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The Top Five: Breaking down the Bristol night race

Five thoughts after Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway…

1. Again…MORE SHORT TRACKS!

The next time someone asks me what I like about NASCAR, I’m just going to point to this year’s racing at Bristol.

NASCAR was at its best on Saturday night. There were great battles for the lead all night, fantastic moves throughout the field, unpredictable outcomes, high emotions and almost too much to keep track of at times.

It was fun! Three hours of pure entertainment that never got boring and had intriguing subplots from the opening laps.

Is it being greedy to ask for more?

“Bristol is an awesome place,” Kyle Larson said afterward. “If we could race here every Saturday and Sunday, our grandstands would be packed, our TV ratings would be very high. Let’s build more Bristols.”

Amen! For all the talk of what ails NASCAR and how it could be better, the issue so often comes down to the tracks themselves. And it continues to feel like more short tracks could solve a lot of NASCAR’s problems.

Yet the reality of adding more short tracks seems so unlikely at the moment.  Instead, NASCAR is locked into this intermediate track racing and now has seemingly come up with a solution to slow down the cars in order to put on a better show next season.

Ugh.

If only someone in power could slam their fist down on the table and say, “NO! Enough. That’s not what we need. The real solution is to shake up the schedule and start going to more short tracks.”

No, it wouldn’t change things overnight, but 20 short track races per season sure would do a lot for the health of the sport.

The problem is it’ll never happen. It’s a pipe dream at this point. So we just have to somehow accept there’s only two more short track races for the rest of the year.

Sigh. At least we had Saturday night.

2. Kurt makes case for No. 4

Any race winner who isn’t part of the Big Three at this point is going to spend a week being the focus of the “Are they the fourth driver?” storyline.

It just happened with Chase Elliott after Watkins Glen. Now it’s Kurt Busch’s turn. Kurt, c’mon down! You’re the next driver to get the spotlight as No. 4!

But “Who is the fourth?” is a valid question because it seems so up in the air, doesn’t it? I have no idea who would be the last driver at Homestead if all of the Big Three were to advance.

Elliott? Busch? Clint Bowyer? Denny Hamlin? Larson? Those seem to be the top candidates, but that’s a lot of drivers for one spot.

Seriously though, it might very well be Busch. He has playoff experience, is still at the top of his game and Stewart-Haas Racing continues to show it’s consistently the best team at this point in the season.

But there’s also a chance by the time you read this column in a couple weeks, we could all be focused on someone else.

3. Common sense, please

I totally get that people were angry with Kyle Busch for wrecking Martin Truex Jr. while going for second place in the final stage.

But to say he did it on purpose? C’mon, guys.

There would be absolutely no logic or reason for Busch to suddenly wreck Truex, his pseudo-teammate (Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row share information and debrief together) and fellow title contender (how dumb would it be to start a feud at this point in the season?).

It wasn’t a battle for the lead and it wasn’t a bump-and-run situation, because there were still plenty of laps to go. Busch just screwed up. I would bet almost any amount of money he didn’t do it on purpose.

He said as much after the race, though surely not everyone will take his word for it.

“I crashed the 78, so that was my bad, totally,” he said. “Totally misjudged that one just coming off the corner. Knowing there were still plenty of laps left, I wasn’t even in a hurry and I just misjudged it by four or six inches, whatever it was and I clipped him there and sent him for a ride.

“He knows that wasn’t intentional at all and we’ve worked really, really, really, really well together these last two or three years and that shouldn’t ruin anything between us.”

Busch and Truex crew chief Cole Pearn have a good relationship as well, so again — while the 78 team might be mad in an emotionally charged moment, they surely know it was unintentional.

“Maybe I’ll send them a sorry cake to the Denver shop for the guys having to work extra,” Busch said. “They’ll probably throw that (car) away anyway, but it ruined their day from being able to get a win or even a second.”

4. You’re ruining it for everyone, you idiot

After the race, Kyle Busch walked out of the infield tunnel and up the ramp to where drivers get in their golf carts. Fans typically line the chest-high fence there for autographs, and Busch actually stopped to sign a few despite his sour mood.

As he got in his golf cart, though, a fan went after Busch. According to several eyewitnesses, the fan gave Busch some not-so-friendly pats on the arm before reaching into the golf cart and making much harder contact. That brought Busch out of the cart to defend himself, and the two men were chest to chest as public relations woman Penny Copen stepped in between them. Police then arrived to detain the fan.

