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Denny Hamlin Addresses His Racing Future | NASCAR Press Conference · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  There's not a whole lot second guessing I, I would say, I mean,
• 0:04
  certainly from my standpoint, there's just not much, not much
• 0:08
  else you can do about it. So there's really not been any
• 0:13
  post processing of like, you know what you could do different
• 0:17
  because I felt like, you know, I did exactly what the format
• 0:22
  asked me to do and still wasn't right.
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  What do you and Coach and GAIL do to to be brief when to your
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  point there wasn't really another option anyway?
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  Like how do you guys debrief? Out.
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  Yeah, I don't know, I think it's probably more kind of yeah.
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  I I don't know how they'll do that.
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  But certainly, you know, the takeaways from JGR need to be
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  that they did a really good job preparing me really fast car and
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  give me all the tools I needed to succeed.
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  So, you know, I've been there in other years past, we're just not
• 1:00
  been fast enough or good enough. And this is just a little
• 1:04
  different than that. You told me going into it, you
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  knew coming to Phoenix, you had taken every aspect of
• 1:12
  preparation to make sure that no one could say, hey, it was you.
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  And when you look at what happened on Sunday, four times
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  out of five, four tires is the right call.
• 1:25
  You're able to come up the way Heim did.
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  What made that race different? Then Friday, I think a couple
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  things. Obviously competition is one of
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  the big factors. You know, the car versus, you
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  know, the trucks makes it a little bit different and it just
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  happened to be, you know, there were so many cars that that
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  stayed out that you know that that kind of definitely changed
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  the game. So you know, just circumstances,
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  talent level and cars is the only thing that was different,
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  but obviously the result is a ton different.
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  Your girls were your biggest cheerleaders coming into the
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  race. They were cheering Denny Hamlet.
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  I mean, it was like, it was so cute.
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  But then afterwards they came up to you and were equally crushed.
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  How did you console your girls? Yeah, I mean, just trying to
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  teach them the life lessons that life's not fair, you know, it's
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  so now things don't always happen, you know, the way
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  they're supposed to. But yeah, it's just, you know,
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  especially for the older one, just trying to justify to her,
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  you know, the outcome was difficult.
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  And still, hours later, it was more trying to calm her down
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  than anything. Larsen said that you came to his
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  party. I was curious, why'd you go?
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  And what was it like to stop by? Just pay my respects.
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  I, I would hope that he would have done that for me.
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  I think he would have. He's been a great friend of
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  mine. You know, I hate for him that
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  kind of the attention is shifted a little bit away from him and
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  his championship, because he's definitely there's a difference
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  in deserving and should have been right.
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  I think that there there's not a one person that can should ever
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  question his deservingness of of being a champion.
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  That that that's what I don't like to see.
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  But I mean, he's a great friend of mine and I'm it wasn't me.
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  I'm, I was definitely happy for him, but I was just trying to do
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  the right thing as a friend. And regardless of my, you know,
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  feelings and emotions that evening, I, it was important for
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  me to go show him support. How long did you stay?
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  Not long, not not long. It's it it won't be as agonizing
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  as having to sit through two hours of today.
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  You know, tonight, you know, it's you know, we're you can say
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  we're the only sport that blank a lot, lots of things, but
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  having to make the losers sit there and celebrate the winners
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  is just one of those extra things that we have to do in our
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  sport. That's painful, is there?
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  Any time where you felt this type of.
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  Pain like can you compare it? No, this cut is deep compared.
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  To like 20. 10 No way, not close.
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  This one's deep. Allow yourself to sit in these
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  feelings instead. Of telling.
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  Yourself to get over I don't know as long as I have to, you
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  know, I think where I feel like I've gotten better with with age
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  is just, you know, being able to move on to the next thing.
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  But yeah, I just can't like I say in the moment I can't
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  imagine having to go through the process I went through to to
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  prepare for that race doing it all over again.
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  I just. I don't just see others anyway.
• 5:03
  Is letting. Yourself feel however yeah, as
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  long as it takes for for certain can.
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  You imagine any other sport where Larson has mixed emotions
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  about winning the championship? William Byron felt bad for you
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  that he had a flat tire and took away your championship.
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  Can you think of another sport where competition would be
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  crushed for you? Yes and no I think that we're
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  all just so close because we're we play the same team, we play
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  the same opposition each and every week.
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  So I think we get to know each other personally and that
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  probably plays into the the factor of the, you know, the the
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  person itself and and feeling empathy for you know, your
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  competitor because you know them so well.
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  There's. A concern on social media.
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  Come back and race next. Year I mean I I plan to I have a
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  contract too but I there's at this point there's just
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  absolutely no way that I would even I don't even think about
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  race car right now it just yeah I'm gonna need some time on this
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  one but. You know, be able to, I guess
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  it's, it's three months. Enough time like it's February 4
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  whenever the well, yeah, I mean the good news is the banquets 2
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  weeks earlier this week. So the the offseason is a little
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  bit longer, but I I'll, I'll get over it, Just it's going to take
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  a minute. What?
