Ford\u2019s three NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers \u2013 Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer \u2013 all answered questions about the upcoming postseason as part of media day.\u00a0Here are transcripts from each session.<\/p>\n
HARRISON BURTON, No. 25 AM Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse \u2013 HOW CAN YOUR EXPERIENCE FROM LAST YEAR IN THE CUP PLAYOFFS HELP YOU THIS YEAR?\u00a0\u201cI think just in general having experience in the Cup Series and in the playoffs in the Cup Series is huge.\u00a0You kind of understand the level of competitiveness that you have to bring and the level of detail that you have to bring to succeed.\u00a0Our playoffs last year was frustrating.\u00a0We had a mechanical failure.\u00a0We had a tire blown and we got crashed on the last lap, so three things that you don\u2019t really have on your Bingo card to take you out that took us out and you learn from that and grow from that in the best way possible and that is just controlling what you can control and that\u2019s all we can really do.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO PUT AM RACING IN THE PLAYOFFS WHEN LAST YEAR THEY WERE ON THE VERGE OF ALMOST\u00a0MISSING RACES?\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s big.\u00a0It\u2019s a really cool accomplishment for our whole group.\u00a0It\u2019s not just me.\u00a0There are a lot of people that have put a lot of effort into making this race car go the way it has and that\u2019s been really, really rewarding.\u00a0I think, obviously, the wins haven\u2019t come yet.\u00a0I feel like we\u2019re getting closer, but the wins haven\u2019t come yet and that\u2019s kind of the next step we have to take and that\u2019s probably the hardest step, but we\u2019re working really, really hard and it\u2019s been rewarding.\u00a0I think the funny thing is you\u2019re goals change as you run better.\u00a0The first few races it was literally we were worried about making the race at Daytona, at COTA.\u00a0We weren\u2019t locked in because our points weren\u2019t enough from last year, so to build it to being in the playoffs and running well and performing well has been very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU ANTICIPATE GETTING MORE SUPPORT FROM FORD WITH THE HAAS FACTORY TEAM MOVING?\u00a0\u201cTo be honest with you, I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0I would say that\u2019s a PR answer, but I really don\u2019t know.\u00a0We all found out about that thing at the same time you all did.\u00a0Obviously, Ford has been really important to me at the Wood Brothers and I\u2019ve built a great relationship with them that carried into AM Racing, so I know from their side they\u2019re committed to finishing this year out the right way and whatever the future holds I know that they\u2019ll have our best interests at heart.\u00a0It\u2019s a good group of people at Ford, so I\u2019m really not sure.\u00a0I wish I could tell you more other than that, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
ARE YOU RUNNING THE CARS TOUR RACE AT SOUTH BOSTON WITH RICK WARE RACING?\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a super cool opportunity.\u00a0Thank you to everyone at Rick Ware Racing.\u00a0That kind of just came up from out of the blue.\u00a0I ran the All-Star Race for them and they\u2019re trying to build their late model program up and obviously I had a great deal of success growing up in late models and that\u2019s where I kind of cut my teeth.\u00a0I haven\u2019t been able to run any late model stuff recently.\u00a0It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve been in a pro late model, but I\u2019m really excited.\u00a0They\u2019re such a fun car to drive and to do it at South Boston and then after the Xfinity race is huge because I can just focus on the Xfinity car, I can put everything I have into that, and then go and enjoy running a late model.\u00a0It\u2019s something that came together that wasn\u2019t on my radar and something I\u2019m super thankful for for sure, everyone at Rick Ware that\u2019s helping put it together.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR TEAM IS PLAYING WITH HOUSE MONEY JUST BY MAKING THE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cPartially yes, partially no.\u00a0I really didn\u2019t know what to expect.\u00a0A new race team, new people.\u00a0For me completely everything was brand new, changing series, everything, so I didn\u2019t have this big, lofty expectation.\u00a0I just knew that we had to take it one race at a time and put our energy into the next weekend and then the big things come after that, so as we started running better, as the races went by and we\u2019re like, \u2018OK, we can compete.\u00a0We can do this.\u2019\u00a0Then the goal for the next week changes.\u00a0It\u2019s like, \u2018OK, let\u2019s go run better next week and better next week and try to build on this.\u2019\u00a0We really have taken it one week at a time until probably three or four weeks ago when things on the playoff line were pretty tight.