Q Nicky, you said on the podium that since you were a kid you'd dreamed about this race. Did you ever think, when you were a kid racing WERA races and coming up through the ranks, that you'd someday stand up here?

A Well, I mean, that was always my goal as a kid, growing up. The race, like, we used to come down here when we were kids, my parents used to bring us down here every year -- not every year, but a lot, and watch, and just -- This whole weekend has been going really good. The race went really smooth at the beginning. I was out there, and then the red flag - you know, I hate red flags in a big race like this. You're all pumped up ready to go, and then to have to stop was just no good. But after the red flag, I got out there - I got some bad starts today. Both times. I don't know - we hadn't had a lot of clutches this winter, and I didn't really practice any starts. But I'm going to have to practice starts a lot before the next race, tighter tracks. But I kind of just got on the end of that draft and just figured I would kind of wait, and you know, just let a few laps, you know, let the pace settle down, let some guys settle in. One time going into the chicane, Miguel kind of leaned on Anthony, and it looked like it fired Anthony up, so I kind of thought I don't want to get in the middle of this for a few laps. And then I finally got to the lead, and then going into turn one, I just -- I got in hot, and then when I went across the paint stripe I kind of lost the front just for a second, and I got off the brakes, and then when I got back on them I was in too hot. And I didn't want to - you know, I probably would've been okay, I could've probably just tipped it in, but I just kind of stood it up and ran a little bit wide, because I knew I had such a long race. And then when I caught up to them I just tried to be consistent. And once Kurtis went out, I just really had to concentrate. It gave me a lot of time to think about some stuff. And through the race, the laps just seemed like they weren't even ticking away. I mean, it took a long time. A few times I got a little distracted. I had a lapper run off into the dirt in front of me, and a lapper in the chicane got all sideways. I just tried to be smooth and not do anything in too big a hurry. And with like seven laps to go, a contact popped out. My eyes aren't too bad, but it kind of really made me have to concentrate at the end. I think I'm going to have to get my eyes fixed, because I never had problems until like right towards the end of last year, and through the winter, kind of sometimes losing them. Not really even coming out always, but sometimes they just feel like they want to come out, and I've gotta blink. So I think before the next race I'm going to get my eyes operated on. My brother did it like a year ago, and he loves it. So I think I might do that. Because it's a distraction sometimes. This weekend, it's kinda been a problem for me a few times, and I ain't got time for that. Just, I mean, our bikes were so fast today, the Hondas were just really fast. Obviously, you hate to win when Kurtis dropped out and Mat not racing, but it still feels really good. I'm just really lucky to be with such a good team. Not only are the bikes so good, but the team is just so first class. I mean everything. Everything they do is just, you look around down there, everything is just so organized and so perfect, that it makes it nice.

Q Did you know about Kurtis's tire problem, and if you did know about it, did it play on your mind at all once you found out about it?

A When I was behind Kurtis, I could see he was using his tire a lot. When -- we had our radios on, so when they came across and said Kurtis has a tire problem, I, it just made me think that I better save mine. Because even though I wasn't - you know, earlier in the race, like I said, when they were up there scrapping, I really just tried to be conservative for a while and really save my tire. This week I've put a lot of laps on tires. Our tire was a lot better this year than it had been the last. We have a little bit bigger tire, more of a like a World Superbike-spec tire, and it's -- we haven't had really any problems the whole week. So I was pretty confident, unless something -- I don't know what happened to his tire, if he was just kind of too hot or what. I knew he went out. And then I had that gap, and I just tried to be steady for what seemed like forever.

Q Nicky, when Kurtis came under you that time, going into turn one, was that as iffy as it looked?

A Yeah. That was real iffy. I was just -- I don't know. Two Hondas leading the race like that, I just didn't expect it. I mean, I guess I should've expected it. But I really - I went by him, and when he came in, I just heard his engine and I just stood it up. I don't really think we made any contact, but I was just -- I mean, you know, 200 miles, you know, it was just --. I think what happened is I set back and really saved my tire the whole way, and I seen Kurtis spinning his a bunch. The lap before was the first time I'd led through the infield. And I think I started to maybe get a little bit of a gap through the infield. And I think the big thing was he didn't want to let me lead through the infield, because he knew by then his tire was maybe off, a lot worse than mine, and he wanted to try to get back in the lead before the infield, so he could try to --because it was only like three [laps] to the pit stop, I think he wanted to - he was pretty desperate to get back in the lead and slow the pace back down through the infield. I just stood it up, because we had a long race, and I just didn't want to - you know, if it was different circumstances I would've maybe leaned on him a little bit. But being that we had such a long time, I figured just stand it up and give him a little room and try to make the pass stick another time.

Yeah, God, I forgot about that.