Generally speaking, for a racer there’s no race more important than the next race on the schedule.

This appears to be more true than usual for Daniel Dye, who faces the proverbial do-or-die green flag when NASCAR returns from its two-week hiatus next weekend at Richmond, where the final race of the Truck Series regular season is scheduled for Saturday night.

“We just have to go have a decent race,” Dye said this past week while driving to his childhood home in DeLand to spend the two-week break with family.

His “decent race” recipe is actually only half of the equation for Dye, who enters the 250-mile Richmond race five points behind Tanner Gray in the points standings. The Truck Series takes its top 10 to the seven-race playoffs, and Dye sits 11th, with five top-10s through 15 races, including a runner-up at Nashville a few weeks back.

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Dye, 20, is a graduate of Daytona Beach’s Father Lopez High and currently lives in Huntersville, N.C., within the North American racing hub of the Charlotte area. He’s in his second full-time season of Truck Series racing and drives the No. 43 Chevrolet fielded by McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.

He’s also raced six of 10 scheduled Xfinity Series races this season for Kaulig Racing, with a best finish of seventh two weeks ago at Indianapolis.

‘Playoff driver’ sounds better than driver

There are no set-in-stone guidelines for what a driver takes away from being part of the playoff field. Over the winter, the 10 drivers who race for the Truck Series championship will be able to say, at minimum, “Well, we made the playoffs.”

And that’s certainly better than the other option, particularly when charting a career path through the NASCAR ranks.

“I think it means a lot,” Dye said, “but to myself — and it might be different to other people — what I’ve been happy about is my progress from last year. Physically, mentally, on the race track, off the race track.

“I would think making the playoffs helps, but I think it’s the finishes and running better that’s gonna make a bigger difference. What would make the biggest difference would be making these playoffs and going all the way to Phoenix and winning that championship.”

A mental and physical makeover

Two years ago, in his lone full-time ARCA season, Dye posted 17 top-10s in 20 starts finished second in the season-long points standings, just 14 behind Nick Sanchez. After a rookie Truck season of mostly struggles — with the former GMS Racing team — he’s picked up the pace this year with a new team.

Better equipment helps, he said, but that’s not all.

“For me it was just a whole reset,” he said. “The way my mind worked. The way I worked on my body. I worked out every day but I could’ve worked harder, and I am now. I focus in the gym like I’m in a race.

“NASCAR drivers are athletes and if you want to be at the top of your class, you have to practice like you play. If you’re gonna race hard and do your best in a race car, then you have to work out hard and work out the best you can when you’re in the gym.”

Attitude adjustments can be harder than physical efforts.

“Making progress in my mindset … I used to care what everybody else thought, and then I realized I’m not racing for everybody else, I’m racing for me,” Dye said. “I’m not racing for JoeSchmoe42 on Instagram. I’m racing for Daniel Dye and that’s it.”

Well, not entirely.

“Obviously I want to make the people around me proud,” he said. “I want to race for my team and give them the results they deserve. I want to race for my family. I’m racing for me first, and then of course I want to make the people in my close circle proud.”

About those workouts

Dye is part of the Chevrolet racing development program, which gives him access to the manufacturer’s dedicated fitness facility near Charlotte.

The facility’s trainer is legendary speed skater Dan Jansen, the 1994 gold medalist.

“He kicks our butts,” Dye said. “It’s obviously good to have a guy like that. He knows what it takes and pushes us to that level of perfection.”

On any given day, Dye may look around the gym and see Chevrolet stars like Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain and others. With that added inspiration, Dye said he’s very different physically than he was when he first started with the Chevy program 19 months ago.

“I weighed about 150 then and I’m 150 now,” he said. “But we have this in-body scanner. Measures body fat, skeletal mass, water weight, muscle mass. The numbers have completely flip-flopped. Not even close.”

Over the years, racers have focused more and more on cardio workouts. Particularly in the summer months, temps inside the cockpit can climb to 130 degrees and even beyond. A fresh racer is sharper than a fatigued racer, and that’s why modern drivers spend as much time in the gym as they do at the track.

“You do a lot of cardio, for sure,” Dye said. “My heart rate gets up to about 180 in every race. Being able to perform when your heart rate is that high is important.”

Cardio in heated rooms and weights targeting specific muscles is all in a day’s work in today’s auto racing.

“We work on the strength of the neck, and some muscles I didn’t know I had in the rib area, because we’re leaning to the left a lot,” Dye said. “You have to make sure your core is strong so that we’re not moving around too much in the car. We want it so we’re solid in there and controlling the car, and not the car controlling us.”

Dad is also in a race

Daniel Dye’s dad is longtime area businessman Randy Dye, known primarily for his two car dealerships.

Randy Dye has also spent many years on the boards of various local organizations, including Daytona State College, the Boys & Girls Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and others.

But he’s also now known as a candidate for Volusia County Chairman, one of four running for the position — the primary is Aug. 20.

“I stay out of that,” Daniel said about his dad’s latest venture. “I support it and I support him, of course.”

However …

“I tried to talk him out of it. I think he already does enough in the community. I can’t keep up with everything he does. But I admire it, his mindset is so cool.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Truck Series playoffs start soon, Daniel Dye close to joining