National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden (Photo: Evan Williams)

SPEED.com: Comment on your rivals and the competitors at the front.

RH: When Josh and Blake are battling, it’s different than if one of them are battling with Tommy. Josh and Blake will want to pass each other every single corner. They will slow the pace down. If Tommy is up there, they will follow or he’ll tuck in behind him and the pace will usually get quicker. The other guys slow the pace because they are attacking.

I think it changed me racing with them. I knew at the middle of the season I had to get good starts because I did not have the pace to chase them down. I could just hang on. I needed to improve my pace.

By the time I got to New Jersey, I was in eighth place with eight laps to go but I knew I had to make my push. Earlier in the year, I would have made a mistake before that, like I did at Barber because I knew the guys would have been getting away and I had no chance if I lost them. But I was able to hang in there and then push and I couldn’t do that earlier in the year.

I think I came on too late to really develop a rival. I don’t have a huge rival like Josh and Blake are to each other. It’s not like I’ve done enough yet to have one with them. It’s not like it was with Jason DiSalvo a few years back. In 600 and SuperStock, I knew where he was at all times, and if it was in front of me, I wasn’t happy.

SPEED: Now that you’ve had some time to think about it, what do you remember most about the second New Jersey race?

RH: I should have passed Blake in the fast right-hander. I should have thrown it in there.

My problem was I already had made up my mind. I thought on the last lap I would pass him in the turn where Ben was passing everyone, the left-hander just after it. I was really fast in the fast right-hander and I thought I’d really get a good drive and stick it in there and take the lead.

When we came out of the Esses section before all that on the last lap, Blake had a little bit of a wobble and I shut off for a split second. I thought, ‘I already know where I want to pass him.’

Looking back on it now, I should have been more aggressive and tried to make the pass one corner earlier than I planned. That’s one thing you learn about running up front. Now I know next year when I make a pass, it needs to be assertive.