Hello to autosport.com readers. This is the first of my columns, exclusive to this website, and here we are just a few days away from Champ Car's first round of the season in Long Beach.
First of all, though, my views on the series. Some people have questioned my commitment to Champ Cars because I've been driving NASCARs and Grand Am cars. Well, my target this year is the Champ Car title: it is - and has been for the last 15 years - my priority.
However, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I haven't considered my long-term future, or pretend that everything's rosy in the world of North American single-seaters. It isn't, so for the record here are my feelings.
I think the growth of the Champ Car World Series is good. They've added some good events. Edmonton is a huge success, I think bringing Houston back (on a different course from before) is a real positive too. There's a big Hispanic element to the crowd, which always made it a great event in the past. So in terms of the growth and direction of the series, everything has gone in the right way.