Posted on by Jonathan Merryman

LAS VEGAS — The road to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series can be a hard one, but then again, it’s all in how you approach it. For defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick, the attitude is simple; do your job, do it well and the rest will take care of itself.

This season, Reddick has all but locked up the Xfinity regular-season title with the top three national series hitting the track this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With the playoffs looming and eight races left in the Xfinity Series season, silly season rumors are flying. Reddick happens to be at the center of quite of few of those, a distraction that won’t turn the points leader’s attention from the task at hand: Winning a second consecutive Xfinity Series title.

RELATED:  Full Xfinity standings

“For me, the only focus is the Xfinity championship,” Reddick said. “That other stuff will sort itself out and whenever it comes time for it to be announced, then we will start thinking about it going forward. I’m here to run the Xfinity car and I want to be a Cup driver someday. I can’t let the thought of all the opportunities that could come along cloud what’s right in front of us. That’s to win the Xfinity Series championship.”

Reddick currently has four wins on the year, two less than Christopher Bell and Cole Custer. The trio make up the series’ “Big Three.” Despite having fewer wins, Reddick’s stats are phenomenal for 2019. Out of the 25 races run this year, Reddick has 21 top-10 finishes, 19 of those being top fives; numbers he chalks up to the team mentality and one common theme: fun.

“I spend a lot of time with my guys in the shop. We just have a lot of fun, that’s all there is to it. Even on the rough days we still find a way to enjoy it and we get along great as a group.” Reddick says. “We realize it’s a group effort, a team sport and it takes a lot of things to go the right way to get to Victory Lane. Even when someone has a bad day or something goes wrong, it’s not about picking them apart, it’s about picking them back up. We win and lose together. That’s been our mentality.”

Reddick will try and lock up the regular-season championship for the NASCAR Xfinity Series this Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He can clinch by earning at least 11 points in the 300-mile event.

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Hey, haven’t you heard? NASCAR Heat 4 is here! The latest title in the series from 704Games features a multitude of updates and improvements for an even more fun NASCAR console gaming experience.

Here are a few reasons we think it’s the best game of the series yet. 

RELATED: Buy special Gold Edition

Upgraded Handling and Tire Wear

You like multi-groove racing, you say? NASCAR Heat 4’s new gameplay features better handling, improved tire wear, and the true ability to run different grooves around the track. 

Custom Numbers and Improved Painting

One of the community’s most-requested updates—more painting tools—takes the spotlight in NASCAR Heat 4. Gamers can use any car number; plus, there’s a brand new custom number font in play. 

Oh, and not to mention all the new NASCAR paint schemes available.

https://twitter.com/ACav704/status/1171541473591906304

 

Opponent AI Car Upgrades

Non-player AI cars get a serious upgrade in NASCAR Heat 4 compared to previous titles. 

Not only are the AI cars improved, but the game includes robust new settings to tweak and customize opponent cars.

 

Day-to-Night Transitions

Another cool, immersive feature of NASCAR Heat 4 is day-to-night transitions, mimicking watching real-world races that start in the afternoon and end under the stars. The result is beautiful as the time shifts to twilight and the lights glow on the speedway. 

Oh, yeah, and you can race Martinsville at night. 

 

Heat Pro League Makes the Upgrade

The eNASCAR Heat Pro League upgraded to NASCAR Heat 4 to kick off the inaugural playoffs of the season Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

Ross Chastain even stopped by the broadcast studio to celebrate.

On Xbox, mrTRACKBAR33 took the win for the JTG Daugherty Throttlers, while ThAbEaR95 bested the PlayStation 4 field. 

 

Race Any Car at Any Track

Gander Trucks at Watkins Glen? Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen? Cup cars at Iowa? Yep. All doable, new for NASCAR Heat 4. 

(The only exception, of course, is asphalt cars can only race asphalt tracks, and dirt cars can only race on dirt tracks, which seems pretty reasonable.)

 

The Little Things

Sometimes it’s the smaller features you come to appreciate the most in a new game. For instance, based on feedback, NASCAR Heat 4 now features:

  • The ability to start your career in any racing series (instead of the Xtreme Dirt Tour)
  • Your own name on the car’s windshield banner (instead of the original driver’s name)
  • Motion blur visual effects
  • A visual on-screen track map
  • All-new sounds sourced from real race cars

Grab NASCAR Heat 4 Gold Edition or Standard Edition today from NASCARHeat.com, available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or PC via Steam. Game purchases include a $50 race ticket coupon valid for admission to a NASCAR event at select tracks. 

