John Hayes Locks in 3rd Place at Chicagoland!

Well, here we are again John for the 4th time in the 5 weeks with your 4th top 3 finish today here at Chicagoland. A well deserved congratulations on your 3rd place finish today. How does John Hayes feel about his finish?

I feel good about it, I was in contention to finish in the top three last week at tally and I went for the win and got caught up in a wreck so this week I was going to be content finishing in the top five and not putting myself in a bad spot.

During practice/warmup, it was obvious you had a strong car to contend with. Did you have a feeling your car would be strong all race prior to the Start?

Yeah, I was pretty happy with the way the car handled during practice considering I had set the car up for sunny skies and then the clouds came in before the race.

How would you rate your performance today in comparison to past races? Anything you would have done differently during the race?

Like I said earlier I learned a lesson last week so when I worked my way to the front I just made sure I didn't make any mistakes and made sure I didn't push too hard trying to win it.

On the last restart, you were at the end of the field with around 60 laps to go. What was john Hayes thinking at the time knowing you had to work your way through the field?

LoL I was thinking, what a %#@*% stupid move that was. The mistake I made was I stayed out while everyone else pitted and it put me at the back of the field. After I did it I didn't think the five points were that important but it worked out ok in the long run.

With only 4 cautions during the race, and a couple of long green runs. Is that what you wanted to see happen?

Yes, I like long green runs. I think when ever you have long green runs it shows who really has the car to beat, cautions level out the field some what because tire wear becomes less a factor.

You closed to within less than a second difference on the #20, and #33 with about 10 laps to go. Did you think you had enough right side tire left after working to the front to catch them?

NO!!! lol I thought there was a chance I could get by the #33 car but I told myself that I was going to wait until the last lap to make a move because I knew my tires were worn and I thought if I could get under him I could take second. Bob Dionne is a good racer and he anticipated my move and did a good job of protecting his turf.

In the last 5 races now john, 4 top 3 finishes with wins at Talladega, and Sears Point! You have got to very pleased with those kind of results?

Yes I am, I still have alot to learn but I feel great about how the season has went so far.

We’re at the the halfway point of the season now. You are tied for 2nd place with Dann Danley in the point standings! The last half of the racing schedule has quite a few flat tracks on the agenda. Good? Bad? Or no clue for John Hayes?

LOL No clue is more like it LOL I really do not know what to expect. I do know we have some fine flat track drivers in the East so I will just have to keep preparing myself like I do for all the tracks.

2 words, “New Hampshire” for next week’s race? What pops in your head when you hear that?

New experience!! I do not believe i've ever driven there so it should be interesting.

Awesome driving performance today John on locking in 3rd place here today at Chicagoland! You and the #33 car battled it out right down to the wire the way it should be! Anything you’d like to add, thoughts or comments you may have?

I had a great time at Chicago. The racing was great and I would like to send out a big thank you to Bob"Doc"Wigent for sponsoring such a fine race.

Mike Steger, SORS EAST Race reporter reporting from Chicagoland Speedway