\u00a0Then we started really thinking about that side of things, but you just have to perform one weekend at a time and the big goals will come after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING DURING YOUR TIME IN CUP ABOUT MENTALLY BEING STRONG AND WILL IT HELP YOU IN THESE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cYeah, for sure I learned a ton.\u00a0I learned a ton about myself.\u00a0Obviously, that didn\u2019t go as I wanted it to.\u00a0I wanted to cement myself, earn a place there for a long term and win races consistently.\u00a0A lot of those things didn\u2019t happen, but on the bright side of things that race win was such an important lesson to me, not about the win or celebrating or anything like that.\u00a0It was an important lesson to me in not quitting.\u00a0I\u2019ve never been a quitter.\u00a0I\u2019ve never been someone that throws the towel in, but whenever you\u2019re fired you have to go to your race team, tell them you\u2019re fired, have that conversation, have to rebuild ourselves after that and have everyone on that team not really know what was going on next year, and just go to the races and keep swinging and then all of a sudden you find yourself in Victory Lane.\u00a0It\u2019s such a cool lesson and that can carry to any job, any situation, anything I do for the rest of my life I can carry that mentality and it\u2019ll serve me well.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW GOOD DO YOU THINK THE COMPETITION IS IN XFINITY?\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s as strong as I ever remember it being in the Xfinity Series.\u00a0The young guys are very fast, very aggressive.\u00a0Then you have vets still around like Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, guys like that that have been around for a few years now and are experienced, so you have to deal with those guys.\u00a0For us, we\u2019re kind of like the awkward in-between.\u00a0I\u2019m kind of experienced, but also kind of new to the series and then our race team is certainly new to being in these situations, so just trying to set ourselves and find our own path.\u00a0As we go through this playoff, there\u2019s a real path for us forward and I think we can certainly advance ourselves to the next round and then take it after that.\u00a0It\u2019s certainly on our mind to make some noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT WAS IT LIKE BATTLING YOUR COUSIN, JEB, FOR THAT FINAL SPOT?\u00a0\u201cObvioiusly, if I could have drawn it up it wouldn\u2019t be that way.\u00a0I would have loved to knock someone else out of the playoffs instead of my cousin Jeb, but it\u2019s something that we managed fairly well, as well as you can.\u00a0Being competitors, being selfish in nature as race car drivers have to be on the racetrack, but just understanding that that\u2019s the business and going about it in a professional way between us.\u00a0It didn\u2019t ever come in between us.\u00a0We\u2019d still text and joke around or whatever, make fun of each other just like normal, but then on the weekends we were racing each other certainly harder than we ever have.\u00a0It was a really challenging scenario anytime a family is involved with any sort of job, but when it\u2019s a competitive job like that and you have to go and take something from your family member like that, it\u2019s hard.\u00a0It\u2019s emotionally challenging and trying to balance all of that was something I think we did well.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU FEEL PLAYOFF TESTED ALREADY WITH THE SCENARIO YOU WERE IN JUST TO GET IN?\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re obviously at media day so I\u2019ve been getting a lot of questions today and I just said that a few minutes ago.\u00a0I feel like we\u2019ve been in the playoffs for 10 weeks now.\u00a0Every race mattered.\u00a0Every result mattered.\u00a0Every restart mattered and building ourselves that cushion that we needed at Gateway.\u00a0We showed up to Gateway and had a pretty rough weekend by our standards now and we were in a spot where we could afford that to happen and not miss the playoffs.\u00a0That\u2019s because we\u2019ve been treating every week as such an important race.\u00a0There is some momentum in that.\u00a0There is some benefit in that for sure just because we\u2019re used to it.\u00a0We\u2019ve been in that fire for the last 10 weeks and able to come out the other side victorious as far as making the playoffs, and now we have to go and understand that it\u2019s gonna get even harder every single round, so we have to go and be more and more aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT DO YOU THINK HELPING TURN THIS TEAM AROUND DO FOR YOUR STOCK AS A DRIVER, AND IS YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL TO GET BACK TO CUP?\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t think it hurts it, obviously.