| You are heading back to Daytona to start the NASCAR season with the Daytona 500, and this year you are getting a second chance at The Great American Race. What has it been like getting ready for this week? “Talk about a gift. Any opportunity to race in the NASCAR Cup Series – especially the biggest race of the year – is an incredible blessing. To have the chance to go race in the Daytona 500 is huge. It’s one I have always wanted another shot at since 2021, when we got caught up in that early big one. To do this with Beard Motorsports is really cool. I’m so thrilled about this opportunity and very thankful to the Beard family. I have always watched them at all of the superspeedway races and have respected what they do. They bring really competitive cars to the track. To know that I not only have a shot to go race in the Daytona 500, but to actually have a chance to run up front and compete for the win, is something that I’m really pumped about. I want to go down there and be competitive and I know I can do that with them. Their crew chief, Darren Shaw, has assembled a really good group of people. I don’t take this chance for granted and can’t wait to get to work.” You were part of the starting field for the 2021 Daytona 500. How has that prepared you for the upcoming week? “Every race in 2021 was just kind of out of the ordinary because of the COVID restrictions – especially the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year but fan attendance was limited. Some of the media opportunities and typical race-day events and activities were out of the norm. So I didn’t get that true Daytona 500 experience, if that makes sense. This year, I am excited to experience all of it – the camaraderie, drivers meetings, being able to do things with our partners, team activities – it’s just going to be different.” What are the nerves like, knowing you will have to either qualify on time on Wednesday night or race your way in during the Duals on Thursday night? “It will definitely be a little more intense this time around for me. I was fortunate enough to go to Daytona in 2021 in a charter car. There will be cars going home this year – there are 40 starting positions and 36 of those are for chartered cars. I believe there are six cars trying to make the race as an open entry, so only four will make the show. You don’t want to be one of the few loading up early. We are trying to stay until Sunday. I feel like we have a great chance of qualifying on time on Wednesday night with an ECR engine under the hood of our Camaro, and obviously for the Duels. Even if we find ourselves in the position of having to race in on Thursday night, I am confident we can do so. From there, it will be about making it to the checkered flag on Sunday.” You have been competing in events making up the schedules of NASCAR’s top three touring series since 2020. So you are still somewhat new to this, and some people may not know the pretty interesting path you took to reach this level. “I actually took a fairly non-traditional route into racing. I was a fan first and started competing in go-karts when I was younger – racing at one of those indoor tracks where you are just paying a fee to drive one of their karts. Then I didn’t race for a lot of years because I did the stick and ball sports. The desire to race was there and, in 2014, I decided to give it a go again, started racing Legends cars, raced some Late Model, and really got my big break in 2017 when I was picked to race for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team in the Late Model division of the CARS Tour, racing with guys like Josh Berry. Things just kept rolling because I got the chance to run some Truck Series races in 2019, and then made the jump to the Xfinity Series for some races in 2020. Things just kind of rolled because I was driving in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2019, then in the Xfinity Series in 2020, and then had the chance to run the full Cup Series season in 2021.” What was it like making that jump to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021 after making, basically, a handful of starts between the Truck Series and Xfinity Series? “It was an opportunity that really just presented itself and was just too good to pass up, and was what was best for me and my sponsors. All of 2021 was really strange to be a rookie racing in the NASCAR Cup Series with no practice and no qualifying because of the COVID-19 restrictions. It definitely seemed like trial by fire at the time because it was such a huge step but, honestly, it made me so much better. Being one of 36 drivers in the world that raced fulltime at that level was an amazing opportunity and made me a much better racecar driver.” Will you talk a little bit about this partnership with Beard Motorsports and the opportunity to race with them at Daytona, and even later in the season at Talladega? “To be able to work with Beard Motorsports is really exciting to me because they have been a part of NASCAR for many years, now, and a lot of people pull from them at the superspeedway races. The Beard family does this as a way of carrying on Mark Beard Sr.’s legacy, and to be a part of that is very special to me because he was the one that really loved racing and they do it to honor him. Getting to know Amie and Linda Beard during these last couple of months has been really cool. They have great Chevrolet Camaros, and to be able to climb behind the wheel of one is an honor for me because they have worked with some talented drivers and provided them the chance to showcase that talent at the Cup level. To be able to do that in the Daytona 500 – our biggest race of the year – is huge. The Beards are very clear on their goals – we are going down to Daytona to have fun, but we have a job to do. We want to qualify into the Daytona 500 and race for the win. I’m very thankful for their family, our partners, and Beard Oil, their family business.” | 