As if it wasn’t obvious, that is a totally unacceptable situation. No fan should ever, EVER confront a driver after the race. Between this and the guy who accosted Denny Hamlin on pit road at Martinsville last year, everyone is walking a fine line. It’s not going to take much for fans to completely lose access to the drivers, which is something that has made NASCAR great over the years.

Busch, no matter how much you may dislike him, shouldn’t need to be fearing for his safety when he’s leaving a racetrack. This is ENTERTAINMENT, after all. The drivers are putting on a show. It’s not some political demonstration where two sides clash in the streets.

Don’t make NASCAR bring in riot police to get drivers out of the track. If you see this start to happen at a track, don’t be afraid to alert security. You’re not snitching, you’re saving your fellow fans from losing valuable access to the stars of the sport.

5. Playoff picture

This is turning into such a weird season. Not only have three drivers dominated at the top, but there’s virtually zero points drama at the bottom when it comes to the playoff bubble.

I can’t remember if there’s been a cutoff race where it was only win-and-in, but this year’s Brickyard 400 is shaping up to be that way.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. missed a chance to capitalize on his best track, pitting under green twice with problems Saturday to finish five laps down while Alex Bowman snagged a top-10.

That leaves Stenhouse a whopping 79 points behind Bowman for the final spot with two races left.

Even if someone else wins Darlington or Indy — like a Daniel Suarez or Ryan Newman — there still won’t be much playoff drama with the points. That’s because Bowman is 32 points behind Jimmie Johnson for the 15th playoff spot, which is where the line would move to.

This storyline is not a huge deal — since whoever is the last person in the playoffs isn’t going to beat the Big Three anyway — but it’s kind of odd to see the standings look this way.

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Martin Truex Jr.’s future with Furniture Row Racing remains unsettled

It’s still not clear what team Martin Truex Jr. will race for next year, which is quickly becoming one of the season’s most surprising subplots.

Truex is the defending Cup Series champion and has already won four times this season, so performance clearly isn’t an issue. And yet, here he is in mid-August — the traditional heart of Silly Season — with no contract for 2019.

So what gives?

“Right now, we need sponsorship,” Truex said of Furniture Row Racing. “That’s as simple as it gets. So it’s hard to say. Is there a 50 percent chance we get that in the next couple weeks, or is there 100 percent or 2 percent? I don’t know. I can tell you everything really is based upon that.”

No. 78 team sponsor 5-Hour Energy announced it was leaving the sport in July, which means Furniture Row must find a replacement (all indications are team owner Barney Visser feels he’s spent enough of his own money funding the team in the past) to be paired with Bass Pro Shops.

Truex said it was “hard to put a number” on the chances he’d be back in the 78 car next year, which speaks to the complications of the economic climate in NASCAR. While NASCAR continues to promote the positives about the state of sponsorship, the reality is Truex and seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson both need new sponsors for 2019.

And without a replacement sponsor, it’s hard to sign a driver to a new contract. After all, where would the money come from?

“I’m starting to hear rumors,” Truex said in acknowledging the growing Silly Season talk about himself. “That’s kind of how it works in this sport. I’ve been in this position before.

“I’ve got a great team. Barney has done a lot for my career and it’s something we all want to keep going. We just need a little bit of time to let the dominoes fall in place and see if we can keep it going. If not, I have to figure it out from there.”

Furniture Row issued a statement to SportsBusiness Journal earlier this month saying “not fielding a team in 2019 is not an option.” But until a new sponsor is found, there seems to be an unknown about what the future looks like.

All of it has likely caught even Truex by surprise. As recently as July, a confident Truex indicated he and the team weren’t in a hurry to get a deal signed.

“It’s not really a pressing issue for me,” he said the week after 5-Hour’s announcement last month. “I know what the team wants. I know where we’re all at. It’s not like I’m nervous they’re going to sign somebody else or I’m going to be searching for a ride. It’s nothing like that. It’s more just trying to focus on racing and feeling like it will get done when it gets done.”

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Kasey Kahne explains decision to step away from NASCAR

One day after Kasey Kahne announced his decision to retire from full-time NASCAR racing, he faced the media at Bristol Motor Speedway to explain why.

