Pocono is known as The Tricky Triangle. What’s the trickiest part of Pocono?
“The trickiest part of the Tricky Triangle is getting your truck to handle in all three corners. What Turn 4? There is no Turn 4 there. Turn 1 is completely different from Turn 2 and Turn 2 is completely different from Turn 3 and Turn 3 completely different from Turn 1. There are a lot of differences, but you have to make your truck go around the racetrack and handle in all three in order for it to be fast. There are a lot of handling characteristics this weekend. There is a lot a driver can do as well in trying to manipulate what the truck can do handling wise trying to get speed out of it, especially for the long run.”
It’s a short race this week. Do you think with your playoff spot solidified it will give you an advantage over those racing for points?
“I think being able to pull some different strategy with having four wins now and being the points leader. Obviously, we don’t want to lose a ton of points with three races left in the regular season. We want to go out and close on that regular season championship, but if it comes down to a strategy call, then I’m sure Eric will be on top of it, whether that’s pitting early, pitting late or whatever it may be. It opens the window of opportunity for us to gamble a little bit more and go out and get that race win. We want to go out and win stages and gain as many points as we possibly can, but we also want to win the race. Whatever it comes down to, winning the race is more important to us right now.”
Kyle is running his final truck race of 2021 this weekend. What would it mean for you to come out with three wins over Kyle’s two Saturday?
“Well, the series is tied 2-2. Hopefully I can end up on top. Out of five races, it would be really cool for us to bring home three of those victories and Kyle only two. I think before I came this year to KBM, Kyle had either finished first or second in 19 of the last 20 races out of what he’s run. I’m OK with him finishing second, but I need to beat him. It would be amazing to be able to accomplish that. I feel like we have the best team in the garage. We just have to continue to push through, work hard, keep our head down, and race the racetrack.”
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