Well another fun-filled weekend of racing has passed and all I can think about is getting to the next one. Atlanta definitely had some surprises for our team throughout the weekend. We debuted the new chassis with early signs of success right out of the box, minus a few fluke moments with dropped valves and oil pressure woes. With a less than stellar 4.70 at 299 mph run during Q4, we finally found something to cheer about. Sounds kind of crazy to call a run with two cylinders out, something to cheer about but with the way our weekend was going thus far, that truly was a nice surprise.

Before our race weekend started, I had some marketing to do for Team Vis Viva. I had a product sampling at the Shell Food Mart near the track. Several people took the opportunity to try a Vis Viva Energy Drink and unanimously it was a hit!

During the weekend I had the pleasure of visiting with Roy Warren, CEO of Attitude Drink Company, Inc; parent company of Vis Viva Living Force Energy Drink, and his wife, Martha. They were very impressed with the entire race program as well as excited about this the season with high expectations for Team Vis Viva, both on and off the track.

I also had the opportunity to meet a family of NHRA race fans whose daughter’s birthday was Saturday. Her name was Audey. She turned 11 years old. We had a blast visiting throughout the weekend and they even invited me to dinner with them to celebrate her birthday. I had plans already but told them if we ended up at the same restaurant, Longhorn Steakhouse, I would come by and say hi. As I walked in the steakhouse, sure enough, there they were.

So I get this great idea to sing happy birthday to her. We ordered a cake with ice cream that was huge. I swear it weighed three pounds. So my friends and I get up and start singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Audey as we are walking through the restaurant to her table. She just about freaked out and was laughing. I am quite certain it made her day. After all, how often does some crazy guy from Texas whom you just met, sing to you in the middle of a restaurant? It was really quite an experience. The whole restaurant was watching and cheering along too.

I also had a chance to spend time with my friends from Atlanta. Ronnie Plummer, his pastor, Steve, as well as Ambretta, Lauren, Lindsey and Bill. They had a great time. Ronnie works for Coca-Cola Atlanta and was kind enough to invite my friends to the POWERade Suite to watch some racing. They loved it. So, hats off to Ronnie. That was really kind of you and everyone says thank you for the experience.

After taking another whupping from Hillary Will Sunday morning, it is time to regroup and prepare for battle in St. Louis. Only this time, there are two battles to prepare for. First, I am going to race on the dirt at Tri-Cities Speedway Thursday night with other NHRA drivers including Hillary. I sure hope I can put some of my dirt track driving experience to work so I can at least beat her once this coming weekend. If I get on a roll there, hopefully I can carry that over to the asphalt on Friday and throughout the weekend.

Team Vis Viva is very hungry for success and we realize it’s a matter of time before it happens but the clock is ticking and we have to get moving if we are going to get in to the Countdown to One in the POWERade Series. My guys have busted their butts this past few races with little reward to show for it. So I want to take the time to say thank you for all of your hard work. I truly am honored to have such a good bunch of talented guys around me helping me chase my dream, even if they are a little bit crazy from time to time. I’m just kidding guys.

Lastly, after all the smoke cleared Sunday in Atlanta, I was back to my usual self cutting up and having fun with the fans. The Atlanta Georgia troopers came by our pit and we were visiting about racing and then here’s where the story gets interesting. My “friends” decided it would be funny to have me arrested. It’s kind of odd, too, considering I had just been randomly selected on Saturday to do a drug test as required by the NHRA periodically. By the way, I passed the test. You should have seen the look on the fan’s faces as they were walking by and I was being handcuffed by five officers. Only we were all laughing, so hopefully no one really thought I was in real trouble. It was just another fun moment to remind myself and many others that life isn’t just about winning on Sunday. It’s everything else in between all of the winning too.

As far as this weekend goes, be sure to keep a close eye out for some big news I mentioned last week. Like I said before, it’s gonna be huge. So stay tuned to NHRA.com.