\u00a0I wanted to come to AM Racing for reasons other than that. I just felt like it was a good opportunity for me to build something, make myself a better driver, build a relationship with a team that needed some full-time help.\u00a0They\u2019ve had great drivers in their car before, but it wasn\u2019t a full-time, consistent week in, week out kind of situation, so I felt like I saw potential in the race team and they saw potential in me.\u00a0I feel like it\u2019s been a great partnership and trying to both build ourselves back up.\u00a0For sure, I\u2019ve been up front with AM since the beginning and they want this for me too, is for me to hopefully one day get back to the Cup Series.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t the run I wanted.\u00a0I have a sour taste in my mouth from that and I feel like I\u2019m capable.\u00a0I just didn\u2019t put it together in enough time.\u00a0I feel like towards the end of my Cup seasons I got running better.\u00a0I started getting confidence and started figuring things out, and qualifying better is such a big and important thing.\u00a0We started doing that at the end of my Wood Brothers tenure, so there\u2019s kind of an awkward taste in my mouth to leave after winning and have to watch the Daytona 500 on TV was probably one of the hardest days of my life.\u00a0I\u2019m definitely hungry to get back, but also focused on the now and understanding that I have an amazing opportunity with an amazing group of people in an amazing series.\u00a0I love the Xfinity Series.\u00a0I love the Xfinity cars.\u00a0It\u2019s so much fun to go to race.\u00a0It reminds you of why you do it, so I love my time here and would love to continue it as well.\u00a0I think as any competitor wants to, I definitely want to be in the Cup Series one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
SAM MAYER, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang Dark Horse \u2013 THERE\u2019S THE 88 TEAM THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND EVERYBODY ELSE.\u00a0HOW DO YOU EVALUATE WHERE YOU ARE TO THEM RIGHT NOW AND DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE THE PACE TO RUN WITH THEM AND ADVANCE IN THESE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cYeah, I feel like I\u2019m really proud of everyone at Haas Factory Team right now, for sure.\u00a0I feel like we\u2019ve definitely had a lot of adversity the last couple of weeks to fight through and we never gave up on each other and we still either stuck solid finishes out of it or we were on the right track to getting a good finish and just didn\u2019t have it go our way.\u00a0I guess like he said, it\u2019s the 88 and everyone else, which, I mean, that\u2019s what you\u2019re aspiring to do.\u00a0You want to be the guy that everyone is like, \u2018Oh, man.\u00a0He\u2019s showed up at the racetrack.\u2019\u00a0But I feel like we\u2019re making a step in the right direction.\u00a0With the playoff reset and the way these playoffs are, all of that stuff that you do can not matter in an instant.\u00a0You just want to be able to peak at the right time.\u00a0You want to be able to do what you can during these\u00a0next three races to make it to the next round and then focus on winning a race from there to lock yourself into the Champ 4.\u00a0Yeah, I feel pretty good about what we have.\u00a0We definitely aren\u2019t good enough to be dominant like that, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re too far off from that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW DO YOU BALANCE PUTTING NEXT YEAR OUT OF YOUR MIND AND FOCUSING ON WHAT\u2019S HAPPENING NOW?\u00a0\u201cFor the driver side of it, I\u2019m really excited for the future of Haas Factory Team next year.\u00a0I think our program can get elevated throughout the rest of this year, through the offseason and into next year just by pure age.\u00a0We\u2019re a brand new team, so we\u2019re kind of just trying to make our way and get better each and every week and go forward.\u00a0As of right now, I\u2019m just looking forward to continuing the playoffs with Ford and the Blue Oval and everyone at Ford Racing because I feel like we can go out there and win a championship and get Ford another driver and owner championship.\u00a0It\u2019s gonna be challenging, but I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u00a0And then obviously with next year I\u2019m really excited about that opportunity as well because it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been a part of in the past with the Chevrolet program, so I think it can provide success for me as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS PEAKING AS THE PLAYOFFS ARE NOW HERE?\u00a0\u201cYeah, I mean we\u2019ve been good all season.\u00a0We\u2019ve been really consistent.\u00a0We\u2019re right there in most top fives on the season of everybody in the Xfinity Series.\u00a0I think we\u2019re tied of second or something like that, so we\u2019ve had a really good season so far, which is a little frustrating because the playoff points don\u2019t really reflect that.\u00a0We\u2019ve been oh so close to wins and that\u2019s really all that matters, so I think that we\u2019re in a really good spot.\u00a0We want to be a little bit better and I think we can be better in the coming races because I think there are a couple good tracks for us.\u00a0I\u2019m looking forward to it for sure, but it\u2019s definitely gonna be pretty challenging with the height of the competition right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