Essentially, it came down to this: At 38 years old, Kahne could sense he was tired of devoting his life to racing and knew he wouldn’t be able to commit himself to another full year on the NASCAR grind.

Here are five of Kahne’s comments on the decision, in his own words:

— — On being committed: “When I was young, my dad was all about if you do something, you do it 100 percent. You put everything you have into it. When my parents finally said yes for me to go racing at 14 (years old) like it was 100 percent from that point on and it’s all that I’ve thought about. … Twenty-five years later, it’s just a lot and it will be nice to not have that on my mind full-time.”

— On why he wanted to keep racing after Hendrick: “When we first started talking (to Leavine), it was going to be fresh, new, something different. It was exciting to me, so I wanted to give it one more shot with a different group and a different company and I did that. We have had some success this year, we have also had races where we all wanted them to be better and then we have had some races that weren’t good at all. But the successful days make me happy on Monday and excited to come back for that next race. But I just kind of ran out of that anymore.”

— On the potential for other offers: “There were a few other offers I had received over the last month and just options that we could talk about, things like that. It felt really good to have that, but at the same time it wasn’t necessarily about that anymore. I didn’t feel that I could seriously race all of next year and be completely committed 100 percent and I feel like there are guys out there that can be and that should have those opportunities over me at this point in time.”

— On driving again in NASCAR: “I feel like I can still go out and win races and be competitive. Why be completely done if there is an opportunity to do a couple of races — a Daytona 500, a Brickyard, or whatever it may be? Or maybe never drive another Cup car after Homestead. I’m not sure. But I still love racing. If I can help out at some point, I’d love to get in the car probably and still do some driving.”

— On dirt racing: “I could see myself doing 40 or 50 sprint car races next year. Not a full deal, because that doesn’t do me much good for backing off a bit. But you can do 40 or 50 races in about three months in that deal and still have eight or nine months to do other things.”

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12 Questions with Brad Sweet (2018)

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Brad Sweet celebrates after winning the 2018 Knoxville Nationals on Saturday night in Iowa. (Photo: Paul Arch)

The 12 Questions series of driver interviews continues with Brad Sweet, the Kasey Kahne Racing sprint car driver who just won the 2018 Knoxville Nationals last weekend. This interview was recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed below for those who prefer to read.

1. How often do you have dreams about racing?

I probably dream about racing a few times a year — but I live, eat and breathe it while I’m awake. So luckily, I don’t have to dream about it too much while I’m sleeping.

You do what, 90 races per year?

Yeah, we usually have about 95 races on our schedule. And we don’t get to go home all that often because there are a lot of midweek races — Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. So we pretty much live, eat and breathe racing from February to November.

2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize? I realize there would be a lot higher consequences for that in a sprint car race than a NASCAR race.

Yeah. Obviously, when we get into each other, a lot bigger crashes happen. Our cars are open-wheel, so usually it’s very unintentional, because if you get into someone, it can hurt you just as bad as you can hurt them. We don’t really have the bump-and-runs because your front tires are exposed and your rear tires are exposed, so if they touch tires, usually you both go crashing.

But there are times you make move and wipe someone’s front end out or something. And then it just depends. If they race you like that, a lot of times you might get them back. It’s just the way it is. Then there’s other times where it was a complete accident and you really want them to know it was an accident, because we race against each other so much, you don’t want any grudges happening throughout the season.

Is the World of Outlaws community tight-knit like the NASCAR community is with the motorhome lot?

Absolutely. Just as tight; there’s certain guys who are probably even tighter, just because we do travel so much. The drivers are literally the motorhome drivers and set up the T-shirt trailers. We all help each other get down the road. And then all the teams work together to get up and down the road.

It turns into a family. You see these people out here just as much or more as you see your family members back at home. There’s friendships that are closer than others, but for the most part, everyone gets along really well and you can almost count on a lot of people to help you out throughout the season.

3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you?

That’s tough. I would say the biggest compliment in my life right now would be I’m a good dad and a good husband and a good person.

4. The World of Outlaws comes to you and says they’re bringing a celebrity to the track and they want you to host them. Who is a celebrity you’d be excited to host?

I’m kind of a big The Rock fan — Dwayne Johnson. I got really into him after watching Ballers on HBO. I feel like he’d be super into it. He’s that type of guy who just embraces everything. Plus I’d love to ask him questions. He just seems like he really understands how this world works and knows how to do a great job. He works hard at what he does. I admire him a lot.

