Travis Braden- “This is a huge week! The biggest week of my career at RMS Racing”

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ARCA: Hey! How have you been?

Travis: Oooh just really busy. 

A: Yeah? What have you been up to? 

T: Spent the day working at the shop. Obviously last week we headed down to Talladega and we had a great weekend down there. Came home with a top ten and no damage or anything- it was a great show for us. And then we left pretty early Saturday morning and drove home to Brownsburg, Indiana. And the guys unloaded everything, got some stuff situated in the shop. And then, today’s Sunday, and we got everything stripped off of our Superspeedway car, maintenance and cleaned. And we started to continue our work on our mile and a half car which we’re going to use in about a week now. Tomorrow morning we’re leaving to go to Nashville to test before this weekend’s race. 

A: Nice! Now we didn’t get a chance to talk with you after the race unfortunately, but what was going through your mind when you got out of that race car on Friday? 

T: I mean, I was pretty calm. It wasn’t too drastic of a finish, obviously, the way the packs got separated. We were towards the tail of the first pack, so we were going to try something there at the end and if it didn’t work out not much to lose, you know? And it didn’t work out so we still got really what we expected.

A: Yeah! And still towards the top of the drivers points. Which is always nice. 

T: Yeah, it was a good points day. Those two races (Daytona and Talladega) can really kill you in points. We learned that last year. 

A: So you mentioned in your previous five minute chat with us that everyone who goes to Talladega should really check out Talladega Boulevard. Did you have time to go yourself? 

T: Yupp! Friday after the race probably spent two hours on the boulevard. Most the guys on the team made at least one lap around, and checked it all out. My parents were in town camping for the weekend. So I spent a couple extra minutes with them and walked the boulevard. It’s a lot of fun, I encourage everyone to go check it out! 

A: And I bet it’s always fun to have your parents there watching the race. 

T: Yeah it’s one of the things that was great about Talladega this weekend- some fellow racers and people who have followed me throughout my career since I was young had all come to town to watch- or be a part of the event. So I ran into a bunch of people that I hadn’t seen in awhile. It was good! 

A: That’s so great! 

So I was thinking about asking what was the high and the low part of this past week for you, but I don’t want to be negative, so I’ll just ask what the high part of your week was. 

T: Haha I mean even if you ask me what the low was, there wasn’t much of one. We didn’t have any issues really. We just still can never get the speed that those Toyotas have right now. We’re searching for it all the time. But the highs, I mean we had a good car, everything was really comfortable, a lot of guys were struggling with handling and we were great. My guys prepared a great car. We had a so-so qualifying run and started mid-pack but we worked our way to the top ten very quickly and we stayed there. Again, we had a great shot at the end (depending on how things went) to try and win the race. And it didn’t work out, but it doesn’t always work out. But a top ten- there’s nothing else to really ask for. 

A: So you’re going to Nashville tomorrow, and do a lot of traveling. What do you do to pass the time? 

T: Well, normally I’m driving separately in my own car. This one I don’t need to. So it will actually be one of the times I don’t have to focus. So I don’t know what I’ll do! I’ll probably work on some things with my girlfriend, Jess. You know that we work on a lot of stuff throughout the week in our spare time to prepare for the upcoming races. We got a lot of stuff going on! 

A: Can’t wait! So what goes through your mind when we’re a handful of days from a race like this. Are you nervous? Excited? Or just kind of checking off boxes of the things you need to do? 

T: I mean, generally, I don’t get too nervous or anything. And I do almost have a business mindset of, okay I want to make sure everything  is done and done in the best way it can be done. And just checking off those boxes. And for this particular week here, this is a huge week. In my opinion the biggest week of my career at RMS Racing. We’re taking a whole new package with us to Nashville and this will be our first race with it, and I truly believe it’s going to be a turning point for our team and it’s going to take some people (not necessarily by surprise) but by storm. 

A: That’s so exciting to hear! Can’t wait to see. 

And, well, that’s been five minutes. 

T: Alright, thank ya! Do it again next week!