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Alex Bowman Responds To Rumor That He'll Be Replaced By Kyle Busch · Kenny Wallace Media

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  There's been media speculation lately that Alex Bowman could
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  lose his ride in the 48 car for 2025, maybe even being replaced
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  by Kyle Busch. Bowman addressed those rumors at
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  NASCAR Playoff media day. What's happening next year?
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  Do you know your plans for 2025? Yeah, yeah, that rumor has has
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  certainly been annoying. Definitely.
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  Obviously my contract's through the end of 26 and all I can tell
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  you is like what my bosses have told me and that that's there's
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  there's no plans to change anything.
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  And yeah, rumors are are just rumors.
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  So hopefully they'll get their announcements done.
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  So my rumors stop obviously. And yeah, as far as I know, I'm
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  driving the 48 next year and nothing's changing and.
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  There's no reason that you should doubt that.
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  And you know, you feel. Yeah, yeah, I don't think so.
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  You know, I trust, I trust my bosses and and that's what
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  they've told me. So yeah, other than that, just
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  focus on trying to be strong the next 10 weeks.
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  Are there any questions about if you have to do something over
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  the next 10 weeks? It just seems unfair right
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  before the playoffs, you know, you're, you're going through
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  this or. If that's the perception and no,
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  there's none of that, right? Like I, every conversation I've
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  had with my bosses is it's it's unfortunate rumors and it's like
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  rumors that we're really not even a part of, which makes it
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  it difficult, right? Like I don't think there's
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  there's any plans or anything on on the HMS side.
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  And I think the rumors have started on the other side of
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  things. So hopefully when they get their
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  announcement on, on what the other side is doing right of
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  that rumor, then it'll kind of go away for me for sure.
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  You had to deal with a lot this year even in the past.
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  I mean, is it just another case or is it, I mean, I when you
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  have to live with that and fair or not fair, that's just how do
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  you, how do you deal with that? Yeah, I mean, for me certainly.
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  Like that's a rumor that I've heard for a month, right.
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  And I got to the point where I picked up the phone and, and
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  called everybody and everybody said absolutely not.
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  So that's really all I have to go on.
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  And I don't have a reason to believe anything other than
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  that. There's no, oh, you need to do
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  this to keep your job. Like it's absolutely not.
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  Everything's fine. So beyond that, like we need to
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  go run better. It's been a miserable month and
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  we haven't executed on a high level at all.
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  So we need to, to go run better the next 10 weeks.
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  But we need to do that for, for us and our playoff run and, and
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  for Ally and, and the 48 car. There's no like you need to do
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  this to to keep your job as as far as I know, I'm not.
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  I'm not worried about that is all at all.
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  How, how does one turn things around?
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  You know, look, start of the playoff service says, hey, it's
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  it's a new new season. Just because it's a new season
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  doesn't mean the same things aren't following you.
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  Or can you know how? How do you break that chain?
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  I feel like we've been able to do that in the past and
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  honestly, a month ago everything was going pretty well, right?
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  And you know, we had big crash at Indy, crash at Daytona.
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  Obviously we had some issues this weekend.
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  So it's been frustrating. But we've we've had some fast
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  race cars sprinkled in there. Obviously we crashed at Michigan
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  with another fast race cars. So we just need to, to execute
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  at a high level in the next, the next 10 weeks.
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  And yeah, just need to buy in and and kind of have the whole
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  team lock in and and execute well.
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  With the with the playoffs, obviously there's a process that
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  you go through throughout each week of the season and in living
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  your life and doing things. When you get into the playoffs,
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  is there something that you cut out or is there something that
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  you make sure to keep the part of because of the potential
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  stress and everything for 10 long weeks?
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  Yeah, I don't think you can change much.
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  I, I think you kind of have to, the way our sport works, you
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  have to kind of live the whole year that way.
