Each week, I ask a member of the racing community to share their career path in a feature called “How I Got Here.” These interviews are recorded as a podcast but are also transcribed for those who prefer to listen. Up next: NASCAR official Rickie Kyle. Can you tell me what your job right now with NASCAR entails? What do you do on a weekend? On a weekend, starting on Friday morning, we do inspection on all the series that are racing that weekend. I’m in the safety department and we do all the safety on the cars and Trucks, Xfinity and Monster Cup. So you’re going around and you’re basically checking to make sure that they’re compliant with the safety rules and things like that? Yes. All their seatbelts and helmets and HANS devices, we have to double-check that every week to make sure the dates are not (expired), so their HANS and helmets and seatbelts are in compliance with the SFI rules, and of course with our NASCAR rulebook. Interesting. So how long have you been working for NASCAR? I’ve been with NASCAR 20 years as of this year. Twenty years. Oh my gosh, wow. So I am very ignorant about this and don’t even know where people start being NASCAR officials. Did you grow up as somebody who was interested in cars? No, I’m not mechanically inclined. I can change oil and spark plugs, but anything past that, no. I wasn’t a NASCAR fan. In grade school, I had friends who went to Rockingham every year and would bring back a Richard Petty STP sticker, I remember that. And I just wasn’t a big race fan. One year in ’96, I started working as a security guard at Rockingham Speedway. For two years, I just kinda sat on the golf cart, because my job was to put out fires during the race — because if the tower saw smoke, they would think it was a wreck. So our job was to ride on the golf cart with two shovels and put out fires. I thought you were using it as a metaphor at first, but you were literally putting out fires. Putting out fires for people who were cooking or burning campfires during the race. And so I started doing that, and me and my friend were sitting on the golf cart one day and I was watching the NASCAR officials, what they were doing. And I told him, I said, “I could do that job.” And he said, “Well go get a job, and then help me get one.” This was in ’97, I think. So I went home and my plan was to send a resume to NASCAR every month until they called me or said stop sending them. My sister helped me with my resume, I got it typed up, I sent the first one in. We had a race in Rockingham that fall, so I went there and worked the race. After the race, I went in the garage — because I’m in a security guard uniform so I can go in — and I said, “How do I get a job for NASCAR?” And I asked several officials. I bet you four of them told me, “See Gary Nelson (who was Cup Series director at the time).” And four of them told me something off the wall, like you’ve gotta have some automotive engineering degree, you’ve gotta have a college degree. But I went and found Gary Nelson, and he was standing in the garage. I didn’t know who he was, and I said, “Who is Gary Nelson?” And they said, “That guy there.” I walked over and I said, “Mr. Nelson, my name is Rickie Kyle, I’m very interested in being a NASCAR official.” He kind of looked at me up and down, he said, “OK, what do you do now?” At that time I was a machinist for Ingersoll Rand Corporation in Southern Pines, North Carolina. He said, “Oh wow. Can you read micrometers, calipers, and blueprints?” I said, “Yes sir, I do that every day.

The series of 12 Questions driver interviews continues with Matt DiBenedetto, who drives the No. 32 car for Go Fas Racing. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? Oh man. I don’t dream a lot, but when I do, I would honestly say 50 percent of my dreams are about racing — which is a lot. So I would say probably once every couple of weeks. Are they just dreams where you’re driving the car, or does something happen in them? Winning. I’ve had a dream about my first Cup win multiple times. So it’s coming one of these years or days or whatever. Hopefully in the near future. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? If it’s just a racing deal or you do get into somebody, I don’t know if an apology is necessary. But maybe out of respect, if it’s something that needed confronting, definitely communication is key. When you leave things burning or unsaid, that could usually cause the worst outcomes. I like to be open book. 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? Honestly, it’s when I get compliments all the time from guys like Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon and a ton of other drivers in the garage. It’s neat getting it from everybody and the owners, but (it’s more special from) the guys you race against — when you feel like you have earned their respect and they give you compliments like, “Wow, that’s amazing what you guys are doing, how well you ran.” Even kind of the unspoken respect I feel like I got from the drivers like (Kevin) Harvick and Denny (Hamlin) and Darrell Waltrip jumping in and actually sponsoring my car (at Phoenix), it’s amazing to have earned that respect from all of my peers that I’ve raced with. So that’s the biggest compliment I could ever get. 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Matt, we’re bringing a celebrity to the track and we’d love for you to host them.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host at a race? I think John Cena would be a really cool guy to hang out with and I like like he would just be really fun. I did the John Cena intro song at Bristol and I’m just a big fan of him. I think he just seems like a good person. Yeah. He’d get you in a good mood. Yes! Energetic. That’s what I like. 5. In an effort to show this is a health conscious sport, NASCAR decides to offer the No. 1 pit stall for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for one month. Would you do it? Oh gosh. No. I actually would not. There’s a difference in eating for health and eating for performance, and I’ve learned a lot and I really buckled down on that this year — my fitness stuff and my health stuff and my eating. Like 10 times harder this year than ever. I’ve learned there’s a good balance; you need to eat your meat, you need to eat your chicken, and you need some carbs for performance. I’ve accidentally eaten really clean before. That sounds great, but like super, super clean where you don’t have near enough carbs, things like that — and I had no energy and my performance was awful. So I learned a lot about that. My crew chief, Randy Cox, has actually taught me a lot. I’ve buckled down big time, like I do CrossFit every week and I lift and I’ve been like working out like crazy and eating really well. I’m learning every day. So I can’t sacrifice the performance. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I’ve picked a random race from your career and you have to tell me where you finished. I have terrible memory. This should be fun. This is the 2016 Bank of America 500, which was the Charlotte fall race. Oh man,

Yahoo Sports’ Nick Bromberg, a Kansas City resident, joins me to help break down everything that happened Saturday night at Kansas Speedway.

