DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Harrison Burton made the most of his Daytona International Speedway debut Saturday, keeping his cool over a series of challenges and late-race restarts for his first ARCA Menards Series victory.
His mother and his girlfriend stood vigil atop the No. 20 Toyota’s pit box during the Lucas Oil 200’s 11th-hour plot twists, sending out prayers amid a cardiac-wrenching tangle of nerves. Burton, 18, seemed to take it all in stride.
“Ah, yeah. this is when it gets fun, huh?” Burton told his crew over the radio when a yellow flag bunched the field with nine laps to go. He remained loose just a few laps later, saying his crew chief “looks good on TV” as he caught a glimpse of an interview with Mike Hillman Jr. playing out on the ISM Vision big screen under caution.
Those unflappable moments all unfolded as Burton dealt with rising water temps because of debris on his grill, the frantic restarts and the loss of his rearview mirror during the race.
“To win at Daytona is so special,” Burton said. “I wanted to do a crazy burnout, but then I just wanted to take it in, too. I kind of did both, just cruised around and looked at the fans and everyone out there. It was really cool, a really humbling experience to win at Daytona for sure.”
Burton led 48 of the 86 laps in his first ARCA Menards Series start. He held off a pressing Todd Gilliland, his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series and like Burton, a product of the NASCAR Next program.
One year ago, the two drivers engaged in a spirited battle for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East opener at half-mile New Smyrna Speedway, with Gilliland taking the checkers first. This year, the two warmed up for next weekend’s Truck Series lid-lifter by putting on another show on one of the sport’s most historic stages.
“I always raced the short track at New Smyrna Speedway over there and would watch the big track and was like, ‘I want to do that one day,'” Burton said. “Finally, I got old enough to do it, and the first time was a really special time. For me, that can’t really be put into words.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Driving in his debut event for Stewart-Haas Racing last year, Aric Almirola had the lead roughly a mile from the finish line.
But as he approached Turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway and tried to block a run by Austin Dillon, contact between Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Almirola’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Fusion sent Almirola into the outside wall and Dillon into Victory Lane.
Under the circumstances, Almirola was extraordinarily gracious after the fact, defusing what could have been a volatile situation between the two drivers.
That’s not to say, however, that Almirola didn’t have a few private moments of anger and frustration.
“Did I ever have a moment where behind closed doors I stomped my feet and hit some things?” Almirola asked rhetorically on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. “Maybe,” he acknowledged with a mischievous grin.
But his behavior in public was far more measured and diplomatic.
“In that time, in that moment, it was more important for me to go out and be a good representation for my sponsors and my partners and my kids,” Almirola said. “My kids were sitting back in my motor home watching on TV like the rest of the world, so at that time it was an opportunity for me to be a good role model for my kids.
“You’ve got to be a good sport, and sometimes things don’t always go your way. You’ve got two choices. You can either keep your head high and take the high road, or you can pout and piss and moan—and the sponsors usually like the first one.”
Almirola didn’t win the Daytona 500, but he eventually found Victory Lane with Stewart-Haas in the last restrictor-plate race of 2018 at Talladega. With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series cars featuring the same specs for the Daytona 500, Almirola is optimistic about his chances this year—if he can just complete the last mile in the lead.
See the order that cars will make a lap for Sunday’s qualifying session (12:10 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Daytona International Speedway for the 61st annual Daytona 500 (Feb. 17, 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Sunday’s qualifying session will be two rounds with the top 12 from Round 1 advancing to the final round to determine the front row for “The Great American Race.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The JTG Daugherty Racing team arrives at Daytona International Speedway celebrating its 25th anniversary in NASCAR with a new lineup, high hopes and renewed motivation.
Former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Chris Buescher drives the JTG team’s No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and this year will team with journeyman rookie Ryan Preece in the No. 47 Chevy. And while JTG is eager to challenge for its second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff appearance – it’s also realistic about the learning curve of its young drivers.
The team earned its first and only Cup victory with driver AJ Allmendinger at Watkins Glen in 2014 and there is a distinct and deliberate urgency to answer the Victory Lane toast.
It’s been a steady evolution for the team, whose first NASCAR race was in 1995 with driver Jeff Fuller in the Xfinity Series. The team’s first shop in small town Waxhaw, North Carolina – located three miles from the South Carolina border – was a family garage that doubled as a chicken house.
