John Hayes 1st Place Sears Point Driver Interview

Congratulations John!! First off, I have to say what a impressive domination of a race! Took your 6th pole, led 55 out of 56 laps, and basically left the rest of the field in your tracks! How do you feel right now?

Surprised. I didn't expect to have that good of success here. I thought I had a chance to win, but I didn't realize that I would win like I did.

When I asked you last week at Michigan what do you think of when you hear”Sears Point” you said “provisional” and you go out and win it! LOL did you prepare any differently for Sears Point than how you have in previous weeks? If so, How?

Some of these tracks are fairly new to me, being a rookie and all. I had spent very little time on this track in the past and the little time that I did spend on it was not pretty. So, I thought I would really struggle here and I did when I first started practicing this week. But the more laps I turned, and the more I fiddled with my setup, the more I became comfortable. As far as preparing differently, I spent alot of time concentrating on just being smooth and consistant over long runs, knowing that one little mistake during the race would cost me alot of time.

Did you have any special pit strategy?

Well, I had pre-planned that I would pit on lap 30 and I pitted on lap 29 because there were 4 cars in front of me and instead of getting caught up in traffic, I went ahead and pitted. But there was really no special strategy.

Did you lose any gears, or sustain any minor damage during the race?

No, my car held up very well. I had no damage at the end of the race, and the crew gave me a great car so I was confident that the gearbox would hold up.

With not having the cautions on. Did that create any problems when it came time to lapping cars during the race?

I had absolutely zero problems with slower traffic. All the guys in the SORS EAST are top notch racers and class individuals and they gave me plenty of room. The #023 car even drove off the track to get out of my way (grin).

3 wins now in the last 5 races, and 4 top 3 finishes out of those 5 races!! Impressive!! Would you say you’re on a Hot Streak now?

LOL Yeah, I'd say I'm on a hot streak! And I'm going to do everything in my power to keep it going. I have a great sponsor and crew and I race in the best affilliate in SORS, so now what I have to do is keep practicing and striving to do even better.

Ok, now we head to 2 tracks where drafting comes into play, Talladega and Daytona back to back! What would you say is the one thing a driver has to keep in the mind to finishing well at both tracks?

Well, the first thing I think of is, you had better had made some friends during the other races, because if you haven't---it's gonna be a long day, no matter how fast you think you are. Both tracks are drafting tracks so if you can hook up with someone and stay together, you'll be in good shape.

The Points race has really tighten up now with 68 points separating the top 5 drivers, you’re really gained a huge chuck point wise in the last 5 races John. Can you keep it going?

Yes, I think I can keep it going. When I first started the season I was racing somewhat scared and now I'm racing with more confidence. In each race I run I learn something new and I apply it for my next race.

John, Congratulations on your win here at Sears Point with very impressive, and dominating driving performance. Is there anything you’d like to add or comment on?

Big thanks to Billy Stratton for being the best admin at SORS and a big thanks to all the East drivers for putting up with my growing pains and for being a great bunch of guys.

Mike Steger, SORS EAST race interviewer reporting from Sears Point Raceway