The weekend at Norwalk began similarly to the way that the Englishtown event ended: with a tribute to Scott Kalitta. Thursday evening there was a gathering at the Norwalk Performing Arts Center as an opportunity for those of us who could not attend the funeral. The place was packed with racers, friends, fans, relatives and loved ones, and I mean packed. I would estimate 800-plus in attendance, and it was very well conducted and received. At the request of the Kalitta family most in attendance wore their crew uniforms, and there were folks lined up into the lobby area. Larry Smiley performed the services, and there were speeches from Jim Oberhofer, Jon Oberhofer, and John Force. They played video of Scott’s racing exploits, and I’m glad I was able to attend. I also was not able to make Eric Medlen’s funeral (it was in Indy), but I was in attendance at his tribute in his hometown of Oakdale, Calif., and met some wonderful friends and relatives. I just hope we don’t ever go through this again.

Lots went on at the track, beginning with a Braveheart function that took place in the David Powers pit area Friday. These are children with congenital heart defects who, along with their families, are dealing with some unimaginable circumstances. It’s nice to see the kids (and those amazing parents) get a chance to smile and enjoy themselves for a day. One of the attendees, Logan, just went through open heart surgery two weeks before the event. That’s BRAVE! I gave a speech at the request of President Jennifer Laffler, and hung out with some of my young friends. They even made me a huge birthday card (more on that later) and a cake.

I did a couple of more spots for 1320TV.com. One featured Johnny West and me talking about our new DSR1 chassis, and the other was an interview that I did with Carolyn Ashbee of Goodyear Tires. She and I talked about the new 2550 tire, which becomes mandatory (along with the “big tube” chassis) at Denver.

Lincoln Welders had their annual get-together, and had a huge group of sales and technical folks on hand. We talked racing for about 15 minutes, as most of them were experiencing their first nitro fumes. The few hardy souls that weren’t choking or crying once the warm-ups began stuck around for a photo with me. I WAS choking and crying, but who cares?

One of the better parts of the weekend was that my old (God, we can’t be old, we were just in our twenties like two or three years ago!) bracket and Super Comp friend (and date to the movies when we were single) Scotty Keough flew out for Sunday with his wife Ilona. As much as I miss hanging out with Scott, I really would have preferred to stay busy in eliminations and just catch up with him in the winner’s circle, but it didn’t quite work out that way. We watched the second round from the grandstands and actually enjoyed ourselves a bunch.

Friday qualifying was actually cancelled due to water, but not because it was raining. The problem was the amount of rain that fell the week BEFORE the event. Combine that with some precipitation early in the race, followed by lots of sunshine, and water was seeping up everywhere in the shutdown area. They had already run all of Pro Stock Bikes plus three pairs of cars, and we were in the staging lanes getting ready to go. To show you what an optimist I am, I had my firesuit on for about five hours! Let’s see Force top that! I really thought they were going to pull off the improbable, but it was not meant to be. I really, sincerely have to give credit to the Bader family, the entire Norwalk Raceway staff, and of course the NHRA Safety Safari (Lord knows they’ve had a tough week) for plugging along above and beyond to try and give the racers a safe track and the fans a good show. Hell, I saw Frank Manzo do a shift on the backhoe trying to dig some irrigation channels! He’s good … really good. (I think that I heard he won three world championships in ditch digging, or something along those lines).

Down to only two runs, we made the most out of our Saturday. My day started with a surprise (yep, that whole “birthday” thing) in the DSR hospitality area. The whole crew, all the hospitality folks, and many friends and fans (Toliver’s friends, and Capps’ fans, I think) got me a cake and presented an autographed helmet to me. It was awesome, and a complete surprise. You can also watch that on 1320TV.com. (I don’t think I’ve done much lately that hasn’t been filmed)! Anyway, we ran consistent, and we ran well enough to end up a season-high fifth for Sunday’s show. I really hope this is a sign of what’s to come from the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services team.

We had an awesome, exciting, nail-biting, tire-smoking, pedaling contest with Cruz first round, but our win light failed us again. I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating it is to not have won a round since Gainesville. Our guys, our sponsors, and Don Schumacher simply are better than that, and we really need to start showing it on the Western Swing or we will be hard-pressed to make the Countdown. Johnny and Tommy are working hard, and Eddie, Terry, Chris, Dan, Mark, Chris, Joe, and I are ready to start our win streak again … now!