The fortunes, goals and expectations of the group have risen notably. It’s been a positive vibe for the JTG Daugherty Racing team to look back on its humble beginnings and see the growth and promise.
“Calling our first shop a chicken house is probably generous because I would call it more like a chicken coop,” team co-owner Jodi Geschickter said. “Our small office was on the other side of the chickens. Sometimes you could hear them in the ductwork.
“When we were making phone calls, we just prayed the person on the other line couldn’t hear them. Today, we do not have that problem. We are fortunate to be in a large shop with several offices. We worked so hard to get to this level and maintain our longstanding partnerships with the best brands in the business.”
Her husband, fellow team principle Tad Geschickter, smiled Saturday morning recalling those early days.
“I remember we were parked out in the dirt by Lake Lloyd because there was no room for us in the [Daytona International Speedway] garage,” Geschickter said. “There were like 60 cars here. It was really an interesting week with a lot of pressure. But it’s hard to believe we’ve done 25 of them [Daytona Speedweeks] now.”
Seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson made his very first NASCAR start for the team in 1998 – finishing 25th in the Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He ran one more race, finishing 15th at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois two months later.
“First of all, I’m so surprised to hear it has been 25 years,” the seven-time Cup champion Johnson said.
“They (Tad and Jodi) are two amazing people that have given so many young drivers, crew members an opportunity in the sport; helped us evolve. I’ve watched them grow from the Busch Series (NASCAR Xfinity Series) ranks into Cup and got to see their victory in Cup.
“I just smile every time I think of them. I’m so proud to say that the first NASCAR vehicle I drove was one of theirs, the No. 59 Kingsford Match Light car.”
This season the Hendrick Motorsports-affiliated organization would love to celebrate the team’s milestone in good form – running up front. Weekly. Its first test of the year is Sunday with pole qualifying at 12:15 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the Feb. 17 Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Its 2019 drivers certainly bring solid credentials. Buescher is the 2015 Xfinity Series champion and he won a Cup race at Pocono in 2016 for the Front Row Motorsports team.
Preece, a 28-year old Connecticut native and former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, will contend for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. His first full season experience in Cup begins in the most prestigious race of the year. He made five starts in 2015 in the No. 98 Curb-Agajanian car – with a best finish of 32nd in his very first race and at his hometown track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway.He holds no false illusions about the learning curve, but he’s eager and prepared.
“Well, Daytona in a Cup car is going to be different,” Preece said smiling Saturday morning. “You race against drivers that have been here for a while. So they obviously have got a lot of experience with it. Just get laps and get as ready as you can be for the Duels and use the Duels as something to prepare yourself for the 500.
“You’d rather make those mistakes where you lose a couple of spots in the Duels than you would in the 500 coming down in the closing laps. So, a lot of it is preparation and having the car as prepared as you possibly can. I’ve been there most of the days seeing all these guys and how excited they are. And when you have crew guys that are excited like they are, they go that extra mile to get the car prepared.”
Certainly during his two and a half decades fielding a NASCAR team, Geschickter has seen the sport ebb and flow. He is especially optimistic about his current driver lineup and the team’s affiliation with Hendrick Motorsports. If nothing else, his tenure in NASCAR has given him perspective.
“I think everyone knows we’ve got to continue to evolve and change,” Geschickter said. “I see that work going on earnestly. There’s nothing to it now so people assume well, we’re not doing anything, but I had more meetings downtown and at the R&D Center this winter than I’ve had in five years, total.
“I really believe that we’re headed in the right direction. I think this new package is going to be more exciting to watch on the 1.5-miles. I think the talk they have about continually changing the schedule and livening things up will be really good.”
Bubba Wallace jumped to the top of the board in Saturday’s second Daytona 500 practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Wallace laid down a fast lap of 195.020 miles per hour in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Ty Dillon finished the session in second with a lap of 195.008 mph in the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet Camaro.
“Not trying to get ahead of ourselves,” Wallace told FS1 after practice. “We have qualifying tomorrow and we’ll see where we wind up. …Hell, looks like it’s working out well for us.”
As select drivers and teams elected to make single-car mock qualifying runs, drivers David Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Paul Menard teamed up with a group of other Ford Mustangs for a drafting run, earning them the final three positions in the top five at the end of practice. Ragan earned the third-fastest time at 194.940 mph, with Stenhouse finishing fourth (194.574 mph) and Menard in fifth (193.586 mph).
What was scheduled to be a 55-minute practice session was cut short due to rain after the red flag was displayed with roughly 24 minutes remaining.
