As told to Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive February 11, 2004
3:02 PM EST (2002 GMT)

There's a lot more to Nextel Cup Speedweeks than I ever could have imagined, as far as obligations away from the racetrack - and even at the racetrack when not in the car, for that matter.

I think when many people say "away from the racetrack," drivers anyway, they mean not in the racecar actually driving.

There are so many media obligations, sponsor obligations. Take (Feb. 9). Everybody had the day off, but we went up to GMAC in Jacksonville (Fla.) for an appearance.

We didn't leave until 1 p.m., so Chris Haid, my PR man, and I went and played golf just to try to get away from it all. That was really fun. But then it was off to an appearance for work. We drove there, so that took a chunk of time out of the day.

Even when we go out to dinner it's crazy. We had a team luncheon the other day, at Hooters, and I don't think I got five minutes of peace. There was always someone coming over wanting me to sign something or take a picture with them.

That's part of this job. That's really cool at first, but it gets old quick. I'll say this, though, I did get some good things to sign (at Hooters), too. Some of the Hooters girls wanted me to sign some things for them, so that was fun.

There are ups and downs to all of it. It's definitely not what I was expecting. It's not what you see on TV. There are so many really cool things about it -- being famous or whatever you want to call it -- but there's some down sides, too. The grass isn't always greener on the other side like most people think.

Most of us think it's all about racing cars growing up. But it's not. It's about way more than that -- the business side of things, media relations and sponsors. Those responsibilities take up much of our time. Racing's still there, as much if not more than it's ever been, but there's a lot more to it than just the racing aspect.

Fortunately for me, I have great structure here at Hendrick Motorsports. The obligations are a distraction for anybody, but it's much easier to manage with that structure.

I have a great PR guy in Chris Haid, a business manager and a lot of support from all the guys on the team, the crew chiefs and, of course, the other drivers. I've got great teammates in Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Terry Labonte, and they're also good friends of mine who help me a lot in managing those distractions and how to make the most of the free time to have.

Spend it with family, have fun and get away from all this stuff and how to best make it through the busy days with self-imploding. You think your teammates and other drivers are helping you on the racetrack, as far as what to do in certain situations and how to make the car faster, but they help me with things like media relations and business and scheduling and managing distractions and time, more than anything else.

This is probably the most intense couple of weeks in my life -- Speedweeks at Daytona. I love it. This is the Super Bowl for NASCAR. It's so neat to be here and I don't think I've wiped the smile off of my face the whole time -- except when Chris (Haid) told me we didn't have our day off. Naw, I'm excited to be here. You grow up watching this race and everything about it, and finally you're here.

The intensity is amazing, the attention on you and your team. It's not everything -- no matter what happens you're still going on to next week. But there's so much put on this one race, so much time and effort and money is spent on it. We're here so long. You go and go and go. There's so much media and sponsor stuff, and we practice and practice and practice.

The qualifying practices are kind of boring. You're just out there by yourself holding it wide open. Qualifying is when the excitement of everything really catches up with you. When I went for my lap, all I could think about was don't mess up, hit all your shift points, try to keep the car smooth and still and hold it wide open.

There's not really a whole lot to it, but all the stuff surrounding the Daytona 500 makes it seem like there's a lot more to it when you're sitting in that racecar. This week is really dragged out a lot. That's good and bad.

It gives you time to relax, but also gives you almost too much time to think about the race before it's actually time to get after it. I didn't realize this couple of weeks lasted as long as it does.

In the Busch (Series) deal, we were down here for Speedweeks but for a very short part of it. You don't realize how long it is, how drug out it is, the amount of press and cameras and coverage.

As the year went on last year I got used to interviews walking down pit road to qualifying for the race, all the way to the car with people taking pictures and asking for autographs and the cameras and stuff following you around. A few of them. But now, at the Cup level, they're just everywhere.

We're doing a reality show for Speedweeks, even. It goes from this week all the way through Rockingham, a two or three week thing, where they're following me, for the most part, 24/7. It's going to be on FX.

I'm having a lot of fun with it, and I think it'll really show the fans and non-fans what the racing world is about and what the drivers are like and what they're about in their personal life. It's been pretty crazy, but it's been fun. I wouldn't trade it for anything.