, given a little bit too much space than I should have
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  early on. And that cost me at the start.
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  I was following AJ and my teammate and I just kept pulling
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  out a line, which sent us backwards, So I got better at
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  that. But at the end my car was a bit
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  too beat up to do much with it. Bon Parker's Fox Sports F2.
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  First off, like so was last weekend.
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  Fun. One of the races was, the other
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  wasn't. And have you been keeping up
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  with Supercars at all? Have you watched anything yet
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  from Bathurst? Will you?
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  Or are you trying to make a clean break from it?
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  No, I watched it. Like, I got a lot of friends,
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  drivers and team people, and I watched practice one that was on
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  at a decent hour, and it was a weird feeling, like it's been 17
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  years of driving outfit Lane with all those people.
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  So yeah, it was, it was shame to miss it.
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  But I guess, you know, I had fun.
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  I feel like I belong here. I feel like I've definitely done
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  the right thing for my career and racing enjoyment, so I'm
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  not. I'm not missing it, I don't feel
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  like. Let's go to Kelly Crandall and
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  then Dustin Long. Kelly Crandall, racer.com Shane
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  it's a small sample size, but between Daytona last weekend and
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  then the events you ran last year, you were also a spectator
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  some weekends last year. What's been the take away so far
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  of just the atmosphere in the garages and being here in NASCAR
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  and maybe have I'm hoping you felt you have felt welcome in
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  the garages. Yeah, it's been awesome.
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  All the teams are awesome. The people and the fans as well
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  are really cool. It's been great to see that
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  response. But yeah, this style of weekend
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  is different. I never really go to a track on
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  a Friday morning, qualify, and then you know, race tomorrow and
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  home that night. Like normally our weeks have
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  been five or six days, so it's a big change for me doing these
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  short weekends, but it's it's pretty cool.
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  I like the routine of it. You know, we got home Monday, 2
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  days at home and all three days and then come to a race again.
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  It's it's a cool routine to be part of and hopefully I feel
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  like that in 30 weeks from now. Go ahead.
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  Let me follow up on that because it's short weekends, but as you
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  said, it's going to be a longer year than I believe you've
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  you've done with with racing like a longer season.
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  Not really. Like our our season is longer
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  but less races. We normally end up finishing in
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  December. OK.
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  So it's going to be more back-to-back weekends as?
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  Yeah, for sure. Have you thought much about that
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  and just maybe anything you have to do differently to just keep
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  yourself physically and mentally in this every weekend?
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  I don't know. I don't try not to get too deep
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  about it. I love racing, you know, and the
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  routine of it. Soon as you know, Daytona was
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  over. I was already watching these
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  races on boards, trying to study and trying to get as much as I
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  could from the engineering group at Caulig to prepare me for
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  this. Yeah, I I love racing, so
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  hopefully, well, it shouldn't wear me out, yeah.
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  Let's go to Dustin Long. Dustin Long, NBC Sports.
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  Shane, you mentioned being involved in seven crashes last
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  weekend. Normally for you, is that the
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  equivalent of a a seasons worth or two seasons worth from what
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  you I mean give me a sense of what how long would it take for
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  you to be involved in seven crashes in a in a normal year
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  for you? I think I had two or three last
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  year, like it's crazy. And then our cars last year
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  especially were just made out of glass.
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  Like I thought my race was over, especially in Xfinity.
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  I got out at the end and I expected it to be ruined and it
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  wasn't too bad, you know, the suspension was banned and the
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  fenders were pushed in, but it didn't look as bad as I thought,
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  like the cars are are so tough here.
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  It's pretty impressive what they can take and.
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  What is that you mentioned earlier, just the different
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  mindset how what is it like to have that mindset, that idea
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  because obviously when what you raised that was never much of A
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  thought and it has to be a little bit more of a thought.
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  You see the the highlights of some of the big hits knowing
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  you're going to do that or that could be, I mean that could be
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  your situation. How how do you shape your mind
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  for something like that? Yeah, not only that, but also
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  the results as well. I think I've read a stat
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  somewhere that there's only five guys with a top ten finishing
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  rate of 50% of or better. So I used to go to a track and
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  if you weren't top three on the weekend, it's a disaster.
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  So having that results mindset has been a huge switch as well.
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  So being a part of a rookie makes accepting that easier.
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  And I just got to settle in and you know, shoot for top
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  fifteens, then top 10s, try and get some consistency.
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  But yeah, when you look at even the top guys results last year,
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  they're all over the place week to week.
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  It's yeah, it's very different, you know, different way to
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  approach races. And one last thing is obviously
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  Daytona, Daytona 500, that's the the biggest event for the stock
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  car series. You know, you somebody coming
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  over and so there was a new experience.