The next time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers hit the track will be Sunday for Daytona 500 Qualifying (12:10 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which will set the front row for the 61st annual Daytona 500 (Feb. 17 at 2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and the starting lineups for the Gander RV Duel (Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
PRACTICE 1
Joe Gibbs Racing came out of the gates swinging in Saturday’s first Daytona 500 practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, as Martin Truex Jr. led the session in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.
Truex Jr. and two of JGR’s Toyota brigade — Kyle Busch and Erik Jones — teamed up to test out the draft, while Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team elected to make mock qualifying runs ahead of Sunday’s Daytona 500 Qualifying (12:10 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Truex carried a session-leading lap of 195.920 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, followed by Busch with a lap of 195.852 mph and Jones with a lap of 195.793 mph.
Richard Childress Racing and Germain Racing had the same idea as Joe Gibbs Racing, linking up to draft during the first 55-minute session. NASCAR Xfinity Series regular (and the defending champion of that series) Tyler Reddick, who is competing in his first Daytona 500, laid down the fourth-fastest lap of 194.095 mph. Ty Dillon rounded out the top five, posting a top speed of 194.032 mph.
Final practice is set for 3:05 p.m. ET and will run for 50 minutes with coverage on FS1.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2019) – ARCA and Menards announced today a multi-year extension that elevates the home improvement chain from presenting sponsor to the series entitlement sponsor. Effective immediately, the series is titled the ARCA Menards Series.
“For the past decade Menards has played a tremendous role in growing our series and we couldn’t be happier to continue this journey during this historic time for ARCA,” said Ron Drager, President, ARCA. “Menard’s is a growing company and a committed supporter of motorsports, we are honored to have their brand along-side ours as title sponsor of the series.”
This newly signed agreement underscores the significance of family for ARCA, Menards and NASCAR, with all three companies being family-owned. Menard’s opened for business in 1958 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and now has more than 300 home improvement stores located throughout the Midwest, many of which are in markets on the ARCA Menards Series schedule.
“We are really glad we can help out!” said John Menard, Menards President/CEO. “We are a family-owned and family-run business and share similar Midwestern family-values with ARCA. Both of our organizations are focused on the overall Guest experience and doing things the right way. Many of the ARCA races are in locations where we have Menards stores which provides an opportunity to further connect with our customers. We appreciate that our customers recognized us with the 2018 JD Power Award for Customer Satisfaction and believe this translates well with the hard-working philosophy of the ARCA organization.”
The ARCA and Menards partnership dates to 2009 when Menards came aboard as a joint presenting partner. A year later, Menards became the sole presenting partner of the series. The ARCA Menards Series was founded in 1953 and is a regional touring series concentrated in the Midwest. It’s the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and is considered an important ladder series for the NASCAR national series platforms.
“This multi-year agreement is a great victory for racing fans,” said Mike Helton, vice chairman, NASCAR. “Our sport thrives on great partnerships and Menards stands out as one of the best in motorsports. We appreciate their commitment to growing this series for years to come.”
NASCAR announced the acquisition of ARCA in April 2018 and closed on December 31 in a move designed to strengthen a relationship that dates back more than 60 years. ARCA founder John Marcum raced against Bill France Sr. and worked as a NASCAR official. In the past few years, the ARCA Menards Series has provided a regional touring series for short-track veterans and a platform for talented drivers with aspirations to compete in one of NASCAR’s three national series.
ARCA Menards Series will kick off its 2019 season at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 9 for the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire. Members can access live timing and scoring, live chat and live track updates exclusively at ARCARacing.com.
Defending series champion Joey Logano topped the speed chart during the first on-track action of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, but it was a rough start for Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman.
With roughly 45 minutes remaining in what served as the only practice for Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro drifted up into Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang, triggering a four-car scramble. Elliott was able to drive his car back to the garage, but the team has elected to go to a backup for tomorrow’s race.
“He tried to fill a hole that wasn’t really there and that started the mess,” Newman told FS1 after exiting the infield care center. For his part, Elliott said, “it looks like I just messed up.”
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media
Hamlin received the most significant damage as his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry slammed nose-first into the outside wall, while Harvick spun into the grass trying to avoid the incident. In a collective effort between NASCAR officials and the Nos. 4 and 6 teams, Harvick and Newman were able put four new tires on their cars as they sat on the backstretch during the red-flag period, driving their machines back to the garage with minimal damage.