Each week, I ask a member of the motorsports community to shed some light on their career path and journey to how they reached their current position. Up next: Nick Terry, chaplain for Motor Racing Outreach. Can you start by telling us a little bit about what you do for MRO? I’m one of the chaplains for Motor Racing Outreach. MRO is in its 30th season of being out here with the NASCAR community, and so I serve as chaplain over the course of 24 weekends for my schedule. Billy (Mauldin), who’s one of the other folks from MRO, does the other 14. So one of us is always out here. I serve as chaplain out here through the whole entire race weekend for those weekends that I’m covering. That’s a lot of time on the road and a lot of time involved with the NASCAR community. And you were involved in the NASCAR community before you came into this role. But how did it all start for you? Were you interested in NASCAR growing up? Actually, I was not. I had never even been to a race or been around racing in any capacity. I graduated high school in 1997 and I went to high school with Shane Hmiel, who was into racing. I knew Shane from school, so in 1999, I decided to go and watch him race one weekend at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro. And as soon as I got there and saw what was happening, I was like, my first response was like, “How have I never experienced this?” Like, “This is awesome. Cars, racing, people yelling at the cars, people are into it and there’s just so much happening.” I couldn’t believe I’d lived my whole life never experiencing racing in any capacity. And so I fell in love with it that night, and immediately was hooked and I was kind of in a season of life where I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go. So with that newfound passion for racing, that kind of planted something in my heart for something I felt like I wanted to do further on from there. What was going to be your path if you had never gone to the race that night? That’s a good question. I have no idea. That’s what I was trying to answer in that season of life myself. So once you got into it, how did you actually break into doing it for a career? I didn’t know anybody in the racing community at all other than just going to school with Shane. I knew absolutely nobody. So I enrolled at Forsyth Tech Community College in Winston-Salem and took their race car technology program. Bill Wilder was the instructor of that program, and he’s raced Modified cars for years. So I enrolled in school there and really just went in and gave it everything I had. Wanted to learn and soak up as much as I could, and so graduated from there, was very successful, graduated at the top of my class and so I did that and I also helped Bill with his race cars after school and in the evenings. And then I went with him to the racetrack on the weekends. So that was kind of the foundation that gave me some skills to kind of get started. So prior to that point in enrolling, you didn’t have any technical knowledge or anything like that? None at all. So completely learning on the go, hands-on kind of thing? That had to be difficult to pick that up. It was challenging. And to this day, race cars are much easier for me to work on than street cars. So how did it evolve from there? One piece of the puzzle I don’t want to leave out before I move on to that is while I was in school, after I’d help Bill, I also got a part-time job for a small race team called Taylor Motorsports. And out of that team, Clay Campbell, the president of Martinsville Speedway, raced a Limited Late Model, and so I actually ended up crew-chiefing his Limited Late Model car and we won the championship that year. So I’d go to school during the day, and then work a part-time job somewhere else,

The series of weekly driver interviews continues with Brad Keselowski of Team Penske. This is Keselowski’s eighth time doing a 12 Questions interview. The interview was recorded as a podcast, but is also transcribed for those who prefer to read. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? Probably three or four times a month. That’s fairly often. Do you have nightmares? Just envision yourself driving? A little bit of both. Sometimes it’s like I won a race. Sometimes it’s like the “I’m late to the car” thing. Or the “I don’t have any clothes on” dream, like you’re naked in the race car or at the race car. And then there’s sometimes the “Crash really hard and die” dream. Oh! That took a dramatic turn there. Yeah. It covers the whole spectrum. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? Eh. I don’t know. I mean, it’s racing. I feel like when you get in the car, you can expect those things are going to happen. If you do something intentional, then yeah. You should have enough humility to accept the fact those things aren’t always necessary. I was at Martinsville a few weeks ago and we were struggling — I had run into the back of somebody and broken the splitter. I’d been really good at Martinsville for the last few years, and we weren’t running as well as I know we were capable of. I didn’t know the reason was the splitter was damaged. But AJ Allmendinger came up behind me and he was a little faster. I was already agitated because we weren’t running well, and then the second he caught me, he ran into the back of me. In my mind, it was like, “Dude, make a move! Don’t just run into someone.” So I was mad, and I ran into him. A day or two later and I thought, “Man, I shouldn’t have done that. That really wasn’t cool.” So I said something to him, because I felt like I was wrong. Those scenarios are appropriate to apologize. On the other side, if the two of you are racing and you get a little loose and run up into somebody a little bit? Nah. That’s just racing. 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? That one is pretty easy: It’s my wife or daughter when they say, “I love you.” 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Brad, we’re bringing a celebrity to the track and we’d love for you to host them.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host at a race? Probably Elon Musk. But I feel like you’d start debating about self-driving cars. Oh, absolutely. That’s part of why it would be fun. You’d want to pick his brain and also say, “Here’s why it’s not going to work out for you.” Pretty much. And he might say something that makes me think about it differently. And that’s OK. That’s part of why I’d enjoy it. I would enjoy it not from the cult of celebrity perspective, I would enjoy it from the viewpoint perspective. 5. In an effort to show this is a health conscious sport, NASCAR decides to offer the No. 1 pit stall for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for one month. Would you do it? Yeah. I don’t think that one’s too hard. It’s achievable. It’d have to be a good race though, not one of those races where the first pit stall doesn’t mean much — like Pocono. The first pit stall at Pocono is like pbbbt. It’s not worth that much. So I would think it would be like a Martinsville or a Homestead. No cheese, no meat, no milk…you could do all that? Yeah. I try really hard not to drink milk now. I do a little bit of cheese; I try to avoid that, to be quite honest. If I eat cheese, it’s because it’s on something like pizza. But I could get around it. It would be harder to me to give up bread, which I try do to that as well. I don’t have a vegan diet right now, but I’m not far off it — other than I like steak,

Lifelong NASCAR fan Aaron Fisher, better known as @racer48racer on Twitter, joins me at Dover to help break down Kevin Harvick’s win, Jimmie Johnson’s outlook and why he believes there’s no such thing as a bad race.

