Zoomster.com brings you words from NASCAR drivers, crew chiefs and owners via all means of access, in person, on the Internet and by phone. This section focuses on NASCAR NEXTEL teleconference moments with many favorite drivers.

Debbie Speicher, Interviewer

When not working Debbie likes to manicure her home garden and decorate her house and deck, but here on Zoomster she just grooms our Zoomster questions for top-notch drivers, crew chiefs and owners.

Other Interviewers:

Gary Larsen, Webmaster
Sometimes this busy tech-guy breaks away from his keyboard and gets on the phone.

Dwight Drum, Editor
The question-maker and interviewer too.

Debbie Speicher asked Jimmie Johnson:

“Being in the racing environment is really the best practice for it. But training is something really good mentally. Playing other sports and doing other things definitely helps. Golf seems to challenge everyone mentally. There are somethings that can help, but being in the race car is the best training for it.”

Dwight asked Jimmie a fan question from Dave Fish, Buffalo, N.Y.

“I think it being mandated was one of the best moves ever for a sanction body. It’s amazing after you crash and you have the impacts that we do; now you don’t have a sore neck. In the Hans device works in that area and we are having major, major impacts and walking away not being knocked out. Not even being sore and that says a lot about the Hans device. And the Hans device is one important part with the seat and everything else that goes along with it. The Hans and the seat - the way those two work together really, really improved safety in our sport.”

Jimmie Johnson, Driver No.48 Lowe's Chevrolet

Hendrick Motorsports

When things go wrong during a race, do you have a routine to overcome adversity?

“Depending on what took place, I’ve just learned over the years to be patient. You just get to work and just deal with the penalty or the mistake or whatever it may be. Getting upset over it and not staying focused is the worst thing you can do. You’ve just got to buckle down and look at how many laps are left in the race and try to find a way to rotate to the front from there. You can’t worry about it until the race is over. On the ride home you can go back through it. If you take the time to worry about it then, it will affect the team’s performance and the driver’s performance.”

“I replay the entire race pretty much. I fill out a report after the race and really try to keep track of what went on and how the track changed with my line and stuff. There are moments that definitely stick out in any race whether you win or don’t win. I can pull back usually the majority of the race. My mind lets me do that and I think I learn lessons from that.”

"It's the Hendrick way. We're all a part of a big system that we believe in. It's just naturally forms of what you see today. There are different bumps in the road, different times when you may be over the top of something and walk on it, but all and all when you work at Hendrick Motorsports you fall under that complex everyday. There's just a certain way that everyone approaches the job at hand. I think it's unique to Hendrick Motorsports."

Jimmie Johnson: "Thanks and its awesome!"

JAMIE McMURRAY Driver No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger

Do you have a strategy to bring out the best in yourself or do you just race?

“I guess the strategy is to race people like you’d want to be raced. It’s tough for me to say. I think everyone has their own characteristics of the way they race. It’s not something I necessarily think about. It just happens. Fortunately I’ve had guys over the years say they appreciate it, that I race when I need to and if I don’t have a car capable of running well that I don’t push the issue. I guess that’s just the way I am, but I don’t consciously think about it.”

“I like to be alone before the race and hang out in my motor home. In the last couple of years I’ve learned that what you eat before a race, I don’t know that it necessarily helps you drive but there’s nothing worse than getting to the car and feeling tired or fatigued or hungry. It takes a lot of energy for four and a half hours at Darlington, so I’ve kinda got a routine of what I need and try to eat right and try to eat all the right stuff just to make sure I don’t get tired or fatigued throughout the race.”

What do you miss the most when you’re not at the track?

“That’s probably the reason I wanted to run Mexico, and I’m also going to run Nashville in Rusty’s Busch car. When the season gets started you don’t want a break that early on. You’ve already had a couple of months off and I like getting into a routine. When you have a weekend off, sometimes you need it just to rest, but as early as it is in the season right now you want to stay in a routine and keep racing. For me, I guess it’s just the routine I miss.”

