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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2017

Daniel Hemric

Q. You're kind of coming into the playoffs being the underdog. How does it feel?
DANIEL HEMRIC: It feels good. I personally would rather be fighting from behind. I've been doing it honestly all my life, it seems like. So to be in that situation is something I'm used to, but I know we've proven ourselves to get to this point. I feel like the hardest part is to get to this point.
So to know that now kind of the slate's set clean and everybody's on the same page, we have as good a shot as anybody.

Q. Do you feel like you can break that JRM juggernaut?
DANIEL HEMRIC: I believe so. That's why we're here. We come into this situation as prepared as we've ever done. We've used the last 32 races to prepare us for this moment. That's all you can ask for.

Q. Some people have said that you are the underdog, and someone said that you'll be the sleeper or the spoiler of this championship four. Do you believe that‑‑ and simply because JRM has three cars in there and they have a lot of cars to prepare for, where RCR can put all their efforts in just your one car.
DANIEL HEMRIC: You touched on that. I think what you said about being able to put all of our resources, all of our efforts in one car, hopefully, it shows our strength as soon as we unload this weekend. But fighting back from the underdog story I was talking about just a minute ago, I feel like it's something I've prepared for my whole life to be put in this situation.
We did it last week at Phoenix. We've done it all year with certain things that have been thrown at us. We figured out a way to overcome all that.
Just know that, like I said, everything is on the same page. Everybody's on the same platform, squared away, even going into a one‑race match. That's pretty exciting to be a part of, and I know that we've got as good a shot as anybody. To know that we're going into the situation, everybody focused on one thing‑‑ those guys have got three cars to worry about and we've got one. That's what we're worried about.

Q. Can you tell us where your car came from.
DANIEL HEMRIC: It's a brand new race car. We've actually been fluffing and buffing on it for the last month, month and a half. Danny Stockton, he hasn't been able to be on the racetrack with me, but he's been back at the shop, working kind of hand in hand with the body shop, all those guys putting in any extra little bit we thought we could get out of our bodies, out of our race cars. He's been kind of heading up that whole principle. So we look forward to what we're going to be able to bring this weekend.

Q. Do you think you'll have equal speed going in?
DANIEL HEMRIC: Yeah, I think so. Without a doubt. Being around the racetrack this week, it's the best race car we've brought to the racetrack all year. That confidence, knowing the confidence those guys have, that kind of trickles down to me. If you're going to have that kind of confidence, the best time to have it is now.

Q. How much pressure are you putting on yourself to win this weekend?
DANIEL HEMRIC: I don't have any pressure on me. I've kind of, like I said, lived my life just kind of fighting from behind. I'm good being in the situation I'm in. I actually like to think I thrive on it. It's just cool to be a part of it.
Going in last week, not knowing if you're even going to have a shot at it, if anything, low, low odds of having a shot at it, and here we are.
So just trying to enjoy the moment. This is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity to be in this situation, and I'm trying to approach it like that.

Q. Because there are only four of you guys, do you approach this race differently?
DANIEL HEMRIC: I think you have to a little bit. You've got to be aware of who you're racing constantly, who you're around, especially as the race goes. But it is still 200 laps. You're still racing all the other competitors.
But as the race winds down, that's when you've got to really look at who's those guys you've got to beat? With that being said, you've got to stay aware and do your job. That's what we did last week. That's what we've done all year. For whatever reason, that's put us in the situation we are.

Q. When you look back at instances last year where you guys maybe outperformed them somewhere, and you think we can do it because we've done it before?
DANIEL HEMRIC: I do think so. We've kind of been up and down, as far as the performance side, whether it be from qualifying to the races. But we've shown kind of lights at the end of the tunnel where we could outperform those guys. We did it for the majority of the race last week. William got two tires and kind of beat us out of turn 1 and he wins the race.
But we proved all race long we were the best XFINITY Series driver that weekend. That's what it's all about. So who's going to be the best one this weekend?

