Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Kevin Harvick Says Farewell

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Kevin Harvick Says Farewell · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Obviously it's it's you know it's been a great ride and I
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  think for for me it's it's it's something that I love to do and
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  and you know I I think as you look back on it and and realize
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  all the things that you've been able to be a part of and be
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  fortunate to be somewhat successful at.
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  It's it's been it's been fun obviously I'm not going far so I
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  guess I'll just be sitting on the other side of the table
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  asking the questions. But it's been a great ride and
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  and appreciate everything that that's you guys have have done
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  for me and and whether they're good questions or bad questions
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  I guess doesn't really matter but it's been it's been fun.
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  I appreciate what you guys do, Zach.
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  Sternio@nascar.com Kevin, obviously a lot of speed here at
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  back in the spring. Have you do you feel like you
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  guys could go out there and and win this race on on Sunday and
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  right off into the sunset with the with the win?
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  Well, we did run good and I think as you know you look back
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  at just the the history of of everything that that we've done
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  here, it's been, it's been OK. So you know we've been we've
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  been rather hit or miss this year.
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  But I think you know this is a place no matter how your season
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  has gone you come to with the expect expectations of of
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  running at the front of the pack.
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  So hopefully, hopefully that's what we can do.
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  Hi, Kevin, Holly Kane with the NASCAR wire service.
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  So now this is it. That's it.
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  Does it feel any different? Are you taking things in a
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  little bit differently? What makes this weekend maybe a
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  little bit more different than all of the ones leading up to
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  Yeah, you know I think for for me all the weeks leading up to
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  this particular one were really not that hard.
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  I think you know this week was this week was was a little more
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  difficult just because it is the IT is the last week and and you
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  know with with your guys and the people and and everything that
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  that that you do is is actually coming to an end.
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  I don't think up until this point I don't think anybody
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  really thought it was real and and this week it's it's pretty
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  real. So so you know I think that this
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  week has been definitely different than than everything
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  leading up to this just because of the fact that there isn't a
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  next week, there's been a next week up until this week.
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  So look it's it's it's very different you know the the
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  things that we that we have to do going forward.
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  But it's all planned out and I think as as I talked to to Dale
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  and and Dale Junior and just you know he was in a very similar
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  situation where is you know the TV piece of it was planned out
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  the race team piece of it's planned out.
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  We have a management company, we have golf cart stores.
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  All those things are already functioning and I think it would
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  be much different if you weren't closing the book.
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  And you know I think for for me I feel very fortunate to to be
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  able to to open open the book and obviously our first chapter
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  was it was a little bit different than than most
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  people's. But it was it's it's the time
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  that that we chose to to be able to say OK this is it And this is
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  going to be you know the the last week and and you know
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  coming to coming to Phoenix and and racing here for the last
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  time when you used to come here and and race just for a hobby.
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  Right. And you look forward to to
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  coming to this particular racetrack on cup weekend and in
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  February for the Copper Classic every year as as a West Coast
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  racer that's that's what you did.
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  So it is it is a little bit different.
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  It's a lot different than the weeks past because there isn't a
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  next one. Yeah.
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  You know, I think, I think, Piper, you know, for for weeks,
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  Piper's been like, dad, why do you have to go to the next one?
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  You're already retiring. So she's she's pretty much over
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  it. Keelan's terrified just because
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  of the fact that he knows that I'm going to be a way more
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  racist than what I was before. And he knows that I'm going to
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  be, I'm going to be all over him, you know, a lot more than I
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  am right now. Right now.
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  He can he can go off and and do his thing and and race and and
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  dad's not there to critique every single move that that he
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  makes. So that party's over.
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  And but you know, I think it's it's fun, Piper told Cheddar
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  earlier. She said, she said he asked her.
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  He said. So what are you looking forward
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  to the most? She said.
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  Well, Dad's going to come watch me race, so that'll be fun.
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  All right, we'll go to Jeff Clark.
