You do a period of go-karting until you’re at the age of qualifying for a ride in a ‘school-kart,’ then you qualify for driving school. And several of the driving schools have a competition series for their own students.
Motor racing is like one big family, ultimately, and when you come back to it, that’s really what it feels like.
If a neighbor is killed in a car accident, do you sell your car and stop driving?
The United States is the only country where a driver can have a successful career – either in stock cars or IndyCar – and he won’t need a passport.
Every NASCAR driver watches Formula One in the morning; they are well informed.
You dream what you’re supposed to do.
The passport changes but the blood doesn’t.
If you’re so afraid of failure, you will never succeed. You have to take chances.
I will always enter a race car from the left side. Always. Why? I have no idea.
The experts or the cynics say, “Oh, those were the good old days, that’s when drivers were really drivers. They didn’t have all these aids.” You know what? What we had, we did the best with and when we got more we provided what was needed.
From the driver’s standpoint I had the same horrors, the same satisfactions, the same everything. The speed is relative. It’s faster and things are happening quicker, but you have the equipment to handle it.
I never personally name anyone. I am not comfortable rating other drivers.
Speed takes a little bit of getting used to, but rules have to be followed. At any speed, the more you run, the more you get used to it.
I had no problems staying motivated because things that were happening were things I looked forward to.
I’m so thankful that I’ve had such a long and uninterrupted career. I count my blessings every day for that because it was so fulfilling.
It takes a lifetime to build tradition.
I think social media really is a great tool. It fascinates me when I tweet something and right away you get a response almost immediately.
Young drivers are supposed to be hard on equipment. That’s how you learn.
What is golden is miles under your belt, miles, miles, miles.
You can’t take a vacation from speed. I probably could have taken more time off and not driven in all the different disciplines, but I wanted to drive, drive and drive.
I go to bed is around 11, and I do that for every race. I get good sleep. I don’t lie awake for any race. That’s my routine.