5. In an effort to show this is a health-conscious sport, the World of Outlaws decides to offer the pole for an A-Main at an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for one month. Would you do it?

I guess it would depend on the race a little bit. If it was the Knoxville Nationals, probably. Because I’d probably need to lose a little weight before we get there anyway and get in good shape.

There are some races I would do it for — our big three races are the Knoxville Nationals, the Kings Royal (at Eldora Speedway) and the National Open (at Williams Grove Speedway). If it was just one of our standard races, probably not.

Well, you got the pole for the Knoxville Nationals without having to go vegan for a month anyway, so…

Yeah. We’re in good shape and I didn’t have to go vegan, so I’m pretty happy about that.

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. This is the 2013 Texas fall Xfinity race. Do you happen to remember that one at all?

I’m going to say I finished 10th.

You finished eighth in this race. Started ninth, led seven laps. Matt Kenseth won.

Yeah, I remember getting a top-10. I couldn’t remember where I finished. I had a couple good runs, but not as many as I’d like to.

When you look back on your NASCAR career, would you have done anything differently?

I’m super happy with where I’m at now, but there were a couple years where I really beat myself up because those opportunities just don’t come around. I had a great opportunity to do good. I wish I would have just gotten to learn a little more in a stock car before getting thrown into Trucks and Xfinity.

I did two half-seasons in Xfinity. So basically I felt like the second half of what would have been my first full season, I started to kind of figure it out. I feel like if I could have gone and done one full season, it would have been a completely different story.

But looking back on it, now I’m actually just really happy where I’m at and I don’t actually miss it — at all. So I’m in a really happy place in my life and I think a lot of that would have been different if I had been successful in NASCAR. That’s just how life works, I guess.

I just wish I would have gotten more training, basically. I don’t have that Kyle Larson or maybe Chris Bell natural ability — I’ve always had to work harder at doing it. But I always feel like once I get something and work at it, I can run just as good as anybody.

7. Who is the best rapper alive?

Best rapper? Oh man. I’m really not into rap music very much. Me and Kyle Larson always listen to Afroman and he seems pretty good. But I’m sure he’s not the best rapper alive. (Laughs)

8. Who has the most punchable face in the World of Outlaws?

I mean, I like Donny Schatz, but damn he makes me mad sometimes. (Laughs) So Donny Schatz.

It seems like a lot of fans boo him because he wins so much — not because they dislike his personality. Is that right?

Yeah, he doesn’t have the Kyle Busch personality. He has somewhat of a nice personality. But he wins, you know? And everybody always cheers for the underdogs because they get tired of seeing certain people win. That’s half of why people don’t like Kyle Busch, and it’s the same with Donny Schatz — they just want someone else to win. That’s in any sport. They always don’t like the winning team; we always cheer the underdog.

Luckily, I’m kind of considered the underdog over here just because Donny Schatz has won so much. So I actually get a lot of people saying, “Please beat Donny, please beat Donny.” I get that night in and night out. “Anybody but Donny. Please.” We’re always trying, so it gives the fans a little extra to get excited about.

9. The World of Outlaws 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 crew chief, one to be your team owner and one to be your motorhome driver.

Man, that’s tough. I think LeBron James will probably be my crew chief. He seems to think about how things really work. He might not be the most mechanically inclined guy, but if we could explain it to him, I think he could really get it.

Taylor Swift, we’ll go ahead and make her the team owner. She seems like she’d be good at that.

And then we’ll have Tom Hanks be the bus driver because he’d be fun. He’d be a good guy to make jokes and probably have a couple drinks with.

10. What is the key to finding the best pre-race bathroom?

Luckily for us, we have our trucks and trailers a lot with us and we basically pit out of there. We don’t have to go out like in NASCAR onto the grid and do the whole deal. So we have a bathroom right here in our trailer that’s pretty much money in the bank.

But actually this week here at Knoxville, we don’t have the bathroom (because the trailers are parked outside the track). So I don’t know. I have a hard time with public restrooms, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. Here you just go to the closest one, because there’s really no special one. When I was in NASCAR, I remember there were always some special hidden gems along the way. I know you don’t want to get any bad ones. 

11. The World of Outlaws noticed the highlight reel value brought by Carl Edwards’ backflips when he was in NASCAR and wants a sprint car version. How much money would they have to offer for you to backflip off your car following your next win?