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  Kevin, when when you came in, you know the the weekends were
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  longer and you guys had to go test more often, but you also
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  didn't have like a lot of the midweek stuff, you know, like
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  whether it's looking at SMT or maybe video and things like
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  that. And also a lot of drivers now it
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  seems like, I mean you you pretty much had consistent
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  sponsors, but a lot of them have more sponsors that ask for more
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  appearances. So like, do you think overall
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  that drivers when you first came in were busier and had more on
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  their plate than today or is it the opposite?
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  In today's drivers have way more on their plate, it's just
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  different. And I and I I I say that not
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  trying to be a smart aleck. It's the the the demands on the
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  time are not as much as they used to be because I just I
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  don't think I really think since you know 2009 when everything
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  crashed and COVID the the demands on your time from an
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  appearance standpoint and from testing standpoint and and days
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  at the racetrack are much much less than than what they used to
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  be. I think it's the it's the
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  tedious work that that comes with the details that go into
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  the video and the data and everything that that comes with
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  that. And and really from the driver
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  standpoint you're a part of an equation and you have to be
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  pretty pretty involved in in everything that's going on to to
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  be able to understand the insurance and outs of the
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  equation to be able to make a difference.
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  Otherwise you're a hindrance to really the whole system and you
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  never really get anywhere right. And if they hit on something
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  then you have a little bit of success, but it's never going to
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  be consistent unless you really understand how to be a part of
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  that equation. So I don't, I don't think that
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  there's to me it's a lot easier than it used to be just because
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  you don't have to go to to do so many sponsor appearances.
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  Even though you have more sponsors, it's it.
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  There's still not a a huge demand on your time like there
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  used to be from from an appearance standpoint just
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  because of the ways that the way that that companies utilize your
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  time is just much different because of of the way that they
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  do events and and things compared to how they used to do
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  it with free for all marketing accounts budgets that that you
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  just had dinners and different things all the time.
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  So but I I still believe that one of the biggest challenges
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  that many of our young drivers have is is really time
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  management and trying to get that that circle of life and and
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  balance to make yourself realize that you're really not that busy
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  and and figure out how to do a lot more things in a short
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  amount of time and still be able to function.
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  So a lot of it just comes with structure and organization, and
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  I think that's that's one thing we stress a lot too.
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  Our young guys is hey, how do we, how do we get your circle of
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  life in balance so you can do more because you're really not
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  doing that much. It's not that hard.
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  Pardon Nate. Nate Ryan on NBC Sports on your
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  left again, The end of your career is not just like the end
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  of your career, it's also sort of an end of an era for NASCAR
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  generationally. There have been 6 champions were
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  born in the 1970s, Gordon Johnson, Stewart Kenseth, Kurt
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  Busch and yourself. And you're the last one.
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  Hanging up so and not just those guys, but Carl Edwards, Dale
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  Junior, he mentioned you know Ryan Newman, there were a lot of
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  great drivers from the 1970s from like the Gen.
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  X sort of generation. So I'm wondering like have you
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  thought about that all or is there any sort of sense of pride
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  about what you and your contemporaries, your peers have
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  accomplished as it comes to an end?
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  Well, I think when when you name that list, it's a it's a group
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  of guys that came in in a great time because you got to race
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  against the guys that were just ending their careers in them,
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  you know in the early 2000s, late 90s.
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  And then you got to go through a a new generation of guys that
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  you came up with. And I guess there's I don't know
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  how many there are, but there's a there's a number of us that
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  went through almost 20 years of it together.
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  And you really blocked out a whole generation in between for
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  for the most part, just because you had so many guys that were
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  so good and able to be successful.
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  But we also came through, we also came through at a time when
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  the sport was just out of control with money from a
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  sponsorship standpoint and all the team owners were looking for
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  the next great driver. So they started their Bush
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  Series teams and everybody had a Bush Series team.
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  And so we were at this fortunate time when when the the Cup
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  Series team owners were just looking for anybody that might
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  have a chance and you could find funding to fund that program
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  with. All you had to do is just say
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  you were starting a program and you'd have two or three
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  opportunities for for sponsorship.