Each week, I ask a member of the motorsports community to shed some light on their career path and explain how they reached their current role. This week: Verizon IndyCar Series race director Kyle Novak, who is in his first season on the job. This interview was recorded as a podcast, but is transcribed for those who prefer to read. Can you tell us a little about your role now so we can understand how you got to this point? Sure. So I’m the race director for the Verizon IndyCar Series, which means you handle all aspects of the on-track operations of any event. We have a great staff that handles the details of every single department. I manage that staff in the room. It’s a pretty big undertaking, but we have great people that help us get it done. Was racing on your radar? Was this a goal of yours when you were growing up or anything like that? No. I always knew I wanted to work in the sports industry and had a calling in motorsports growing up. My dad and I are big car guys — muscle car guys. We both drag race when we can on the weekends; we have a small two-car hobby operation when I’m not at the racetrack for IndyCar that we’re racing on the weekends. You still do that? We still do. We have two cars that we take a lot of pride in. It’s a lot of work, but it still keeps me close to kind of the grassroots side. We have a lot of fun with it. But growing up in that atmosphere, always being a huge NASCAR fan, huge IndyCar fan, even more recently Formula One, anything with four wheels has been a big part of my life. So never really intended it, but I’m glad it worked out that way for sure. How did you get your start? What were you doing in college that started to put you on this path? I did my undergraduate work at Bowling Green State University; I was a sports management major there. As part of my major program there, you had to do two internships, and of the two internships that I did, one was with the football program. And (now Ohio State coach) Urban Meyer was the coach there. He was in his second year of his two-year tenure at Bowling Green. After that — and this is the gateway drug into racing — was working for IMG Motorsports when they still promoted the Cleveland Grand Prix. It was an event that’s very near and dear to me, a very special event. But that got me into the racetrack/race operations side of things. And it spooled eventually into where we are today. Before we continue more into the racing part of it, tell me a little about what it was like to work for Urban Meyer. I mean obviously, he wasn’t the star coach that he is today, but I’m sure the makings of one were there. What did you learn from him? It was very special. When you go through life and you come across people, there’s probably a few that are mentors. He was one of those people. When he was there, he was really on nobody’s radar screen, but you’d just tell he had that presence. I’m a taller guy, I’m a bigger guy, and I have to have thick skin to deal with a lot of these drivers and team managers who are some of the sharpest people I’ve ever met. But there’s not a whole lot of people I’ve ever met who intimidated me or if they looked at me in the eye put that fear of, “You’d better do a good job,” and he’s one of those guys — maybe the only guy besides maybe my parents. Just a very intense, clear guy that can just get every last ounce of energy out of anyone. And that’s a tribute to his success as well. Have you taken any of those leadership things along with you at different stops throughout your career? Or are they two different things? Two different things. Keep in mind when Urban got to Bowling Green, the program was in shambles. Bowling Green, being a small, mid-major school but with a proud football tradition,

The series of 12 Questions interviews continues this week with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The interview was recorded as a podcast, but is also transcribed for those who prefer to read. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? I don’t dream all that often, but I do remember one when I was getting ready to race for the Herzogs in ’96 in my very first off-road truck race for them. I had a dream that this brand new beautiful truck he built would only do wheelies — and I couldn’t compete, couldn’t make a turn, couldn’t stay with the pack because every time I touched the gas, it just did a wheelie and I couldn’t turn. Was this a dream that happened more than once? No, it was just that one dream, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s probably the only one I remembered through all the years of having different dreams. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? Yeah, it does. I think there’s also an unwritten code out there when there’s just incidental contact that happens. And then there’s that next level of, “Wow, that probably looked bad. I should apologize, I didn’t mean it.” And then you have to see if the guy believes you or not. And then there’s the insult of all insults where you just completely dump somebody and say, “Oh yeah, sorry.” (Laughs) 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? The simple term that you’re a racer. That’s always meant the world to me. 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? I just had a flashback of meeting Vince Vaughn in our transporter a couple years ago. First of all, he was so tall he could barely fit in the transporter. And then he just of course was rolling the humor and dropping one-liners. So I love to have those opportunities to see people and show them around the transporter and through the inner workings of what goes on in a race team. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? Man, I tried it. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but I was just curious and had a three-month run at vegan. So you made it three months? I did. I made it three months. Not easy — a lot of planning involved. And I’m sure the first month I made plenty of mistakes because you just don’t know any better. You don’t realize how hard it is to be a true vegan. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. This is the 2007 Atlanta Spring race. Do you have any idea where you finished in that one? I don’t remember ’07. Nope, sorry, I don’t. I hope I won. You actually won that one. OK! I was hoping to stump you on one that you won, since you’ve won so many races. You usually remember the ones you lose. Like losing to Carl (Edwards) at the line or something like that. I wouldn’t know the year off the top of my head, but the ones you lose leave a much bigger mark than the ones you’ve won. (Laughs) You started third on this one and you led the first 36 laps. There was a debris caution with 10 to go. You took the lead with three to go and you beat Smoke. Does any of this ring a bell? Yeah, I remember getting by Tony off of Turn 2. We had a little contact, which I know didn’t make him happy. He had a little bit of a tire rub after that, and we were able to get the race won. I remember that now. I just need a little snapshot of what it looked like.

It’s a solo edition of the podcast this week as I break down what we all watched on TV from Talladega Superspeedway, including thoughts on how the race played out and why we didn’t see enough of it.

Each week, I ask someone in the racing industry about their career path and journey to where they are today. In this edition of the series, I speak with Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern. This was recorded as a podcast, but is also transcribed for those who prefer to read. How did this begin for you? How did this whole thing start? I grew up outside of D.C. in Northern Virginia. J.D. Gibbs and I have been best friends since seventh grade; we went to intermediate school and high school together. We went off to different colleges, and J.D. was kind of on the five-and-a-half year plan, and I got done a little bit early. I was on the four-and-a-half year plan. So his dad was starting this race team when we were getting out of college, and I got out first. They needed cheap labor, so I was an unpaid intern, believe it or not. I actually started college as an electrical engineering major until I realized I was really bad at math and science, which are two key components to being an engineer. My dad was an engineer, but I hadn’t bothered to take a personality profile which would have said, “You’re gonna be a horrible engineer.” So that lasted a year. I got my degree in communications to be a broadcast journalist. My dream when I was in high school and college was to be a SportsCenter anchor. Obviously, I failed at that as well. So I finished college right as Coach was starting a NASCAR team, and he asked if I would help for six months. I said, “Man, that’ll look great on my resume. It’ll be great experience.” I just had this hunch. Everything Coach does turns to gold, so I’m gonna hitch my wagon to him for my first gig. I literally moved to Charlotte, and then me and J.D. and another guy, Todd Meredith, we were all three recent college graduates. We lived in an apartment together and we went to work at this startup race team. We had 15 employees and we had no idea what we were doing. And when I say that, I’m talking about (doing everything from) putting stickers on cars to booking hotel rooms. I speak to college students a lot and I tell them: Forget cell phones. This is pre-email! You weren’t emailing people. They didn’t even have anywhere to put me. So they literally emptied out a broom closet and had to run an extension cord in there for a lamp because there were no plugs in the broom closet, and I had like a little elementary school desk — that’s all they had room for — and a chair and a lamp and a phone. But who was I gonna call? I had nobody to call. Maybe a hotel on occasion. And that’s kind of how it started; that’s about as unglamorous as you can think. Not only did you not have any experience, but did you have any idea about NASCAR? I had an uncle who I grew up with, my uncle Jimmy, he passed away many years ago. But he used to take me to Dover and Richmond. We would go to those races when I was growing up, and I was a No. 88 Darrell Waltrip fan when I was little; he was in the Gatorade car, and I had T-shirts and stuff from that. But I wasn’t what you would call a big fan, I was just aware of NASCAR. We would spend more time wandering around the grandstands and the area around the track than we did watching the race. I had some familiarity with it, but I was by no means a NASCAR fan, nor did I one day say, “Hey, I want to work in NASCAR.” For me, it was more about the who than the what. In other words, I was teaming up with the Gibbs family. They could have been selling coat hangers and it wouldn’t have mattered to me. I believe in what they’re about and I wanted to be with them. The fact that it ended up being in NASCAR is kind of a bonus. That’s a lot more fun than coat hangers. But I’m glad that that’s the business they were in, but I had no aspirations to do that at all. If that’s the case,

