Question: You're an overnight success that has been years in the making. What have you had to do to get to your current situation?

Roberto Moreno: What you need to see is if you go back in the past how a driver impresses in the early stages in their career. I believe I had a lot of success straight out of the box when I did Formula Fords in Europe winning the British championship, coming in 2nd in European, winning the World Cup Formula Ford championship in 81. After that, a driver needs to continue driving for good teams to show results. I had no money for a good team; it's as simple as that. I could not go to the best team in Formula 3 which was the next step then to drive competitively so unfortunately I found myself in the third year of my career without a drive.

Then I had to become a test drive for Formula 1 teams to earn money just to be in Europe. And because I was in Europe, a team that needed a driver halfway in the season hired me and I spent half a season in Formula 3. Formula 3 is where Formula 1 teams pick the right drivers to go to Formula 1 to the top teams. Doing a half season with a team that just lost its driver because of an accident or something, it wasn't the right thing to do. But it kept me racing. It was the only way I could have done. I couldn't have done it differently.

So I was a test driver and somebody needed me for some races so it kept me going but in the process, two years in Formula 3 I only did 2 half seasons. As a consequence, I did not impress any Formula 1 teams on the top level. So I had to make my entrance to Formula 1 through the back door, to the slow teams, to the teams with no budget. And then it snowballs because you don't have results. And you can't impress yourself until one day I was in the right spot and the right time, and then I had some ups and downs, I eventually won the 3000 championship when I had a good chance.

Every year that you look in my career, that I had a full-time drive with a good team, I came in the first three in the championship unless I had some mechanical problems. And I think you'll see in only a handful of the number of years that I had that opportunity. So it all comes to that. So I didn't get a chance again to impress, like I was almost finished in Formula 1 when suddenly (Alessandro) Nannini lost his arm in a helicopter crash and I happened to visit John Barnard, who is the technical director for Benetton, the morning before he lost his arm. And he called me and said, "Roberto, you're the only guy that called me before the accident. I want you to drive the car. I don't want any of those guys that are calling me after the accident." So I got lucky.

And then straightaway, I had driven I think 4 races, suddenly I got an opportunity to drive in Japan and Australia, my previous team decided to quit because they ran out of money and they couldn't go to those two races. The same day as I got this opportunity, they decided to quit racing, 2 different countries, the same thing was happening, the coincidence was so big. So, and then I got a drive without testing, we finished 1st and 2nd, Alex and me. It was the first 1st & 2nd for Benetton, however, and a great moment for me. So that put me on the road again. I got a full season.

But halfway in the season, they had to change the plans because of financial reasons which I can't talk about too much because of contractual reasons. And I find myself three-quarters of the season without a drive and having to fight again. So I took them to court and won the case but it started to dry out for me and I started losing motivation because of that. And I did some touring cars in Europe but I was getting frustrated with touring cars because touring cars, I knew so much. I tell myself technically at the time it was fifteen years I was involved and in touring cars I could not use all that because if somebody makes a better engine, you go faster.

So I say CART was very good to me in 1985 & 1986 and I liked it so much and I knew I was going to come back here one day. And I thought it was the right time to do it. So I made the move here and again throughout the back door. I found a small sponsor, I had to drive for a team with a limited budget, and we struggled through yet made relatively very impressive results with the money we had. And then things sort of, we went apart, but to my benefit, because I got the break with Newman Haas and then things started again. So I been just trying to get to the position I am really and I'm gonna work hard at this one because I'm so excited about it. I have so much energy to put into this that I will try my best this year and I think the team are all behind me on that.

Question: You've sort of become like the "super sub" this series.

Roberto Moreno: I think what a lot of people don't realize is I don't want to be a super sub. That's the first thing. The super sub has retired. That was last year. But what happened was whenever there was an opportunity I grabbed with my teeth because I want to succeed. I have some things to still do in my career that I haven't done. There's a big challenge in front of me that I've been chasing. And I've used opportunities of the breaks that I had to drive with the best of my ability. That's all I did, (what I know is driving) and working with teams and I had an opportunity to do that. So that's all I've done really. Nothing more than that. The teams gave me the capability of winning races. We haven't gotten there yet, but I think we're going to chase that very hard this year.

