By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
After a last-lap two-wreck race at Daytona, will drivers feel the same at a mini-mi drafting style track at Echo Park? Ford’s qualify well at the track but it is any manufacturer’s race track with wins by both Ford and Toyota dominating this 1.5 mile track. Drivers that dominate at Echo Park and a few that do not are the subject of our They Said It this week.
Daniel Suarez loves Echo Park
What is it about this track that you have had the success that you have because it’s been long going that you’ve done well here. Do you just find yourself suited to that style of racing? Is it whatever it is in the universe here in Atlanta? What do you say?
“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, really, since before the configuration, I used to do pretty well here. I think, honestly, half of the battle is mental. You know, when you come into this place, and you’re already like, oh man, there is a high chance I’m going to crash, I feel like there is a good percentage that you’re going to crash.
So, I think I just try to enjoy it and have fun. I’ve been fortunate enough that I have had good race cars here, as well. It’s not just myself… it’s an entire army behind me. I’ve been fortunate enough to have good race cars here in the past, and we’ve been able to take advantage of that. But, like I said, we also made mistakes last year. We got a little bit too greedy, myself and our decisions last year, and it just didn’t pay off. So, it’s a balance, right? I believe that I’m good here, and last year, I don’t have anything to show for it. “
Tyler Reddick on Daytona
Does the Daytona 500 win start the season or is its own accomplishment?
“I feel like it’s a little bit above. Maybe it just depends if I wreck or if I run good (laughter), I would just tell myself that, but going back a couple years, we would go to Daytona and then I think, if I’m remembering it right, we just go straight to Fontana. I might be wrong, maybe I don’t remember it very well, but I think when you kind of, in today’s schedule, when you have Daytona, and then you come here, and it’s another speedway race, like, it doesn’t feel like it’s its own thing, because in a lot of ways, the mentality you have if it’s in a good place, Daytona, it’s very similar to what you want to do here. Yes, the runs happen faster, and there’s more handling in the corners, but just that mindset, when you’re drafting, like I feel like it kind of carries on. I think, for me, I’ve the last two years, but I guess that’s, those are the two race I finished well, I’ve said, ‘All right, we got a good finish. We scored some decent points. Let’s build on it.’ I think the years that I crashed out or just didn’t have a very good finish. I tried to say, ‘okay, well, it’s done. It’s in the past.’ So, I think I’ve kind of approached it both ways over the years.”
Chase Elliott comparing Echo Park to Daytona and Talladega
Since the reconfiguration, this track has been grouped in with Daytona and Talladega as a drafting track. But does it feel kind of the same racing here as at Daytona and Talladega, or is it its own animal?
“There are a lot of similarities. I feel like it’s just kind of a mini speedway. You know, like everything happens a little quicker. The runs are really aggressive. The straightaways, being short like they are, it just seems like things happen fast… like everything is just kind of in double time from speedways. But on the flip side of that, you have less straightaway to build runs, so sometimes the runs aren’t as big as what they would be at Daytona. But again, like the summer race here last year, I mean, the runs were so big, you couldn’t hardly block them, and that was why nobody could hold the lead for more than just a lap or two. I don’t know if that had something to do with it being night and the track being really gripped up. You know, if the sun comes out, does that impact it a little differently? I’m not sure. And then obviously, you know, another six months of age on the racetrack, how does that play into kind of the whole situation? So, I think it’s always a little bit of a moving target, and we’ll just have to get started and assess what that is this time.”
How distracted was Tyler Reddick after the week-long Daytona Win Tour?
Do you feel like you missed out on any prep for Atlanta because of the media tour?
“No, I don’t think so. I feel pretty good about it. Fortunately, it just kind of worked out the one day we had at home, or, like, the half day I had it home, I don’t know. that’s what we normally kind of do all of our free race stuff, so we’re able to cover everything, and, like, a normal week on that day. Yeah, I haven’t been able to – I haven’t made a post-race meeting yet this year. There’s a number of things that have been out of sorts, if you will, but yeah, for the most part, it was a normal week on the prep side, so I think I’ll be good.”
