Short Track Racer: “I do think I’m a good short track racer, but then again maybe not. When I say I do good at short tracks, it’s because I have experience there by running in the Hooters Pro Cup Series, which is all short tracks. But all good drivers, such as Dennis Setzer, Bobby Hamilton or Mike Skinner cut their teeth on short tracks. So they are all short track aces. A lot of times when someone calls you a short-track driver, it’s kind of a back-handed compliment; they’re saying you are not any good on short tracks. But I think I’m equally as good on any track, although a lot of my best starts and finishes have come on short tracks. So it’s probably a deal where my experience was on those tracks, so I was more equal with the other drivers. I feel as though as I learn more and more and more about big-track racing. Now I feel like I can win anywhere. But if someone wants to give me credit for being a good short-track driver, I’ll take credit anywhere it comes.”

Sponsors are Key: “I don’t have a lot of face to face time with Dickies, but I hope they are happy with our season so far. They are a consumer product company, so we need to be out there selling apparel for them. I hope they are happy with their TV time. Different sponsors use their race team in different ways, some use it for an employee motivator, and some use it for hospitality and business to business relationships. Dickies sponsorship is about selling clothes, so we’re trying to reach the consumer. The biggest way we do that is try to run up front and get on TV. I think so far this year, especially Martinsville, we’ve made them happy.

Better This Year Than Last: “It goes back to last year. We started out the season very strong and then we went through a summer slump. Toward the end of the year, the No. 4 team really went to work on the chassis and did a lot of research and development work. With everyone’s input, we took the Ram by the horns and developed a really nice truck. Then when he won the race in Homestead, we started basing all of our trucks off of that one. The equipment is just that good. This year I have the trucks that were developed at the end of last year. All of our equipment is the same and that has made the biggest difference in our program.”

Texas Preview: “I’ve been in Texas for the past two days doing some really neat stuff to promote the Texas race. We’ve had a lot of fun with it. I got to spend some time with some of the Dickies folks who run the racing program because they are based right there near the track. It was good to have that interaction time with them. Jack Sprague was out there doing this for NASCAR with me, and it gave us time to really get to know each other while we were out there. We did a funny little deal on a morning news show where Jack and I sat on the hood of the truck in the middle of the lake at Texas Motor Speedway and fished, well acted like we were fishing. They talked to us on the show, so I’m sure we looked funny sitting out there and never getting a bite. Overall it was a great deal and something that we would love to do again. NASCAR is really doing a great job promoting the Craftsman Truck Series this year.”