HAS THERE BEEN ANY INDICATION OF FORD HOLDING BACK INFORMATION AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT LAST WEEK?\u00a0\u201cI can only speak for the Xfinity Series side and what I\u2019ve experienced so far.\u00a0For us, it\u2019s wide-open.\u00a0We are a go and we are gonna go win the championship with Ford.\u00a0That\u2019s what they want.\u00a0That\u2019s what we want and everyone at Haas Factory Team is behind us as well with that.\u00a0I actually just got out of the sim yesterday afternoon for Bristol and had a really good day with it.\u00a0I think we\u2019re in a really good spot for that, and I think that\u2019s gonna continue throughout the rest of the season because it\u2019s in all of our interests to go out there and have a really good, strong finish to the rest of the season for all of us.\u00a0For us, we\u2019re wide-open.\u00a0We\u2019re gonna get after it and we\u2019re gonna go chase a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHERE HAVE YOU SEEN THE GREATEST LEVEL OF YOUR MATURATION THIS SEASON?\u00a0\u201cI definitely had to elevate myself a lot going into this season because there was so much change.\u00a0The biggest part of it is a brand new team.\u00a0Haas Factory Team hit the reset button and everything is brand new for us this year, so definitely have to elevate myself to put the team in a good spot to be able to learn and develop throughout the year and I think we\u2019ve done just that.\u00a0We haven\u2019t won as many races as I felt like we should have or deserved, but we\u2019re at least in a good spot to where we can continue to grow as a team and an organization together.\u00a0I definitely had to grow and be better myself than the last couple of years, which I always tried my best, but I think I found a new ceiling this year to be even better and to continue that and hopefully do even better next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW DOES IT BUILD CONFIDENCE KNOWING YOU DON\u2019T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, PARTICULARLY GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cThis time of the season is where all of the contracts are getting figured out and all that kind of stuff and the noise is at its loudest, but for me this year I\u2019m not in a contract year.\u00a0I\u2019m signed up for next year and we\u2019re wide-open.\u00a0We\u2019re really looking forward to seeing what\u2019s to come with Haas Factory Team, but a lot of my deals in the past were always one-year deals.\u00a0We were always kind of figuring it out on the fly, but I think that was mostly because we didn\u2019t know what was in store, so knowing what my future is for the next couple of years.\u00a0I\u2019m just looking forward to seeing what we can do the rest of this season, go win a championship and try to run it back next year with the same team.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR PLAYOFFS ARE A VIEW FOR PEOPLE LOOKING AT YOU DOWN THE ROAD?\u00a0\u201cHaving this year and next year to figure that out and elevate myself even more, that\u2019s the biggest thing.\u00a0Just elevating yourself and getting better every single time you hit the racetrack.\u00a0As far as a contract goes, I\u2019ve expressed how much I want to go Cup racing in the future, and I have to wait another year in order to do that, but I\u2019m gonna use that opportunity to get even better at my craft and do everything I can to collect more trophies and hang more banners in the race shop.\u00a0Everything I do positive helps, so we\u2019re gonna just do everything I can to be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU EXPECT GUYS TO RATCHET UP THE INTENSITY IN THE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m definitely aggressive when it comes to putting it on people\u2019s doors and packing air and making people uncomfortable and putting people in bad spots, but I like to think I usually don\u2019t wreck people intentionally or put them in bad spots to where their day is gonna be over.\u00a0Granted, I\u2019ve made mistakes in the past for sure, but it\u2019s not egregious by any means.\u00a0I don\u2019t want to elevate my intensity to where it comes to that point, but I certainly see that happening with a lot of other drivers and you always have to watch your back in the playoffs.\u00a0You never know what\u2019s gonna come at you next, but all you can do is focus on yourself and try to go out there and lead every lap and win every race and then it should be pretty easy, at least that\u2019s what they say.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW MANY OTHER DRIVERS?\u00a0\u201cEleven of them.\u00a0You never know what you\u2019re gonna get.\u00a0Someone could be full of surprises and then there are other people that you know what to expect.\u00a0For us, it\u2019s you have to know who you\u2019re racing around and you just have to expect the intensity level to be up anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
