YOU’VE RACED MOST OF YOUR CAREER ON OVALS. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ROAD COURSES, AND DO THEY HAVE A PLACE IN NASCAR?
“I think they’re a lot of fun. You get the road course experts that will run all over you if you’re not careful, though. I think they do have a place in NASCAR. There are quite a few fans that enjoy the road course races, and it’s something different for us as drivers, so yeah, it definitely has a place. ”
GIVEN YOUR YEARS IN THE SPORT, DO YOU STILL GO TO ROAD COURSE SCHOOLS?
“No, I went out to Bondurant (the Bob Bondurant High Performance School of Driving) one time, but that’s been it. If they used the same kind of cars we drive, it might be worth going back there, but they use Mustangs that you’d drive on the street. The main thing they can teach you is just the braking techniques and how to ‘one foot’ (using your right foot on both the brake and accelerator while using the left foot to push in the clutch), but I don’t do that. ”
HOW LONG DOES IT USUALLY TAKE YOU TO GET BACK UP TO SPEED ON THE ROAD COURSES EACH YEAR?
“Oh, usually around three or four laps. It might take you 15 or 20 minutes to get comfortable with the track again. If they’ve changed the track from one year to the next, it takes a little while to learn where the braking points are now, but if they haven’t changed anything, it doesn’t take long to get back in the groove. ”
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