We need to capitalize on the tracks we're really, really good at. At Richmond and Martinsville, our performance and results have not been very good, even though I consider them to be among my two best racetracks.

The Showdown is a great way to bring attention to these historic Virginia tracks where many NASCAR drivers cut their teeth in stock car racing, including myself. Tracks like South Boston and Langley are the heart of the sport and draw a great crowd to our Showdown events.

I can spend the hour before the race cracking up with all my friends and joking around, but as soon as I get around that race car, I completely change. The focus changes. The competitive juices get flowing.

Definitely the road to the championship gets much easier when those type of guys are eliminated early.

It makes me very hard on myself when I don't achieve the goals I want to achieve. But I feel like that's what makes me as good as I am at times - I push myself to be better, constantly.

There's no other place I'd rather have it than here in Mexico. It's a race track that I was looking forward to going to from the time we were here last year. This track just fits my driving style perfectly.

It's an amazing confidence boost when you have that swagger of knowing when you pull on the racetrack, all eyes are on you because they know you're the best.