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  You know, the sport's growing trying to reach more
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  international superstars to come over, potentially come over for
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  the Daytona 500. How do you talk to anybody that
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  would be of interest in it? Because I'm sure that they would
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  their first thought would be why do I want to grace in this
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  because I got a 50% chance of of crashing.
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  How, how do you, how might you talk somebody through, you know,
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  another international superstar like yourself?
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  Yeah, I don't know if I tell them to come and do that event
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  for the first one but it's definitely a cool experience for
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  me to be a spectator and you know the pre race show, seeing
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  the stands full on a Monday as well like it was, it was pretty
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  awesome to be a part of and to watch.
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  But yeah as an outsider to come in and just jump straight into
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  that race it would be super difficult to to perform well you
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  know compared to like the street circuit was for me.
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  So yeah, I don't. I don't know if I'd advise
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  someone to come and do that for their one off.
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  Let's go to Chris Knight. Nightcatchpence.com Shane, I
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  know that you only got 4 good laps in during the ARCA race on
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  on was that Friday night, so will you return to the series
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  and is it a possibility that we could see you do triple duty at
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  Talladega to get some more drafting experience?
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  I got my license now, so hopefully not.
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  So you don't have any ARCA, Other ARCA races on your
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  Schedule I? Don't know, like the car was fun
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  and the team was fun, but when the race started, like I'd never
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  done, you know, gone too wide before and my spotter was
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  awesome and he was pushing me more than I wanted to to start
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  with. But it was good.
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  We needed to clear some people. So the first lap I was three
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  wide on the tribal, shitting myself.
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  And then I got around, got around 1:00 and 2:00 and cleared
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  everyone and man, that was awesome.
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  And then I just seen everyone swapping lanes and I was too far
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  ahead. Like I think we already got into
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  the top 20. So I couldn't really get out at
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  that point. And then, yeah, it was just
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  mayhem. The rest of the race just
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  lapping. I just stayed well off the back
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  of the pack and still got involved in stuff.
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  It was it was carnage, but ticked it off.
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  We'll go to Deb Williams and then Lee Spencer.
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  Deb Williams Auto Week You mentioned about having to adjust
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  to racing around the cars. You did a lot of work on the
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  SIM, So what was the big difference that you noticed from
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  what you worked with the SIM to actual race?
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  Well, just on SIM, you don't really do the Super Speedway
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  stuff, but just feeling what the air does to cars.
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  And that's unfortunately I spun a guy out, he was passing me at
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  a speed and I went to slot in line and I didn't realize how
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  much the side draft would slow him up.
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  So like, he was passing me pretty quick and as soon as I
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  got beside him, he, it was like he let off the throttle and I
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  just got his rear bumper, like that kind of stuff you don't
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  learn until you feel it. So unfortunately it was at his
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  expense, but now I kind of know what things do, but it's crazy
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  at the speed how much the air affects the car.
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  So I'm sure it's going to be like that here tenfold, you
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  know, into a corner with more radius.
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  Yeah. Lee Spencer.
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  After your comment earlier to Chris, you might want to look
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  into a depends sponsorship. I'm just thinking.
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  What's? That a depends sponsorship.
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  They're adult diapers. But anyway, just kind of
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  curious, have you found that your fan base from New Zealand
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  and perhaps Australia have followed you over here at all?
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  Yeah, it's been pretty cool seeing how how excited everyone
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  was for it and it became available on TV now in New
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  Zealand, so it's cool everyone watching that.
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  And yeah, like the interest has been pretty surprising.
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  And yeah, pretty, pretty cool feeling actually.
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  To have so many people follow me over and all the news sites over
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  there following each race, it's yeah, it's really cool to see.
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  And what do you, what have you found to do for fun?
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  Cuz I mean New Zealand has incredible golf courses and
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  beaches and climbing, you know, hiking, all kinds of different
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  things. What are you doing here to kind
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  of relax, have fun? Not much.
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  It's been mainly just all racing stuff.
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  But yeah, found a few good woods, trails to run around with
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  the dog and girlfriend, stuff like that.
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  It's been been pretty cool. It's a nice area where we are in
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  in Mooresville, pretty relaxed and close to everything, which
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  is good. So I've been enjoying it so far.
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  Are there any final questions for Shane?
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  We'll go back up to Bob Hackers. I know you did the one race at
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  IRP, but was that the most racing you'd ever done at night
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  and was that any different for you?
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  No, I'd done the Rolex and Le Mond 24 before, so done a fair
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  bit of racing at night, but I'd never started one like last
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  Friday at 11 or whatever that was, yeah.