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Christopher Bell Wins at Phoenix! · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  Bob. Christopher Bell, NASCAR driver.
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  Did you pick me today? No, I didn't.
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  I did not pick you. Bob's picks are notoriously the
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  worst. If he picks you, or at least me.
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  If he picks me, I don't win. Yeah, I picked you last week.
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  I know, I know. And I sucked.
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  So that was all you last week? I'll.
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  Yeah, I'll. I'll.
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  I'll own it. Yeah.
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  Well, you picked me. So you jinxed me.
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  All right. Well, my question is, did you
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  come into you? You had that deal last week,
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  flat tire, bad week coming the last time you were here you
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  blew. A brake rotor.
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  So were you. Did you come in here an angry
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  man? And did that matter?
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  I came in here a sad man, Bob. No, I was not angry.
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  I was just sad. And yeah just I don't know, I I
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  suck it like trying to stay upbeat after a a run of bad
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  races and you know Atlanta was furthest from my fault and but
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  it's still a 30 whatever 4th place finish and then we had a
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  33rd place finish last week so that was pretty sad and you know
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  I I I try to not let that affect my my driving and then we showed
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  up on Friday and had a bunch of pace had a really good practice
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  so I was feeling a lot better about it that Friday.
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  So were you sad? After a pit stop.
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  Dropped you to 10th and then you're when during the.
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  Pit stop cycles. You're in.
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  You're around 20th. Yeah, I went to mad.
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  I was mad then. But you know, I knew that
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  mistakes happen and I spun out last week, so I I was nervous
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  about getting up through there because passing was extremely
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  difficult and my car was not very good.
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  Whenever I was back in traffic on the restarts, I struggled to
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  move forward and it it took me a couple laps for this field to
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  get strung out before I could start making passes.
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  So that was disheartening. And then whenever they flipped
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  the strap, the strategy or the yellow came out and flipped the
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  strategy and buried us. I I just, I don't know, I I was
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  probably less mad at that point than I was whenever we lost the
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  lead from the pit stop. But at that point it was just
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  like OK, well if I get to 15th or 10th or whatever it is, it's
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  going to be. And I think I got to the first
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  car on 4 tires and then it started looking a little bit
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  more positive. I wasn't thinking when at all
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  until I got to third behind the 54 and I knew the 19 didn't have
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  enough gas to finish and the 54 was on right side tires.
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  So I knew that I was in pretty good shape at that point.
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  So obviously you come out here for the test and you know, you
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  leave feeling optimistic. And Toyota in general is like,
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  oh man, like maybe we have something here.
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  But at what point you know, Friday where you're like, OK?
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  This is yes. This is exactly.
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  What we thought and we do have fast.
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  Cars and. You know, I think we're going to
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  have something to work with here.
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  Well, I'm sure Adam knew that before I did because he's seen
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  the lap times of like how we stack up against everyone else
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  and inside the car, you know, I I thought that it drove pretty
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  well. But you never know, sometimes it
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  drives really well and you're slow.
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  So I was just out there making laps and then after practice
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  Friday night, whenever you go back and look at the the lap
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  times it, you know, that's whenever it starts to sink in
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  that, you know we're going to have a a shot at it.
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  Saturday qualifying. Oh my gosh, I don't know what it
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  is about qualifying at this racetrack, but it has my number
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  and it is. I think out of the five
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  qualifying sessions that we've had, I've only made the final
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  round once and and that's that's a huge deal.
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  So coming back in November we've got to make the final round of
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  qualifying and and see where we stack up.
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  So Saturday was disheartening and and we'll definitely be
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  focusing on that for November. We're here to write to Eric
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  Christopher. Eric List blazeradio.com first
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  full weekend with the new short track package works out clearly
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  for your favor. But your thoughts on it, it was
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  different. I, you know, I I don't think
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  that it was any better in traffic, but it drove different.
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  The car handled significantly different.
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  And, you know, I'm sure that the racing probably didn't look much
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  better, but it was different inside the car.
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  Cooper, when I talked yesterday, said you didn't have a comment
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  on the tires, but, you know, kind of just wanted to see your
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  feedback after three and 12 laps.
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  Obviously, it worked out pretty well in your favor today.
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  Yeah, I mean, the package that we had really liked the new
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  tires. So it was good for me and and,
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  you know, bad for other people. So I'm sure that, you know, I'm
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  going to say that it was great and other people are going to
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  say that it wasn't very good. But yeah, I mean the racing
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  probably in my eyes, wasn't much different than what we've had in
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  the past. Next Giuliana, then the Zach.
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  Hey Christopher Giuliano Moeller Blaze.
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  Radioonline.com. As you said earlier after the
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  race, this. Is a very important track.
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  If you ever want to win a championship after failing to
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  finish last time here in November and already racing out
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  here. Two times.
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  How important is it to? You to prove that you've had.
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  Success here and is there anything?
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  You learned today. That'll help you next time out
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  here, Yeah. I mean, I think we learned a lot
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  and and so did everyone else though.
