Från presskonferensen.
Josh Hayes (#1 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha, third place):
Q You set the tone very much in the early stages and looked to be pretty much in control, but then as the race went on, it seemed like the pack kind of caught up, and it was going to turn into a drafting battle. What did it look like from your perspective?
A I got to the front. I don't know how much of a gap I ever had at any time. I just saw +0 on the board and never looked behind me. I just focused - it's just really hard to put together perfect laps, lap after lap after lap, and I knew if I didn't do that, these guys were all as a group going to run me back down. So I think actually the faster laps definitely came in the second half of the race, even though I had grip in the beginning, it just didn't seem like the lap times were happening like I thought they should. And I probably got a little complacent, because I made it from the chicane to the start/finish line so many times. And then when they caught up to me, I went "Uh-oh!" and kind of got a second wind under me, and started riding a little better.
It was the best race I could ride. I tried to put myself in the right positions. Any time I had all of those guys down from the chicane, I never was able to pass anybody before start/finish line, so I knew I probably, my best chance was if I could do it just right, maybe I could win it from the front, like I had made it from the chicane to the start/finish a few times. So Tommy's little mistake was a little bit of a gift. I was going to try to find a way through before then if I could, or before we got to the end of the lap or even to the chicane, if I could. He kind of made a little mistake, let me through, and I knew it was a bit of a gamble. I was kind of going, once we got around the banking and onto the flat, after NASCAR Four, I was kind of waiting, like, "I'm pretty sure they're coming, but I don't know when or how, or if it's going to be close." They came by with some pretty good steam. I actually pulled back up a little bit closer to them right at the finish, but just having to scoot up high on the banking, you have to go the long way around, and couldn't quite get back in there.
You know, last year, I'd have done just about anything for this position, so thirteenth last year turned into a third this year, and leading the race quite a bit, I'm pretty happy with that.
Q When these guys are that close to you, can you sense that? Can you hear them? Can you feel them coming when you're riding like that on the banking?
A It's funny. You don't hear them, but you definitely feel it. It's like before they ever come up alongside you, you start kind of feeling the thing moving around, it starts kind of pulling you to one side. And also, man, I couldn't believe, in the first start, as we were going around the banking and I was, I think, fifth, in the draft with all these guys, I couldn't believe how much the bodywork was moving on my bike. The wind was just incredible. The upper was probably moving two inches side to side, bouncing around back there. It's quite a rough ride when you do get in the draft with quite a few bikes like that. Exciting racing. That's Daytona.
Q I've got to ask you. That first start was rather impressive.
A [Laughing] I had an issue on the warm-up lap. Something in the electronics messed up the bike. Basically shut down to the pit limiter and wouldn't run. The dash was flashing at me. I was like, "Oh my God, here it is, I'm not even going to get to ride in this race." I was hitting buttons on that little controller that I hate so much. I was pushing buttons trying to make it run, and it started running again. I thought, "Oh, I'm scared to death I'm going to get out there on the track and this thing's going to mess up and cause a big accident." But when I got up on the line, I was looking for my crew chief, and I didn't see him, and I was just thinking about that, and ... I don't know what happened. I remember looking over, putting the thing in gear, looking at the light, and I don't know if I went when the light turned on, or what I did. But I just messed it up bad. And I just kind of checked up, and I said, "Well, stopping's not going to do any good." So Tommy and Blake came by, and then I kind of took it easy and let Rog and I think ... who else, Cardenas, go by. And I just went, "Well, that's about as many as I think's fair. So we'll see what happens from there." And just kind of got back going again. And those guys came by, and there was a red flag.
Q And no competitive advantage was gained, so, no harm no foul.
Tommy Hayden (#22 Rockstar Makita Suzuki, second place):
Q Tommy, as pleased as Josh is to get a third place after the disappointment of last year, for you, another second place here, although it's a good way to start the season, I'm sure you really want a win at this event, when you've been so close now - three consecutive second places.
A Yeah, for sure. Obviously it's a good solid start for the season. It's a lot better than starting on the ground or DNF or something like that. When you're right there, and you feel like you have a good chance, it's frustrating to lose a close one. But like I said, the bike was good, I was in a good position, it could've easily went either way. I try not to get too bummed out about it, because it's just the nature of the track. It can go either way really quick here, and it's just not really - I don't know what I could've done different. Maybe - I think different things, but you never know how it's going to turn out. When you come off NASCAR Four there, you just try to get in the best position and hope for the best.
Q You and Blake looked like you were racing pretty hard there. Was there any thought of trying to freight-train by Josh, or any kind of tactics like that, as you were going through the race?
A Not really, because I was just trying to stay in there close. I was trying not to slow the pace down too much. I was content to - Josh was going pretty good through the infield, so I was content to just follow him through there for a few laps and try to at least spread it out a little bit and not have an eight-rider pack or something, that we had to deal with come the last lap. So once we kind of got spread out a little bit, then I was trying to get by. It wasn't easy for me to pass out there. I wasn't great in the chicane at the beginning. It was making it tough. I felt better changing things up and got a little faster there toward the end of the race. That helped me stay close to them. But just didn't time the draft real well. Even if I had, I'm not sure, sitting second and Blake behind me on the same motorcycle, with the draft, is hard to beat. I did the best I could, and second was what it was.
Q Well, you'll have another chance tomorrow to see if you can put it right.
Blake Young (#79 Rockstar Makita Suzuki, winner):
Q Blake, you ended last season really in a very fine, strong way, with a win at Barber, and now you come out of the box here and run a very strong race. Early on you really were taking it to Josh, and it seemed like you were up on the handlebars all weekend. Tell us about your race and some of the strategy, and how it feels to take another win to open the season.
A Absolutely, it feels fantastic, to end the year the way we did, and obviously get the win today, it feels great. The race started off pretty good for me. Josh jumped out there and was setting a really, really good pace. It just seemed like my bike wasn't working the greatest when it had some grip. I saw Josh was struggling a little bit getting out of some of the turns, or was spinning the tire a little bit more. It seemed like the more my bike would loosen up and spin a little bit, it seemed like I could move a little bit better in some of the more difficult areas through the infield, but I think it kind of hurt me going through the chicane a little bit. It felt like I was getting through there a lot better when I had some grip in the earlier stages, earlier laps. But it was really good. I just really wanted to try to get a feel for how everybody, how fast everybody's motorcycle was, around the banking. I didn't know if Tommy was back there or not. I was having a tough time trying to find my board. But then when he did come by, I think it was about five to go, I just said, "Well, here we go, let's see what he's got," and if he was going to try to put his head down and go. But our race played out the way it did. I just came out of the chicane there on the last lap, and I thought to myself, "Man, I really lost this thing," because I thought Josh was just far enough out for Tommy to get a really good tow, and I couldn't get back around. But I think Tommy rode really, really good. I tried to come around, and it was really, really surprising that I just lost a lot of momentum, and took a huge gust of air hitting the front of the bike, really slowed me down. I thought maybe I timed it wrong. I gave way a little bit, get some distance between us, it seemed like the bike started going forward again. So I ended up winning.