Logano recorded a fast lap of 196.786 miles per hour in the No. 22 Team Penske car, putting the new Ford Mustang at the top of the leaderboard in its official 2019 debut. Jimmie Johnson finished the session in second with a lap of 196.674 mph, while Austin Dillon (196.622 mph), Elliott (196.580 mph) and Harvick (196.511 mph) rounded out the top-five speeds.
The session was extended by five minutes due to the extended red flag.
37 Races To Air For K&N Pro Series and Whelen Modified Tour
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and NBC Sports Group announced the 2019 broadcast schedule Friday for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
NBCSN is where NASCAR fans can tune-in to watch their favorite regional racers — from the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow to the local heroes who make these series their home. NBCSN will air a total of 37 regional events from 27 different venues, including the series openers and championship finales for all three series.
The season will kick off on NBCSN on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. ET with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East from Florida‘s New Smyrna Speedway. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West opener from the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will air on Tuesday, March 5 at 6 p.m., followed by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Myrtle Beach Speedway on Thursday, March 21 at 6 p.m. ET.
Fans can see the NASCAR champions crowned from Dover International Speedway (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) on Friday, Oct. 11; Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) on Thursday, Oct. 17; and Phoenix‘s ISM Raceway (NASCAR K&N Pro Series West) on Thursday, Nov. 14.
DAYTONA BEACH, FL — It is the most celebrated Busch Pole Award in NASCAR racing.
The top qualifier for the Daytona 500 gets a full week to proudly navigate one of racing’s most celebrated accomplishments. And the pressure of depending on the outcome of the typically dramatic Gander RV Duel at Daytona qualifying races instantly turns instead to an opportunity to fine-tune and prepare for the sport’s grandest event a week later — the Great American Race.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams have arrived at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway ready for this first test of the 2019 season with pole qualifying scheduled for high noon on Sunday, Feb. 10 (on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The front row for the Daytona 500 will be set with the remainder of the field to be settled in Thursday’s two 150-mile qualifying races.
Motivation to lead the field to this first green flag of the season is easy to come by.
Chevrolet has won 10 of the last 11 Daytona 500 pole positions and Hendrick Motorsports drivers have earned the last four – Jeff Gordon (2015), Chase Elliott (2016-17) and Alex Bowman (2018). The lone outlier in that time was Carl Edwards who won the pole for Ford in 2012 driving for Roush Fenway Racing. A pole win for Chevrolet would be the make’s 700th pole position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
There are only five former Daytona 500 pole-winners entered this week – Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, Elliott and Bowman – meaning there’s a good chance for someone new to earn that season-opening spotlight.
History indicates that it may be a tall task, however, as Johnson, Elliott and Bowman make up three-fourths of the Hendrick Motorsports team that holds the all-time record for Daytona 500 pole positions (12) – twice that of any other team (Richard Childress Racing has six).
Five times Hendrick Motorsports has swept the front row. The last time, in 2015, Gordon won the pole, Johnson qualified on the outside pole and Dale Earnhardt Jr. started third.
“It was important for my Hendrick Motorsports team to start off strong in Daytona last season,” said Bowman, who won the pole position last February in his first full season in the famed No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 long driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“Starting off a season strong helps set up your momentum so early in the year. This No. 88 team has done a lot of work in the offseason to make our plate-track program that much stronger. Hendrick Motorsports has a reputation for being pretty good on these tracks, so I am excited to see how we unload this weekend and how we qualify and race in The Clash.”
It’s a familiar sentiment for NASCAR’s premier drivers this weekend. In Brad Keselowski’s case, winning the pole position isn’t just a personal goal, but something he knows would be extremely important to his Team Penske organization.
“Probably one of the things that stands out to me, it’s one of the few accomplishments in all of motorsports that Roger Penske doesn’t have, being on the front row for the Daytona 500, at least the pole,” said Keselowski, who is looking for his first Daytona 500 victory as well. Teammate – and newly-crowned Monster Energy Series champion Joey Logano – won the 2015 Daytona 500.
“Boy, would we like to change it,” Keselowski said. “I know it’s high up on his list as something he wants to cross off. We put a lot of thought into it. I’ve tried to put a lot of emphasis on it.”
The 2012 Monster Energy Series champ even went so far as to offer his No. 2 crew a special incentive should he earn his first Daytona 500 pole position.