Matt Kenseth

Driver No. 17 DeWalt Ford Taurus

Roush Racing

"You didn't know you would be down racing in Nextel Cup or Busch Series much less win a championship and win some races. I've been very fortunate. I've been with some great teams and had a lot of great people help me throughout my career. From where we started in Wisconsin and what we were doing. I never thought I would get to this point."

Casey Mears

Driver, No. 41 Target Dodge

“Obviously a lot of good times. My dad and my uncle both raced. I was fortunate to grow up in a racing family and get to be there first-hand for everything they did and all their successes and also some struggles they went through. I think growing up in a family like that it gives you first-hand experience of how the business works. One of the biggest things I remember is cheering my dad on in some of the Mickey Thompson off-road races and watching Rick win that last Indy 500 where he passed Michael on the outside. I learned a lot of things growing up in a racing family like that.”

Bobby Labonte

Driver, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet

“I don’t know how to answer that. I just try to help out when I can. I’m probably not the best teacher in the world, I guess. But he needs to ask me something, I tell him. But I don’t tell him how to handle things. I think he can figure things out on his own. But I always keep my eye on him. I’m not going to tell him what springs to put in the car because he’s driving it, not me. But at the same time, I might tell him how the groove is in the middle of the race track. We have go-karts and we get to race against each other so we get to practice that way.”

Steve Park
Driver, No. 62 Orleans Dodge Truck

“Without surrounding yourself with good people you can't achieve these goals."

"Really my dad. I grew up on Long Island and there are not a lot of people from Long Island that really reach the level of NASCAR Nextel Cup. I grew up racing go-carts when I was 10 years old, graduated to cars when I was 15 all because of my dad. My dad was my hero, growing up as a kid you can just imagine going to school with your dad being a race car driver. You were the most popular kid in the school. All the kids knew your dad raced cars. How cool was that? I just had the opportunity to do it myself and then go to work for guys like Dale Earnhardt was a long time dream for me. It's just been a success story from the time I started in go-carts until we won the Craftsman Truck race. I'm just thankful for the opportunities I've had along the way, the people that I've had a chance to meet and the race fans I've had a chance to meet. Without surrounding yourself with good people you can't achieve these goals."

Brendan Gaughan
Driver, N0. 77 Jasper Engines & Transmission truck:

"One. The city for myself personally is just family history. Like Steve Park said I grew up with my hero being my dad and my grandfather. My grandfather has been in Las Vegas since 1948. Las Vegas is one of those towns that people on the outside look at it and only see it as Casinos and gambling. What you miss is this is a great town for families, great for children. It can be as big as you want or as small. This town now has a big city feel, which I am not all that fond of or it has the small town feel which is more me. I have seven friends. I spend all my time with, and then I have 30 friends at my race shop and that's all I do is spend time with those close friends. It becomes a very small town to me."

“As far as the racetrack: This was the first of those that we now call the cookie cutter track. Las Vegas was the first mile and a half that has the 14 to 18 degree banking and it's the only one that hasn't had to be re-built twice, because it was built incorrectly or anything. It's a fantastic place. We get 120,000 plus people in the grandstands. Of all the things that Las Vegas does during the year, conventions or whatever, the biggest is the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race. That is the biggest event in Las Vegas every year. The track has a very big distinction of all the things Las Vegas can do. The racetrack and the Nextel Cup Race is the biggest.

Robby Gordon, Driver No. 7 Harrah’s Chevrolet

What would you like your fans to know about your role as owner/driver?

“The biggest thing is that we do have the people in the right positions. As a new race team, we’re just trying to get our systems in place. I have a good team manager. We have a good crew chief. It’s just a lot of work to build cars and get competitive right out of the box. We started with a brand new fleet of race cars, where a lot of teams have cars leftover from the year before that maybe they re-body or they change a couple parts of pieces on them. For our team, we have a new car every weekend. We’ve built two brand new speedway cars, a new road race Busch car, and now three intermediate cars. And, we’re in the middle of building a brand new NEXTEL Cup road racing car. The guys back at the shop are doing an excellent job. The cars are very nice, they’re light, and the weight is to the left. We’ve just been working hard and we’re not going to give up until we’re successful.”