It was such a dramatic escalator that I was on. It was at 90 degrees. I was going straight up like a rocket ship into space. And I was thrown in with the sharks. They said sink or swim in this Cup deal.

My father instilled in me a love for racing.

James Finch has always had pretty stout cars for the restrictor-plate races and I know we'll be very competitive at Daytona.

There are going to be little victories that we claim, even if it's finishing 15th and putting the car back in hauler without a scratch on it.

Is my strike zone bigger than others? Yeah. It might be bigger than others, but I don't have a problem with it.

I am grateful to Penske Racing for six very productive years. Together we won a lot of races - 16 in all. I'm proud that we won on a variety of tracks.

I also appreciate the lasting friendships I've made while working with our great sponsors through the years, including Miller Lite, Shell and Dodge.