By Roy J. Akers – www.skyviewsports.net
Drivers and teams are preparing for the Charlotte Roval as the cutoff race to make the Round of Eight will be determined. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are in. Who will join them?
We talk to the drivers.
Bubba and Denny Talk
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
How was the competition meeting this week?
“Look it was definitely a somber week for sure, and I hate that it got to this point – the lingering effect, but Denny (Hamlin) and I just talked 30 minutes ago. It was a good, heart-to-heart conversation. It came from a place of peace. It went better than I thought it would. He shared his side of things, and I shared mine and we had common ground. I told him – and it was kind of funny – I kind of sent him on a detour when I said, you can go first, and then five seconds in I said, just so you know, I’m not mad about getting fenced going for the win – and his eyes were like, and he was like I need a second to reposition where I’m going to go. Just so we are all clear on that – that is not going to be the last time where I’m battling for a win and it doesn’t go our way in some fashion, whether that is Denny or anybody in the field. I’ll be a little gracious here and say 95 percent of the people on this side of the catchfence look at that move as, oof, that’s it.
Logano relives his miracle advancement on the way to 2024 Title
CAN YOU RECALL THE RANGE OF EMOTIONS A YEAR AGO WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE ELIMINATED AND THEN REINSTATED? DID YOU FEEL A SENSE OF DESTINY AFTERWARDS? “No. I don’t ever feel like anything is owed to me. You just roll with whatever comes your way and it shows how unpredictable life is and sometimes you don’t need to be going up and down with every wave. I remember the emotions leaving the track. I was bummed. I was like, ‘Well, on one hand we did really good here last year,’ so I was proud of the effort that we gave. I was bummed that we were just a little short, but it is what it is. That’s how I am at the end of the race. It is what it is. I can’t change it now and you just have to keep looking out the windshield and we went home. We went home and had a fairly normal evening, and then I got a call and it was like, ‘Hey, honey, you ain’t gonna believe it. We’re back in.’ Obviously, the next seven days after that changed everything because we went from out to in to winning Vegas and in the Championship 4 and winning our third title, so just a quick turn of events, but that’s NASCAR racing for you. It’s unpredictable. Things can change really, really fast. You just have to keep rolling with it.”
Chase Elliott on the mental side of the playoffs
CHASE, DURING THIS TIME OF YEAR, WE OFTEN HEAR ABOUT HOW MENTALLY EXHAUSTING THE PLAYOFFS ARE BECAUSE OF HOW LASER FOCUSED EVERYONE HAS TO BE. HAVING THE WIN AT KANSAS IN THE BOOK FOR THE 9 TEAM, HOW HAS THAT HELPED? DOES IT DO ANYTHING TO HELP EASE SOME OF THAT PRESSURE OR INTENSITY FOR YOU AND THE TEAM, AT LEAST FOR ONE WEEK?
“Yeah, I mean, I definitely think it keeps your strategy really simple, you know. Especially if you are a contender on the day and have good pace. A lot of those questions are just answered on how fast or slow you are, you know, truthfully. So, I feel like our intensity is usually pretty high. I feel like we’re always really locked in on what we need to do. I don’t know that the situation really changes that. We still try to show up each week and be really prepared, and I thought we had a good week of prep this week and kind of went about our business like we would have done if we hadn’t won last week. So, I think that’s the important thing to keep that cadence and keep your process the same. Because it’s not like the season’s over, we still have another month. I think our team is in a good place and we just keep going about our business and keep our heads down. We certainly know we have room to improve, even with last week. So we look to try and do some of that this week and then certainly try and find, find some more next week in Vegas.”
Kyle Larson on his 2025 Playoffs
How important is qualifying, but in the ROVAL, specifically?
“Qualifying is extremely important everywhere, but especially on the road courses, I feel like. It’s just really, really hard to pass because we’re all pretty similar, I feel like. Your brake zones are a little bit more in control than we used to have with the old car and all that. So yeah, qualifying has just become way more important at all types of tracks, but especially the road courses.”
Roy J. Akers covers NASCAR for www.skyviewsports.net