The series of weekly driver interviews continues with Simon Pagenaud, who drives for Team Penske in the Verizon IndyCar Series. These interviews are recorded as a podcast, but also transcribed for those who prefer to read instead of listen. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? I just had one last night, actually. We’re doing some experiments and I dreamt that I was driving it. When I was a kid, I used to dream of driving a lot — almost every night. I used to put myself into the thinking mode as well, hoping I was gonna dream about it. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? For me, personally, I don’t talk with the others. I know we’re all different. I feel like if I did something wrong and I know it’s completely wrong and it was my fault, I always apologize. Because I want to others to know that when I’m going for it and I’m in my right, I’m in my right. 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? For me, the biggest would be the dedication. When someone tells me that they’re impressed how dedicated and professional I am, that’s the biggest compliment I could take. 4. IndyCar comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? There’s a lot that I’d like to host. I think one I really would like to meet and have come to the race is Jimmy Fallon, actually. I really enjoy his show and his personality seems like we could get along pretty well, so I’d love to have him here. Have you ever gotten to go on any late night talk shows like that? No, I haven’t. I haven’t had that opportunity, unfortunately. I hope I will someday. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, IndyCar offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? I mean, anything for a little advantage. But it would be very hard for me because I do love my chicken, my meat. It’d be a tough month. But I’d probably do it, yes. Is the No. 1 pit stall a big advantage in IndyCar? It is an advantage because you get a straight out. You can go straight out, you don’t need to swing around somebody. So there’s a bit of an advantage to that, yes. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. That might not be easy for me. (Laughs) This is the 2014 Long Beach Grand Prix, since we’re here at Long Beach. I was with Schmidt. I’ll try to remember the color of the car, that helps me. ’14 —was that the Lucas Oil? No, it was the Charter car, I think. Yeah, it was the Charter car. I think that’s the race I got into it with Will (Power), so I finished fifth. Yes, you did finish fifth. (Laughs) Which was a really good recovery. You started sixth. You finished fifth. Mike Conway won and Juan Pablo Montoya finished just ahead of you. Yes, we got together with Will at that race. If it wasn’t for that, I think I could have won the race. That’s why I was pretty upset. (Laughs) Sorry to bring up a bad memory. It’s OK. Part of it. 7. Who is the best rapper alive? Eminem. No question, in my mind. 8. Who has the most punchable face in IndyCar? Punchable? Woah! Punchable…who would I punch for pleasure? Let me think…(Alexander) Rossi. (Laughs) He’s gonna hear that and be like, “Oh yeah?” (Imitates monotone voice) 9. IndyCar enlists three famous Americans to be involved with your team for one race as part of a publicity push: Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Tom Hanks. Choose one to be your head mechanic,

Matt Weaver from Autoweek joins me to help analyze everything that happened at Richmond, including a debate on what makes a good race and whether fans will ever warm up to Kyle Busch.

This is the latest in a weekly feature called “How I Got Here,” where I ask people in NASCAR about the journeys to their current jobs. Each interview is recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed on JeffGluck.com. Up next: Kristine Curley, communications coordinator for Toyota Racing. Before we trace your career path, what is your current role with Toyota? What do you do? I help coordinate all our social media — with help from our partners — across a bunch of series. Not just NASCAR, but also NHRA, Formula Drift, POWRi, some of the lower series, ARCA. So there’s a lot, and it’s a lot to coordinate all that. Then I also kind of serve as a liaison, because I’m on the marketing side now with corporate communications and the PR, make sure we’re all working in lockstep. I always say social media has a marketing and a PR presence, and it’s melding those two and making sure they’re all working together. So we’ve got a great team, and I’m super proud working with some people that I’ve known in the garage for a long time. So that makes things easy. Relationships are 100 percent key in this sport, as you know. You mentioned that you’ve known people in the garage for a long time… Are you saying I’m old, Jeff? No, you mentioned that! But that’s a good place to start, because you were already very established by the time I got to know you and came into this career. So I really don’t know that much of your background or how you got to NASCAR in the first place. It’s a tangled web of a story. Well let’s get into it. How did the web begin? So I graduated from the University of Kansas — Rock Chalk — with a journalism degree. My sisters always say, “You were lucky. You knew exactly what you wanted to do when you went to college.” And I did. I was in was the magazine sequence, which back then, was not really a sequence in journalism school. We were one of the first universities that had it. I really wanted to do broadcast journalism. I graduated from KU, and then I wasn’t ready to go into the real world, as I like to say, so I went to be a ski bum for a year. Well that year turned into three and a half years. And so while I was there working five jobs — including adjusting people’s ski boots in the ski shop and working in a restaurant at night — I figured I’d better keep my skill sharp with writing. That’s one thing I will say: Writing is important. I don’t care what you’re doing, you have to write, and you have to be able to communicate. And so I think that is the best advice I’d give everyone: Read and write and keep your writing as sharp as you can. Because whether it’s social media or whether you’re writing a press release or whether you’re writing talking points for someone, you have to know how to speak. So anyway, I went to work in the ski resort town in Crested Butte and I thought, “I’d better do something so that at the end of this, when I’m looking for a job, I’ve got something to show for it.” So I basically started the sports page of the local little Crested Butte paper. We used to have the extreme skiing competition there, so I’d do that and I’d find little things to cover. Then I fancied myself a columnist. I’ll never forget, (former Florida State football/basketball star) Charlie Ward was coming out (of college) and trying to decide what sport he wanted to play. So I wrote that he should be a football player. And I remember my dad was like, “What in the world? Why would he be a football player?” That was my first taste of writing a column and having someone not agree with me — my father!

