I started racing at 5. My grandparents owned a motorcycle shop in Southern California. My dad worked in the service department. He sponsored kids, took care of kids, was at the local racetrack helping kids. So I kind of grew up at the racetrack riding motorcycles at a very young age.
You know how when you start school you do the class picture? I would come off every summer and have a broken bone, a cast, be in a wheelchair, on crutches–something was wrong with me. I had a lot of broken bones as a young kid.
My dad was a heavy-equipment operator. My mom was a school-bus driver. So I grew up with a very simple background, a simple lifestyle. Getting started, I had to meet the right team owner, the right sponsor, to get my opportunity. I was just making ends meet. It was tough for me financially.
I remember living outside of Milwaukee racing in the ASA Series (1), and one of the crew members and myself split an apartment. I literally had those big Rubbermaid boxes, and that was my dresser. I had a mattress lying on the floor. Had a plastic table and two plastic chairs. We never cooked anything. We tied a PlayStation steering wheel to the table and put it in front of the TV so we could play racing games at night when we got back from eating dinner out.
I always have lists going. It’s the only way I sleep at night. Otherwise I’m worried I’m going to forget something, or I’ll remember it but not remember exactly how I wanted to do it.
I almost killed myself. I crashed out in the middle of nowhere in the Baja 1,000, 20-something hours, trying to drive straight through. The winner won the the event in 26 hours, so I still had three or four hours ahead of me. I crashed. Massive, massive crash, and sat there for a long, long time before someone got to me. I knocked my co-rider out. I thought I killed him. I watched the sunrise and looked at the vehicle and saw how destroyed it was and how close I came to losing my life and my co-rider’s. At that point I realized I was way too aggressive and pushing way too hard. I was out in the desert for two days, but before I had help, it was almost a day. I had a lot of time to sit and reflect.
I’m more patient.
I’m not trying to make myself sound braver than I am, but when you crash and get out and see that tangled mass and you walk away, you have the biggest smile on your face.
The crucial part of my career was when Stan and Randy Herzog of St. Joseph, Mo., decided to bring me in and start racing their off-road trucks. They’re the ones who helped me get from dirt racing to the asphalt.
My most notable ride would be with Hendrick Motorsports. That story goes along the lines of me working up the courage to talk to Jeff Gordon. I had some opportunities coming along for me, and I didn’t know what to do. They all involved me leaving Chevrolet. They had supported me and got me to where I was. I went to Jeff, looking for advice to get me through this situation, and to my surprise, he and Rick Hendrick were looking at me to come drive for them.
You couldn’t miss it. (2) It was everywhere. It was on “SportsCenter.” We harassed the hell out of him. We had to give him a hard time for making such a major mistake, and secondly because he wasn’t such a good singer.
I like staying active, and I like being outside–mountain-bike riding, wake-boarding, cycling, snowboarding, riding my dirt bike. I do a lot of dangerous things.
Winning the Daytona 500. (3) One–I’m doing lists again–Chad Knauss, my crew chief, was suspended. We had an infraction before the race, so he was suspended. Started dead last in the qualifying race. Finished good in that. Won the 500, overcoming all that goes into losing your head coach. That was a major confidence-booster for me and my team. Two, it’s the Daytona 500, and in our world, it’s the biggest race.
I look at Earnhardt (4), and it took him 20 years to win it, and he’s the man.
The championship. We’ve been so close the last three years and haven’t pulled it off. That’s the deal. I’d trade all this for a championship. That’s the goal I’ve set for myself. I’ve trained my whole life to be a champion.
(1) – American Speed Association.
(2) – Gordon’s embarrassing performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at Wrigley Field, which he referred to as “Wrigley Stadium.”
(3) – His greatest racing moment, accomplished in February.
(4) – Late racing legend Dale Earnhardt.
