by DAVE KALLMANN, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A. Salt and vinegar chips.

Q. Coke or Pepsi?

A. Coke, and not just because they're a team sponsor.

Q. Favorite American sport?

A. Football.

Q. So, Colts or Panthers?

A. Definitely Colts.

Q. Oh, oh. So your house might get egged.

A. Although everyone seems to be a transplant down in North Carolina.

Q. Your fianc?e (ESPN'S Nicole Manske) gets paid to pay attention to NASCAR . Would we have to pay you to care about NASCAR ?

A. I do pay attention to it, I think just because with Penske Racing having everything under one roof it's like we're just one big team. I see the NASCAR drivers all the time. Justin Allgaier and Kurt Busch and (Sam) Hornish, obviously. (David) Stremme. I might not sit down for the entire 17 hours of a race, but I will definitely pay attention to it.

Q. You've had a lot of international travel very early on; what's the neatest experience or coolest place you've been?

A. One of the cool things I've picked up because of international travel is learning a second language. Italian is such a dominant language in motor racing, maybe not in this country but across the world. And I think it helped me move forward in my career, with getting picked up by Toyota (as a Formula One test driver) because the team manager was half Italian.

Q. When you're somewhere do you get a chance to look around, or are you confined by the racetrack?

A. I never did so much in the earlier days. These days when we have a race in a city I usually try to get out and experience a nice restaurant or something, go downtown.

Q. The Fonz statue?

A. Right.

Dave Kallmann

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