The 12 Questions series of interviews continues with Ty Dillon, who is in his second season driving for Germain Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. This interview is recorded as a podcast, but is also transcribed for those who prefer to read. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? I don’t now as much as when I was younger. I used to have the worst dream and it stressed me out so bad. The race would be firing off, cars would be rolling off and I was trying to still find my gloves or my helmet. Like, I’d be in the hauler scrambling. And then the race was going and I was missing the race and I just had that recurring dream all the time. That was the worst dream ever, I’d wake up sweating and stressed out. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? If you make a true mistake and you’re honest with the person, I think it’s worth going and saying something. I think if you’re racing hard, it should be understood. I tried that a couple years ago with Regan (Smith at Watkins Glen). I told him when he came up to me, “I made a mistake, man. You deserve to be mad.” But he continued to get more and more mad and then it led to what it was (a skirmish on pit road). But I will always be honest if I make a mistake. I always tell the person and we’ll go from there. So in the Watkins Glen situation, you were like, “Dude, it’s my fault” and he’s still getting mad? I told him, “Hey, you are 100 percent right to be mad at me,” and he continued to get mad. Then I was like, “OK, now we’re into another realm of getting mad.” So that’s when I flare up.  3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? The biggest compliment someone could give me right now would be just a compliment that I’m being a good husband and a father. That means more than anything to me in life. And then probably third on the list would be that people see that I’m working hard and just appreciate the work that I’ve put in to trying to be a good race car driver and all around good for the sport. 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? Migos was really cool. They’d be high on the list. Like sports star-wise, probably Cam Newton. I love the Braves, so any of the Braves players. But like entertainment, I really like (rapper) Logic right now. I’ve been bumping him quite a bit, so if he were to come to the track, I’d like to show him around and show him our world. That would be very cool. That would be very big for NASCAR. For sure. Another one would be (entrepreneur and social media star) Gary Vaynerchuk, I’d like to take him around. And he’s doing stuff with NASCAR, right? Yeah, Vayner Media is doing a lot. I actually had worked with him when I went to Austin for South by Southwest with a vlog and spent a lot of time with him. I’m kind of developing myself outside of racing and inside of racing. I think what they’ve got going on is pretty special. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? For sure. You would? Oh yeah, I could do it. My wife (Haley) is a real good cook, and I’d just be like, “Alright Haley, let’s make this stuff taste good.” We’ll go for it. So I could do it. I think you’re the first driver all year to say yes. I finally found somebody. I don’t think the other drivers have qualified as bad as I have all year.

After an eventful race weekend, I’m joined by SB Nation’s Jordan Bianchi and Motorsports Tribune’s Joey Barnes to help break down the Bristol NASCAR race and the Long Beach Grand Prix.

This is the latest in a weekly feature called “How I Got Here,” where I ask people in NASCAR about the journeys to their current jobs. Each interview is recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed on JeffGluck.com. Up next: Mike Zizzo, vice president of communications at Texas Motor Speedway. First of all, what do you do here at Texas so we can understand how you got to this point? I handle all the media relations, so that entails any driver events that we do, setting up credentials for media, working with the marketing team on certain initiatives we have there, and then being on the executive team here at TMS. We get to do advances with drivers. We have Daniel Suarez this year, we had a special guest in Jared Leto earlier this (month), which was really cool. And we’ll have Kevin Harvick in the fall. So a lot of media events and such. It’s basically just managing the media and making sure when they come and visit us that we get the coverage that we’re looking for as well as accommodating them as guests for the weekend. How long have you been here working at the track now? Feels like 50 years. (Laughs) No, I joined in ’05 after I left NASCAR, so I’m starting Year 13. Obviously you didn’t just magically plop down here in Texas and start your career here, so where did this whole thing begin for you? I was a scribe just like you back in the day. I graduated from Florida Southern College in Lakeland. I wanted to be a sports writer, and I was fortunate enough to land at a major paper at the Orlando Sentinel. Just like any young scribe, I started out on the agate desk and did a lot of box scores before I got my break. People were calling in with their high school football scores and you were taking the stats on the phone? That was the worst thing ever when we had to do it. We got a call-in and you’re like, “Oh, no stats, please.” And then you got to move up and you actually got to cover a game, which was awesome. But I worked at the Lakeland Ledger when I was at Florida Southern, so I got a lot of game type experience and live experience, which was great. That helped me at the Sentinel, and I covered everything from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first year to the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Citrus Bowl to a lot of preps. So it was a great experience for me, and that actually led into racing, which was actually odd for me. So did you cover much racing to that point. How did the move to go into racing get on your radar? They put it on my radar. I was living in Cocoa Beach and I was covering Brevard County preps and some college sports and pro sports like spring training, and then I got the call. They’re like, “Congratulations, you’re our new auto racing writer.” I grew up in New England and my dad loved cars, but he never went to any races or anything. And they’re like, “You’re the auto racing writer.” I’m like, “What? I don’t know anything about auto racing, I grew up in New York. The only thing I saw going around in circles is horses, like at Belmont.” And they’re like, “Well, you better learn it.” I swear, I was so panicked because it was one of those sports I’ve never really followed. I did a little bit … growing up as a kid, I loved Mario Andretti because he’s Italian and I was rooting for him in the Indy 500. And then in NASCAR, (I knew) Richard Petty and all that, but I never really followed it enough that I could cover it. So when they told me that, I was panicked and like, “What am I gonna do?” and my good friend in Cocoa Beach, Mark Tate, he grew up in Hickory (N.C.), grew up with the Jarretts, so he was over the moon that I was gonna cover NASCAR. I said,

