From the penthouse with Chevrolet's Ed Peper

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ed Peper is sitting on top of the world.

As general manager of Chevrolet, Peper is presiding over a first-class rout of NASCAR's top division. Chevrolets, both the Monte Carlo SS and its COT counterpart Impala SS, have captured 16 of 20 races so far this season. Chevrolet drivers occupy 10 of the 12 spots in the Chase, if it were to start today.

Car of Tomorrow

2007 Winners

Track	Winner	Make
Bristol	Ky. Busch	Chevy
Martinsville	J. Johnson	Chevy
Phoenix	J. Gordon	Chevy
Richmond	J. Johnson	Chevy
Darlington	J. Gordon	Chevy
Dover	M. Truex Jr.	Chevy
Sonoma	J. Montoya	Dodge
New Hampshire	D. Hamlin	Chevy

• Complete 2007: click here

The opposition? Ford has won three races and has two in the Chase as we speak, and Dodge has won once and has no drivers in the top 12. Toyota hasn't sniffed Victory Lane yet, and likely won't the rest of the season.

Peper, fresh off another Allstate 400 at the Brickyard triumph on Sunday, sat down to talk about the season, his teams and the business of NASCAR.

Q: Chevrolet has had a phenomenal year, as it always seems. What is the primary reason for that?

Peper: First of all, it's no secret that we have the best teams and the best drivers. When you have talent like we have out on the track, just really, really great racers ... We've got very good technology, as well. Our racing team, both from the technical side and certainly the marketing side, has done a very good job of pulling this thing together. All of those ingredients help to add to a winning solution for us.

Mostly, it's the drivers who go out there and get it done every week. They're the ones making it happen.

Q: But they have to have a piece to drive, and you provide that piece.

Peper: We do. I really think the technical side of the house, Mark Kent and the GM Racing team, countless other people that I'd like to mention, really have helped to provide these solutions for us. It's working very, very well, especially on the Car of Tomorrow.

Q: Speaking of the COT, you are jumping off the Monte Carlo platform and onto the Impala platform. That's got to be a big thing for Chevrolet.

Peper: We're really excited with the Impala racecar. We've won seven out of eight COT races and we often talk about winning on Sunday and selling on Monday. The rub off on our top-selling mid-size car is that sales for Impala this year are up 24 percent. It's a very nice association for us from a marketing standpoint to really get a lot of sales for the exposure we're getting.

That's exactly why we're in the sport. (Continued)