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  So and that's how it was really as you went through for for me
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  we when when we decided that we were going to go Cup racing we
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  had three sponsors and we had to decide which one we wanted and
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  that was that was at a very unique unique time in the sport
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  and and I think I'm very fortunate to have raced in the
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  you know previous generation to come through with the guys that
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  I did and and now really for me I'm in a fortunate spot to be
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  able to see the whole next generation starting.
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  And you have some really young guys that are in their early
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  30s, late 20s, mid 20s and now I get to take that and have raced
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  against most all those guys that are be here for a long time and
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  go up in the TV booth and already know them all and have
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  raced against them and have a relationship with them.
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  And so it's just a we came through at A at a my generation
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  of of racers came through at a very unique time that was just
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  really fortunate to to get to race against the previous
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  generation my generation and the future generation to to see all
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  those changes in cars and tires and racers and styles of racing
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  and and we went from trial and error to simulators and and
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  simulation and all I racing and everything that that comes with
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  the sport now and and when when we did that before you just go
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  to the racetrack and you'd you'd cut the cross member out and you
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  drill holes in the in A-frame and you know you just you you
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  just tested and tested and tested and tested at the track
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  and and now you don't do it that way at all So but that's one
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  thing I've always whether it was my race teams or the race team
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  that I have now it's evolve or die right because this is an
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  evolution process that that is never going to end because it is
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  there there are engineers and smart people and you always have
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  to keep your head up and your eyes open or you're going to
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  miss something and get left behind.
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  And you know, I think with some of the generation of guys that
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  that were going out when we were coming in, it was they were very
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  stuck on, you know, these are the springs that we need to run
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  in the car. You can't do this and you can't
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  do that. And they quickly got left
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  behind. And then to me, I remember that
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  like it was yesterday and and you look back at those guys and
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  you're like, man, if they would have just kind of just followed
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  the evolution of the sport and and let it come to them.
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  They're still driven it fine. They just wouldn't have known
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  what springs were in the car and what shocks were on the car and
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  where it was going to go next. And whether it was high or low,
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  it's still still went around the racetrack.
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  It just went around the racetrack faster but that's what
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  we do. And you know if you if you the
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  the days of of knowing everything that's in your car
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  and knowing how it works that you almost need to forget that
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  because you're just interrupting interrupting the process of.
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  Of all the smart people that that work on the car car to make
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  it go faster and find something new and make a make a better
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  part or peace and and so there's just a lot of things that have
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  that have changed and I love that part of it.
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  I love the evolution of of watching it change and and
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  that's always been something that I've taken pride in in
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  being able to to be a part of that change and and still be
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  successful at what we did. The next generation is you know
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  I think it's just it's just a different I think it is and I
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  think I think with you know I think guys like Joey Logano are
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  going to be great leaders. They already are you know you
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  you see some of the younger guys start to speak up and in the
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  meetings and I can't wait to continue to be a part of those
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  those meetings as as we go forward and and listen to it
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  evolve and grow and change and and see who who the the new
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  leaders become and and because that's just the that's the
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  process and that's how that's how it works and there's a lot
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  of lot of really good racers and and now you know I think you'll
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  see guys evolve into into leaders that that you might not
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  have expected and and so yeah I mean that'll be fun for for
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  everybody to watch and and learn but you've also got some guys
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  that have been here for a while that'll that'll do a good job.
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  All right, we're going to go to Janet.
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  Hey Kevin, Jenna fryer AP. Everything you've gone through
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  learn good, bad and different. What do you not want Keelan and
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  Piper to do? What do I not what?
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  What do you not want? Everything you've learned,
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  Everything you've done and experienced What?
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  What? What do you not want Keelan and
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  Piper to do? Well, the one thing that I tell
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  Keelan is I always tell him I'm. I'm like, hey, we'll we'll get
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  into some sort of disagreement of of why you should do
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  something or why you shouldn't do something.
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  And I'll always tell him, he'll say, well you did this or you
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  did that And I said I'll tell him that's exactly why I'm
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  sitting here telling you not to do that.
