In a Nut Shell . . .

Daytona and California

First of all I want to apologize for not getting these done on a “timely” manner.  Things have been real busy even though we haven’t raced in three weeks.

Of course heading into Daytona there is always a lot of hype with it being the first race of the season.  It’s always cool to get down there and see who is where and what all the new looks are – us included this year. 

We had a decent winter and got a lot done without having too work completely around the clock.  Everyone always says, “I bet you are glad to be in the ‘off season’ and not have to work so much.”  Actually we work harder in the “off season” getting things changed around and ready for the next season.  The major difference is we are not traveling as much.

Daytona is always a long week.  We left on Monday for a race on Friday.  Plans were to have me come off the road this year, but so far that hasn’t panned out.  I’m still hoping – Chase starts t-ball in April and I want to be able to see some of his games.

We ran pretty well at Daytona and none of us came home complaining.  We had some lightening fast pit stops and communications were good.  A top-10 finish was a good way to get things rolling for the 2006 season.

We weren’t home for too long before we had to turn around and head out West to California.  We worked on Saturday after Daytona to make sure the trucks were ready to leave by Monday.

California is a long trip as well, especially when you fly on a smaller plane like we did.  Two stops for fuel on the way out but only one on the way back – of course we were flying through the night on the way back.  Not too bad, but the seats aren’t quite as comfortable as on the larger planes.

We had another great race at Fontana as we carried our momentum from Daytona.  With just a few adjustments during practice, we were able to put down a lap that was quick enough for the pole.  We ran in the top five for most of the race and had awesome pit stops again.  We actually ended up winning the pit stop award for “the least amount of time spent on pit road”. 

Well anyway to come out of California with a top-five and fifth in the point standings we are pretty well pleased.

We head out to Atlanta tomorrow, which has been a very good track for us.  Let’s see if we can get the pole and win – BRING IT!!!