How to ... sign autographs on the move

The most challenging thing is time. There are some instances where you have to be somewhere at a certain time, and you're running late. You feel bad that sometimes you have to say no. I try not to ever get myself in that position. We try to add in a little bit of extra time whenever I'm going to be walking or moving through the garage area so that people who want autographs get them.

Now, when they leave there and they take that autograph home and they look at it, they're not going to know who in the world just signed that autograph. That's where Richard Petty was so good. Every single one of his autographs is legible, and you know it's Richard Petty. When I'm walking through the garage area, it's a little bit more than a scribble, but it's putting the effort out to give them the autograph.

I can sign cars and cards and hats all day long walking, but it's when they want it on their shirt -- that's when things are the toughest. My P.R. rep, Jon Edwards, can usually help me keep moving. We try not to have people walk right in front of me because usually we step on their heels or they get trampled somewhere along the way. They start walking backward and run into somebody else, or they end up on the hood of somebody's car that's being pushed through the garage area.

There are times when you know they're a big fan and you can tell they're passionate about it, so you'll stop. These days people want a silver pen on a black coat or a blue pen on a certain type of program. And if they get specific, you usually know they're big fans.

I'll sign limited body parts. It's amazing. You'll get people who want their shoulder or their arm or something autographed because they're going to get it tattooed in. I think that's pretty cool. That's commitment.

You get in a position where somebody needs you to sign something that you have to stop for, and the crowd moves in. That's why I always try to keep moving, and it accomplishes both things. It accomplishes the autograph for them and gets you where you need to go.

• As told to Sporting News Wire Service