YOUR WIN AT IOWA WAS THE FIRST FOR HFT.\u00a0WHAT DID THAT MEAN FOR THE REST OF THIS SEASON AND NEXT?\u00a0\u201cFor myself, it\u2019s a really cool opportunity to go out there and win any Xfinity Series race.\u00a0The intensity level like we just talked about is always elevated, but the playoffs elevate it even more.\u00a0Iowa was one of those weird places where everyone was just super aggressive and you had to keep that track position and you had to be aggressive.\u00a0I think that was our first taste of what the playoffs could really look like, and then Gateway was another one of those places, but to be able to win Iowa at a really intense racetrack, one that the fans love for sure, is really cool and then getting the first win for Haas Factory Team is obviously really special as well.\u00a0There\u2019s just a lot to be proud of, getting a win for the Blue Oval and Ford and Ford Racing is an awesome experience.\u00a0Everyone treated me really well over there and still is, honestly, so it\u2019s really cool to be able to get a win in a Ford.\u00a0This whole season has been a lot of fun.\u00a0We want to win more races for sure.\u00a0That\u2019s the biggest thing, but the big one is the championship at the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FORD.\u00a0DOES IT HAVE A FUTURE IN THE XFINITY SERIES?\u00a0\u201cI can only speak for the Haas Factory Team.\u00a0I\u2019m not sure like our alliance partners with Ryan Sieg Racing deal with the 39 and AM with the 25, I can\u2019t speak for that because I\u2019m not too sure.\u00a0I\u2019m only in the know, so I only get told what I need to know, but, for us, going over to Chevrolet is a really good opportunity for us because I feel like we can elevate our performance even better with all of the tools we can get, but on the flip side what we have now is fantastic.\u00a0Ford has treated us so well, so we still want to go win a championship for them this year, but as far as next year, I\u2019m not sure what the future holds for Ford.\u00a0I know that Haas Factory Team is really looking forward to the swap next next year and provides a really good opportunity for us.\u00a0I guess we\u2019ll have to wait and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
SHELDON CREED, No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang Dark Horse \u2013 WILL THE NEXT SEVEN RACES BE DIFFICULT WITH THIS MANUFACTURER CHANGE?\u00a0\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so at all.\u00a0I think our relationship with Ford is as good as it\u2019s been all year.\u00a0Sim time, I think we\u2019re getting more of it, and the goal is still the same for Haas Factory Team and Ford.\u00a0We have three cars in the final 12 playoffs, so the goal is to get at least one of them to the final four, if not all three, so, yeah, I don\u2019t think anything changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
IS YOUR GOAL THE CHAMPIONSHIP OR JUST GETTING A WIN IN THESE NEXT SEVEN RACES?\u00a0\u201cYeah, both.\u00a0I think first is to get that win finally.\u00a0It\u2019s been a challenging three-and-a-half years.\u00a0We\u2019ve been close numerous times, but haven\u2019t been as close lately.\u00a0I think I\u2019d be lying to myself if I said we were right on the edge lately, but I think the first goal is to win.\u00a0The second goal is just to be able to score as many points as possible and get ourselves to the Round of 8, and then refocus from there on where we think our strengths are, whether that be in Vegas, Talladega or Martinsville, and if we can win there, then focus goes to Phoenix on how are we gonna win there.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW ARE YOU FEELING GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0I\u2019m not nervous.\u00a0It\u2019s the third time in the Xfinity Series being in the playoffs.\u00a0I think we have a lot to prove.\u00a0I think we have a lot of speed at times and we just need to put it all together and try to put a really strong run together.\u00a0I\u2019m excited.\u00a0It\u2019s kind of a reset on the regular season and the points are really close.\u00a0I think I\u2019m nine points out of third, so there is tons of room for opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED MAKING THE PLAYOFFS WITH ALL THREE MANUFACTURERS?\u00a0\u201cAll of them are different in just the way they operate.\u00a0I think all three manufacturers I\u2019ve been at different teams, so the cars driver different and they make speed different ways.\u00a0Fortunately, I\u2019ve been able to make speed in all three and it\u2019s been nice this year to be able to go into \u201826 with the same team and just kind of keep building on our notebook and what we\u2019ve learned over the year.