(Laughs) If I could do a backflip, I would probably do it for free because that’s cool. But they’d just have to pay for the training, and there’d be a lot of training because I don’t think I’m anywhere close to being able to do a backflip.

It would be hard to do it off the wing, too.

You’d almost have to do a double backflip because you’d be so high in the air. It’d be a lot more dangerous. Maybe off the front tire. You could maybe stand up there and do a backflip. That’d maybe be a little lower than where Carl did it off the door, but not that much lower. But you’d have to pay me a lot, because I feel like I’d hurt myself in a hurry for sure.

12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Garrett Smithley from the Xfinity Series. His question is: What was the first time you ever got into a 410 sprint car, what was that feeling like and how long did it take you to get up to speed?

That’s a good question. The first time I got in a 410 sprint car was 2005. (Editor’s note: World of Outlaws sprint cars have 410 cubic inch engines and are referred to as “410s.” Other series run 360ci engines and are called 360s.) I’d driven 360 sprint cars, so that was a good transition from go-karts. I remember the first time I got in a 410, I could not control it. I couldn’t believe the amount of power it had. It’s definitely taken years to be able to figure out how to control that type of power. It’s an unbelievable amount of horsepower for how light the race cars are. I remember just being blown away. And still to this day, it blows me away how fast and how much power we really have.

Do you have a question I can ask someone back in the NASCAR garage?

If they’ve never driven a dirt car, what dirt car would they choose to drive and what racetrack?

So like in terms of a sprint car or a modified or something like that?

Yeah, just see what their interest is. If they only grew up on pavement, do they have interest in driving on dirt? To some NASCAR guys, it seems like sprint cars are kind of voodoo — like, “Man, those are just dangerous.” So is it a dirt Late Model maybe? Or do they want to try it? I’d just like to see what their interest in dirt racing is.

This is the first 12 Questions interview with Brad Sweet.

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12 Questions with Ross Chastain (2018)

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The 12 Questions series of interviews continues this week with Ross Chastain, who races in both the Cup Series (driving the No. 15 car for Premium Motorsports) and the Xfinity Series (driving the No. 4 car for JD Motorsports).

1. How often do you have dreams about racing?

Not very often. I guess maybe once a week, maybe two times.

What happens in them?

Well most of my dreams are about farming, to be honest. And watermelons. The racing stuff is usually bad.They’re all nightmares — it’s losing races, reliving old races that I’ve lost. I don’t think I’ve ever dreamed about a race I’ve won.

2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize?

Yeah. I usually try to no matter what. They usually don’t like to hear it, and I’m the same way when I’m on the other side, so I think you have to just so you know in your mind that you did.

Usually, if it’s a complete freak deal and an accident, it’s OK. They might be mad at the moment, but as soon as they see the replay, they’re OK. But when you’ve been racing with the same guys for 20 races in a row, especially in Xfinity and you’re racing against the same guys week in and week out, usually it builds up to running into each other. And then you just don’t care on both sides.

What’s your method of apologizing?

I’ve done everything. I’ve called and (been) told to “lose their effing number.”

Somebody said that to you? “Lose my effing number?”

Yep. “Don’t ever call me again.” OK. Sorry I bumped you on that restart.

I’ve had a lot of issues obviously, so I’ve tried to work on all of that. I bring a lot of my friends with me, so I don’t necessarily go hang out with all the little cliques. They’re like high school groupies. It’s crazy. I mean, I’m sure you see it.

But yeah, I do try to apologize. I’ve never crashed anybody on purpose — I’ve bumped into them, I’ve pushed them out of the way, but never crashed anybody on purpose. I’ve seen guys do it; that’s pretty bold. So I don’t think I would ever do that.

3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you?

“Man, that was a good watermelon.” (Chastain used to be a watermelon farmer before racing.) No, I guess for racing…it’s “underrated” that might be the word. A lot of people will say, “You did such a great job last week.” But over the big picture, (it’s when) somebody just says, “You’re doing a lot with a little,” which I get that a lot. I can’t wait for the day we can say as this group that you’re doing the right amount with what you have because you have a lot now and you’re doing a lot. I don’t always want to be the little guy. But that’s what I get a lot, so I guess that’s good.

4. NASCAR comes to you and says they’re bringing a celebrity to the track and they want you to host them. Who is a celebrity you’d be excited to host?