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  So, you know, it seemed like the Toyota's had the advantage this
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  week and I'm sure that everybody else is going to go back to the
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  drawing board and and be a lot more competitive whenever we
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  come back. So while it makes me feel
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  optimistic about where we're at for the championship race,
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  there's still a lot of racing and a lot of development that's
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  going to go on between now and then.
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  So I don't think you can look too much into what happens today
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  for November. But yeah, I mean it was, it was
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  a great day to be in a Toyota. We'll go to Zach, then the Lee,
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  then the Brett and Michaela, Zach, Zach sterniel@nascar.com.
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  Christopher, you talked about the emphasis of making the final
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  round of qualifying when you come back here in November.
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  But at the same time, you guys have had great long run speed
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  both back in November and today. So is it worth sacrificing some
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  of that or or what do you think it would sacrifice any of that
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  long run speed? I mean, I have to be better on
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  restarts. Even today I was terrible on
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  restarts and never move forward until the field started
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  stringing out. So you know today it worked out
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  because the race stayed green and we got a long green flag run
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  in and and that played to my strength.
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  But you know if the yellow flag comes out with 15 to go, 10 to
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  go, the guy who restarts the best is going to win.
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  So you know that's equally as important and and arguably more
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  important depending on how the yellow flags fall and and we
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  know that I I have to get better at that for November.
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  OK, go Lee, Brett, Mikayla, Dustin.
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  Christopher Lee, Spencer Sirius, NASCAR XM Radio.
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  I was just kind of curious that at the end the Fords came out of
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  nowhere. I mean, they didn't appear
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  dominant all day long and then they were there and I mean you
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  checked out to a 5 second lead, but Buscher was able to get
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  around tie at the end. And I'm just kind of curious,
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  you know what? Was it like?
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  Racing them or were you surprised as well to see them
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  up? No I don't think I was
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  surprised. You know he the Butcher and
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  Keselowski were were really good at at the previous race I'm
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  pretty sure and I know Butcher was fast at the test.
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  So I knew that they were going to be competitive and and I
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  don't know what the tire strategy was behind me, but I do
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  know the tie was on 2 tires. So that's a really big
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  disadvantage compared to at least myself and and I don't
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  know if Butcher was on four or not, but Ty was definitely, you
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  know, not in the best spot. Go to your right to Brett.
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  My name is Brett Sampson from Brigham Young University.
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  Christopher, first and foremost, thank you for your win today.
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  My mom can go to bed happy tonight.
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  Thank you. Second.
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  Thank you, Mom. Second.
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  How do you? Feel your test here in December
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  helped your win today. Yeah I mean the test in December
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  you guys, honestly it's it's tough because we came here for
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  two days and we tried like the feels like 18 different rules
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  packages and before right before we put this package on the car,
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  my engine blew up. So we came here for two days and
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  I didn't even get to run the the current rules package.
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  So I had no idea and my team had no notes on it.
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  But regardless we showed a lot of pace no matter what the the
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  package was in December. So that was we left here
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  optimistic and and it's still you know pay dividends this
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  weekend because we were really fast right off the truck.
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  We're going to Michaela, then to Dustin, then to Dominic.
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  Hi, Michaela Bannon from the Lumberjack.
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  So obviously, as we talked. About just all weekend long.
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  There's a new. Short track package.
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  You know, there's new tires, new Toyota bodies, just a lot of new
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  stuff. How much?
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  Of this. Like the of the new package, can
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  you credit to to to today's win? That's a good question.
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  I don't know it it it drove a lot different.
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  I I know I've already said that but the I guess less diffuser
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  and more spoiler on the car made the car slide around a little
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  bit. You could definitely drive it
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  looser and more sideways than you could in in the previous
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  races. And yeah, I mean I I think it
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  definitely shook up the field and and whenever we come back in
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  November, everyone's going to have a lot more development on
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  these tires, on these this aero package.
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  So I would expect November to be a much different race, hopefully
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  the same winter, but I would expect it to be a much different
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  race, Dustin. Dustin Long, NBC Sports.
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  Can you take me back to the after you were 20th on the
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  restart? And at that point, I know you
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  say you're not taught to think about when, but a key moment was
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  getting by the 45 because you're on the same strategy.
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  Can you take me back and how you were able to do that?
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  Because that seems like in one sense that's a very key move,
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  because he got stuck in in the mess after that.
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  Yeah, honestly, I don't even know how I passed him, but we
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  were. The restarts are just so crazy
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  here. You're 3 wide, 4 wide, and I
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  have no idea. You don't, You don't even really
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  see cars or card numbers at that point.
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  You're just trying to go find clean air and run a lane that
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  they're not in. But yeah, I broke through and I
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  kept. I knew that the 45 was on 4
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  tires and he was, you know, clearly one of the best cars
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  today. So whenever I got by him, I knew
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  that I still didn't think I was going to win, but I knew that I
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  was in a good spot being the first car on my strategy.
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  And for as much as you talked about in the first stage on the
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  radio about how tight the car was and and the struggles there,
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  you guys make the adjustments And in the second stage I think
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  it was like 50 to go. Adam's like, hey, you guys are
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  in good shape, but he almost said don't worry about the 1st
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  2:00. Cars.
