Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / William Byron From Pole To Victory Lane at COTA!

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William Byron From Pole To Victory Lane at COTA! · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Yeah, I think it's just part of the process and the evolution of
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  our notebook for these race tracks.
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  So I feel like for us we can just take from this just another
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  data point to you know, of what we need to improve.
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  I mean I don't think anyone's car was driving perfect there.
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  You know, just the way that this race track is with the ride over
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  the bumps and you know kind of the just the way the curving is
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  and tracks pretty rough. So I feel like it's, it drives
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  different than anywhere, but at the same time you can kind of
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  put this one in the notebook and say, OK, you know, when we go
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  to, I don't know what's next, but whenever we go to the next
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  one, we know what to work on and we'll just try to keep building,
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  you know, at each one. But I feel like we've got in a
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  rhythm and you know, we just have gotten a good, good feel
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  for these places. Rob T Johnson for the
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  ponyfinish.net willing, congratulations on your second
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  victory of the year and 2nd Rd. course victory.
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  I believe in your career as well.
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  I'm just kind of curious. I know we talked about it when
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  you won the pole yesterday, but you know, what's your comfort
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  level and confidence level when it comes to attacking these
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  different Rd. courses in the CUB series?
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  I mean, I don't know if I'm the most confident one when I show
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  up, but I feel like I just focus on, you know, the details that
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  it takes. And once I kind of find that
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  that rhythm and cadence of doing the shifting and the the braking
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  and you just start to fall into that that place that you've been
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  familiar with, it just kind of, you know, get you through.
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  So each one's a little bit different and I feel like the
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  quicker we can find that rhythm and kind of find that feel that
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  I need in practice, the quicker we go.
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  So it's different every week. You know, I I think, you know we
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  just put a good week of prep in and it was nice to have another
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  20 minutes, you know, because I don't that first session I was
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  just getting up to speed at the end of it.
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  So it's nice to have another one to kind of get going go to mark
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  up here. Mark Garrow, PRN William,
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  Congratulations on the win. What's your confidence level
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  now? Six wins a year ago, Two wins in
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  the Opens, Opening 6 races this year.
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  Who knows how the season is going to unfold for you in that
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  regard, but it seems like now you're winning more races than
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  anybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Your learning curve seems to be
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  so quick. Just how do you feel about where
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  you are right now in this deal? I just feel like it reaffirms
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  that the process that I'm doing during the week is is correct.
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  So if I do those things that I know are right and the people
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  around me are, are there to help me do those things and keep the
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  ship kind of going, I know that that stuff works.
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  So and I have a great team, you know and I think that when I am
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  able to plug into what we're doing as a whole and we're able
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  to, Rudy and I are able to have conversations during the weekend
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  and I get to a place where I feel confident all that stuff
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  clicks. So the sport's really hard.
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  It's very easy to get caught up in all the moving parts and all
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  the different challenges, but I just know that if I do, I guess
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  what you know is normal for me. I feel like it's it's it's good.
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  What was it like at the end of the race?
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  Christopher's got 4 laps, better tires.
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  That's eighty turns. I think people don't realize
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  it's not just four laps. That's a lot of tire wear.
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  I hear at Coda, he was catching you.
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  I mean are you still like, OK, I just got to hit my.
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  I got enough time, just hit my line.
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  And I mean, what were you thinking there at the end as he
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  was catching you, but you were? Still yeah, I mean you say that
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  and Rudy had the right strategy. I guess that's what I was
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  thinking in the first stage He he told me all week that the two
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  stopper was going to be the the way to go.
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  So I know, I think I I always, I didn't realize that at the end
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  but but yeah I mean it was just trying to have you know not make
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  mistakes. I feel like I made a lot of
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  micro errors in the last 10 laps.
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  And so I just got to just got to calm down a little bit and just
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  kind of, you know, look back at those 10 laps and think about
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  what what could I do better in the car to stay mentally locked
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  in and not get flustered by the mirror or looking, you know,
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  seeing him closing in a braking zone.
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  So I just feel like there's, you know, things I can look back on
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  to improve. But he definitely, you know, had
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  fresher tires and I'm sure that helped a little bit.
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  But but yeah, it's not satisfying to make those Michael
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  mistakes. To win the.
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  Race, I mean it's good, but it's it's why we try to work harder
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  and improve. But Christopher's really good if
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  it seems like when he gets a taste of you know, the the win
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  and at the end he's he's turns it up.
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  So I knew that last lap he was going to be pushing hard.
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  But Rudy gave me an idea of how much gap I had and I felt I kind
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  of did the math in my head coming off turn one, I'm like if
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  I don't mess up I think I'm going to be fine.
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  But, but yeah, he was pushing hard.
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  Good Dustin upfront. Dustin, we know Jayski for both
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  of you guys. Every year, The next.
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  Gen. Car.
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  The 2014 has been the 1st. Team to win multiple times in
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  the season. How?
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  Important. Is it to have that?