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  So certainly working super hard and, and kind of trying to do
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  everything that I possibly can, but I feel like sometimes you do
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  that and almost get worse. So just got to go do my thing
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  and and go from there. So what what's the what's the
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  stress reliever then for this part?
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  There isn't 1 during the cup season anymore for sure.
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  I think every week is is so tough and the way the races go
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  like it's there's there's no getting away from the stress of
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  the steal for me at least. So yeah, I just need to go go
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  execute winning, relieve some stress for sure.
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  What's the saying that Blake says you've heard from Blake
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  often? That is just kind of the one
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  that he repeats or one that makes you laugh or more than
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  makes you roll your eyes because you hear it so often.
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  But it's something that he often says.
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  I don't really have a saying like that from him, but I think
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  for me really just, you know, things were tough the start of
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  the year and talking to him, he's like you and I are the only
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  two that can fix it. So, you know, he's, he said that
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  and then he brought it up again this week.
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  So I think you know, just him and I are responsible for for
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  how that team is going to execute for the next 10 weeks
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  and need those guys to lock in and and and be all in for the
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  next 10 weeks for sure. Some might view you guys as a
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  underdog or potential Cinderella.
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  Is that a way that you would look at it or is that the wrong
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  way to look at it from your vantage point?
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  Because of you've won races, you're with the team that's won
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  races, yeah. Yeah.
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  I mean, I think like we need to improve where we're at for sure
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  haven't been where we need to be for the last little bit.
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  Our season's kind of been broken up into, you know, streaks of
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  really good runs and then streaks of really bad runs.
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  So I think if if we can get the streak of really good runs to to
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  fall well for the next 10 weeks, I think we can be in a a really
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  good spot. But yeah, I mean, I think
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  there's no reason why why we're not capable of doing that.
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  We just need things to go our way and and need to put our best
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  foot forward. Yes and no.
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  I think for for Rick and and Mrs. H and everybody at Hendrick
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  Motorsports, you know, I think it means a lot to them.
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  For me as a selfish race car driver, I just want to go win
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  races every week, right. I don't think there's anybody on
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  the outside that's going to put more pressure on me than I put
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  on myself to perform each and every week and and to do my job.
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  So yeah, I mean, maybe you want it a little more for them, but
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  as a driver I probably want it more for myself.
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  I think the Speedway stuff obviously can be a big wild
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  card. Watkins Glen's been pretty hard
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  on us over the years, so we're super focused on being better
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  there. But beyond that, you know, if we
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  get rolling in the right direction, we can be good
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  anywhere. Beginning of the season,
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  everybody's talking about, hey, we're going to make the
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  playoffs. Yep, now you're here.
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  Yep. And, you know, So what are the
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  odds of you getting to Phoenix and, and you know, compete for
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  this thing? Yeah.
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  I mean, we need to, we need to improve what we've been doing,
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  how we've been executing to make that happen.
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  And, and I think we're capable and have the resources that we
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  need to do that. It's just a matter of going and
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  doing it. So yeah, Mr. H gives us the
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  tools we need, so we got to go make it happen.
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  When you're looking and breaking down the the playoff segments
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  and stages or whatever we're calling them, the the first
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  round that has a lot of drivers concern.
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  It seems to be one of the the toughest or one of the most coin
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  flippish rounds. Is that what you think or you
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  are there? Is there another round that
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  you're? You're worried about honestly,
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  I'm so week to week, I don't even know what the next tracks
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  are after the first round. So super focused on on that
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  round and obviously, yeah, I think you know, Atlanta, walk
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  into the line in Bristol, there's so many things that can
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  happen. Pretty easy to have somebody
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  else during your day at that two of those 3.
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  So yeah, I just need to to go execute at a high level and and
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  go week to week from there. You guys were given kind of an
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  edict of they wanted to think it was Missus H since you wanted
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  all four cars in the in the. Yeah, she wants that every year,
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  but she made it very clear that, Oh no, now I'm dropping the
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  microphone. She made it very clear that that
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  we better make it happen. I think she said she really,
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  really, really, really wants that.
