Matt Yocum's Mailbag

Q: I have read in past articles that you and Steve Park used to ride Harleys together quite a bit. Do you get to do that much now that Steve isn't racing? And will you be participating in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride this year?
-- Jennifer

Yocum: Jen, we don't ride together quite as much as we use to simply due to hectic schedules (to be honest, I haven't gone on any long rides in almost a year and a half and I plan on changing that this year ... hopefully). Steve did ride up to Bristol in March. I almost jumped on that trip, but I couldn't quite make it work out due to work. However, Steven, Jessica and I meet up for dinner a lot more than we ride. It's usually at their favorite sushi place or mine. That gives me an idea; I need to get him working on another ride.

• Send Matt your questions

Funny Steve Park story. In '98, I was going to drive to Florida to pick up my new motorcycle. He asked me if he could come along since he was just laying around the house with a broken leg from the Atlanta crash. We were going to stay a couple days, catch some sun, basically just chill then drive back to North Carolina with the bike.

When we got down to Daytona it wasn't quite ready. So we grabbed lunch. Then after we loaded the bike up, Steven and I were like, "well if we leave now we could be home by midnight or stay the night and go home tomorrow." Well, in typical Matt and Steve fashion we decided to head home. I drove to South Carolina, and then he took over with broken leg and all, driving for another hour and a half, before I drove the final leg. We did the entire trip in one day his broken leg and all.

On your second question, I'd love to be able to jump on this year's KP charity ride, but I already have a couple other obligations that week. It's going to be a great ride from Maine to Florida. Remember you can find out more about the ride or Victory Junction at www.victoryjunction.org.

Q: After your pit assignments with both FOX and TNT this year what are your plans for the rest of the race season?
-- Tom from Illinois

Yocum: I still have a full plate concerning my TV work in 2007, but with a little different flavor than in years past. After working my seventh straight year with the NASCAR on FOX team, plus a very familiar TNT bunch, I will take off a handful of weekends while working for the DirecTV HotPass folks. Plus, you throw in my Sirius satellite radio show with Tony Stewart, and my NASCAR.COM responsibilities, it's still a busy year.

I've tried to find a little better balance for 2007, working in a few more fun trips and taking a couple weekends off. Darlington marked my 327th straight NASCAR Cup race that I've worked in some type of capacity on TV.

This year, I plan to take my traditional iron ore freighter ride on the Great Lakes (this will be the fifth year), I've included a couple pictures from last year's ride with Capt. Eric Treece and the crew of the S.S. Edward L. Ryerson (730-foot-long ore boat).

I've told my friends Darrell and Ann Stadler who own Island Ventures (islandventure.com), to expect me in Key Largo to do some diving with them in August.

Plus, I'm trying to talk Dick Berggren into going to the The Classic at Oswego on Labor Day weekend for a traditional short-track supermodified event.

Q: If you weren't a reporter for NASCAR, what would you be doing now?
-- Sandie Longs from Texas

Yocum: That's a really good question, Sandie.

At Florida State (two-time college football champions by the way), I majored in political science and communications. So maybe something in politics? Rep. Matt Yocum (R) from the 7th district in Florida? Rep. John Mica won't be around forever. So you never know.

However, I'd say my heart and passion would gravitate toward racing documentaries about the history of the sport. That's where my real passion for racing comes through, the old school stuff from the '60s and '70s. It doesn't matter if it's NASCAR, USAC open wheel or short-track racing, if it's from that magical era then I absolutely love it. Maybe Winston Kelly can find a spot for me at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Matt Yocum rode the S.S. Edward L. Ryerson last year.

Q: Which driver is the most fun or interesting to interview during a rain delay when you're trying to fill some time on the air?
-- Ronda

Yocum: Ronda, the one thing you may have noticed about our rain delay coverage through the years, you just never know what is going to happen next. That's the same for me.

In 2001, rain delay coverage on TV took on more than a whole new angle, it changed the way TV networks would stay at the track versus going to last year's race. Texas was a perfect example, when we really started the whole visiting motorcoaches scenario with Kevin Harvick. KH and I just rolled with it, including rolling DW's motorcoach. (I've learned on both sides of the equation, NEVER EVER leave your motorhome unlocked ... it only means bad things).

The great things about this sport are the personalities. Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman have David Lettermen-type personalities, so they can be extremely funny. Bobby Labonte is in that category, too. The key is to set them up in a way with the right questions for that to come out. A shocker for some folks, but those are three of the funniest guys in the garage.

Harvick and Tony Stewart interviews are always an unknown because you don't know which road they'll be going down, so you just hang on. They love to poke fun at each other and you have to raise your game to be involved in those interviews. They are quick witted and that's how they roll.

To me, the best part of a rain delay is when you can pull out a story that you've been hanging on to due to time, and now you have the time to go in depth. A couple of years ago at Atlanta, I had a long interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr., a part of it was his grilling on a George Foreman grill since George had so many kids, so he bought one to help out George. And his workout program of boxing. He bought a regulation ring off eBay with all the necessities. It also brought into the conversation his relationship with Tony Eury Jr. As kids, they had one pair of boxing gloves, Junior got the left, Tony Jr. got the right. And we found out that Dale Jr. was a bleeder.

I would say the guy who can talk about any topic in a colorful way is Jeff Burton.