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.

Q: Your competitors on the track are the same competitors you go to market against on a daily basis. They haven't gotten the winning strategy or ability that Chevrolet has, is that fair to say?

Peper: I think it's fair to say. Over the years, Ford has been a very big competitor for us in the sport and Dodge has had their moments, as well. Toyota, I think, is finding that in NASCAR, it's a little tougher than they thought to break into this deal when we have the kind of drivers and the quality of program that we've had for a long time. This didn't happen overnight. We have more than 600 Nextel Cup victories; there have been a lot of people who have worked on this for a lot of years to make it the program it is right now.

It's challenging every day in the marketplace, it's challenging on the track, and we're just trying to win in both places.

NASCAR's finest

Jimmie Johnson helped Chevrolet claim its 26th Manufacturers' Championship in 2006. Johnson is the 24th driver to win a points title in a Chevy.

• Past Champions, click here
• 2007 Manufacturer Standings
• 2007 Driver Standings

Q: In terms of the COT, there was a lot of talk about the branding pieces on those cars. How much input did Chevrolet have on those, and is it something you're happy with?

Peper: We had a lot of input on it, because we're trying to make it look as much like an Impala SS that the consumer could buy in the showroom. We really haven't had any problems. A lot of people complained that maybe the identification wasn't they wanted it to be on their racecars, but we like its looks, we like the fact that it's getting across the finish line first in seven of the eight races, and as I said, the rub off with Impala being such a strong name for Chevrolet, it's been really good in the marketplace, too.

Q: General Motors as a whole seems to be very eager to get involved with the Chevy Racing programs.

Peper: There's no doubt. We have so many racing fans that we work with every day in Detroit. They are very proud of the Chevy brand, the heritage and the success that we've had. There are a lot of people for whom it's really a love for them. We are getting a lot of help from a lot of folks who love the sport.

Q: At Indy, what does it do to help your brands?

Peper: Our sponsorship of the Brickyard is magnificent. This is our 14th straight year of pacing the race. We have also been the pace car many times for the Indianapolis 500, and when you can pace the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and also one of the greatest NASCAR races, it is really great for our brand. We take a lot of pride in it. The vehicle we [had] as the pace car for this year [had] a very interesting red, white and blue paint scheme, and it's intentional. We're proud to be part of America, building vehicles for Americans, and it's a big deal for us.

Q: You have Hendrick, Gibbs, DEI, Childress ... good news on the team front, and that didn't happen by accident. They went with the best piece. Do you agree with that?

Peper: Yes, and we have had some great loyalty from those teams. They like Chevrolet and what the brand stands for. You have to keep in mind, many of these drivers, we started with Jimmie Johnson when he was a very young man, and now he's become a champion and he's never forgotten that. Tony Stewart, what he has done in the sport and how he has evolved over the years and how he has become such a great personality in the sport. He's very loyal to Chevrolet; Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, it's nice to see the loyalty these guys have for the brand, as well.

Q: Business-wise, what does your involvement do for the bottom line?

Peper: Our NASCAR sponsorship is the single-best promotion we do at Chevrolet. We measure every single promotion and we have some great ones like Major League Baseball. In NASCAR, we take a look at the folks who are NASCAR fans and their propensity to buy our products, it's higher than almost any other thing that we do. The index is just that much higher. They buy Silverados and Impalas and Cobalts ... a lot of the NASCAR fans are just great Chevy owners.

For us to be in the situation that we're in, the position that we're in, the ability to promote to these folks on a weekly basis ... it's the single best promotion that we do, I think at General Motors, certainly at Chevrolet."