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  So yeah, when when she speaks, we listen for sure.
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  How would you? Characterize your regular
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  season. I mean, I think the Chicago
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  wind. Being a highlight?
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  Yeah, kind. Of gone in waves.
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  Though, you know, absolutely. So yeah, I mean it's been up and
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  down right like we've had streaks of really good runs and
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  the last month we've kind of repeatedly been kicked in the
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  teeth. So excited to get the playoffs
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  started. You know, we're we're plenty
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  capable race team. We just need to go out and do it
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  do. You look at it as a blank slate,
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  fresh slate. A little bit, you know, it would
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  have been nice to carry some positive momentum.
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  And then I feel like the first half of the summer, we had a
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  better summer than normal and then the second-half of the
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  summer the wheels fell off. So definitely a little bit of a
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  blank slate, but we'll see what happens.
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  Yeah. I mean, it's gotten crazy over
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  the last couple years for sure. I'm, I think if we raced now or
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  if we if we race 10 years ago, how we do now, we would get out
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  of the car and get our ass kicked.
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  So it's changed a lot, right? And, and it's changed for
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  everybody. And I feel like I'm not the the
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  overly aggressive dirty race car driver and the races have played
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  out to really benefit the overly aggressive dirty race car
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  drivers. So trying to get myself there
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  for sure. And and yeah, it's definitely
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  changed. Is that that?
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  Because of the. Current car.
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  Yeah, I think passing has just become so ridiculously difficult
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  that you have to get what you can, and ruining somebody else's
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  day to do it or whatever you need to do has just become part
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  of it. And yeah, it's just changed.
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  Thank you. How do you think history will
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  look back? On this arrow.
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  Shoot, I feel like it's only going One Direction, right?
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  It's only going to continue to to get more aggressive.
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  So it'll be interesting. It's hard to imagine it being
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  more aggressive than it is now, but could happen for sure.
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  Now you and Blake had. Stretches of really, really good
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  portions of. Seasons, yeah.
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  Are you feeling confident? That.
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  You guys are going? To hit that.
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  When you get the playoffs. Now we better right like I, I
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  think, you know, the last month has been frustrating and you
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  know, we're, we're planning capable race team.
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  So we need to to go run well for the next 10 weeks and I feel
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  like we're we're planning capable of doing that.
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  Is there anything? In particular, you've done
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  Behind the Wheel last month. That's.
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  Led to it or. Do you think it's just a Yeah, I
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  mean really the I spent on Pit Rd. at Richmond and that hurt us
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  a little bit, but we weren't any good before that and got loose
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  and smoked fence on that, that restart at Michigan, which cost
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  us a top 8 finish. But other than that we just
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  haven't been very good, honestly.
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  So super frustrating to not be better than we've been.
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  But we'll keep digging at it. Do you think?
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  Do you think it could? Be the stealth that people you
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  know don't see it coming as much as they do some other of the
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  playoff contenders. And yeah, because.
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  If I'm you, I'm thinking I'm on a surprise.
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  There, Yeah. I mean, I don't think, I mean,
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  maybe from the outside it looks like that matters, but I like
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  we're all racing each other as hard as we possibly can.
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  So there's not really like a surprise factor that's going to
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  benefit anybody. But for me, yeah, hopefully,
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  hopefully we run really well during the playoffs and can
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  prove some people wrong. So you don't think anybody's got
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  anything extra left as you go into Atlanta?
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  Yeah, I mean, gosh, obviously we're all going to try to have
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  extra and try to raise the bar. But you know, the way these
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  teams operate, there's, there's not much left to grasp at.
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  So we're all going to work super hard and and be bought in.
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  But at the same time, we do that all year, so it'll be
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  interesting last. Thing do do you ever then sit
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  back and say, good Lord, we're giving it everything we have and
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  search yourself for that, whatever that you think maybe
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  doesn't even exist, right? Yeah, for sure.