Official release on eNASCAR.com 

Posted on by Staff Report

Kurt Busch’s No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet pulled through in the last minute of Friday’s final practice at Las Vegas Motor Speeding to clock the fastest lap at 177.276 mph.

Up until those final moments, Joey Logano was leading the pack, but he ultimately wound up with the second-best speed at 176.783 mph. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford won the spring race at this 1.5-mile track in March. Sunday’s South Point 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the series’ second visit to Las Vegas this season.

RELATED: Lap averages from final practice | Final practice results

Last year’s winner of this race, Brad Keselowski, was right behind Logano at 176.321 mph. Chase Elliott (176.223 mph) and Ryan Blaney (176.114 mph) made up the rest of the top five, who are all a part of the 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs field.

Clint Bowyer, who topped the first practice’s leaderboard and is also playoff eligible, was 17th in the final session at 175.450 mph.

The Monster Energy Series will return to the track for Busch Pole Qualifying on Friday at 4:05 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

FIRST PRACTICE

Clint Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford had a late surge in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ first practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday. With less than two minutes left in the 50-minute session, Bowyer took the No. 1 spot with a top lap of 178.059 mph. That was good enough to be 0.836 mph faster than the next best, William Byron.

The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was at the top of the leaderboard for the majority of the practice. Byron circled the 1.5-mile track at 177.223 mph, which was ultimately good for second fastest.

RELATED: Lap averages from first practice | First practice results

Both Bowyer and Byron are among the 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs field.

Jimmie Johnson churned out the third-best performance at 177.148 mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (176.748 mph) and Austin Dillon (176.684 mph) rounded out the top five, as the Monster Energy Series begins its postseason Sunday with the South Point 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). None of the final three in the top five is among the playoff field.

Last year’s winner of this race, Brad Keselowski, came in sixth at 176.678 mph.

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 11, 2019) – With the NASCAR Playoffs™ set to kick off this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR® fans will be able to engage with the postseason on a deeper level than ever before courtesy of a new augmented reality experience designed to help fans feel the emotional highs of a NASCAR victory.

Starting this week, NASCAR Mobile users will be able to use AR to get behind the wheel of their favorite NASCAR Playoff driver’s car and perform burnouts in a 3D-rendered vehicle. The NASCAR AR Burnout Experience Driven by Goodyear will be available to all users with AR-enabled devices now through the end of the playoffs, all while the real-life stars of stock car racing perform burnouts on the Vegas Strip during NASCAR Burnout Blvd: Driven by Goodyear on Thursday, September 12.

“As NASCAR’s top drivers take to the streets of Las Vegas this week, fans around the world will be able to strap in and perform burnouts of their very own – right from their mobile devices.” said Tim Clark, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, NASCAR.

“For decades, burnouts have symbolized victory and the excitement following a race,” said Stu Grant, Goodyear’s Director of Racing. “This technology gives NASCAR fans a chance to experience the burnout tradition – on virtual Goodyear tires.”

Augmented reality continues to be a key area development for NASCAR, as the sport looks to bring immersive experiences to fans via next-generation engagement channels. Fans will be able to access the AR feature via a call-to-action prompt that will appear upon opening the NASCAR Mobile app.

The feature extends the in-venue experience to a mobile device using the latest augmented reality functions available with Apple ARKit2 and iOS 12 for iPhone devices and Google ARCore and 9+ for Android. The experience leverages photo-realistic imagery to bring the cars to life in users living rooms.

“Augmented reality is helping us revolutionize the way that NASCAR fans engage with the sport,” said Clark. “Our goal is to bring fans as close to the sport as possible, and AR is an ideal medium to help us accomplish that as we look to engage the NASCAR fans of both today and tomorrow.”

Beyond AR, NASCAR fans will have a multitude of ways to engage live with the NASCAR Playoffs this season. Returning for 2019 will be the NASCAR Playoffs Fantasy Game, a special postseason-optimized fantasy experience aimed at keeping fans engaged from the drop of the green flag at Las Vegas all the way through the last lap at Homestead.

In addition, 2019 will see the return of the live 360-degree video in-car camera stream, which will be available for three playoff races: the Bank of America Roval 400  at Charlotte Motor Speedway, First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, all accessible via NASCAR.com and NASCAR Mobile.

Fans will also be able to participate in the NASCAR Props Challenge, where they will be tasked with correctly picking a set number of outcomes based off of each Playoff race – ultimately serving as another fun tool to help fans find new aspects of the race to root for.

The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ Playoffs begin this week with the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90), with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

Users, start your virtual engines.