I like Brock Osweiler.

Really? Brock Osweiler? That’s kind of random.

Yeah. I don’t know. I just follow him online and saw what he did with the Broncos there and took them a long ways and I feel like they brought Peyton (Manning) back for the playoffs and then they won the Super Bowl. Right, that year? But I was a big fan of how he was able to get them there while Peyton wasn’t in. I don’t know. I just follow him online. If I had to pick somebody that would be it.

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?

I mean, I would. I eat anything, so I could eat salads if I had to. I don’t think it’s a big deal. There’s ways around it. It wouldn’t be ideal. We have Red Limousin cows back home that I started with when I was little and we’ve got it up to about a hundred head and more of a hobby that’s turned into a job. But yeah, I can do that, I guess.

But No. 1 pit selection isn’t that great. There’s a lot of great pit stalls every week. I’ll do it. I mean, plus for the publicity of it. All the beef farmers wouldn’t be happy with me, but…

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. This is the 2016 fall Dover Xfinity race. Do you happen to remember that one at all?

Man, I remember all the other years at Dover. I started in ’15 with the 4 car and I don’t know. I would say we finished about 17th, probably qualified about there to 20th maybe, I don’t know.

No, this was a better day than that. You finished 12th. You started 11th. This was a race that Daniel Suarez won. You finished right behind Bubba Wallace and ahead of Regan Smith in this race.

OK.

No memory of it?

No, not really. We do a lot of promoting up there, and by the time the race comes around it’s like, “Finally, all the promotion is done.”

7. Who is the best rapper alive?

I don’t know.

I had a feeling you couldn’t give me a good answer.

I honestly, to be truthful with you, I don’t know. Who do you think?

I think Kendrick Lamar.

I don’t keep up with all that. I’m pretty isolated, I guess.

That’s why I have the question on here, because either people know it or it shows about their musical taste that they don’t know it.

I like country — I call it old country, like 90s.

You don’t like bro country?

No. And then Jay (Robinson), my Cup owner, he laughed at me about a week ago because something came on and I said, “Oh yeah, this is some good old country.” He goes, “Old country? This is the new stuff!” So that was funny. But no bro country. I’m pretty simple.

8. Who has the most punchable face in NASCAR?

Can I pass on this or not?

I feel like you’ve already punched some faces. Or been punched.

Yeah, yeah. Being that we’re able to stand each other now and we shook hands and we can pass each other and say “Hey,” I guess Jeremy Clements (who he fought with at Bristol in April 2017). To answer your question, that’s pretty punchable.

But you’re good now, you said?

Yeah, right after that, it was like nothing ever happened and he was great, so I’m going to be great. Because granted, I was the aggressor when it finally came to a face to face, but I felt like that was my stance, I had to do it. So yeah, he changed right then and we’ve been great.

Still not the way to handle stuff, but that’s obviously, unfortunately, firsthand experience in NASCAR, but I hope that it never happens with me again.

I am glad to talk to somebody who is actually punched as part of this question. At least we have somebody who has firsthand experience.

Literally, first-hand.

9. NASCAR 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 crew chief, one to be your spotter and one to be your motorhome driver.

I guess we can put LeBron up on the roof because I can always just turn that down and I don’t have to listen to him if I don’t want to, because we can turn our spotters down when we want to. Now my spotters, both of them, are going to give me a hard time for that. But that’s good. Got to keep them on their toes.

I guess Taylor could be the motorhome driver, I guess — if I had a (motor)coach. And then I guess Tom Hanks is on the box. I feel like he would be practical enough, he could choose between two and four tires. That’s a pretty easy deal there.

So you don’t have a motorhome now?

I have a trailer, one of those toy haulers, and I drive it to those close ones that are around.

You drive it yourself there?

Yup.

The rest of the time you’re in the hotel life?

Yeah, I flew up commercial (for the New Hampshire race) into Boston and drove up just to save the team a few dollars — because we can go on the charter planes and stuff but, gosh, that stuff adds up. So if it’s close enough, it’s cheaper to drive that thing.

And I enjoy it. I always grew up going in motorhomes and traveling all over. And there’s always something wrong with them, right? They’re always breaking and something’s always wrong. I enjoy tinkering with them and just kind of taking a day or two to get to the track is not a bad thing.

Do you ever run into fans in the hotel lobby for breakfast or something like that?

