February 28th

When I got home last night at midnight, my bed seemed like a long lost friend. I could feel a cold coming in from all of the travel and just wanted to veg, which is exactly what I did by sleeping in on Friday. By the afternoon though I was out getting fuel, hardware and the trailer. When I stopped by Turf Equipment to get the trailer I got a look at golf cart for this year. It's great looking and will match the car nicely. I hope to have the car close to race ready tomorrow. The only thing I should be lacking is some new brake rotors from Wysong and my front axle back from Powder Works. The axle was bent some in the Turkey Night crash but Mike Robinson was nice enough to put it in his crank press and straighten it.

February 22nd

It's Sunday evening so I must be in Tulsa. Last week was Omaha, this week Tulsa, Seattle and Wenatchee. Today I accomplished something unique. Not good or bad, but unique. I've been in 7 states in the past 24 hours. I was in Iowa having lunch on Saturday late afternoon. Then I drove across the river to catch my flight from Omaha. I had a plane change in Phoenix and arrived home at Salt Lake in the early morning. I was back at the airport 7 hours later enroute to Tulsa. There were plane changes in Albuquerque and Dallas along the way. I head for Seattle on Tuesday night with a change in Kansas City. That will make 9 states in 72 hours. I'm looking forward to end of this trip because I'll have a few days at home to finish the car. Mike Robinson straightened my front axle and it's now over at the Powder Works shop to get plated. If all goes well my bumpers, belts, fuel pump and axle will all be in my hands on Friday. I can't wait to have everything on the car and ready to load up for Havasu. I'm PUMPED for the race season.

February 13th

I just got back this afternoon from a few days in the Pacific Northwest. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Seattle and Thursday in Wenatchee, WA. For the first time in 3 trips up there covering 10 days I actually saw the sun. I don't know how they live up there sometimes. I'd feel like a vampire, or maybe a duck.

The end of last week was interesting. When I went to renew my Utah drivers license I was told that I had to clear up an item in Oklahoma. When I contacted the Oklahoma DMV I was told my ticket was from 1982 in Oolagah for a stop sign. They would not take a credit card so I had to overnight a $467 check for a $37 ticket. When I called to get a copy of the receipt faxed I found out they had made a mistake and that the problem was actually a 1987 speeding ticket in Wagoner. Because I was technically suspended once everything was paid Utah made me take the full round of tests like a 16 year old. All told it took 4 days and $675 to get my license renewed.

We are exactly one month from the first practice of the year at Lake Havasu. I'm going to work on the car pretty hard this weekend since I'll be gone for 2 weeks on the road. Hopefully the only thing lacking will be putting the new nerf bars on when they arrive and loading up. 

February 1st

Today is "Super Sunday". Like most red blooded American males I'll watch the game tomorrow on my big screen, eat nachos or pizza and be lazy. Anyone who knows me also knows how much I love college football. I really don't like the pro game. Too much greed, too many undeserving teams in the playoffs and too many thugs playing the game. It's the same in all pro sports with basketball being the worst. The college game is becoming too polluted itself with 32 bowl games this past season and critics wanting even more. But there are still some things magical about the college game. A trip to Notre Dame on a fall afternoon puts it all back in balance, at least for an afternoon. Despite my apathy for the pro game I'll watch this afternoon, much like the occasional beer drinker feels compelled to get ripped on New Years.

Despite a head cold that turned into strep, I had a great week in Seattle. I met some members of my new team for the first time. A great group of guys and true pros at what they do. It'll be a challenge to perform to this group's standards. I'm really pumped about this latest career twist. When I got home the body wasn't cooperating as desired. That meant that nothing got done on the car or trailer this week. Before leaving I discovered that the front axle was damaged in the Turkey Night crash. I'm hoping it can be repaired. If not I'll get one ordered this week. It's time to get on the ball. We're only 42 days away from the first race. I can't wait!