We’re going to keep it real to real with everybody out there. This last week, we were productive, but I was down and out for a couple of days with a sinus infection. The change of weather going to cold and dry got to me, but I still made it to the shop for all but one day. We grunted it out.

To my surprise our new body panels showed up from Brian Olson’s shop -- Olson Paint & Body. I want to point out that it’s kind of funny because around our shop is like a scene from Orange County Chopper with all the mayhem getting things ready to leave for testing. The new paint scheme is very sharp. It’s True Blue Pearl from House of Kolors with some silver pinstripes that give our Matco Tools dragster a touch of class. The car just builds my confidence even more on how mean and aggressive it looks.

Matco was voted the No. 1-ranked tool distribution franchise by Entrepreneur magazine last year in the Franchise 500 edition, so we’re going to promote that on our racecar this season for all the great 1,500 Matco Tools distributors that help make my dream a reality.

I did my second tool truck ride on Jan. 16 here in Indy with Travis Hojem. The coolest deal about this ride was to see how all the mechanics look at Travis as more than just a tool guy that stops by to sell tools. They look at him as a friend who’s there to help them in any way he can. We visited a bunch of garages and man was it cold. It was maybe 10 degrees outside. We were troopers. Like the U.S. Postal Service, the elements didn’t stop us from giving great service to all the mechanics. We were there to greet them with a Coke and a smile. Travis has a cooler of Coca-Cola products so he can give his customers a cold drink, which is way cool.



To change gears a little bit and talk about my personal life, my wife Billie Jo and I had to visit the doctor to check up on our new baby, who is due around mid-March. He's just like his daddy, kicking and moving all around and never giving his mom a rest. If he’s anything like my son Anson, we’re all in a world of trouble because Anson is way hyper. He’s worse than the Energizer Bunny, but my mom says I was just like that. That why I was her last child. LOL. We haven’t picked a name yet. We need something that starts with the letter “A.”



This weekend, I created a MySpace page (actually, Billie Jo did.) I used to be against MySpace, but it is a cool tool to keep in touch with friends and to create new friends. I notice there are a lot of Matco distributors with their own MySpace pages, so now I can keep in touch with my Matco family too. The web address is: www.myspace.com/antronbrown.



All and all, being sick last week didn’t keep a brotha down. We got a lot accomplished and I’m looking forward to the Phoenix test this weekend to burn some nitro and to wear some Goodyears out.



Until next time. Love, peace, and hair grease, and I’m out.
Antron