One of the things I won’t miss as we take the motorhome to the remainder of this season’s races is airport schedules. I can’t tell you how many times my pulse has soared as I was stuck in traffic with a flight soon to depart, or running through the airport to make a connection after a late arrival on the first leg. Has the “jet age” really improved at all in the past 50 years? I digress: I DID get to LAX with plenty of time to spare, and I DID land reasonably close to the airline’s target time in Philadelphia. The rush this time involved trying to get over to the DRAW charity softball game and spend some time with the fans before the game got underway. It was quite a drive, with plenty of traffic. I phoned Scelzi to give him an ETA, at which point he gave me the weather update: rain. Ever the optimist, I hurried over, changed into my uniform, and stretched. And chatted. And caught up on phone calls. And learned Farsi (just kidding on that one).

If you’ve raced for any length of time you would be used to the phrase, “Rain-out”. This time it was applicable for our softball game, and it was a big disappointment to everyone, players and fans alike. Plus, we were really going to stick it to Antron’s team (letting them win the scrimmage was simply a ruse). Anyway, lucky for them. (Note: the game most likely will be played in Pomona).

Hey, the rest of the weekend went pretty well! Winning is always special, but I would venture to say that our weekend probably meant a bit more than, say, the Army team winning for the 93^rd time this year. What that team is doing is legendary, but the way the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services team is running of late is pretty special as well. We’ve now been to three finals in the last five races, winning 12 rounds from the Western Swing on. I said in earlier interviews that we really had to win at least 10 or 11 to have a shot at the Countdown, and now we’re locked in. What a huge effort for our entire team. Not just Johnny, Tommy, Ed, Terry, Chris, Dan, Mark, Chris, and Joe, but for all those who assist in our success: Lanny Miglizzi, our track expert, is always there with valuable input. Our fab shop (who put together this “DSR1” chassis) now has their first in-house win, and Norm and the boys have another hot rod ready to go! Our teammates and fellow crew chiefs, always pitching in with assistance when needed. Our awesome sponsors, including Matco Tools, Gates Belts and Hoses, and the rest of the primary car sponsors. And finally, Don Schumacher, who gives us the resources to accomplish so much. Don is the greatest team owner. He is demanding, tough, and fair, and without his guidance we wouldn’t be where we are. Anyway, let’s get to the highlights:

Friday we unloaded with a good run, but we again failed to capitalize on the great night conditions for run number two, ending up 14^th when only the top 12 can qualify. That meant another uphill battle on Saturday, but we got the job done on run 1 with a stout (for the conditions) 4.18. We had to settle for 13^th, but we knew that raceday NEVER resembles the Friday night shot, and we have a great Sunday car. The problem was that our round one matchup, Tim Wilkerson, also happens to have a great Sunday car. In case you’ve been in a coma lately, Tim has been killing everyone this year. He made four great passes in qualifying, including an unbelievable 4.13 in the heat Saturday afternoon.

While talking to Jenna on the phone Saturday night (I remembered to call home this time, as opposed to Friday in Brainerd), she really did her wifely duty with keeping me positive and upbeat for the race. Her lines, such as, “I don’t feel good at all about this”, and, of course, the classic, “Tim’s just running so much better than you guys,” had me feeling super motivated. I think she was still getting even for Brainerd.

I did have other reasons to feel good about the weekend. My buddy Rob Rolleri, who went through Air Force basic training with me and we attended tech school at the same base, came to hang out. We had lost touch for almost 18 years before we saw each other in 2003, so he made the two-hour drive out. Also, my cousins from Maryland came to root me on. Mike, Laurie, Mickey, Emily, and Cole, along with friend Kenny got their money’s worth for sure. They really liked participating in the winner’s circle photos. Mike is still trying to explain to his wife Bev how his wheelchair got taken and he was shoved (cane and all) into the center of all of the Rockstar girls … must’ve been an accident, Beverly!

Another cool deal was DSR VP Mike Lewis’ weekend. Mike, also the President of Maple Grove Raceway, got his Top Alcohol license earlier this year at the Hawley School. Mike is a blessing to be around, keeps us all organized, and is one of the best public speakers in the world. Mike hadn’t competed in years, but he found himself strapped in Tom Conway’s A/FD in the final round! What a Cinderella weekend he had, almost taking it all at his home track. I’d like to think that I had a lot to do with his success. After all, that is MY spare Valvoline suit that he’s wearing! (Let’s just not mention that he now has more round wins in it than I did in the two races last year that we used it). Great job to Mike, and congrats to his daughters Ally and Jennifer, the best cheering section in the pits.

I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s digress one more time: Wilkerson appeared to be driving away from me (I could see him out the side window, and that’s never a good thing) until troubles set in for him. Things got much easier second round, as we only had to race that guy with 14 championships. Once we got past Force, you’d figure NHRA would give us a bye or something as a reward. Instead we get paired with the No. 1 qualifier and quickest car on race day, Cruz Pedregon. Hey, our win light keeps working! NOW maybe we get someone easy. Actually, it’s a guy that doesn’t have more than two dozen nitro runs in the past 15 years, and he’s only been to three races this season. Sounds easy, right? How about two-time World Champ Frank Hawley, my boss for nearly 10 years? Just getting to race Frank (and for that matter John Force, Kenny Bernstein, and Mark Oswald, to name just a few) is such an honor, and doing it in a final round bordered on fantasyland (more on that later). Win light number four, win number two of the season, and what a perfect weekend!

Actually, there were a couple of downers to the Maple Grove experience. At the top of the list was the freak injury to Scelzi clutch man Michael Knudsen. “Knute” (that’s what on all of our hats in the winner’s circle for several photos) got some nasty burns on his legs and hand from a propane cylinder that exploded at one of the food vendors area during set up for the race. He looks like he is recovering as well as can be expected, and all of us miss him and hope he’s back at work as soon as he can make it.

 Downer number two involved us missing the Skoal Showdown by one qualifying position. Twenty-three races and it came down to one spot! Bottom line is that we just didn’t get the job done, and the Friday night sessions just killed us. Being the defending champ, and having such a great car lately really makes me feel bad not being able to race.

Downer number three involves a major screw-up on the part of our crew. Nothing actually related to the car, unless you count having to clean it. See, part of our “tradition” includes a POWERade bath for members enjoying their first winner’s circle with us. Phoenix we “baptized” three of the guys, and this time ol’ Warrior was due for the dousing. Long story short, the entire flight home my neck, ears, and back of my head were plenty sticky! Way to go, guys! (Warrior would be BEHIND the car and about 75 pounds heavier, plus he wasn’t wearing a firesuit, so who got us confused?).

 Downer number four has to be some of the silly sponsorship requirements. Why do I have to pose with those four homely Rockstar girls? Geez, I’d rather get POWERade poured on me (not really, guys!). I mentioned “fantasyland” earlier: is there any guy on the planet that wouldn’t have traded places with me on Sunday, 8/17/08?

We leave tonight in the RV to head back to Indy, and I sure hope we’re lugging a few more Wally’s back with us by the time Pomona rolls around!