The title of this blog is a phrase that many of us employed at DSR have said multiple times (“LuAnn Bishop”, in place of “Mike Lewis”, would also qualify as a correct statement). Between the two of them, they keep us running smoothly; LuAnn manages the hospitality and Mike is the VP of Schumacher Racing. However, Mike came through for us in a unique way in Maple Grove that had nothing to do with his job: He made it to the final round in Top Alcohol Dragster, saving us from an otherwise miserable outing for the DSR race team. Driving Tom Conway’s A/FD (the same car he took the final round at this race last year), Mike survived all of the rain and water seepage delays to race for the trophy on Monday. He’ll again pilot that car at the U.S. Nationals, so perhaps he and I can share the stage Monday, holding our trophies high!

Maple Grove was a big disappointment for our team, losing in round one after smoking the tires against Jerry Toliver and the team Dunn car. After qualifying 3rd, our highest starting position of the year, we had high hopes of winning the race, but we just had too much power for the hotter racetrack Sunday. With qualifying limited to one pass each on Friday and Saturday -under conditions very unlike we saw Sunday morning- it was a challenging event for everyone. Bob Tasca moved ahead of us by winning, and now we are in a tight points battle with him and Tim Wilkerson for the fourth spot. Whoever goes the most rounds in Indy will lock the fourth spot, so we figure we’ll just win the race and make the math easy on everyone!

Wow, somewhere in Rawlings, Md. Ronnie and Lori are looking out for me!

Before I go much further, let me tell you about an offer you can’t refuse (no, it’s not a sale on Sham Wow, though Lee Beard thought a huge roll of that stuff would have helped with the water issues at the track). We did an identical promo for you readers when our diecast of the Valvoline car was released, so now that the MTS version is in stock you guys get first crack, and can save 50 percent. What you need to do is go to the DSR website (shoeracing.com), and enter “DSR-JACK” in the coupon code box after ordering the car. It’s that easy! This will be good for one week from the posting of the blog.

The upside of Maple Grove was having so many of the Maryland family in attendance. The downside is they only got to see us make one run on Sunday, but I did hang out in the stands for the rest of eliminations with them. Heck, my flight out wasn’t until Monday, so it was a great opportunity to spend time with them and enjoy some nitro racing from a fan’s viewpoint. Last year we won the race, and I had to go 80 mph all the way to the airport just to make my flight. This year Jenna gave me a cushion by scheduling my flight out the next day, and look what happens!

My weekend wasn’t totally without incident: After flying into Philadelphia Thursday night at 11:30 p.m., picking up my rental car, and heading out for the 90 minute drive to my hotel, “incident” struck. I hit something in the road not more than five miles from the airport, actually bending the rim and causing a flat tire. By the time I got a tow truck, a lift back to the airport, filled out the necessary paperwork, and got another rental car, it was nearly 3 am before I got to my room. Fun stuff!

Something about being naked in a towel makes guys want to kiss the ladies!

Getting up at 2:40 Monday morning to head back to Philly also didn’t rank high on my “fun meter”, but I was anxious to get back home. I remember a time when I actually could sleep on an airplane without my neck and back hurting from contorting my 6 foot frame into 4 feet of seat ... could I actually be getting bigger? Anyway, I arrived home around noon and was picked up by Jenna and Jason at the airport in Ontario. It’s so much easier than LAX: less traffic, less security line, less parking fees, and less hassle getting there.

Knowing that I had to fly out the following day (for the test session in Indy), I tried to make the most of my time with the family. Jason wanted to go swimming in his little pool, so we hung out while Jenna did the shopping. Poor Jason just faced the same fate that my hair has gotten accustomed to...the “home haircut”! His long curly locks are so cute, but he was starting to get that homeless person look (no offense to anyone who is homeless, though I doubt they’d be reading my blog). He looks so much older with his shorter “doo”, and he is talking so well now. He’s nearly 2 ½, and each day I see less of my “baby” and more of my “little man”. I do my best to treasure each moment. Holding his hand while he walks up the stairs is so much more time than just carrying him or letting him go by himself, but I know these are the memories that will be irreplaceable. I also know that one day soon he won’t ever need my help again to climb those stairs.

I had mentioned testing in Indy, and I was on another plane Tuesday to head back for that. Many nitro teams took advantage of the Wednesday test, and we made four runs with some new engine parts. The first was a planned halftrack run that gave us some good numbers. We smoked the tires at 100 feet on the second run, and we pulled out of the burnout box for what was to be our third run when it looked like the track was getting bad. When we did go back up, we ran a 4.26 on a track that was 121 degrees, which is a very nice run in those conditions. Our last run, made at 9:15 p.m., resulted in smoke at 375 feet. Still, we now have a good idea what to start the Indy “marathon” with. With two night sessions, it will be critical to run well on at least one of those to get a good qualifying position.

Thursday morning I was (you guessed it) back on a plane heading home. We spent most of the day yesterday preparing for our trip back to Indy in the motorhome. We cleaned, loaded, shopped, packed, and sang show tunes (kidding about the singing, just making sure you’re still paying attention).

Well, I hear my baby waking up right now (it’s Friday morning), so I’ll need to wrap this up so we can head east. I’d sure like to have an Indy trophy of my own by Labor Day!

Stay tuned.