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  I mean, I think at times it feels like the harder you work,
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  the worse things go for you. So yeah, just we're all in.
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  For sure. Pushed your teammate William to
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  the Wyndham Dayton 500 and you're reminded of that.
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  Yeah. Going to Atlanta, Yeah.
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  I mean, Atlanta's such a different beast than the
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  Daytona. I've dropped that thing like
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  three Times Now. Then the Daytona 500.
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  Now I drop what I drop. Now you're throwing your phone.
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  This is a real 48 team special going on right now.
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  We got shit everywhere. Yeah, Atlanta's just different
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  than Daytona, right? Like we, it's not going to be,
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  you know, Daytona, Talladega, you see that manufacturers work
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  together so much and, and kind of dictate how that race falls.
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  And there's a lot less of that at Atlanta.
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  So it'd be nice if he'd pushed me to the wind.
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  But I I would, I would say that if you ask him who pushed him
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  the most in that race, he'd probably, he's probably
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  forgotten by now. So that's just how the sport
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  goes. Yeah.
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  What else we got? Oh, sweet.
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  I'm going to hang out. I'm going to bid up this
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  Volkswagen. Oh, shit.
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  No hard hitting questions. Who the fuck is Brad Griffin?
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know.
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  He knows more about my life than I know about my life.
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  Yeah, yeah. I, I don't, I don't go on
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  Twitter. I, I stay off the Internet,
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  except it like bring a, I'll go and bring a trailer.
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  But the Internet, the rest of the Internet, it's a car auction
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  website. Yeah, yeah.
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  Suarez is trying to buy a Volkswagen here later today, So
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  I'm a bit his ass up. Make him pay too much money.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then if I end up with it,
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  I'm going to be really sad. But yeah, yeah, yeah, that that
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  would be a large part I'd, I'd still make him buy it for me
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  somehow. I just park it at his house.
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  Yeah. With a, with a bill on the top,
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  you know, an invoice. Yep, Yep.
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  Yeah, for sure. How can you guys do that?
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  Is it just getting the finishes or is there is there some?
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  Execution in there as well for any better cars.
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  Yeah, both for sure. Like we haven't been very good
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  lately. Yeah, we need to qualify better.
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  We need to execute better when I need to do everything on my end
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  better. We need to be better on pit Rd.
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  Like across the board. We we need to be better.
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  So yeah, I made a couple mistakes in the last couple
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  weeks spent on Pit Rd. at Richmond, crashed at Michigan,
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  and then we've had some cars that we've struggled with and
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  and some things on Pit Rd. happen kind of across the board.
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  We need to be better. So 10 weeks ago, prove we can be
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  better. Yeah, the Watkins Glen thing is
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  interesting because they said it was 6 seconds and then they
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  tested again last week and it. Yeah, I heard two.
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  So yeah, yeah, I heard much less than we thought, but it'll be
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  interesting to see what actually happens.
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  I feel like we kind of never know.
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  And then and then Bristol, is the same thing going to happen?
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  Is it not going to happen? So yeah, it's going to be
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  interesting. Atlanta, it's its own thing.
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  Let's see what happens. So it seems like the first 2
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  instead of instead of that middle round, that second round
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  being a. Wild language.
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  Talidated. It seems like.
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  Potentially we could have the 1st 2:00.
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  Yeah, yeah, absolutely, for sure.
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  Discussed getting through round one.
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  Go execute it at a high level every week.
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  I mean, that's all. That's really all we can do.
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  Obviously Atlanta, a lot of things outside of our control
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  can happen, but we need to do our job at a high level, bring
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  fast race cars, run up front, score stage points and make make
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  the right decisions on the racetrack Do.
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  You anticipate 54 lead changes again at Bristol.
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  I mean, it was the unknown there was just absolutely nuts.
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  It wasn't what anyone was expecting.
