There are not many things you can do to make the car go faster at some racetracks. What you got from the shop is just how you're going to race. It's really about strategy.

Our dad is not one to impart advice or gloat or reminisce about the good old days. But he's a race car guy, been a car guy forever, and he always wants to talk about cars.

What's really hit me over the years is that you go to every race and see all the well-wishers, and you really feel like you are connected with people after all these years.

That Monaco crash was quite a big one - I pulled 33g when I hit the wall, which is a lot. It's a weird sensation - like all my skin and flesh was being pulled off my bones.

Great news for Pres Obama. He watched football all weekend and tomorrow he will receive the Heisman trophy. Next week he's going to watch NASCAR. Move over, Jimmie Johnson!

You know, it's funny: Over my career, I didn't win as much as I hoped, but I can look like Flavor Flav if I want to put on all my rings that I've won for different reasons.

As a race car driver, you kind of get stereotyped into, 'Man, you like country' - or you got to say you like country. I do like a lot of country. But I'm all over the board.

I'm a Christian guy. I believe that we're going to heaven, and I believe when Dale Jr. and I drove off from Turn 4 at Daytona, I think that Dale Sr. had a smile on his face.

I think life is full of challenges and problems. I don't believe that anyone is perfect. We all make mistakes. It's not a bed of roses, and you have to work real hard at it.

I was taught that everything is attainable if you are prepared to give up, to sacrifice, to get it. Whatever you want to do, you can do it, if you want it badly enough . . .

I used to have stomach ulcers and stuff when I was in the 10th grade. I'd be doubled over on the floor, I was hurting so bad. I was on Tagamet before it was over the counter.

If you don't cheat, you look like an idiot; if you cheat and don't get caught, you look like a hero; if you cheat and get caught, you look like a dope. Put me where I belong.

The biggest lesson I've learned . . . was that if you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat, you ought never to complain about anything.

I try not to have expectations because they can tend to tear you apart. I expect to work as hard as I can possibly work and I expect to give every ounce of a hundred percent.

Formula One is one of the biggest and most competitive sports in the world and our desire is to get back to be giving Mercedes a hard time and winning races and championships.

When you can leave a race track and there's people in tears because they won and (people) in tears because they got crashed, you know, that's what brings us to the race track.

I went from thinking, 'I wonder if I can be a broadcaster. Will anybody give me a chance? Maybe I can get a shot at it,' to thinking, 'Man, I want to do this for a long time.'

It is a matter of spirit, not strength. It is a matter of doing your best each little moment. There's never a break. You must have desire, a very intense desire to keep going.

Obviously, the opinions that are most accurate are the ones that are closest to you - your crew, your friends, your family. Those people know who you are, and that's accurate.

As far as fan perception, it's probably worse than it should be. I think it's getting better, but I think I still get perceived based on the things I did earlier in my career.

The racing team is the most important thing in the world to me. It's where all my eggs are fully in that basket. I go dance and do TV to try to make that world more important.

It's my opinion tracks got too wide. You put 43 cars on the track, and if the turns are too wide like they are at some tracks, you sort of lose perspective of what's going on.

My extensive career, with its victories and defeats, championships, etc., has been well documented. My entire life has been focused on being the best race car driver I can be.

In the car and in front of the camera I tend to be very calm but behind the scenes I can get fired up and passionate, I just don't see the need to shout my mouth off in public.

I just try to go out there and be who I am and compete and bring home as many trophies as I can. That's what being a race car driver is all about and that's why I do what I do.

People are obviously capable of handling the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But I don't know how many people have had to experience them within seconds of each other.

There is very little in civilized life that demands everything you got intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Driving is living. It's aggressive instead of passive living.

You tend to think that there is a big gap between F1 and everything else. F1 is where all the fantastic drivers are, so you just don't know how good you are until you get there.

When I was three years old, I had race-car wallpaper, a race-car bed, race-car toys. That was all I wanted. And nothing has changed. Except I don't have a race-car bed anymore.?

The guys have a lot of good cars built up. We're going to do some more testing before we go back to Las Vegas and try to win at Vegas again. We need to get off to a quick start.

My favorite thing to do... is to get my big trailer grill and smoke some meat and sit around with my buddies all day for 12 hours cooking that and then eat at the end of the day.

Leaving a great organization and a lucrative contract is not easy, but it allows me to take a deep breath and work on things that can make me a better driver and a better person.

Karma is an energy debt which you owe or an energy credit which is owed you. Both involve compound interest that is added to the equation making it either a burden or a blessing.

The people who criticise you will not be the ones taking care of your legs when you are in your wheelchair. People who never drove a car in these conditions, they just don't know.

Nothing is ever in such short supply at a race track as time. It doesn't seem to matter whether we are at the track for a race meeting or for testing - there is never enough time.

That’s a divorce. You ever seen a divorce? That’s like her taking not only the furniture and the silverware -- she took the dog, too. (Harvick) didn’t get the animal, I would say.

I like Joe Buck. I know there's a big divide on people that like Joe Buck and people that don't like Joe Buck. But I love his cadence and tone and professionalism, and he's smart.

Jeff [Gordon] doesn't sit down and explain things. We don't sit and have meetings where I'm the student. He really teaches by example. I've learned a lot on and off the racetrack.

I've wrecked my fair share of cars. I've had my fair share of injuries. If you put too much focus on it or you really worry about it, it's going to consume you. That's never good.

I'd say the late 70s were probably pretty cool. Obviously the cars weren't safe and the tracks weren't safe and all that stuff, but I think back then it was more about the driver.

I watch football all the time. I enjoy getting home on Monday nights and watch 'Monday Night Football,' and 'Sunday Night Football' when we get home early enough on Sunday nights.

I think we'll be in pretty good shape. We've got the same car we ran in all the speedway races since 2001, and it's been a real good car for us. It's led every race we've been in.

Racing is not football or baseball or basketball where you can do it yourself. If you're good in high school, you just shine. (But in racing) you have to have a family behind you.

I'd rather have a driver that was like that, that had that passion and that fire in his belly and you can channel that. The sport's crying out for more drivers like Max Verstappen.

I lived in England to learn English. When I went to England for the first time, it was like being on the Moon. I had no friends, I couldn't speak the language. I was very isolated.

As I get older, my appreciation for wine has just increased. I fell in love with wine through my travels, but knowing what the wine country is all about definitely makes it my own.

I can't eat whatever I want, definitely not. I'm always controlled because I do a lot of fitness and triathlons, not just Formula One, so I always make sure I eat the right things.

I would probably build somewhere between a half-mile and three-quarter-mile track. It would be sort of like Indianapolis Raceway Park. When I was a kid, that was my favorite track.

We all get so caught up in the moment of what we're doing every day, it's hard to hit that reset button and get pulled away from all that and see life from a different perspective.

I didn't start driving race cars because of the fame or the money, but the most rewarding factor is being complimented on what you do, and your fans are always the first to do that.

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