Paul McMahan

Do champions have common traits and abilities and if so could you identify a few?
"Champions. They all got certain traits. They're determined. Some of them are just persistent. They just keep working and working at it until they become a champion. They got the drive to do it. There's a whole lot and we could go down the list but those are the three major ones I can think of right now."

Not everybody can driver a race car. Do you know what you have that enables you to do this?
"I don't know if there's anything that makes me better than anybody else. I'm a guy out here doing what I love to do. This is what I've always set my goals. When I was a little kid this is what I wanted to do. It's just the perseverance coming out of me. It says I'm going to go out and do the best I can and become a champion one day. I haven't got there yet, but the equipment and everything I need right here at Tony Stewart Racing and I believe we can do it in the next few years."

Do drivers ever stop learning?
"No. If you stop learning, you might as well quit. If you think you know everything, you're done. Every day I climb out of a race car, I learn something."

Can you think of anything else that fans might not understand about your job?
"I don't really know. The fans are the fans. They come to watch. Our job is to put on a show for them. It's not as easy as it looks. I'll say that."

Tracy Hines

Not everybody can do what you do. Can you explain what you have that gives you the ability to drive one of these race cars?
"You know I don't know. I'm sure a lot of it is a little bit of raw talent and for me I've always worked on setting the race cars up. When I started winning races back in 95, 96 people said why did you get so much better at driving? I didn't. I just got better at setting the car up. To me I've always been a thinking style of driver. I think about things. Even on the racetrack I don't just react. I think about them. I do it. Eventually it will pay off, especially in longer races. That seems to be my forte. Just be versatile and not stuck in one thing. I've never been known as a pavement, dirt, big track, short track. I've always just been known as an open-wheel driver. For me it's made it easier to switch back and forth to different cars."

Some stock car fans don't know much about sprint cars. Could you explain the difference?
"If they've never raced anything it's too hard to explain anything. I can tell you the difference between a stock car and a sprint car. A sprint car reacts quicker. They're lighter. The horsepower and the weight ratio are way different. A stock car or a truck they don't seem to turn as well. They're a lot heavier. Momentum carries into the corners so obviously if they are heavier they aren't going to stop as good. It's probably reaction time more than anything. How to get the speed out of a stock car, how to get the small two hundredths out of the track. With a sprint car you can kind of carry it for a couple laps. You don't have as many laps to compete so it's a little easier to get it done."

Do champions have common traits and abilities and if so could you identify a few?
"I don't know. I would say any good racer has common traits and abilities. A championship back in the days when Blaney and Schrader ran USAC, they didn't run every race to win a championship. Sometimes championships to me are a little bit higher rated than they should be. Back in the 60's and 70's even the early 80's you had more gypsy racers where they raced for the money. So championships never followed but a lot of race wins did. I think just the drive, just the tenacity, just never taking good enough as an answer is probably the common trait that I can think of."

If you could put a fan in a sprint car or stock car, what would you explain to them that they didn't expect?
"I would think in the sprint car especially just the acceleration. Just how quick you're thinking about something. In a quarter mile track you're running in excess of 110 mph down the straightaway. So obviously your reaction time things are eclipsing so fast by you around you, your judgment has to be super, super quick. You almost have to think about it and do it before you've actually done it, if that makes sense. You have to pay so much attention. You see some of the younger kids that don't pay that much attention. They're extremely fast and have a lot of talent but they get in a lot of crashes. That's why, they're not thinking about it. They do it and then react. You're supposed to react and then do it."

Levi Jones

Some people don't know much about sprint cars. Could you explain it?
"Sprint car racing is grassroots racing, a lot of family-oriented type racing. Now it's big time corporate sponsors in our deal, but it's still exciting grassroots racing. That's the biggest benefit. It's not an all day event, but it's neat racing."

You work for a famous guy in Tony Stewart Racing. What's that opportunity like for you?
"It's a great opportunity in everything. It makes us able to come to race in Florida in January and run for the USAC championship all year long with everything you need to race. Racing for Tony also gives you the experience dealing with sponsors and things like that to prepare you for the future with that sort of stuff."

Do you have aspirations to move on?
"When I started my family wasn't into racing that much. I just fell in love with sprint car racing as a kid and that's all I ever really wanted to do. I held no goal of being a NASCAR driver. No one ever pushed me. You got to make it to NASCAR. Right now is making it big for me. I'm racing sprint cars and midgets for a living and enjoying it. I can't even explain it. If I get the opportunity to race against my boss on Sunday, some day I'd like to try it."

You're 24 and how long have you been racing?
"I've been racing for a while, go-karts since I was six."

Do champions have common traits and abilities and if so could you identify a few?
"Oh definitely. They hate to lose and just have a killer instinct. I think one common trait in a champion would be, I think AJ Foyt said it, 'The will to prepare to win has to be greater than will to win.' That's something that I try to think of. You have to do whatever it takes to get ready to win not just what it takes to win."

Can you compare this challenge to future challenges you might have?
"I think challenges are what keep everybody driving, whether it's racing or in business or whatever they are doing. You always want to attack new challenges when you accomplish one. I really don't know what the challenges will be so I hope I get the chance to see if I can tackle them."