Starting this week, NASCAR Mobile users will be able to use augmented reality to get behind the wheel of their favorite NASCAR Playoff driver’s car and perform burnouts in a 3D-rendered vehicle.

The NASCAR AR Burnout Experience Driven by Goodyear is available to all users with AR-enabled devices now through the end of the playoffs. It’s fitting, then, that the real-life NASCAR stars performed burnouts on the Las Vegas Strip during NASCAR Burnout Blvd: Driven by Goodyear on Thursday.

It’s just another way NASCAR fans can engage with the postseason on a deeper level than ever before. All you need is the NASCAR mobile app — and perhaps a couple of ideas on where to do the virtual burnout (think your driveway, the desk at your office, the backyard with your dog, etc.).

RELATED: Download NASCAR’s mobile app

“As NASCAR’s top drivers take to the streets of Las Vegas this week, fans around the world will be able to strap in and perform burnouts of their very own – right from their mobile devices,” said Tim Clark, NASCAR senior vice president and chief digital officer.

Augmented reality continues to be a key area of development as NASCAR looks to bring immersive experiences to fans via next-generation engagement channels. Fans can access the AR feature via a call-to-action prompt that will appear upon opening the NASCAR Mobile app.

“Augmented reality is helping us revolutionize the way that NASCAR fans engage with the sport,” Clark said. “Our goal is to bring fans as close to the sport as possible, and AR is an ideal medium to help us accomplish that as we look to engage the NASCAR fans of both today and tomorrow.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — For the first time in 16 years Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson won’t be a part of NASCAR’s championship Playoff run. However, his three young teammates will.

Chase Elliott, 23, paced the championship organization with two wins – at Talladega and Watkins Glen – this season and heads into Sunday’s playoff opener ranked seventh. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is a perfect 4-for-4 in qualifying for the Cup playoffs. His best championship finish was fifth in 2017 – his second year at the Cup level.

RELATED: Meet the full playoff field | What the 16 drivers are saying 

Alex Bowman, 26, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, earned his career first Cup victory at Chicago this summer to secure his second consecutive playoff run. He’s ranked ninth heading into the Vegas opener.

And the series’ youngest Cup driver, 21-year-old William Byron, brings the famed No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet back to the Playoffs. He’s ranked 13th in the playoffs’ points re-set and is already turning in a career year in top-fives (three) and top-10s (nine). He has won a team-best four pole positions too. And while it may seem like a stretch for the driver to have earned a playoff bid in only his second Cup season, Byron said that was actually the expectation.

“I think for our team we at least expected to make it for a while now,’’ Byron said. “We don’t feel like we’re just sneaking into the Playoffs or anything. We locked it in a couple races ago. So I feel good about that. I think the next step is just how do we perform in the Playoffs and how do we get to the next level of our progression as a program.’’

And with so much buzz surrounding the three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. – or the title talk about Team Penske’s high expectations to earn a second consecutive Cup title, Byron said he doesn’t mind making his first playoff run perhaps a little more under the radar.

“It’s a little bit of an advantage to have that lack of pressure on our team,’’ Byron said. “Our goal was obviously to make the Playoffs and to accomplish that has been really good. I feel like now we can focus more on executing the first three races and try to get through that round. So yeah, I don’t think it really matters either way, but it does help that we don’t really have that pressure on us.’’

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — Defending Las Vegas race winner Brad Keselowski is among those expecting the intensity to increase this weekend with the playoff opener. A three-time winner at Vegas, Keselowski is a favorite this weekend and conceded that he’s fully prepared to do whatever is necessary to earn one of the coveted winner’s trophies en route to the Homestead-Miami Speedway Championship finale.

However, he cautioned that “aggressive” behavior on track isn’t so much a result of the playoff intensity, but a necessary mode in winning races, period.

MORE: Top quotes from Playoff Media Day

“The racing is always changing and evolving,’’ said Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. “If it didn’t, it would always be really boring. The cars keep getting after it and the drivers push them and each other harder. Combine that with the rules on the cars making it so important to make your passes on the restarts, you really have such a narrow window of time to make something happen that you throw more desperate punches, so to speak.

“Sometimes I certainly challenge myself to be more aggressive than years prior. That is a different challenge, but a good one.’’

Keselowski’s teammate, 25-year old Ryan Blaney is making his third consecutive Playoff appearance. He won last year’s Charlotte Roval Playoff race and finished 10th in the championship standings. For him, the Playoff portion of the season is about consistency not necessarily changing the intensity.

