Eric Demax: "I can't keep letting the past take over me..."

Eugene: “Eric, you know full and well that I can’t race forever. No one can. I’m getting a lot older now and I have to take care of you and your mom… When the time comes, you have to take over as the sole racer of the Demax family… you have to carry on that legacy… no matter what…”

Eric: The words my dad said have weighted me ever since I was a kid. I knew that my dad was getting older. I knew he can’t race forever. I knew that once my dad retired… I have to take care of the family legacy from now on…
Not only that, but there was a lot of pressure on me right from the start because I was the son of one of the best drivers this series has come across to…
They would think I would live up to the hype that most people said but that didn’t work out now did it…
Some people also thought I moved up too early and… they’re right… I did… I didn’t live up to the hype. No… I NEVER lived up to the hype…
To be honest I feel like after what happened this season so far, I didn’t honor the Demax family legacy… I disrespected it… with utter disgust… and I’m 100% guilty of that.
Some say the pressure got to me and yeah that had some part of it but I think it was just the fact that I’m not Cup material right now due to my lack of skills…
I also took way too many things up for granted and I never really truly thought for myself… but it’s time for that era to be bygones…
It’s time for me to think for myself from now on. I can’t just rely on others 24/7. I have to think things on my own and what I think things should be done.
I may still be with the Mace Enterprises team once I go back to HNS but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna run with the same equipment as Zoerlein and McDaniels. Even though I am just a rookie, all of you guys seen what happened when I ran the same equipment with Davis, Sandfer, Martin, and Mace... basically ending in utter disappointment and letting everyone look at me like a laughingstock. I’m going back to the bare fundamentals on this one and gonna run with equipment where it matches up to the skill I have now. This is MY decision and I have to learn how to outperform the car on my own terms and if I don’t, then that means I just don’t deserve a seat. Just as that. And don’t get me wrong, I really do want to thank Mace for even giving me this opportunity, and I love my dad, but I can’t rely on both of them anymore… I’m going on this road alone.
I know I’ve been through a lot for the past week but I’m planning to put that all aside now. I can’t keep letting the past take over me like this anymore. Sure, You can demote me; you can put me in two year old equipment; you can even let all the other drivers mock me as a Cup reject now… but I’m not giving up. Not now… not ever.

Sean: Eric, you have tons of potential. Anyone in your shoes would have struggled in such a high stakes environment that you were put in. Mace Enterprises does not allow for any driver development. Nick is so short-sighted, that he only looks for instant gratification rather than long-term improvement. Hiring Luke Martin, an archaic old past-time of the SCS is an incredibly stupid decision in my book.

Sean: If I were Eric, I'd take my talents to another team. I hear Horizon Group may have an opening next season...