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  Crew chiefs, you know, engineers, they look at numbers
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  and when it baffles their mind, then everything's up in the air.
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  Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if the tire wears like that
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  again, right? Like it's going to be a lot
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  hotter. Racetrack will probably rubber
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  up more but we don't we don't really know until we go do it,
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  especially with the concrete racetrack.
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  They can change and the weather can change can go one way or the
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  other. Not having the sun on it because
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  it's going to be a night race. I mean it'll be warm but no sun.
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  So yeah hard to say what it's going to do I I think it it has
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  the potential to be absolutely as wild as it was the first time
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  and then it also has the potential to be a completely
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  normal Bristol race. So we'll, I, I'm sure we'll find
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  out within the 1st 100 laps of the race, but until then I don't
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  think we're going to know what. Makes Hendrick Motorsports so
• 19:09
  good at. Watkins Glen, yeah, I feel like
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  I've been terrible there. So hard to hard to say.
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  I feel like that's the one Rd. course that I've still kind of
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  got to get a hold of a little bit.
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  But I think it started with, you know, obviously Hendrick
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  Motorsports on road courses has been really good for a long
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  time, but Chase really got a hold of Watkins Glen and kind of
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  developed all our stuff to be really good there kind of right
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  off the bat. So yeah, trying to play catch up
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  a little bit, but I'm excited to get there.
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  How does that track react? We weren't there in 20-20, but
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  how does that track react with the next Gen. car compared to
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  the previous car? And is there anything that you
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  had to relearn going to the Glen because of it?
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  Yeah, it's just gotten really hard to pass with with this car.
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  So strategy and track positions become more and more important.
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  Obviously you see everybody pushing the fuel mileage the
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  most they can to to try to play the track position game.
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  And yeah, it's just made all that stuff more important, made
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  qualifying more important. So yeah, excited to get there
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  and have another shot at it. They're saying what for a second
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  fall off in the tires and you know, the new curves you had in
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  the carousel. I mean, it's going to have a
• 20:24
  different complexion ultimately. Yeah, it'll be interesting to
• 20:27
  see if there really is that much fall off.
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  I think the will force test had a little bit less than they
• 20:32
  expected. There was a ton at the test
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  before that and not a lot of the will force test.
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  So interesting to see what's actually going to happen.
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  And yeah, the the curbs and where they put the divots in the
• 20:44
  racetrack and trying to disparage everybody running way
• 20:48
  off of turn 1 and all that. It'll it'll be interesting to
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  see what actually happens. You know, I think the will force
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  test some of the guys still ran way off the racetrack.
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  Some of the guys didn't. So yeah, I don't really know
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  until we get there. I feel like the fall off stuff
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  helps passing right. So that would help making passes
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  and and guys slow now being able to take care of your tires a
• 21:18
  little bit, which has always been something that's in my
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  wheelhouse and has has helped me.
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  But yeah, beyond that, it's just hard to say till we actually go
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  do it. Yeah, I just have an
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  understanding of what the fall off is actually going to be, how
• 21:36
  the race tracks going to evolve if the divots actually affect
• 21:39
  the race car on on the exit of of one in the carousel and then
• 21:43
  how to get through a kind of new bus stop.
• 21:45
  I think it's going to be really crucial.
• 21:55
  Yeah, yeah, I would agree with that.
• 22:03
  The first round, it's easy to get caught up in somebody else's
• 22:07
  mess. So trying to avoid that and and
• 22:09
  execute at a high level. And from there, you just have to
• 22:12
  get more aggressive. So looking forward to hopefully
• 22:15
  making it all the way through. Did the confidence at this
• 22:18
  winning the street course give you confidence in those style of
• 22:21
  tracks where you do turn left and right overall?
• 22:25
  Yeah, I mean, we've been really good on road courses the last
• 22:27
  couple years. Obviously CODA and the Rowville
• 22:31
  have probably been the the two best.