Question: Over the years I've seen you at a lot of races where you were not even racing, you were not even entered. Did you always try to keep your profile high?

Roberto Moreno: I never brought a helmet to a race with me. I never went to a race expecting somebody to get hurt. Something that really annoys me is people think that. I never took a helmet or shoes or whatever to a race just to be ready. I always wanted to be talking to teams for the following season. And that's why I always went to the races and discussed and talked because I wanted to find out the right opportunities for the future. Whenever I had the opportunity to drive at the last minute, we always had to ship my helmet and shoes wherever we were even when I substituted for Christian in Milwaukee. I was gonna drive with Michael's helmet and Christian's suit and then they got everything from Penske for me to drive there. I never went to a race thinking I'm a super sub or trying to expect somebody to get hurt for me to drive. Never ever.

Question: All that has brought you to where you are now with all that experience. Technically, is there a lot of work for you to do with this new team?

Roberto Moreno: There's always a lot of work because it's so competitive, this series. The experience I have is only because I've driven for different teams. The number of races I've done, the number of times I've driven the car are much less than many of the young drivers if you look carefully. So people think Roberto's experienced because he's been around, but I haven't been in the race car a lot. I'm seen a lot outside of a race car.

Question: Looking at it, how did Juan come in here and do what he did?

Roberto Moreno: He's a very, very talented young kid who has done a lot in Europe. He's one of the most competitive champions in Europe. That guy is extremely talented. And I'm sure you're still going to hear a lot from him in the future in Formula 1 over in Europe because as soon as his contract allows him to go back to Formula 1, he will have a full-time ride there and this kid's gonna make lots of money.

Question: Could you see that happening to you (again with) your next chance to go to Formula 1?

Roberto Moreno: Not at all. I have no dreams about Formula 1. Formula 1 is history for me because they're always looking for new young talent.

Question: Do you think in this series, can experience make up for aggressiveness? Like the way you were picking people off at Laguna last year?

Roberto Moreno: Yes. You see, in Europe, you drive to the limit, every lap to the end. That's how it is in Formula 3, Formula 3000, Formula 1 whatever, flat out. Over here you have pit stops with refuelings, changing tires. Other things come into account so you do not need to be flat out from the beginning. You do need to be aggressive so you get the respect from the other drivers when you're fighting them in (difficult) situations. But strategy counts a lot over here.

So, Laguna, to answer your question, yes other things count more than just being aggressive. But it's also important to be aggressive at the right time. Because, see Laguna for example, we just took it very easy at the beginning. I saved a lot of fuel, I could have done I think 2 or 3 more laps than was expected. On the process of doing that, I took advantage of people that were in the pits when the yellow came out. I pitted at the right time, I passed one guy. I pitted another time, I passed 3 guys in the pits, and on the last restart, I was aggressive, and gained two positions.

So it is very important especially in the longer races. You know, you talk about a 500 mile race, all that is, is you need to survive in the lead lap until the last stint. You just need to get a right car, save a good set of tires for that stint, make the right pit stop at the right time and off you go. Look at the last race that Adrian won. He didn't have the fastest car. But he had the best strategy in the paddock and they won the race.

Question: How about short ovals like Nazareth where you have less than a mile?

Roberto Moreno: That you need to go balls out all the time. That's a very, very important one. But you know even St. Louis, I started right at the back of the grid and we made a lot of gains to the front. Even though we had to do a lot of traveling between Indianapolis and St. Louis.

Question: How would you compare yourself from 15 years ago to right now as a driver?

Roberto Moreno: I cannot see myself 15 years ago. I cannot. I just see the future, no I just see the future. I feel like I felt 15 years ago, even more. Racing's my life. And the energy in me is always looking at what I can achieve, not what I have achieved. And, it's difficult to explain because I feel so young for the experience that I have.