Humpy Wheeler Quotations

Since the price of gas is on everyone's mind, let's compare how the price of gas and the prize money for he UAW-GM have changed since the first race in 1960,

On the other hand, it let Tony Stewart move into new prominence and establish his name. He has probably picked up more popularity this year than any driver that we've had in a long time. He's at the point right now where he's knocking on the door that had been reserved for Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon. I've followed Stewart since he was 18 years old, through his success at Indy, and he has a lot of appeal to women.

We are going to remold the track to take some of the meanness out of it.

I think the biggie is still to come, ... That's the heating bill. In December, people will get fuel bills for November. That will hit race fans harder in January and February. We've got to be prepared for that.

Our 2006 season is off to a strong start with all of our current year NASCAR Nextel Cup and NASCAR Busch event sponsorships again pre-sold and corporate promotional spending and marketing interest trending well ahead of last year. The new highs in broadcast television and cable ratings for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series season clearly show that spectator interest and corporate marketing appeal continues to grow.

I think race fans know those two can still win races,

You look at common sense you have to say it's coming to Charlotte, but until I hear it, my fingers are still crossed.

You're talking about two guys who sell almost 70 percent of the souvenirs in the sport. To have them out of the picture was a real downer. Things like that happen once in a while, but when NASCAR started talking about the Chase, I don't think any of us ever thought the two most popular guys weren't going to make it.

It was a tough night for everybody. Nobody liked it, I certainly didn't. But we'll get back to normal next time.

That kind of stuff was common back in the old days -- everybody was fighting back then, especially the women. But there wasn't the TV coverage we have today, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

It takes a lot of energy to keep (the all-star race) here. It's so important for the (following week's) Coca-Cola 600 to have it here, and it helps build momentum.

I'm not saying there won't be caution flags. But many of them will be based on the intensity of the racing right now and will not be a result of the track surface.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the track. I think there's just an unfortunate set of circumstances that begot this. You can't hang it on Goodyear. I think there's probably been some experimenting down on the pit road.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the track,

I don't think the track will be in the form it currently is the next time we race here (in May). I'm satisfied with what we have for Saturday night, but we'll make some changes before the teams come back next year.

This is a great bike and a great cause, ... I'm proud to be the first bidder and get this auction started. Hopefully I can get other race fans excited about the custom chopper and raise funding for the important relief efforts being provided by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

And it's been Grand Central Station for NASCAR ever since.