The series of 12 Questions interviews continues with defending Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing. This interview is recorded both as a podcast and is transcribed in written form. Truex has participated in a 12 Questions interview for every year of the series (2010-present); an archive of his past interviews can be found at the bottom of this page. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? Do I ever dream about racing? Yes I do. I can tell you in your dreams, you always win. (Laughs) Do you ever have a winning dream and then it comes true for that race? Eight times last year. (Laughs) 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? I think it matters. There’s a line there where you kind of know if that might not have been intentional and might have been an accident. And then when you hear somebody say, “Man, I’m sorry, I really feel bad about blah, blah, blah,” it kind of makes you feel a little bit better. Like “OK, I think he’s not lying.” But you can usually tell when they’re completely full of crap. 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? I think the biggest compliment is just somebody that respects who you are as a person. If somebody says, “Man, he’s a good guy.” In my opinion, that’s a pretty big deal to me, you know? 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? I’m not huge on celebrities. Like I don’t get starstruck or anything. By anybody? It’d have to be somebody old school, like some old (guy) like Hank Williams Jr. or something like that, like a legend. It couldn’t just be some guy that’s on TV or a movie star. It would have to be somebody who is legendary. Hank would do it. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? Heck no! That’s insane. Who doesn’t eat meat? How could you live? How could anyone live? I don’t know. Like Sherry (Pollex, his longtime partner) tries to do it somewhat because it’s good for her and stuff, but she can’t even do it. She tries, but she has to eat meat, too. It’s impossible. If you don’t eat meat, there’s something wrong with you. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. This is the 2014 Spring Dover race. ’14, that was a pretty rough year. But we did run good at Dover both times. I’m gonna say sixth. Wow, that is correct! Sixth. We finished sixth in both races at Dover that year. How do you remember that stuff? I remember everything. So you can remember most races? I remember a lot of races and what I did and what happened. I can remember racing my Modified and what setup I had and what springs I ran in at what race and this and that. It’s pretty crazy. But I can’t remember people’s names for crap, just so you know. Is that a trade you would make? Not yet. Not until I’m done racing. (Laughs) 7. Who is the best rapper alive? I don’t know. You don’t know any rappers? I don’t. You’re not into rap at all? Not really, no. You don’t strike me as a rap-type person. No. There’s some songs that I think, “That’s not terrible.” Like I don’t turn it off, but I’m not really into it much. So that’s the highest compliment you can give a rap song. Like, “Yeah,

Toby Christie from The Final Lap joins me to help analyze what happened in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

This is the latest in a weekly feature called “How I Got Here,” where I ask people in NASCAR about the journeys to their current jobs. Each interview is recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed on JeffGluck.com. Up next: Lauren Edwards, founder and CEO of Reine Digital. Can you explain what you do and what Reine Digital does? So Reine Digital, I founded it at the beginning of 2017, and it is a social and digital consulting agency. I work with a lot of athletes, and especially drivers in our sport and media personalities in our sport. And then I have a couple other small clients on that are more business- and brand-focused, but we really focus on kind of the athletes and personalities. So Jimmie Johnson is among your clients? Yes. Jimmie was my first client. I originally worked with Jimmie for five years, helping him with his social and digital and then kind of stepped out on my own and he signed on as a client. Steve Letarte is another client, which has been so much fun. It’s a very different side of things, kind of getting into the broadcast side of things as opposed to a driver. And then I have a couple other people I’m kind of just starting to work with this year, which is really exciting and new and I’m very thrilled. I’ve actually randomly gotten into wineries and distilleries, kind of the alcohol side of things, which is very different and the laws are crazy — it’s nothing like sports — but it’s been really fun. Let’s talk about how you got to this point. So you went to William & Mary. Was racing ever on the radar for you? No. So I went to William & Mary because I wanted to do international economic development. That’s different than this. You probably couldn’t get more different of a career path. So I went there to study international relations and economics as a double major. I took both those majors and I was feeling great. I grew up right outside of Philadelphia. So (former Pocono track president) Brandon Igdalsky’s mom, Looie, lived not far from where we lived and my parents were friends with her. I’ve been really close with that whole (Mattioli) family for years. And so when I was in college, I went up to do a marketing internship with them (at Pocono), just because I felt like it would look better on a resume than being a lifeguard or a waitress or something like that that all my friends were doing. I was like, “OK, I’m gonna go do this and at least just check the boxes, get some marketing experience.” And I fell in love with it. I was like, “This is amazing. I love it. It’s fun, it’s exciting, I’m good at it.” And so my junior year, I went back to William & Mary and added a marketing degree so I could get into sports. Some people go to an internship based on the path they want to follow. You did the internship thinking it might help your resume, but then being inspired by that led you down a completely different road? One hundred percent. My entire high school career and the beginning of my college career was 100 percent focused on government, international politics, economics, that route. And I’m still passionate about that and I love it — and my friends will tease me because I read these really nerdy books about world politics and economies. But for me, just working in it, just being there in the summer and kind of experiencing what the sport was like, I just knew, “OK, now I have a passion for this and I want to do it.” So what happened next? What was your next step? When I graduated college, started applying for jobs and there was a position at Octagon (sports marketing agency) that was available. It was actually on the DLP account,