• 22:32
  But you know, Sonoma, we've had good runs, never had a good
• 22:36
  finish. We've had a lot of a lot of
• 22:38
  stuff happened to us there. Watkins Glen's always been the
• 22:42
  one that like I struggled to just make pure pace at.
• 22:44
  So trying to really focus on on getting better there.
• 22:48
  But you know, I wasn't good at CODA the first year and I wasn't
• 22:52
  great at at Chicago the first year and focused on him and and
• 22:55
  got better. So, you know, no reason we can't
• 22:58
  do that. I was glad to.
• 23:00
  How did being the wheel force guy for a while help you become
• 23:05
  a better driver? I would have, I would be a
• 23:10
  better race car driver right now if I raced full time for those
• 23:13
  two years then then if I didn't for sure, I think 2 years
• 23:17
  basically sitting on the couch is not beneficial for anybody.
• 23:22
  But staying in the car in 2017 a little bit and doing all those
• 23:26
  tests was was better than sitting on the couch.
• 23:28
  So racing would have been better, but we didn't race, so
• 23:33
  it was the next best thing. But did you learn something from
• 23:36
  working with the engineers, from seeing it at that side of the
• 23:39
  sport that could help you down the?
• 23:42
  Road a little bit like I spent a lot of time in the same and and
• 23:45
  developed a lot of good relationships with those guys.
• 23:47
  But the will force stuff is really more about, you know,
• 23:52
  just driving the car in a really consistent way to give those
• 23:55
  guys the best data that you that you can.
• 23:57
  So way different than just going out and running 10 tenths and
• 24:02
  try to make the best pace you can.
• 24:06
  But at the same time, I'm sure there were a couple things that
• 24:09
  I learned you. Feel 100% now.
• 24:12
  Yeah, yeah, I feel really good. So training super hard, working
• 24:16
  really hard and I feel like personally, I'm in a a really,
• 24:19
  really good place to to do the best job.
• 24:21
  I came for the next 10 weeks. Anything's possible, right?
• 24:39
  Like it can absolutely happen. It's maybe gotten a little bit
• 24:45
  harder with how the racing's gotten with the next Gen. car,
• 24:48
  but certainly possible. Yeah, I mean, little changes
• 24:59
  like the with the old car, gosh Dang it, this thing again.
• 25:04
  I dropped it eight times with the the old car, like the
• 25:09
  separation of the field was way bigger than it is with the new
• 25:13
  car. Like we all pretty much run the
• 25:16
  same speed these days. So yeah, it it probably makes it
• 25:20
  a little more difficult. Last last one for me, Bell
• 25:25
  couldn't believe that he finished in the top ten last
• 25:28
  three starts at at Watkins Glen. Larson, he's won two.
• 25:32
  Sorry, he he's won a couple of races.
• 25:36
  The dirt guys, you know, you kind of learn coming up, see
• 25:39
  your pants, your butt tells you a whole lot of what's going on
• 25:42
  when you're going left and right like that.
• 25:44
  I have to feel like coming from that background is beneficial.
• 25:48
  Yeah, for sure. I certainly come from less of
• 25:51
  that background than than those two guys do.
• 25:53
  Like I ran the pavement open wall stuff a lot more.
• 25:57
  But at the same time, you know, having some of that experience,
• 26:00
  I think it is good. So yeah, I mean Watkins Glen is
• 26:04
  just always been really difficult for me to just go out
• 26:08
  and make lap time. So I've always been like 11th or
• 26:13
  14th on lap time, but we need to be like 3rd to 1st on lap time.
• 26:18
  So just need to go out and and be better.
• 26:21
  So if you get to the round of 12, you definitely see a path.
• 26:25
  I think so, for sure. I mean, I think where we're at
• 26:27
  now, we see a path, so we just have to go do it.
• 26:31
  Thank you. Yep, good.
• 26:32
  Luck. Thanks.