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  And you ended up racing everybody back and and winning
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  that stage. And I'm curious, when did you
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  feel like that car was as you're making the move?
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  Hey, there's there's something here.
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  This is not like earlier and maybe I can go get this stage 1.
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  Yeah, probably, I don't know, 1020 laps into the the second
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  stage and it wasn't immediate, like whenever we restarted stage
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  two I I didn't get a good restart and I was still
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  struggling a little bit. But then once we got some
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  separation and I was able to move around and get clean air on
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  my car I or cleaner air it it it drove better and I was able to
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  make passes and you know I I didn't know that I was capable
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  of winning the race until late in stage two really whenever I
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  got to 3rd and then you know I I I could see myself closing on
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  the the the 2 liters. So yeah, I wasn't until late in
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  the in the second stage that I knew that I had a a car capable
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  of winning. And what does this mean for this
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  team? Obviously you've been to the
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  championship for the last two years.
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  You've talked about, hey, so much can change between now and
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  then, so there's still a lot of the season to go.
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  But for you guys to be fast all weekend and to overcome
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  obstacles, what does this do for this team at this point moving
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  forward? Yeah I mean I just hope that
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  this gives a little bit more insight to you know the world
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  the capability that the 20 team has and and I feel like the last
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  two years through the next Gen. era myself and everyone inside
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  of our team has seen glimpses of the potential but haven't really
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  been able to live it to fruition yet.
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  So you know that we're we're I I mean I say this a lot and and
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  there's you know the rest is up to to us to make it happen.
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  But I feel like this is just the beginning and you know he he
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  making the final four and winning one or two races a year
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  is is that's not our end goal. Like we don't want to be a you
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  know A2 win one or two win a year team.
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  We want to be the, you know, be a championship contender year
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  after year and, you know, multiple race wins year after
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  year. Next to Dominic, Dominic ought
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  to go on with the racing experts. 4 races, four different
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  winners. So in your opinion, do you think
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  we get 1617 winners? Do you feel like you need to
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  have another win to feel secure for a playoff spot this year?
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  Well, technically we're race two of the real races.
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  So, you know, I don't even know who won Daytona.
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  William, Byron. Byron, OK, Byron won Daytona.
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  So yeah I mean really I I think everyone in the industry knew
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  going into the season having Daytona and Elena back-to-back
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  with the reconfiguration Atlanta that nobody knew or they were
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  going to be possibly two different you know unexpected
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  winners and and Byron is definitely not an unexpected
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  winner and and so we're two races in and it's you know the
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  the I think we're seeing a trend of of who's going to be up front
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  and yeah so I I don't think that we'll get there this year and
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  and I think the the races you'll see the normal contenders start
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  being up front more often. Do we have any additional
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  questions for our race winner? Let's go back to Bob Pochrus.
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  You said the. Felt like the race was going.
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  To be. Different in November have so.
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  Just because everyone is going to have so much more development
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  time on this aero package. And you know, we we showed up in
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  the Hendrick cars, they clearly missed it this week, right?
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  And they're not going to miss it in November.
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  Whenever a championship's on the line and they've had however
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  many races to you know get their their setup dialed in.
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  So clearly the JGR cars and the Toyota group hit on the setup
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  the best and and you know we we saw that in 2022 whenever next
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  Gen. was first introduced the the the Fords like smoked
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  everybody this this race. So it just takes time with these
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  these changes to optimize it and we're on the winning side of it
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  this time. But the field is going to be you
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  know tighter and and and I would expect that you know the the
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  favorites are going to be up front whenever we come back in
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  November. We'll finish here with Elliot.
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  Elliot Stern Sports Talk 8 O. Five, you said in stage two when
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  you started to stretch out and you could get some clean air and
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  you can maneuver and start moving through the.
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  Field. So did that give you the
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  confidence that you could do it again when you had to do it
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  again on stage? Three.
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  It did not. Was it fun?
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  Whatever. Is it fun?
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  Yeah. I mean, driving race cars is
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  fun, but it's it's it's not very fun in the moment.
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  Like, you know, sitting here right now looking back at it.
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  Yeah, it's a lot of fun passing cars and driving through the
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  field. But, you know, I just drove
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  through the field once and whenever I got put back, I
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  didn't think that there was any way that I can do it again.
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  And and as the race progresses, it gets harder and harder to
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  pass for the the same development reason like
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  everyone's working on their cars, their balance is getting
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  closer, so it it becomes harder to pass later in the race.
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  And I didn't think that there was any way I was going to be
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  able to make it up through there twice.
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  But you did, and then you just blew their doors.
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  Off I drove, I drove a a rocket ship today, that's for sure.
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  And it's it's a credit to my car, not me.
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  Christopher congratulations on the win and good luck next week
• 16:32
  at Bristol Motor Speedway. Thank you, guys.
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  Don't pick me next week, Bob. He didn't even hear.
• 16:41
  Me.