Q. Who's your crew chief?
DANIEL HEMRIC: Randall Burnett.

Q. Over the week, William Byron posted a Twitter of you and him racing Legends cars. How cool is it that you are now racing for an XFINITY Series Championship with Byron?
DANIEL HEMRIC: That's really cool. I'm not sure you guys saw the other picture, but there was one a couple years ago, heck, he ran his first crate, late model for me. I built a car, crew chiefed the car, assembled a team, and he actually drove for me.
To be able to see his progression, and in all honesty, the kid's unbelievable. He did exactly what he's dong here in NASCAR, he did ‑‑ as soon as he got in that thing, he was fast right off the bat. Put himself in some good situations that kind of got him through it. And just kind of go through the process of teaching him restarts and how to maximize momentum coming to the green of qualifying, little stuff that we all learn at such a young age. Him starting as late as he did, it was cool to be able to be a part of that.
So to see him transform into what he's done so far and everything he's been able to accomplish is cool to be able to race with him this week for a championship.

Q. Could that have been played as a mind game to mess with you a little bit?
DANIEL HEMRIC: No. William and I, we've stayed in contact the whole year. This being our rookie year in XFINITY Series, both coming from the trucks, I've got a lot of respect for him even with the little time he's raced. I feel like he understands my background and where i've come from and the stuff we've been a part of together. We have a ton of respect for each other, and hopefully we can race that way.

Q. What's the best battle you've had with him in racing?
DANIEL HEMRIC: Believe it or not, it probably was some of those Legend car days‑‑ Summer Shootout Tuesday nights at Charlotte Motor Speedway, him and I kind of separated ourselves every week to be the two fastest cars.
Luckily the year that him and I were in the same division, we got the best of him probably 60 percent of the time. He can be beaten, but he's done a great job of putting himself in good situations. His family, the people that are helping send him in the right direction, they've done a good job of that. He's transformed into an incredible racer, and it's going to be fun to battle it out with him.

Q. Who would you like to be here, or if you win the championship, to celebrate with, and who's somebody that won't be here for whatever reason that you wish could be here?
DANIEL HEMRIC: Oh, gosh, I'm not sure I can think about who won't be here. Being the opportunity it is, I've got a lot of family, car owners, people that have kind of put me in their race cars over the years for no better reason than just to give me an opportunity. Each one of those people is the reason I'm sitting here today.
I guess right off the top of my head, Jake, Indiana, people I drove for out of Georgia, super late model racing right before I stepped into the Truck Series. There are probably two people I don't think will be able to make it this weekend. It's unfortunate, but I'd like to have them here if we could.
Outside of that, we're going to have a lot of people that supported me over the years. We're going to be able to take those guys, put them on our back, and hopefully carry all that momentum and all that support to help us try to run for the championship.

Q. Going back to Phoenix last week for a second, how much did Danny Stockman play a hand in how well you performed there even though he wasn't at the track?
DANIEL HEMRIC: Danny, like I said, has been very involved every single week. Since the Dover incident moving forward, himself, my engineer up to that point of the year, Luke Mason, they've all been‑‑ it's almost been like an extended group, if that makes sense. Randall has his whole group of guys. Danny and my other guys have all kind of worked hand in hand and made this a super team, I guess you'd call it.
Danny's been back of the shop, going through live pictures, everything that everybody's got resources to get nowadays during practice, and kind of just allow us to know what he's seeing from his side and how he would approach it. And Randall with his experience and everything he's been through in his short career in NASCAR to know, okay, he can take all that input and make a decision at the racetrack. So he's been a very, very integral part of all that stuff.
Like I said, as far as pit stops and all that, Randall has been the guy making those calls and making those on the fly decisions, but in preparation for the race weekends, Danny's been a big part of it.

Q. In a sense, if you win the championship on Saturday, can you say this is the best thing that's happened to Danny Stockman?
DANIEL HEMRIC: I don't know if I'd go that far with it. You like to have the group of guys you start with and end with throughout the year, but I know that this race car has had a lot to do with what we're bringing to Homestead, has been prepared by him.
To know that we've had that to fall back on, a lot of guys take a situation like that and get beat down. Danny hasn't. He's taken it as an opportunity to help us prepare, help us move forward, help us get ready as a company, and because of that, we all have a shot here to fight this weekend.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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