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  Will you do though? What are you going to do in the
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  next? Couple of months, yeah, I tried
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  yesterday. I, I, you know, sleeping's not
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  been good since Sunday. I don't know, feel as though,
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  you know, so much is off my plate right now because, you
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  know, I do spend so much time working on, you know, my craft
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  and stuff. And specifically Phoenix.
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  Like I, I changed my driving style.
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  I I went into there saying I am, this is what I think I need to
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  do and I'm going to just change my habits for this particular
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  racetrack. And, you know, and so I feel
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  like, gosh, it just, there's so much freed up time now, you
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  know, where that was taking up so much time.
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  And so, yeah, I, I don't know what I'm going to do.
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  I try to try to spend more time with the kids, give them a
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  little bit more FaceTime, that's for sure.
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  Was. That was that a was the change
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  that you made Was that result of Brennan Dells and and and
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  Briscoe Sims? Yeah.
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  It's just, it's, it's studying who I think is the been the best
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  at that historically at that track.
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  And then obviously going in with that approach and then telling
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  my team what, what, what, what aisles to go down to give me
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  what I need. And so, you know, that process
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  started obviously weeks ago and, you know, to get it, you know,
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  it was difficult for my end completely changing how I
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  typically approach race tracks. But I thought that this was
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  going to be the best way. And obviously it worked.
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  Yeah, I I thought it was good. It certainly was the best result
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  I had at Phoenix in quite some time.
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  Jenny, our parents always help us through difficult times, and
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  you're in a situation where you're someone's son, but you're
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  also a parent. So how have your parents helped
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  you through this difficult time? And what have you learned from
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  them that's helping you help your daughters through this
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  difficult time? Yeah, I think it's probably my,
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  my family's level emotions. Like, you know, when I walk in
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  the bus and and I see my mom and I give her a hug for the first
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  time, like right after, she's just, you know, it was
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  essentially kind of the same reaction that I had in my post
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  race, right? I think she was probably in
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  shock as well, but she was just like, this wasn't meant to be,
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  you know? And so I think that they're
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  really, I think if they have strong emotions one way or
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  another that that probably can funnel into me, but they do a
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  good job of being pretty level. And, you know, again, my, my
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  dad, you know, thought I was a champion well before well before
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  this weekend. So I don't think his opinion
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  changed much but. How did they help?
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  How did their reaction help you help?
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  Your dogs? Yeah, it was because it's a
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  great question is because once I saw my mom and I talked to my
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  dad, I then engaged with my kids like I saw them, you know, I'd
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  saw them on in the moment at the on the golf cart, but then it
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  was a little extended period of time.
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  So then when I saw him and Taylor still raising hell about,
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  you know, everything that shouldn't have happened, it was
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  just I was able to model myself after them and say, you know,
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  they didn't let it it bother them too much.
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  So I, I should try to, you know, keep that same level of motion
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  for, for my kids any. Have you gone on social media or
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  seen that outpouring directed toward you?
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  How? How aware are you the feelings
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  of NASCAR Nation toward? You at this?
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  Yeah, I mean, I've, I've looked at it and obviously, you know,
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  it's, it's more pain. You know, I try I I look at it
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  for a little bit and I just stop because I it's it just it does
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  get into my feelings a little bit, But I, I love our fan base.
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  I mean, I think that they certainly have been very, very
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  supportive of, of me over the last, you know, really few weeks
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  and my fans for quite some time. But yeah, it, it's I'm a bit
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  torn as well, because I also my my friend won the championship
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  and it's, it's not being talked about that much.
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  But I think that, you know, sometimes people have a tipping
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  point, right? And, and certainly was it that
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  in my mind I did exactly what the playoffs asked me to do.
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  I can't, I can't remember, I think the first time, and no
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  disrespect to them, I don't think I saw them until the white
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  flag lap. I can't remember a lap where he
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  was ahead of me at any point of the race.
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  And then I just I remember seeing him for the very first
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  time right after we took the white and the dog leg.
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  When I went down, I looked up and because they told me on the
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  back stretch with two to go, the five is pinned on the outside.
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  I thought he was, he was one of the cars I was clearing in three
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  and four. So when I saw him, that's I knew
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  then that it was over. So I had only about 1/2 a lap to
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  3/4 of a lap to say, Oh my God, he's going to win.
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  And so, you know, I think that's where the shock came from.
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  It's just doing all the right things.
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  And even like, you know, the pit Rd. metric, like I, I felt like
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  I did my job everywhere and then even beat everyone for most of
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  the, if not all the scheduled distance.
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  But it's just we, we, we went longer.
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  And unfortunately on that last lap, I, I saw my fate right in
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  front of me. What do?
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  You say about the conspiracy theorists that are out there
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  that are questioning because of the lawsuit.
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  Somebody came up to us last night at dinner and they said,
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  are you seeing what's on the Internet?