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  Early season success. Yeah, I mean, anytime you can
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  collect some points, click playoff points early in the
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  year, confidence, all those things, you know, you just got
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  to do it. And I think again, this is this
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  process. We work really hard during the
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  offseason and prepare for this first chunk of races you know
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  and and it it proves that what we're doing is correct.
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  So that's like William said. So but yeah, anytime you can get
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  momentum going to get the team fired up, get everybody fired up
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  and and yeah, there's going to be plenty of ups and downs this
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  year. So anytime you can get them, you
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  got to grab them. Yeah, I mean he said it really
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  well. I feel like this it kind of ebbs
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  and flows. So we're on a a good flow right
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  now in in some ways in the win category.
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  I'd like to, I like to finish you know better on the off days
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  too. So I'm working on that every
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  week. There's a few guys in the series
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  that you know Chase does a really good job when he doesn't
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  have the day, you know, he wants and he still finishes well.
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  So I'm trying to still look at those days and how I can improve
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  like last week. But I feel like the the UPS are
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  are up right now and we just got to keep it going.
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  Jeff, did you guys anticipate there's going to be more
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  cautions today and and why didn't you think there was many
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  cautions. There was there was just yeah,
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  it was just the stage cautions. Yeah, I think the reliability is
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  pretty good in this car. I feel like everyone's gotten
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  pretty familiar with all the parts and pieces and there's a
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  lot of really good teams and drivers that, you know, don't
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  make a lot of mistakes. And so I think that that creates
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  it. I think the track is really big
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  and there's a lot of runoff here.
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  So the runoff is an advantage to not having cautions because you
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  don't have a wall to hit. You know if you miss a breaking
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  zone, you know I missed turn one on the restart and all I was
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  worried about was the gravel, I wasn't worried about hitting,
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  hitting the wall. So I think that's part of it for
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  sure. And if you look at Rd. course
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  racing in general, watching F1 races, there's no no cautions
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  really and it's up for the street races where guys you know
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  hit wall. So I feel like that's part of
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  it. I I only thing I thought about
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  was the first three or four laps when they're all bunched up and
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  everybody was excited. Somebody makes a mistake other
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  than that. Once they got through that, I
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  felt like it was going to be this way.
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  So yeah, I thought. The race though was still pretty
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  Dang good. Most of around the track is just
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  just the way it goes. Justin Wyatt Watson with
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  frederick.com. Rudy, a question for you.
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  The The strategy played a key role today, obviously as soon as
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  Christopher. Bell showed his.
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  Hand after that first stage break, what was your thoughts
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  going into that? Yeah I I kind of expected
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  honestly I expected about 6 to 8 cars to to stop it as William
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  mentioned I I kind of was on the two stop bandwagon for most of
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  the week but he wasn't feeling it as much and and that's what
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  matters the most So we we I knew we wouldn't be in a bad spot to
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  to short the stages so you know we kind of got Intel that Bell
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  was going to do the opposite basically of us to so if he
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  could a sage win and to stop it he was going to do it and and
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  then they had a bad pit stop or or the IT took a lot while to
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  get fuel in the car it looked like and that really put him
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  back but so he he did an amazing that team did an amazing job
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  coming back to the field but obviously it it still worked out
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  for us so thankfully. Stephen and then Jerry.
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  Stephen, some front stretch. I have one question for William,
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  then I have another question for with you guys.
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  William, can you, can I take me through those, you know, laps
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  taken down like you know, 12 to go, you know to like 5 to go.
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  Obviously the 20 was, you know, closing in, but you had a
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  manageable gap. Was there, were you kind of
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  trying to just conserve a little bit and just kind of save as
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  much as you could for the car towards the end?
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  Yeah, I mean my my brakes were getting pretty hot, so I was
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  pushing pretty hard. And I think, yeah, I mean it's
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  just a lot of laps, you know, around here.
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  I mean it's just, I don't know, 4 miles or whatever it is.
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  So just doesn't go by quickly. So you're trying to just kind
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  of, I wouldn't say boredom's the right word, but you're just it's
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  taking a long time to get to the checkered.
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  So you're just kind of wondering what is going to happen and you
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  it's easy to kind of fall out of that rhythm because of that.
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  And this track doesn't flow a whole lot, it's very technical.
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  So you go from very technical asset section to a hard breaking
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  zone and then you go to another hard breaking zone and it just
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  it's not very similar to anywhere we go.
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  So I feel like it's easy to get out of rhythm.
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  So that's why I noticed today. And then the next question I
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  have was, so of your guys's twelve wins together, seven of
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  them have actually come in the first eight races of the season.
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  Is that just coincidence or is there something, you know,
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  special about those? First, the start of the season
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  or maybe the tracks that are on the schedule then?
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  Yeah, it's just a lot of hard work.
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  Yeah, I I know everyone works hard, but I think we really go
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  in the offseason and sometimes we want it a little too much or
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  I do and just kind of make little errors in the beginning
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  of the season. But typically that's, you know,
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  when the desire is high. And so just trying to keep that
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  throughout the summer this year and keep the stamina, you know,
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  on my side physically to be able to have that summer that we
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  really want to have. But it's a long season, so you
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  just got to kind of take it when it comes.