\u00a0They all are different in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW DOES THE NOTEBOOK CHANGE WHEN YOU KEEP THE SAME TEAM BUT CHANGE MANUFACTURER?\u00a0\u201cIt certainly helps racing all of my Truck years there and then my first two years in Xfinity, getting a lay of the land and knowing a lot of the people and resources that they have to offer.\u00a0I\u2019ve never run the Hendrick motor, so that will be new for me, but I\u2019m excited to keep building on a notebook.\u00a0I think that\u2019s pretty big because we\u2019re going off of Cole\u2019s and things they struggled with last year and trying to build on that, and then now having a notebook at all the tracks with myself in the car and what I needed to be better, where this year we\u2019re going to all these tracks for the first kind of relying on sim that they posted last year and Cole\u2019s notes.\u00a0It can only get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHAT ABOUT THIS LATE PART OF THE YEAR GETS YOU WHERE YOU NEED TO BE?\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly.\u00a0I get excited for playoff season.\u00a0I think everyone in the shop gets more motivated and there\u2019s definitely a lot more time.\u00a0I\u2019m not saying there\u2019s not a lot of time spent in preparation before the playoffs, but it just gets that much more serious.\u00a0I\u2019ve been fortunate to perform well through the playoffs and hopefully we can do that again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASCAR IS GOING TO SAN DIEGO NEXT YEAR.\u00a0WHAT IS YOUR EXCITEMENT LEVEL FOR THAT AND IS YOUR GOAL TO TRY AND BE IN MORE THAN ONE RACE?\u00a0\u201cYeah, I\u2019m extremely excited.\u00a0My whole family still lives right there 25 minutes east of downtown and in East County, so I\u2019m excited to come race at home in front of all my friends and family and just to be in my hometown racing.\u00a0I never would have dreamed or thought that NASCAR would go to San Diego, so I\u2019m really excited for that and to answer the second part of your question, yes, definitely gonna try.\u00a0I\u2019m waiting to hear what NASCAR\u2019s rules are going to be.\u00a0The first year we went to Chicago they didn\u2019t allow other drivers to run Xfinity or Cup or swap back and forth, so I\u2019m waiting on the ruling from that, but, yes, the goal is to try to run all three.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU FEEL YOUR PACE IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE TO CONTEND WITH THE 88 OR IS THERE ANOTHER LEVEL YOU HAVE TO GO TO IN ORDER TO WIN?\u00a0\u201cI think it\u2019s gonna be tough, and I think we have a lot of work ahead of us.\u00a0I think we\u2019ve showed that we do have speed that we unload with or it takes us all weekend to the third stage, kind of like Gateway was for us, just worked really hard on it all week and then finally got ourselves towards the front and then ended up having a mechanical in the transmission.\u00a0I think we\u2019re capable.\u00a0I think Cole and Riley showed that last year with the team and the guys in the shop are really good at their job, so I think we know what we need to work on and I think Sam and I fight a lot of the same things, but I certainly think we can make a strong run in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU FEEL TO GET TO PHOENIX IT\u2019S GOING TO REQUIRE A WIN WITH WHERE YOU ARE?\u00a0\u201cI do.\u00a0I would love to go win Vegas.\u00a0I think that\u2019s the goal everyone who makes the Round of 8 is to win Vegas and not have to worry about the next two weeks.\u00a0I think it\u2019s gonna take a win, unless some guys that are ahead of us in points have bad days, say at Vegas or Talladega and we can just have solid points days those first two to get ourselves in a good position points-wise going into Martinsville.\u00a0If guys outside the playoffs can win Vegas or Talladega, then that provides more opportunity to point in, but looking at it right now, you\u2019re certainly going to have to win in order to make it to the final four.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE HERE AND NOW VERSUS WHAT\u2019S AHEAD IN 2026, AND DOES NEXT YEAR FEEL LIKE A REUNION?\u00a0\u201cYeah, kind of.\u00a0I mean, right now we\u2019re just focused on going as far as we can in these playoffs and trying to make the final four and have a shot at a championship with Ford.\u00a0That\u2019s goal number one, but I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s on the horizon.\u00a0We\u2019re already working on things for next year and just trying to improve the whole program.\u201d<\/p>\n