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  And I'm like, it's bullshit. But I mean, how do you, you
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  know, how do you? About what part we're.
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  You know that the the caution just.
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  Came out. No, they yeah, no, they had to
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  you know, the bill Byron was in the wall.
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  I you'd saw I think, you know, if you want to gripe about a
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  caution, maybe the yell Yeley caution where I don't think he
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  hit anything. But no, they they made the right
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  call there. It just was crappy that it was
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  40 seconds too early. But I no, I don't think that's a
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  questionable caution by any means.
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  Through your head just. Because.
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  I think when Jeff asked about the fans, the fans certainly
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  look at it and say, got a guy who's tried for 20 years to come
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  this close and not get it. It's just it's heartbreaking to
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  see it. Even if they don't don't like
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  you, just how do you kind of comprehend the fact that you
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  know you've worked so hard for it to come down to that?
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  Yeah, I just, yeah, you guys have been, you know, a lot of
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  you that are standing around here, we're here for most of
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  those 20, if not all of them. And so you've seen me lose this
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  in so many different ways, right?
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  That from the mechanical failures to just crazy things.
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  But you know, I don't know, this one just adds to the list.
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  And so, you know, regardless, like you can use and I and I can
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  that like nothing changed the way I felt about myself at the
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  end of that race. And to use Carl Edwards quote,
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  like I knew what it was like to be like to be a champion.
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  I I felt it with five to go, I knew it was over.
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  And so I, I don't have the trophy, but you know, I knew
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  that that was probably the first time that, you know, I was
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  forced to perform a certain way under this format and I did it.
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  And there's there's nothing else I I possibly could have done to
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  change the outcome in. A regular golf season when is
• 14:59
  typically the time for you to lock back in the erase?
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  It's going to be a minute. I mean, I, I just, but
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  ordinarily, ordinarily I'm usually probably itching by late
• 15:17
  December, right around Christmas time.
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  So I, I would think this is probably going to be, you know,
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  about the same there might, you know, when I have to go do
• 15:27
  something, I will. When he asked you what, what are
• 15:30
  you doing in the offices, I'm like, well, we kind of know what
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  you might be doing for two or. Three weeks.
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  Yeah, Yeah. So.
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  Like, well, how does that potential coming to go through
• 15:39
  the trial impact, you know, either you're trying to get over
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  this or trying to. Yeah, they are separate and, and
• 15:46
  I got asked that by someone. It doesn't change my feelings
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  on, on obviously the the lawsuit or anything like that.
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  It's it's, you know, that they are two separate things.
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  I would that one is I'm a car owner.
• 16:01
  I have no emotions and feelings on that side as a driver.
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  I certainly do right in this moment, but I I don't let it
• 16:08
  bias or change my emotions. The result on Sunday doesn't
• 16:13
  change any of my emotions or bias to to the lawsuit stuff.
• 16:16
  I'm going to ask you as. Well, when you were talking
• 16:19
  about the decision that go for four tires, the tires, the tread
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  the same in in the cup and truck like that, that's I was trying
• 16:26
  to figure out why why so much reliance on what happened in the
• 16:30
  truck race would dictate a decision.
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  Or I don't know that it did. I don't know did it?
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  It sounded like that. It's it's at least the theme was
• 16:41
  if you were thinking about taking two and you saw the truck
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  race it, it looked like 4 was the way to go.
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  At least that was kind. Of a common.
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  Chatter after the race, right? I don't know.
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  Whether I don't know, it's just that the competition is so
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  different. You know, the, the, the truck
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  guys are so inexperienced. I mean, I, I watched them as a
• 17:03
  Cup driver and I see them on restarts and I'm like, oh, if
• 17:06
  there was a Cup driver in the field, they were blow right by
• 17:08
  these guys 'cause they just, you know, they're, they're figuring
• 17:11
  themselves out. They're, they're really young
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  and Corey is just far mature beyond his age and his craft.
• 17:18
  So even still, it was close in the trucks, right?
• 17:23
  So I think if you would have just blind told us that there
• 17:28
  was going to be 910 cars on not 4 tires, we would have changed
• 17:35
  our strategy. There was, there's just no way
• 17:37
  Chris Gayle was going to say, OK, I'll I'll start 9th.
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  And I got faith I there's no way.
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  I just didn't think, and we didn't think that that many,
• 17:47
  especially at the, you got to understand at the end of the
• 17:50
  Phoenix race, everyone knows that there's a battle going on
• 17:54
  amongst these four. We had no idea that many people
• 17:56
  were going to go in there and say, all right, I'll put myself
• 17:58
  in the middle of the, the, the championship 4.
• 18:01
  And so I think maybe some of the thought process too, is that
• 18:05
  there's not going to be too many crazy strategies or, or
• 18:08
  different strategies here because probably no one wants to
• 18:10
  be part of the ending story. But it just worked out the way
• 18:15
  it did.