“Honestly, I don’t really like to change up kind of the way you go about things in the playoffs,” said Blaney, who drives the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. “Honestly, if you get to playoff time and then you start driving 110 percent now, I try to do that all year.

“Yeah, the intensity level picks up in some scenarios but I just try to be the same because at the end of the day it is the same goal all year. Racing and winning races and getting points. You know what the end goal is. You can’t have mistakes.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — Six drivers in the 16-driver Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff field are past champions of the sport, all vying for title No. 2 in the final 10-race stretch.

The half-dozen hopefuls weighed in on what a second championship would mean to them Thursday at NASCAR Playoffs Media Day, on the eve of on-track activity at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. Their answers were an intriguing mix that touched on their motivations, their legacies and the greater meaning of becoming a two-time champ.

RELATED: Full schedule for Las Vegas

Kurt Busch, 2004 champion: “It would mean the world to me, and to be able to deliver for Ganassi and have (crew chief) Matt McCall and this whole group of guys who have been together for a long time, I appreciate things more now — the teamwork, the team camaraderie, and the chemistry — whereas early in my career when I won at 26 years old, I was like, yeah, it’s all about me. But now I feel like it’s that team effort and I love the way that this team has come together. They’ve looked at me for that guidance and that leadership, but at the same time, we’re just having fun with it and executing as a team, and it would mean the world to me to bring another championship home and to have that Monster Energy Cup next to the old Nextel Cup that I have, it would really be a huge bookend to my career.”

Kyle Busch, 2015 champion: “I’m sure it’s going to mean more than just one. I don’t know exactly what it would mean, but I don’t think two – two would change it over one, but I think when you get to three, it’s not going to be that big of a deal. Then four and five would be huge. That’s kind of what I look at. If I could get a handful of them, I would say that’s probably a successful career. Years ago if you would have asked me that question, I would have said, seven or eight is possible. Right now, probably five I would say.”

Kevin Harvick, 2014 champion (mentioning what it would mean to celebrate with his young children, Keelan and Piper): “For me, those are pretty motivating factors just because of the fact that I enjoy him being around successful moments and them being around successful moments but I also enjoy them being around the moments and try to help them understand, especially Keelan at this point, understand what it took to get to that point because it wasn’t that way at the beginning of the year.”

RELATED: See what the entire 16-driver field had to say

Brad Keselowski, 2012 champion: “Well, it would be a huge mark for me personally. I think there is a big difference between drivers that have won one championship and two, that is my own personal barometer. There is quite a long list of drivers in the sport now and past that won a single championship. The ones that I think get mentioned or thought of the most are the drivers that have won multiples. Certainly winning a championship is a legacy. Winning a second championship is an elite legacy in the sport. Something I certainly hope to do and have put a lot of emphasis on and probably is the biggest thing I want to do in the sport. That opportunity is in front of us over these 10 weeks.”

Joey Logano, 2018 champion: “I don’t know. I don’t know if your legacy should be totally hinged on championships. It is nice to say you have one and it would be nice to say you had two and it would be nice to say you had seven but I don’t know if that is what really creates a true champion. I don’t know if it is how many you have. It is what you do with it. What do you do with the platform that God has given you? That is what I think creates a true champion and Hall of Famer. When I was asked that question at the Hall of Fame vote this year, that is what I brought up. What is a Hall of Famer? Is it a champion or someone that has done something to help our sport and help everyone in our sport to grow. I think that might be more of a Hall of Fame thing. Do you have to win a championship to do that? No. I don’t know if winning another championship alters your legacy that much if you don’t do anything with it.”

Martin Truex Jr., 2017 champion: “I’m here to win. I really don’t think about those kind of things. If you think about it, it messes with your head. Yeah, I try not to think about those things. I try to go out there and do the best that I can and hopefully have the opportunity to enjoy it someday.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Insane speed, car wrecks and NASCAR champions — sounds like the makings of a great race day. But for the first time in decades, the excitement of motor racing is taking on a new meaning for the sport’s youngest fans (kids!) as NASCAR rolls out the Adventure Force Kid Zone experience featuring new NASCAR toys at multiple raceways this Fall.

On the heels of NASCAR and Walmart announcing that they would bring back NASCAR toys, Darlington Raceway Throwback Weekend proved to be the perfect backdrop to unveil the new NASCAR Adventure Force Crash Racers (Figure 8 Circuit) – the first in a new line of NASCAR-branded racing sets from Far Out Toys.

In Darlington, NASCAR invited hundreds of kids and their parents to try out the new racing set at the Adventure Force tent in the Fan Zone, where kids even got to play with the new racing set against NASCAR drivers. The 2-day event brought out some of biggest names in NASCAR, including Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer, and NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series driver Natalie Decker.