The series of 12 Questions interviews continues with Noah Gragson, who drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series. Gragson is currently fifth in the series standings after the first four races. This interview is recorded as a podcast, but is transcribed below for those who prefer to read. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? Probably six out of seven nights. Really? That’s a lot. A lot. I’m always dreaming about racing. Like daydreaming, too — I always am daydreaming. Like that’s 24/7. I’m thinking about racing all the time. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? Yeah, I think so. I mean if it’s intentional, then you just throw them the bird out the window and keep on digging. And if it’s not, then I’m the first to come up and say that I made a mistake and just own up for my actions and my mistakes. So yeah, I definitely think owning up for what you did wrong is definitely crucial.  3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? That they thought I did a good job. That’s probably a good one. That’s not that much of a compliment. It is to me, because I try my best and I want to do my best. So if somebody’s saying that I do a good job, then it’s coming off good. So that’s key. 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? Travis Pastrana.  Really? I’m a huge fan of his. You never met him when he was doing NASCAR? Well I wasn’t in NASCAR, I was racing Bandoleros. Didn’t he make a Truck start last year? Yeah, I met him last year and I got to ride in the van with him to the autograph session. I was fan-boying the whole time, so that was really cool. And then probably if I could meet him again, I want to, just to hang out. I’m a huge fan of Travis Pastrana. Could you not get the words out last year or something? Nah, I was just trying to not say a whole lot — just listen to him — because I was just in awe. I just look up to him and try to role-model myself after him. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? Hell no. I’ll take pit stall No. 2 all day. No vegan for me. I love my junk food and everything. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. This is the 2016 K&N West race at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. Where did you finish? Third. The answer is third. Hell yeah. I started second. You started second. You led two laps. Chris Eggleston won. Your buddy Gracin Raz was second, and you finished ahead of Todd Gilliland. What do you remember about that race? I remember missing the pole barely to Ryan Partridge. And then I was on the outside of the front row; it’s a real tight racetrack. A lot of cautions. I was on the outside on like pretty much all the restarts and then Gracin got me there at the end. Ryan Partridge was also up front with Chris Eggleston. I think it was Ryan Partridge, Chris Eggleston, then me. And then there was a lapper, Rich DeLong Sr., we were lapping him and Ryan Partridge went low, Chris Eggleston went high, and then Ryan Partridge got taken out for the lead. So that was a big points implication deal for that race. I think it was the third or fourth race of the season. 7. Who is the best rapper alive? I don’t know. You’re not into rap? I’m into rap and I like listening to those rap songs...

This is the latest in a weekly feature called “How I Got Here,” where I ask people in NASCAR about the journeys to their current jobs. Each interview is recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed on JeffGluck.com. Up next: Zane Stoddard, NASCAR’s vice president of entertainment marketing and content development. Before we get into how you got to this point, what do you do now on a daily basis? What are some of your goals now? We are responsible for all things entertainment-related. We develop content; we are one of the groups within NASCAR that develops content as part of our company’s broader content strategy. So we develop TV, film, digital projects. We work on strategic partnerships with studios like Disney and Pixar in Cars 3 last year. And then lastly, we work with talent — so we program the performers for some of the pre-race concerts across our tracks as well as getting the celebrities out to our events, which is something that we work hard on and hope that we can sample our sport for these guys, particularly when we’re in the L.A. market. So right now, we’re sitting in a suite where I understand later today, you’re going to be entertaining the celebrities right here. You have some big names coming out. How important is it for you guys to show the sport to different people who don’t normally see it? We think it’s very important. Our product is so great, so it’s really just a matter of giving people an opportunity to be exposed to it and sample it. I have not experienced having somebody out who didn’t flip out and think this is one of the coolest experiences they’ve had, so it’s really fun to get them out. And once again, when we’re in Southern California and many of them live here, it’s a little easier than some other markets to get them out. So we think it’s a good thing for NASCAR, along with all the other great things that our company does in marketing, is to get these influential people out, have them leveraging their social media to talk about their experience at our events. So how did you get to this point? How did you get to the point where you’re showing up at a NASCAR race and hosting celebrities and you have an IMDB page because you were the executive producer of Logan Lucky and all those sort of things. How did you get to this point? I have no idea. (Laughs) So I grew up in California. I didn’t happen to be exposed to NASCAR, but I was certainly aware of it. I’ve been a sports fan, every sport under the sun since I was a kid, which I think many people are that work in NASCAR. I had the fortune out of college for working for an NBA team, then Nike, then the NBA league office itself for almost a decade. And so, hadn’t had the exposure to (NASCAR), but being in the sports business, I knew that it was a big, great business, so I had respect for it from arm’s length. And through relationships, the opportunity became available and I jumped at it, and it’s been awesome ever since. When you get out of college, there’s many people that say, “Hey, I want to work in sports.” It’s not that easy, though. So how were you able to make that first opportunity, that first door open for yourself with the NBA? I think everybody who’s in sports would agree it could happen 100 different ways. I think the tried and true is through relationships, making sure that you are interacting with people who have the ability to give you opportunities in the space. Like many people in sports, I worked for free. I started out with the L.A. Clippers in the sponsorship group over there, working for free, hustling up and down the stairs at the L.A.

The series of 12 Questions interviews continues this week with Christopher Bell, the Chili Bowl champion, Camping World Truck Series champion and current Xfinity Series driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. This interview was recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed for those who would rather read. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? I haven’t dreamed about racing in a while. As a kid, I used to always have nightmares that I wouldn’t be ready in time. I don’t know why, but I would always have nightmares that I would miss my heat race at the Chili Bowl or something. Like I wasn’t dressed in time and the next thing you know, your heat race or the feature’s pushing off and you’re trying to get in your car. I would have those dreams quite frequently whenever I was a kid. Recently, I haven’t dreamed too much about racing. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? If you intentionally wreck someone, then there’s no need to apologize. If it’s an accident and you really didn’t mean to do it, I think you need to make that effort to connect with him. Generally, if I accidentally get into someone, I guess I don’t go immediately because everybody’s still wound up from the race. But within a couple hours, I’ll reach out and try to talk to him. Like via text? Yeah. 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? Honestly, this is gonna sound weird, but growing up and following (Kyle) Larson’s footsteps, the biggest compliment that people have given me is when they compare me to Larson, because he’s the greatest race car driver I’ve seen. And so for people to have me and him in the same conversation, it’s pretty cool. 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? I don’t know. I don’t really follow too much of the celebrity scene I guess, but recently, I just watched Ride Along and get a good laugh out of Kevin Hart, so that’d be kind of cool. He’d be fun to hang out with at the track. Yeah. He’d make you laugh, anyway. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? No. I live on meat, so there’s no way. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. I’ll be good at this. You have good memory? Yes. Then I probably didn’t go hard enough because I was like, “There’s not enough NASCAR races to where you would probably remember most of the NASCAR races.” If you picked a dirt race in 2013, I’d tell you where I finished. Well let’s see. Where did you finish in the 2014 Belleville Nationals feature? Second. No, third. No, sorry, fourth. I think it was, Rico (Abreu) won, I finished fourth. You did finish fourth. Sorry, it was ’15 when I finished second to (Bryan) Clauson. How do you have such a good memory for a race? I can’t even remember races from this year. I don’t know, man. That’s just something that I’ve always had. For the most part, you can tell me any race and I’ll be able to tell you where I finished and pretty much how the race went. I remember at Belleville in 2014, the dash is what lines you up in the feature, and I think me and Rico were running first and second in the dash and I thought I had a flat tire, so I pulled in. So I finished last in the dash which was sixth or eighth, and I didn’t have a flat,

Chicago-area NASCAR fan Jason Rhee joins me from the departures level of Chicago O’Hare International Airport during my layover to help break down what happened Monday at Martinsville Speedway.

