WILLIAM BYRON, No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
How big is this race to start the next round of the Chase?
“I think it’s a big race just because it’s the start of the next round. We’ve been waiting for this since New Hampshire and we’re looking forward to it. The guys have been working really hard at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) and both trucks are in good position with the 4 (Christopher Bell) truck too. I’m hoping to start this round off strong, hopefully with a win and if we can’t do that then just try to get top-threes to get to Homestead, that’s the ultimate goal.”
What are your thoughts on the new participation rule for Cup drivers?
“It’s important to have those guys in the series and learned a lot from Kyle (Busch) when he raced here in the spring. He raced I think Charlotte too and just seeing the things that he did that sometimes you don’t know to do or you don’t think are possible at the time. The experience level definitely helps those guys, but they’re obviously really talented and it’s important to get out there, learn to do restarts with them and learn how to capitalize getting to pit road like they do so well. Those things are going to be important, but having them out of the Chase next year might help the series regulars kind of get a chance to advance to the next round like we don’t have right now.”
How has it been balancing school work and racing?
“I think it went well and just glad to get that out of the way. Normally I wouldn’t have mid-terms on a Thursday, but it was nice to get that out of the way and be able to focus on the weekend. It’s a good balance for me, I think it helps me not to overthink what I’m doing on the race track, I like to do that so I think it’s nice to limit that and keeps my mind active. Its part of the sponsorship and Liberty University has done a lot for me and I owe it to them to pay that forward. It’s important and we’ll see what happens as the future goes and see as the schedule ramps up next year, but right now it’s been working pretty well and my team has been on board with it and I’ve been able to get to the shop when I need to.”
Is this race as much of a wild card as Talladega?
“I don’t think it’s as much of a wild card as Talladega is. These guys were really good at Talladega, but I think for me that’s a pretty big wild card and you’re in a pack without really control of when wrecks are going to happen. This place you can control a lot more, you can really drive the truck and you can figure out how to make the race truck go fast.”
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
How much do you anticipate racing at Martinsville to try to move on to the championship round at Homestead?
“I always look forward to coming to Martinsville, it’s definitely my favorite race track. It’s where we all started at short tracks. We’ve won a couple times here and we’ve always run well here in the past. We were off a little bit here in the spring and we feel we know why we were off a little bit here in the spring so hopefully we can carry the momentum we’ve had here in the past and have a good run here tomorrow. I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to the Chase, I just go race your own race. Race each race as it’s the last race of the season. If you advance, you advance and if you don’t, you don’t. To be totally honest for 2017, that’s the way I feel. Hopefully we can win, that would be great to be able to punch your ticket and go to Homestead and fight for a championship, but we have two more rounds after that I guess.”
What are your thoughts on the new participation rule for Cup drivers?
“I love racing against the Cup guys when they run Truck races. Are they better than we are? They race more than we do. I’ve always explained it as you ride a bike way more, you’re going to be a little bit better just because you have the experience, but I love going and competing against them because the only way we’re going to get better is to have somebody to be able to chase. At that point, one of those Cup guys is going to have that experience so at least we get to see where we stack up against them. I actually love racing against them and I’ve always loved it when Kyle (Busch) has raced against us and Kevin (Harvick) and all those guys. I enjoy it a lot.”
Can you have a mulligan this weekend and make it to the final four?
“I don’t think you’re going to be able to have a mulligan this weekend and get onto the final round. Without a doubt, you have to have a good run leaving this place – if it’s a top-10 worst case to go into the next two to go into the final four. I love coming here and if it’s meant to be, it will be. I say that each and every week and that’s what I live and die by.”
TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
How much do you enjoy coming to Martinsville for the next round of the Chase?
“I always look forward to coming here and being able to advance to the ‘Round of 6’ was big for us as a team. We’ve worked hard all year long and we feel like consistency helped us get to this point. Being at home, I put a lot of extra pressure on myself to do well, but in the past we’ve always had a lot of success here. I would like to have more wins than we’ve had, but I’ve had a lot of success in the Late Model and getting my first win here in this race back in 2009. It’s a lot of confidence and a lot of momentum from not only my standpoint as well as the team. To get rolling and hopefully to have a good day tomorrow – a clean 200 laps and to get that important win, that will punch our ticket through to Homestead. If we can’t get the win then our main goal is to try to get a good top-five finish and stay consistent and hopefully that win is right around the corner. If not, we have to be really consistent with top-threes, I feel like, to point our way through to Homestead if we can’t win.”
What are your thoughts on the new participation rule for Cup drivers?
“As far as the new rule, I think it’s fair. At the same time too, as the competitor in me, you want to beat those guys because maybe before my window is completely shut I’ll have the opportunity to race against those guys and they make you better. The deal is that I look at driving a truck and then going back and driving a Late Model, it makes you better. Same way I look at it is when a Cup guy comes from a high horsepower vehicle back to a truck, it makes you better with more track time. Our schedule is very spread apart in the beginning and then very condensed on the back side. I think all these guys will tell you that any time you can stay in the seat consistently every week, it makes you better. We’re not bad by any means, but when you can have that extra advantage and maybe some setup differences from the Cup side to our side and that’s a leg up on you. I think it’s fair and moving on we’ll just do our best to keep the competition from the Red Horse side as strong as we can and what we know how to try to get that win that we haven’t gotten this year. You’ve got Cup guys running this weekend in our race and they’ll be tough to beat as well.”
What do you think of Martinsville adding lights?
“I love it. I was here for the Martinsville Late Model weekend and Clay (Campbell) announced to the drivers in the driver’s meeting that race would be run under the lights. When I was walking out of the race track just kidding, I asked if in the Truck driver’s meeting if he was going to tell us that we would be the second ones to run under the lights and he just said maybe you don’t want to miss your driver’s meeting. I know he has a good poker face for sure, but I think it’s huge for the area and I think it’s huge for the race track. This race track produces a lot of great racing regardless of what kind of activity is on the race track. I hope that in the near future it gets announced that we’re going to run under the lights because it’s already action-packed during the day and I can only imagine what it would look like under the lights.”
Do you believe limited Cup drivers in the series could help you find more sponsorship?
“Sure, if you get more wins or are way more consistent, it can’t hurt by any means to help that process be a little bit easier. We just have to wait and see how it shakes out. I always enjoy racing against those guys because it does make you better. I think it’s fair and if we can get there and win – maybe before we’ve won two a year and now we can win four a year that definitely is going to help our argument and leverage a little more when it comes to trying to find that sponsor.”
Is this race as much of a wild card as Talladega?
“A perfect example is 2014, the spring race, we raced on Sunday and with 15 to go, I was leading and Matt (Crafton) was second. One of the trucks went through the grass in turn one and kicked it up on the race track and the caution came out. When I got to it, there was nowhere to go and we ended up finishing sixth. You can have a good day going, but at any given time you can have something go wrong and it either be of your doing or not be of your doing. Again, a win is important and no mulligan I feel here, Texas or Phoenix. If you can’t get that win, I don’t think you can point your way through just with a fifth-place finish, I think it’s going to be a win or closer to it, especially with the drivers that are in the ‘Round of 6’ and how good they are and the equipment that they have.”