“I told all our guys that I would give them all the money [earned] if we won the pole,” Keselowski said. “They’re pretty excited about that. That’s been kind of neat to see their faces light up.
DAYTONA BEACH, FL — Brad Keselowski likens his current state of mind to the times when he was younger anticipating that first day of school. Only now, it’s more of a graduate education, as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series prepares to open its 2019 season at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.
“It’s certainly the race I would think of myself being the most prepared for just by the nature of it being the first race of the season,” Keselowski, 34, said. “It reminds me a little bit like when I was in school, the first day of school.
“The night before I would kind of lay out all my clothes, have my backpack packed with pencils, notebooks whatever it might be.
“Of course you get a little bit later into the school year, you’re getting dressed the morning of, you’re barely finding your clothes, your backpack is a mess, all that kind of stuff.
“That’s probably the best way I know how to explain the Daytona 500, it has a lot of that first-day-of-school feel, everybody is super prepared, sometimes a little too anxious as well.”
The 2012 Monster Energy Series champion and a consensual superstar on the sport’s big restrictor plate tracks like Daytona, Keselowski is still missing that one most sought-after trophy in the “Great American Race.” He shows up in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang this week as the defending winner of Sunday afternoon’s Advance Auto Parts Clash (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), non-points race with his sights set high – as always.
His sights are set on victory in the Feb. 17 Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“It’s something I thought a lot about,” Keselowski told reporters Thursday. “Before last season I had never really won a major NASCAR race. I won the championship (2012), done a lot of those things, which is certainly great. I hadn’t won a major. Last year after winning Darlington and Indianapolis, gosh, the thrill from that, I’m still kind of on a high from that. That was almost six months ago.
“But Daytona is — the 500 — one major I don’t have. I feel like it’s a race we’ve been competitive at. We had opportunities to win it. For a number of reasons, it hasn’t come together, which is sometimes unsettling. People ask me all the time, ‘what race is the one that got away?’ It’s the 500, so far. I want to change that.”
Keselowski’s work on restrictor plates makes him a favorite from the time he shows up in Daytona Beach. He won his first-ever Cup race on the Talladega high banks in 2009 and has six of his 26 career wins at the Talladega and Daytona superspeedways.
The route to victory and the disappointment of defeat, however, is always unpredictable. And at Daytona, especially in the Daytona 500, it’s exaggerated and an intense sense of desire and emotion. Sometimes the best car, the keenest strategy, the star performer doesn’t win. That has been the case for Keselowski more times than he’d like to think about. He’s won on restrictor plate tracks leading a lot and he’s won leading a little.
For example, Keselowski led a dominating 115 of the 161 laps in his lone Daytona win in July of 2016. Yet in four of his five Talladega triumphs, Keselowski led 12 laps or fewer. Last year Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 leading only the final lap to the checkered flag.
In all, Keselowski has led only 38 laps total in nine Daytona 500s and his best finish was a third-place in 2014. Since then he’s only finished three of the last four races and has finishes of 20th or worse in all four of those.
Last year Keselowski won the Advance Auto Parts Clash 75-lap exhibition race and has finished an impressive ninth or better in five of the six Clash races he’s run. Yet his only top five in the Duel at Daytona qualifying race was a fourth place in 2017.
Robert Laberge | Getty Images
It’s the kind of hit and miss that characterizes restrictor plate tracks, but for a driver so skilled and accomplished on them, the mixed bag is hard to reconcile.
As he’s proven over his nine-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, however, that only motivates Keselowski more. He’s a champion and he’s always a favorite at Daytona.
“I feel like the Daytona 500 is one of those races, a lot of restrictor plate races are this way, in my mind, one of those races where one year it takes smarts and great execution and one year it takes a lot of luck,” Keselowski explained. “It seems to rotate back and forth.
“I went back and watched a lot of film. Joey Logano (2015) won the race two or three years ago and the same thing with Denny Hamlin (2016), they made smart and courageous moves to win the race. They really really earned it.
“Then I’ve seen other races – not to pick on anybody – where I would say that’s not the case. Someone was lucky enough to be running at the end of the day. The 500 kind of fell into their laps. That can be really frustrating when you feel like you’ve done everything right, the luck side is not in your favor.
“You got to get back up on the horse and ride. I feel like a number of opportunities we’ve had to win fell through our hands and there’s nothing we could have done differently. We go back there, we keep our hope, we do all the right things and control all the things we can control, knowing that will give us our best chance of winning.”