IS THIS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FIND WHAT YOU HAD IN TRUCKS?\u00a0\u201cYeah, I do.\u00a0Obviously, Xfinity has been tough for myself for whatever reason.\u00a0It helped in trucks when I was at GMS that our trucks were really fast and I gelled really well with my crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz.\u00a0We just clicked really well, but I don\u2019t know.\u00a0Our trucks were just fast and it was easy to do what I wanted, and that was really comfortable.\u00a0I could be aggressive and I could just be really creative in the truck, where Xfinity it\u2019s harder.\u00a0The drivers are better.\u00a0There\u2019s more better drivers.\u00a0The field is just thicker.\u00a0Everything matters a little bit more like pit stops and pit road and everything has to go well.\u00a0The car falls off through a run one to two seconds more than a truck, so I\u2019ve obviously had good Xfinity cars over the years and had opportunities to win and feel comfortable with where I\u2019m at.\u00a0I\u2019m blessed to have a second year here at Haas Factory and we\u2019re just gonna keep building on our notebook.\u00a0I would love to have a season like Connor\u2019s had.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW BIG OF A JUMP IS IT FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER?\u00a0\u201cI think Trucks to Xfinity is a pretty big jump and then Xfinity to Cup is even bigger.\u00a0I think there\u2019s probably 17 Xfinity guys that I think are pretty good, really good.\u00a0Everyone is good, but then in Cup there\u2019s 34 or 35 that are really good, so you\u2019re going from racing 16-17 guys every week that are good to you\u2019re doubling it to 35.\u00a0The car seems to be closer, which makes it even harder, so there are definitely big gaps between the series.\u201d<\/p>\n
HAVE YOU BEEN CUT OUT OF ANY FORD MEETINGS OR ARE YOU STILL PART OF THE FORD FAMILY?\u00a0\u201cI think we\u2019re certainly high up in the Ford family right now.\u00a0I think not just for us at Haas Factory, but for them as well.\u00a0They support four competitive Xfinity cars, so the goal is the same and it\u2019s to try and win as many races as we can the next seven weeks and try to get at least one car to the final four.\u201d<\/p>\n
SO YOU ARE STILL GETTING THE DATA AND SIM OPPORTUNITIES?\u00a0\u201cYeah.\u00a0We\u2019re getting more sim opportunity as we\u2019re getting to the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
ARE YOU GOING TO BE THE SAME GUY WE\u2019VE SEEN IN THIS PLAYOFFS OR WILL THAT CHANGE WITH THE INTENSITY GOING UP?\u00a0\u201cI think you try to be aggressive in the right situations.\u00a0Obviously, I\u2019ve been able to learn the last few playoff appearances on what it takes to make the next rounds, but, yeah, intensity is up for sure.\u00a0Aggression is up and we\u2019re just trying to make smart decisions in certain situations and we\u2019re gonna do our best to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
ONE DRIVER SAID NO MORE MR. NICE GUY.\u00a0AUSTIN HILL SAID HE\u2019S NOT GOING TO CHANGE.\u00a0IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS?\u00a0\u201cYeah, I would say everyone\u2019s aggression is up a little bit, but I\u2019m definitely not gonna take getting knocked out of way now.\u00a0I think I\u2019ve been good at taking it throughout the year on the chin, but I think you kind of have to put your foot down now in the playoffs and if they want to knock you out of the way, then they need to know they\u2019re gonna get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
DO YOU DO THAT RIGHT AT THE START TO SET THE TONE?\u00a0\u201cYeah, you\u2019re certainly not gonna go and be the first to knock someone out of the way because then you\u2019re just asking for problems, but I\u2019m for sure not gonna let myself get pushed around.\u201d<\/p>\n
DOES SEEING SOMEBODY NEW LIKE ZILISCH COME INTO THE SERIES AND WIN AS MUCH AS HE HAS FRUSTRATE YOU AND CAN YOU USE THAT TO BETTER YOURSELF AS A DRIVER?\u00a0\u201cObviously, Connor has done exceptionally well.\u00a0He\u2019s a great race car driver.\u00a0I don\u2019t know if I expected him to do as good as he has, and obviously, we knew he was gonna be fast on road courses, but he\u2019s really figured out the ovals the last two months.\u00a0He\u2019s just been really strong since Pocono.\u00a0Obviously, we\u2019re all kind of chasing JRM cars right now, probably the whole field feels that way.\u00a0The car is really good, but that\u2019s our job to make our cars faster than theirs and be able to do that with our team, so I don\u2019t think it frustrates me.\u00a0I like Connor, so you\u2019re obviously happy for them, but you\u2019re also not jealous, but you want to have that success and win all of those races and have that Cup opportunity and move forward.\u00a0So, yeah, certain parts are frustrating I think just in general that I haven\u2019t won, and kind of how our season has gone is irritating, so I think we have a lot to prove in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford Performance PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ford\u2019s three NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers \u2013 Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer \u2013 all answered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[425,99],"class_list":["post-146231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}