When I tell them I came from here, and, now, I'm a 14-time event winner, their eyes light up. To touch kids like that, it's huge. It means everything to me.

When I talk to them now, being a 14-time winner means a lot to them. They see I'm a success. If I come back as the world champion, the kids are going to love it. Their eyes are going to light up.

I never looked at it that way, that I would be the first black champion. It would just be cool to be the world champion. It would be cool for my whole team.

The deal came up to get into professional racing. Coach Carter wanted to train me, but I decided to race. He said, 'You're throwing your life away, your future.' I said, 'Coach, everyone has to take a chance in life.' Racing is what I always dreamed of doing.

Of course, this time of year, you get a warm day and you don't even have to open your eyes to know that spring's happening.

We had to regroup as a team. We knew that we played a lousy half in our eyes and we had to do something about that quick.