I’m back in the blog seat again for all my fellow nitroholics. After the win at Phoenix, things around the shop have been going strong for our Matco Tools crew here at MAR. I figured I’d chip in and help the boys out, and we have to give a special thanks to Cliff Nobles and “Big” James Stewart for hooking up the boys with tickets to last Saturday’s SuperCross at Lucas Oil Stadium. That’s the first time I have been there, and I must say that Lucas Oil Stadium is quite an impressive place. It makes me proud to have it on our home turf here in Indy.

We went to SuperCross with my wife, Billie Jo, and son, Anson, and most of our MAR race team. We went to support my boy James Stewart, too. He had a darn good race. James rode really hard but fell twice and still finished second to Chad Reed. Normally if you fall in SuperCross, you’re looking outside the top 10. James fell twice and still finished second. That’s really tough to do. Here’s a picture with James, Anson, and me after the race. It also was cool to hang out with his little brother, Malcolm. He is racing on the amateur level, and he’ll be a great rider just like his big brother is real soon. I also must commend the SuperCross series for putting on a phenomenal show with all the fire, lasers, lights, and music. It’s not a surprise they can pack 60,000 people in for the race. The whole event was a lot of fun for the family and the kids. It was a good time out for our race team.

On Sunday, after the SuperCross race, I celebrated my 33rd birthday, on March 1. We had a surprise bowling party in Brownsburg at the Doghouse Bowling Alley. It was cool to see all my team members and a lot of our friends. It was cool that my homie Larry Dixon and his family hung out with us. Larry is definitely one of the drivers I have a lot of respect for, and he’s a great role model, too. Here is a photo of Larry and me with his son, Darien. Our kids really enjoy playing together and hanging out. I even rolled a few strikes, too. You can see behind me all the pins are on the ground. We certainly aren’t going to make the PBA Tour anytime soon. I was second with like a 136. I got a lot of cool presents and gift cards to restaurants. People must know I love food because I won’t have to pay at Outback or Applebee’s or Carraba’s or Chili’s anytime soon. Brothaman won’t have to spend any money for food on the road at the next few races. LOL

Speaking of food. Since we didn’t get to celebrate Sunday night after the big win at Phoenix, we did a team dinner at home here in Brownsburg. The team got together on Tuesday evening for a nice, relaxing meal at Boulder Creek. Mark and Brian were in town working from the shop, so it was the perfect time to get us all together. I snapped this photo of the MAR team at dinner.

I just want to sign off by thanking all the fans for all the support and e-mails and by sticking by us and keeping us going strong. Remember, if you want to come out and see us and be part of the MAR race team, check out your local Matco Tools distributor and you can sit in the hot seats right next to me in the hospitality. And, you can share a little love, peace and hair grease with me at the Iron Eagle Club. We’re off to Matco Tools Expo ’09 in Las Vegas this weekend, and then we’ll see you all at the Gators next weekend.

Oh, and I do know my crew chiefs names are Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald. LOL I’m going to have NHRA hold cue cards at the top end from now on.

Now I’m out like shout.

Antron