NASCAR… They Said it at MIS… Contracts, Playoffs… Ford Dominance and more

“Yeah, we obviously had a good notebook to go off from last time here. We’ve been excited to come back to Michigan and show the speed that we’ve had at a lot of these bigger racetracks in the last couple of months. We have not executed the races to the best extent and we don’t have the results to show for it, but we’ve been very fast at these places. Not that long ago in Indy, I was really happy with our performance through practice and maybe a little better in qualifying but got going in the first stage really well and then ended up with our issues on the day.

Did you have to talk to some other teams before deciding to return to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB?

“I think you always take a look when this comes around. There was no advance discussions but the team encouraged that. They knew the whole time where I was at, and what I was interested in doing, but we pretty quickly came to a point to redoing a deal with LEGACY. For me, looking at the landscape and where everything was at, what was possibly available and what other opportunities were out there – none of them were enticing enough for me that made me want to make a move. It is a challenge to make a move. It is a big move to switch teams, not matter what you are doing. 

Do you feel good about the last three races of the regular season?

“Yeah, for sure. The last five races, I had a top-three average finish. Definitely the mojo is there, but that is the past. It’s like Chase (Elliott) said it the best a few years ago, the past success doesn’t mean future success. It is a new opportunity. It’s nice to know that we are not heading into three road course races. Although, I’m enjoying the time on road courses. It is nice to know there is three good tracks coming up. It helps the vibe, and it helps the momentum for us, but it does not slow up the work process.

With your position in points, five of the last seven Daytona races have been won by drivers who had to win to secure a playoff spot. What are the opportunities or challenges going into Daytona needing to secure a playoff position?

“It’s home for me, so the summertime race (at Daytona) is just a bright spot in my memories of going over fourth of July weekend. Being able to win a Xfinity race there in 2019 was just a bucket list, A lot like the 500, where I’ve learned to just enjoy it for what it is. There’s just no way around it. If we leave here and don’t have it secured, then it’s math. you just have to know that if you finish bad, you get less points, and if you finish good in the stage and the race, then you get more points. It’s just simple math. But we’re really excited about the next three races and changing some of those stats for who’s been winning here at Michigan.”