Cindy came over to help Jenna with Jason over the weekend, and she even brought the dogs. They all (even the dogs) watched the coverage from home. The ladies and canines sat on the couch, but little man decided his new “seat” inside his toy box would be much cooler. He likes to sit in really odd places. I suppose if I wore a diaper 24/7 and was carrying a load a good portion of the day, anything would feel relatively comfortable!

I really like Brandon Bernstein (that’s just such an odd transition from talking about what my son is sitting on … sorry Brandon), but I must admit that Doug Herbert’s win in Top Fuel will be one of the year’s highlights for many people. Doug has faced the biggest tragedy one could ever imagine in life, and, though this victory pales in comparison to his loss, his win just feels “right”, especially in light of recent events. I believe that of all Doug’s trophies that one will shine the brightest and mean the most to him.

I landed at LAX at 11 p.m. Sunday night, and, coincidentally enough, Scott and Ilona were only 10 minutes behind me. That sounds like a free ride home, if you ask me! Not having to wake Jason up to come to the airport made life a lot easier on Jenna, though I did miss having to wait a little extra to see my boy.

Monday I needed to move the motorhome so Andy could shuffle some vehicles around in his storage building. Ever had a battery die and experience the frustration of having to jump/charge it up until you could start? Well, multiply that by six (all dead), and that’s how my lunch went. Apparently not everything got shut off last time I parked it. So here I am, in a really unfriendly mood, when along comes Foothill Towing’s Greg Daniels to help me out (having an AAA membership does have its advantages ... right John and Robert?). Turns out Greg is a big NHRA fan, and has a good charging system on his flatbed, so I’m back in shape. Good thing I was wearing my Valvoline T-shirt and still had clutch dust on my hands. Once I did the RV shuffle I had to head back home and on to the other side of the “Valley.”.It was time for my six-month oncology (I hate that word) checkup. Dr. Gary Schwartz at Kaiser is a fantastic doctor, and feels very confident that all is well with me. I’m not quite as paranoid as I was the first couple of years after the cancer, but I still do get alarmed at times. It’s encouraging to only have to go once every six months now, and anyone who has been through this will know exactly what I mean.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Jason is my boy. He is addicted to TV, and has become the latest member of Streaker’s Anonymous. After helping dad adjust all of the front sprinklers, we realized that he had soaked up more water than the yard, so off came the clothes (his, of course). Apparently this newfound feeling of warm air and freedom overcame him, and he insisted on parading up and down the sidewalk. Those of you who are appalled at this, please take a deep breath --- he did have his shoes on! The neighbors thought it was funny (come to think of it, they were the same ones who laughed last time I was naked on the sidewalk. Again, those of you who are offended, it was a long time ago, and it was New Year’s Eve. And July 4th. And possibly one President’s Day, and once on Flag Day), so Jenna and I did the responsible thing that all parents should: we got out the digital camera, took lots of pictures, and laughed like crazy. Heck, he even tried to do some landscaping in the neighbors yard, rearranging their rocks and soaking up some vitamin D. That’s my boy!

Right now we’re packing for the Western Swing, as we will be taking the motorhome. Actually, Jenna is packing. The extent of my involvement is getting the suitcases down from the closet. What … don’t be so tough on me … that’s not easy work! And heck, it only takes her about two hours to pack. It’s not like I’m not doing anything, I have to “deprogram” the TiVo. That consists of sitting on the couch and watching all of the NHRA and UFC stuff that was recorded the past week. I try to be compassionate and fast-forward through all of the commercials so I look busier. We are leaving tomorrow to load the RV, get the carpets cleaned, and hopefully finish charging all of the batteries. Then I will pick up my Blackbird dragster, replace a bad trailer tire at the Mountain View Goodyear store, and take the trailer over to Fontana. I will be racing Friday and Saturday with SCEDA, and it will be great to spend time with many of my sportsman friends. I’ll use Cindy’s duallie for the weekend, and then Jenna and I will head home late Saturday. Sunday we head back out to the RV, hook up the PT, and get on the road for Denver.

Last thoughts: If you like the fact that you are celebrating Independence Day in one of the freest societies the world has ever known, thank a soldier. My flag will be flying out front for all to see, and I appreciate the sacrifice many are making on our behalf. If this seems corny to you, do yourself a favor and study world history for a week. What we have is tough to find, and it didn’t come without cost.

Lastly, how about NHRA’s new 1000-foot racing? The purist in me was really shocked in a negative way when I first heard, but the more I think about it, it is the most prudent and reasonable change (though huge) that could be done to maximize safety at this time. I wonder how many nitro drivers will fall back on bad habits and “take it to the scoreboards”?

Stay tuned.