This is the latest in a weekly feature called “How I Got Here,” where I ask people in NASCAR about the journeys to their current jobs. Each interview is recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed on JeffGluck.com. Up next: Greg Stumpff, founder of helmet painting company Off Axis Paint. You design helmets for a variety of drivers. Who are some of the drivers you’ve worked with? Well, Martin Truex Jr., Cup champion. We got him a couple years ago. Honestly the whole Truex family, we do them. Justin Allgaier has been with me for a long time. Ryan Reed. Joey Logano was part of it for awhile. We do 30 to 40 drivers between the three series now. And we’re very personal, so it’s a lot of personality and things to remember about certain individuals. Because when I do these, I don’t want to just throw a sponsor on the helmet. I want to make it something the driver loves and is part of them. They don’t really get a whole lot of say in the firesuits or the cars or anything else, so the helmet is kind of the one thing these drivers can be part of. So I try to make it very personal. That’s why I’m at the track a lot of times, because it’s cool to see your friends run and to see your stuff on the track. I visited your shop, and you have a nice, big place where you make the helmets, and you guys even pull all-nighters to make these helmets sometimes. A lot of times. It’s right there in North Carolina, in Mooresville, and it’s right next to a bunch of race shops. When things happen very quickly, which they do in NASCAR a lot — “Oh, we need this sponsor on a helmet by Friday” — we can usually pull that off. And there’s not a lot of shops that can do that, so that’s kind of our blessing and our curse, I guess. It’s a lot of long nights, but we can crank out helmets in our shops because I have a great group of guys who love doing what they do. As long as I keep the work coming in, they’ll probably stay with me. Your success didn’t just happen suddenly. How did you get your start? It’s kind of weird, you know? It’s not really one of those occupations where you take a test in high school and it says, “You’re going to be a doctor” or “You’re going to be a veterinarian.” Helmet painter is not really on the list. So honestly, I didn’t really know it was a job until early in high school, when I started looking at designers like Troy Lee. Even then, I didn’t know there was a career path. Those guys were so big and it was so far out of reach, (I thought) there’s no way I could ever make it that far. This is when you were in Missouri? Yeah, I was in Missouri. Dirt central. That’s why I’m good friends with Allgaier and Tyler Reddick, because I come from the same dirt background. Out of high school, I worked on a dirt Late Model team. I traveled all over the country. Like every dirt track — you name it, I’ve probably been to it and scraped that mud off the car. There was a lot of downtime when you travel like that, so I started taking some helmets home on the weekdays and I’d them back on the weekends and make a little side money. I was like, “Alright, this is not bad.” Then I started realizing sponsors will actually pay to get this stuff done; it’s not just the drivers. I literally got on Facebook — Twitter hadn’t really taken over yet — and I just started messaging every driver on there. I got one hit: J.J. Yeley. And he said, “Hey man, I want you to paint my helmet. I’m in Talladega.” We were actually there racing a dirt race, so I went over and met him. I was like, “Wow, this is a Cup guy. I’m big time now.” And he was like a start-and-park back in the day, you know? But I was just pumped to even see my driver’s name on TV. So you essentially didn’t have any contacts at all and were starting completely from scratch? Zero.

The 12 Questions series of interviews continues this week with Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing. These interviews are recorded in podcast form, but are also transcribed below for those who prefer to read them. 1. How often do you have dreams about racing? I would say when I was a kid, I had them almost every night. I would dream of races and racing. Now I might have quick flashes of it, but not like deep dreams. They might happen every so often, maybe once a week or so. I guess probably leading up to the weekend or right after the race. 2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? Yeah, if I feel like I’ve done something wrong, I feel like I’m good about making sure I at least text them or come up to them right after and apologize. At times too when it’s not my fault, I seem to apologize for something that I may feel like I did to put both of us in that situation or whatever. But yeah, for sure you need to apologize, because there’s some sensitive people in our sport. 3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you? Now our race cars are fast all the time, but when somebody would say like I’m carrying the race car on a certain weekend or something like that, I think that means a lot to me. When you’re doing more than maybe the potential of (a car), I think that’s always a positive. And I feel like I’m versatile, but when somebody else can see it and thinks that I’m good in any type of race car, that means a lot to me. 4. NASCAR comes to you and says, “Hey, we are bringing a celebrity to the race and we’re wondering if you have time to say hi.” Who is a celebrity you’d be really excited to host? I don’t know. I’m not that into celebrities that much. You don’t get starstruck? I don’t get too starstruck. NASCAR will come to me, or to Davis (Schaeffer, his public relations representative), and be like, “Do you want to meet this celebrity?” Davis will ask me, and I’m like, “No, I don’t really care.” I usually turn all those down unless he gives me the politics speech and then I have to do it. So yeah, I don’t really care to host any celebrity. Is that because when they ask you about these people, you’ve never heard of them? Or have you heard of them and you just don’t care? No, I’ve heard of them, I just don’t really care. I don’t know, I feel like they’re not gonna be that excited to meet me, so I don’t really care to meet them. Maybe that’s just jumping to conclusions or judging a book by its cover, but I don’t really get that excited meeting people, so I don’t think they would get that excited meeting me. 5. In an effort to show they are health-conscious, NASCAR offers the No. 1 pit stall selection for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for a month. Would you do it? So I really like salads. What foods are vegan? You would not be able to have any cheese, nothing from an animal at all. Nothing with butter. You can do soy stuff or the fake meat stuff. I mean, I feel like I could do it, but I don’t think the No. 1 pit stall is that important to suffer for a month. But I do like salads, I could survive off salads. Like chicken’s not even vegan, huh? No. And no buttermilk ranch dressing. Yeah, I like any type of salad. I could probably do it for sure, but I don’t think I need to do it. 6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I have picked a random race from your career and you have to guess where you finished. NASCAR career? Yes, because that’s all that’s on Racing Reference. There’s like Knoxville Nationals stuff on there. But you would remember those too easily.