Far Out Main 1

And to bring the thrill of these new toys right onto the racetrack, Noah Gragson drove a fully wrapped NASCAR Adventure Force Crash Racers stock car on Saturday, featuring a striking paint scheme. The HobbyKidsTV family, from the massively popular YouTube channel with 100+ million kid viewers each month, came out to join in on the NASCAR crash racing action and got to go behind the scenes with Gragson and get up close to the Adventure Force race car.

Far Out Main 2

The Adventure Force Kid Zone experience will be available at select raceways this season including at Dover International Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kids, parents and grandparents are invited to join the crash racing fun. NASCAR Adventure Force Crash Racers is now available exclusively at Walmart stores nationwide and at Walmart.com.

Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — A common refrain about the NASCAR Playoffs starting now is the idea of the clean slate, a chalkboard wiped fresh and ready for the 10-race story ready to be told. But that notion also discounts the 26 races that preceded the postseason and their impact.

Enter momentum. The 16-driver field will carry varying degrees of it from their regular-season body of work into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which begin with Sunday’s South Point 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Playoff Media Day best quotes | Series standings |  Full Vegas schedule

Seeding and a stockpile of playoff points matter, but so does the way drivers make an entrance into the season’s home stretch. Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman sit in a virtual tie at the bottom rungs of the postseason pecking order, but the way they rallied and clawed their way into the playoff field could sustain them in the early going.

“Momentum is confidence. It is confidence in your decision making and your driving and everything,” Bowyer said during Thursday’s media day activities at the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa. “Your decisions for the setup and your decision for passing and stage points that are so important. You have to have that momentum and confidence in your mind. That is not just the driver, that is the crew chief making those calls.”

MORE: Newman’s underdog quest enters playoffs

There’s an intriguing duality at the other end of the playoff heap. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. sit 1-2-3 with four victories each during the first 26 races. While Hamlin has roared into the playoffs with a sturdy finishing kick, Busch and Truex have cooled slightly, with Busch nursing a 12-race drought and Truex going 10 races without a triumph — losing streaks that most teams would envy.

“I think that we had a little bit of a lull there right after those four, but I feel like the last five or six races have been really good,” said Truex, who notched his four wins in a torrid eight-week span this spring. “We’ve been in position to do a lot of great things, it’s just … things haven’t played out. We’ve had a few mistakes here and there.”

RELATED: Meet the 16-driver playoff field

Truex then listed a brief bout with misfortune — the flat tire at Bristol, a loose wheel elsewhere, some bad bounces with pit strategy. “It’s just been those kind of things have taken us out of a few races. … So we’ve been right there, we just haven’t had that spark, that magic. Nothing’s gone the way we wanted it to. We just need that little bit extra. Hopefully we can turn it up here this weekend.”

Hamlin’s head of steam ranks among the series’ strongest, with a recent streak of six straight top fives buoying his No. 11 JGR team. When asked if this represented his strongest chance at finally clinching the first championship in his 14-year career, Hamlin answer was clear: “No doubt.”

“We’ve been running as good as we ever have right in this moment,” Hamlin said. “I just don’t see any weaknesses that we necessarily have right now. We are performing well in all aspects of our race team. You just hope that the things you can control, you control well. If you do that, we will be fine.”

Erik Jones, the last of the Joe Gibbs Racing quartet of playoff hopefuls, has experienced both ends of the momentum pendulum in a two-week span: First place in a triumphant Darlington drive one week, then next-to-last place in the Indianapolis finale the next. The pre-playoff approach for him is obvious: savor the former, discard the latter.

“The points are reset, you’re racing a different group of guys and not really racing the whole field anymore and you just have to focus forward,” Jones said. “I look at what we’ve done the last few months and just focus on that. Think about what we’ve done to be fast, successful and in contention to win and just need to continue that trend.”

RELATED: Making the case for and against each driver winning it all

The idea of continuing trends or starting new ones was the theme of Thursday’s media gathering. The “I’m excited” buzzword — adapted from preseason media days — was nearly omnipresent, but contrasted against the backdrop of drivers who have weathered the regular-season grind to get here.

Momentum abounds, but so does the hope of reaching the ultimate goal in the 10 races ahead.

“I mean, why be here if you don’t think that?” said Chase Elliott, who enters as the No. 7 seed. “I mean, there’s no point in even coming to this Playoff Media Day if we don’t feel like we have a shot; or, even being in Vegas in general.

“So yes, I do think we can do it.”