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  Yeah, it's it's. I mean, we never stop.
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  It's you know once once Thanksgiving's over it's it's
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  it's nothing but working on on races like it's going to be next
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  week. So you know that preparation
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  like you said and everybody works hard with that preparation
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  and and just trying to be fast starters since since the playoff
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  system was created that's that's huge like you start stacking
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  points you start you know you start doing all the right things
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  to relieve a little pressure so that you race more free.
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  And no matter what series it is, it's it's always been something
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  I've, you know, I've strive for. Go to Jerry, then Zach.
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  Jerry Jordan kicking thetires.net, I know you said
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  you were, you know, felt like that you had to worry a little
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  bit. But at some point, when you're
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  leading 42 laps out there, don't you get confident like, hey, I'm
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  going to, I'm going to win this race.
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  I mean, don't you? I mean, you said you were
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  worried a little bit about Bell, but.
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  No, this, this. Everyone's too good.
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  Then the car's too close and everyone's too good.
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  I think it's it's not even though the gaps might be what
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  they are, it's it's really easy for somebody to close.
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  So you know it really just takes slide an entire one time or you
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  know being a little bit loose through that run or a little bit
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  tighter or whatever. So it's pretty close.
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  Because I asked because I was out there shooting photos, going
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  all the all the way to the end of the track.
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  And I mean, you'd come over the hill and you were second or so
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  ahead of everybody else and it just looked like you were, you
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  were dominant. That's why I was whatever, you
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  know, weighs on you that Hey, we've got a good car.
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  We can do this. Yeah, I mean, you're not, you're
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  not like taking it easy. Like I think the laps that he
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  would tell me that that was a really good lap sometimes that
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  would slow down the next lap. So I think it's just, it's just
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  it's that hard to make pace. You know it's not you're not
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  riding around. So it's tough.
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  Zach then Chris, This one. 'S for either one of you guys,
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  but I mean you look. At the schedule over the next
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  two months and. Like through the 600?
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  And I don't. See a weak.
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  Track on the schedule for you guys at all.
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  What? What do?
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  You feel? Like the ceiling is.
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  For this group. 2014, Richmond and Martinsville, Bud, you
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  haven't been paying attention. It's next to our circle big time
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  and I don't, you know, there's like we talked about it, there's
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  different types of wins. You know, we're definitely going
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  to shoot for the stars, but we're going to, we're going to
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  get a win out of the next two weeks one way or another.
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  So it doesn't have to be a victory in a trophy, but we're
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  going to. We have not been good at
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  Richmond, we have not been good at Martinsville and we need to
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  be so right away. That's all we're focused on
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  right now. Chris, Chris Night kitchens.com.
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  Rudy, Speaking of Richmond, it's going to be cold there next
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  weekend. High lows at night in the lower
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  upper 40s. What kind of race we going to
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  see there? Yeah, I mean it's well, we
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  haven't raced at night there in forever, you know next Gen. at
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  all. So I don't know, I really don't.
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  I mean the tire Ware is going to be in the fall off.
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  It's still going to be high. It's just going to be in a
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  different, different, you know, not not as much as a summer race
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  at 3:00 for sure, but it's still going to be high, still going to
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  be sliding around, still going to have some awesome strategy
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  situations, two stop and three stop and stages and and all of
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  that. And and that's what you have to
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  get amped up about Richmond. You know, I don't, you know,
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  sometimes you don't get the side by side, but you, you generally
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  have a heck of a race or strategy involved in it.
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  So that's what we're expecting. We just hope to have a car to
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  compete good enough to to be in, you know, making those calls
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  that matter. And William, this is your first
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  Cup win from the pole, so you're able to book in the weekend with
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  a pole and a win. Is that playing significance?
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  Oh yeah, I mean, 13 poles and never won a race.
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  So the expectations get too high.
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  I think so it's true. I mean, I think, you know, this
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  weekend felt like regardless of where we were starting, we felt
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  like we're just going to go out and execute a good race.
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  And that's how I tried to to stay throughout the weekend.
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  And I feel like other times when I qualify in the pole, I get a
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  little excited and start to expect to win.
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  And you know, it's just a long race.
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  You can't, you don't know until you start.
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  Go back to Rob. William, just kind of curious.
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  I believe your dad was here at the race and I know he missed
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  the Daytona 500, so how special was it to win this race in front
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  of him and your mom around and having your family support?
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  Yeah, it's awesome. I mean they they got to come out
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  here yesterday, flew in yesterday and got to see the
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  race and it's cool to have them here and just got a chance to go
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  to dinner last night. Dennis Lambert, who was my first
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  screw chief, he was on the radio today.
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  He was one of our spotters so it was really cool to have him and
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  and just yeah, kind of felt like a little bit of a homecoming.
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  I think that's his first cup when he's been at so he he
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  always joked that he was bad luck.
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  So then Rudy brought him one worked out.