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  If you'll just shut up and listen I'll make you better.
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  It's not very hard, right. I've already done.
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  I've already been down this road and I've already made this
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  mistake and and really that's that's one of the great
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  advantages that we have Where you know from from the
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  management side is if you'll just listen I'm not telling you
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  this is how you have to do it but just listen to me and then
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  you take it and you evolve from there but don't don't make the
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  simple mistakes And I think you know from from Piper's
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  standpoint she's still trying to figure it all out and and you
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  know but but Keelan's pretty easy because he's a lot like me
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  he he's he's he's a lot like me in the in the way that he acts
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  the things that he does and things that he says but you know
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  he's he for me is is very coachable because of the fact
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  that I know his next move like it's really simple.
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  So you know I think for for him if he'll just listen and not
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  make some of the same mistakes and just have a better starting
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  point then he can take it in and evolve from there.
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  And if we can make his sister just be in charge of everything,
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  she will definitely take charge. So that that seems pretty easy
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  if if, you know, if, if if it were me, I would, I would just
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  say, you know, I I would before I had kids, I would say I don't
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  ever get involved in racing. You don't want to do it.
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  It's it's not the lifestyle that you want to live.
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  And then you have kids and you look around and you realize,
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  man, this is really what my life is all about.
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  I love racing and that really came from watching Keelan race
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  and watching him grow to love the sport and watching the other
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  parents and the other kids and and everything that they did was
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  all about racing because they loved going to the racetrack and
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  it brought them together and and that's really what I mean,
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  that's what I've done my whole life.
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  You just get, you get in this, you get in this mode where you
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  walk in the racetrack, you've got your head down, you walk to
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  your hauler, you put your suit on, you walk walk from the
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  hauler to the to the car and from the car to the hauler and
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  from the hauler home. And I can't wait to walk in the
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  racetrack with my head up and just look around because I'm I
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  really have never done that. So it's you know I think for for
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  them is is probably the best advice I can give them is to is
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  to try to have fun because it's not always going to be fun
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  there's always going to be something that's hard and and in
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  order to be good at this it's not going to be it's not going
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  to be fun most of the time. So I I don't, I don't know that
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  answers your question. But you know I think he likes to
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  listen to anybody but me. Yeah.
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  So but he listens and you know I think as as he he listens but
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  doesn't want you to think he's listening which I'm the same
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  way. So it's fine.
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  But you know I think for for me, I've learned that I don't need
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  to be the coach. I need to coach through the
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  coach, put him around the people that that I can trust with what
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  I think is the right way to teach the right methods because
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  you're going to get a lot further so that that to me is a
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  better strategy. Thanks to Jeff Burton.
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  All right. Apologies, we are not going to
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  get to all the questions. We probably could spend an
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  entire hour in here talking with Kevin.
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  So Kelly, I believe you have something for Kevin as we wrap
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  here. But obviously we don't want to
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  make you late for your final practice session, but hopefully
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  you'll spend a little bit of time with us on Sunday once you
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  get out of the car. All right, Kelly.
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  Thank you, Amanda, Kevin. I'm here on behalf of the NMPA.
• 17:44
  You've won our Driver of the Year.
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  Award. 2347 times I believe it is.
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  Our members over the last couple weeks wanted to put something
• 17:53
  together for you. It is a congratulations on a
• 17:56
  Hall of Fame career and now welcome to the dark side of
• 17:59
  being one of us. There's also two very important
• 18:03
  pieces of things in here we have.
• 18:06
  We wanted to be the first ones to prevent to present you with a
• 18:09
  media hard card instead of a driver hard card.
• 18:12
  You might want to look on the back there, there's a disclaimer
• 18:15
  that I don't know if this is actually going to get you access
• 18:16
  to anything. Yeah, and then we've also stuck
• 18:20
  in here an application to join the NMPA.
• 18:23
  We know you're good for it, but Promptus is appreciated when it
• 18:26
  comes to your $60.00. So again, congratulations and
• 18:29
  enjoy.