I see it more at KOA (campgrounds) and stuff, actually. I guess you talk more in the campgrounds, I feel like. Hotels are just in and out. But yeah, every now and then we’ll do meet-and-greets at the hotels and stuff since they’re working with us, sponsoring the race car. It’s usually where the teams try to stay, obviously, so doing a meet-and-greet and meeting a lot of people there though.

10. What is the key to finding the best pre-race bathroom?

I’m trying to get better at this, because I used to be so nervous — like I would wait until the last second after intros. I would never scope it out beforehand. I would just get off the truck or get off the intro stage and look.

Usually a lot of the PR people will have it picked out for their drivers. But Alex (Tauras, who handles the team’s public relations) is usually setting up our pit boxes — he’s got to get all the computers set up for all four teams. So I’ll look for just different people that I know personally who are PR reps and they’ll kind of point me in that direction.

But a couple of weeks ago I started to just go before intros and I’ve been fine. It’s only the difference in 15, 20 minutes. But it’s more for me it was a nerves thing. You always feel like you have to go the whole time. So you feel like if you go right at the end, at the last possible moment, then you’re safe. But yeah, I’m getting better. I’ve worked on it. I’ll just go before and get it out of the way.

That makes sense to me. No one had said that all year until Denny Hamlin said that recently, like he just goes before he goes to intros.

I don’t know. I’m nervous. I’m not going to lie, the whole lead-up to the race, out of my whole career, that’s when I’ve always been the most nervous — like national anthem, the prayer, standing out there.

Plus it’s like usually echoing and it’s hard to hear who’s on stage singing or the prayer, so you’re trying to listen and trying to figure out when they stop praying, when they start singing, and sometimes there’s a delay in TV. They’ll show you’ve got your head bowed for the national anthem. It’s like, no, I wasn’t trying to, I just can’t hear anything.

11. NASCAR decides they miss the highlight reel value brought by Carl Edwards’ backflips and want a replacement. How much money would they have to offer for you to backflip off your car following your next win?

You’d have to pay for like the rest of my life because I wouldn’t make it. No matter what, I’ve never done a backflip off of anything. It wouldn’t be possible, so I don’t think there’s a dollar value. I’d rather keep racing.

They’ve got other people who can do that, I guess. Have you found anybody that truthfully could do it?

Daniel Hemric apparently can do it standing up without even being off the top of his car.

Yeah, I’ve seen him do it off a Late Model roof, and that was impressive because they are flimsy. I think he did it with a checkered flag in each hand and they were waving as he did it. There’s probably a picture out there, I think.

12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week’s was with AJ Allmendinger. His question for you was: Could you beat Joey Chestnut in a watermelon-eating contest?

No, I could not. We actually just did one, we try to do one at Dover every year for our “Protect your melon” and “Use your melon” campaigns, and we had the national watermelon queen and the Florida watermelon queen and me and my brother, we all did it. And Queen Savannah, the national queen, she was done and I had just gotten the first layer off, a quarter wedge of watermelon. It was insane. So she kicked our butts, basically, is what I’m saying. So no, I could not beat probably anybody, I don’t think.

Maybe she could, though.

Yeah, I would sub her in for me, let her take my place.

I don’t know who the next interview is going to be with. Do you have a question I can ask another driver in the garage?

So I’ve asked this question and no one has ever done it for me. But if you felt like you were struggling in practice, would you let somebody get in your car to shake it down, to see what they thought it was better? Like I’ve asked, when I drove for Brad (Keselowski) in his Truck team, I asked Brad to get in the truck and he said, “No.” He wouldn’t do it. I said, “Oh, I just want you to get it and take it out one time.” So all along the years, I’ve asked other people — Landon (Cassill) was here, I wanted him to get in the 4 car. Nobody ever wanted to do it. So would you do it, and if you could, who would you pick?

Why don’t they do it?

I don’t know. I’ve gotten in other people’s.

People have asked you?

Yeah, I go get in trucks almost every weekend these days. I got in at Charlotte for Korbin Forrister and their 7 truck, and then I got out of that and the 49 truck, which is a Premium truck — I drive their Cup car, they saw me get out so they asked me to — so I went down and got in the 49 truck right after that. So I just get in, adapt to the seat a little bit, get the seatbelts where they fit, and go run three or four laps just to give my opinion on what the truck’s doing.