Let me ask you. If someone called you and offered you a ride in the Indianapolis 500 and you were a male race car driver, would you turn the ride down?

Let me ask you. If someone called you and offered you a ride in the Indianapolis 500 and you were a male race car driver, would you turn the ride down?

It is a matter of spirit, not strength. It is a matter of doing your best each little moment. There's never a break. You must have desire, a very intense desire to keep going.

There is very little in civilized life that demands everything you got intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Driving is living. It's aggressive instead of passive living.

You drive the car, you don't carry it.

I'm trying to set out the passion and complexity of this sport. Many people think it's a dumb activity: stand on the gas and turn left. In fact, it's probably one of the most complex sports in existence.

Racing is a passion...at this level, a source of immense gratification. So the rest is no problem.