A Return to Pole Position

What has propelled you back to the top?
My life is well balanced right now. I have a great team behind me that the chemistry is working very well with. And I feel like the cars are driving the way I want them to drive. When you look back at the best years, all the breaks seem to go your way and it feels like you have karma on your side.

How satisfying has this season been?
To have the professional side and the personal side going as well as it is—this is going to be a tough year for me ever to top. I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it.

Even NASCAR's "Car of Tomorrow"? Nobody seems to be enjoying that.
I'm still not crazy about it, but I feel like it could bring a lot of positive things to the sport in the future. And we've had some success with it. So I've accepted that it's here and it's going to be here. I'm just gonna do my job and drive and not worry about it.

NASCAR has been hot for a while now, but its following seems to have plateaued, even cooled a little. What does NASCAR have to do to be the sport of tomorrow?
It's always important to put great races out there and there's been some great racing this year. While we may not be seeing the benefits of it today, we will going forward.

Is that enough?
We've got to look at how we grow outside the U.S. I think we need to stay in North America, but there are areas, be it Canada or Mexico, where we can grow. I think there are a few tracks on the schedule—I'm not going to mention any—that could maybe go away and there are a few that maybe could be added. Getting a track in New York City is important and it will be exciting to see how that materializes.

Are you worried about your sport's future?
NASCAR has been around for 50 years and auto racing even longer. I'm a little bit concerned with American [automobile] manufacturers struggling. Our sport is definitely all-American. It's nice to see other manufacturers moving in, but we want to make sure that the ones who have been a part of it stay strong with their car sales and continue to be a part of racing.