We’re back on the scene all my Nitroholic crew. I just want to tell you all about last week at St. Louis. We started off by having a great time at our visit to Linn State Technical College in Linn, Mo. They have a really awesome state-of-the-art facility. They have a CNC and machine shop that is out of this world. Brothaman was in heaven! Our boy Randy gave us a great tour of the machine shop. He and his brother Ricky are fellow drag racers too. They race an NMCA Camaro that looks like a Pro Mod. I want to commend them on their world champion in NMCA Pro Street. I just want to thank everyone at Linn State, like Carla and Ashley, for all the great hospitality. The BBQ at Carla’s place was awesome.

After we got done at Linn State last Wednesday, we had a chance to stop by and see Fast Lane Dave. He’s a buddy of our team manager Tom and owns Fast Lane Classic Cars in St. Charles in Missouri. He owns a really awesome shop and they use Matco Tools too! He’s got everything to buy from a ’57 Chevy to a Ferrari. If you want a hot car, Dave’s your guy.

I had to get up early last Thursday morning. I got to do a morning TV deal with Tim Ezell of the FOX affiliate in St. Louis. Tim is a crazy guy. So crazy that we raced on the track at Gateway and he lost and thought he won. We had to get up early, but it was worthwhile to have the chance to promote NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing with Tim on the highest rated morning show in St. Louis. Thanks to our boy Brandon Mudd at Gateway for hooking us up.

That brings us to the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals at Gateway. On Friday, we went out and it was really cool to interact with all the fans at the autograph session. It was a good chill out day to hang out and cut up with some drivers and all the fans. They get an awesome turnout of fans at the tent in the top end near the Darrell Russell Memorial Grandstand. They line was full of fans for more than an hour and we appreciate all the great fan support.

At this race, we debuted a new race car that was upgraded by Chuck Hosse in Louisiana and we were flying the colors of DirecTV. We had a few bumps in the road during qualifying, but it was nothing that our MAR team couldn’t handle. We got in the field in the No. 7 spot at 3.90. On race day, Brian, Mark and our team got into a groove. You could see the hunger and desire to win and we employed that on the race track and our DirecTV/Matco car just got faster and faster with each round. The consistency was awesome. Let me tell you, the competition is really stiff out there. Right now, a driver that I think a lot of people aren’t giving enough credit to is Shawn Langdon. That Lucas Oil team is doing a phenomenal job. If he doesn’t get rookie of the year, I don’t know who deserves it more because he is a true rookie. In the final round, it was a great drag race against Brandon with the Budweiser team. It felt really good to come out victorious as our team has been working so hard. The effort is showing with our results. That’s one thing that I like to tell everyone that they don’t get to see. To be here everyday and see the desire and passion is awesome, and I’m so proud and honored to be a part of our MAR team here with Matco.

I also want to send a shout out to DirecTV for supporting us and partnering with us at St. Louis and also to Matco and all the Matco Tools distributors; and if you want to be part our race team at MAR and be a part of our hospitality, make sure you contact you local Matco distributor or call 888-MY-MATCO so you can join the MAR team and you can see, up close, what it’s like to be on our side. It was also cool to see my old teammate Hot Rod back out at the track. It was so cool to have him in my corner giving me the support and it was my honor to defend his title from St. Louis 2008. Also, thanks to Impact! Racing for hooking up our awesome DirecTV unis last weekend. We looked great and even won Best Appearing Crew.

After the race, we celebrated at Applebee’s in Collinsville, Ill. I had my favorite dessert, the Blondie. It’s AB approved and the best dessert on the planet. We got to come back to Indy on Monday and we’re been doing some photo shoots this week at the shop for Fatheadz; so keep your eyes open because the Wallyz are coming to your area soon. Like my daughter Arianna says, they’re mini-Trons. The Wallyz are really cool and soon enough, you too, can take a mini Antron home with you. We’re all working hard and we want to create some Thunder in Thunder Valley in Bristol next weekend. Come check us out next weekend and for the rest of the crew we check back in on the next blog. Love, peace and some Lucas Oil grease, and I’m out like shout on a new route. Oh here is a pic of me doing the blog. I have to get into the right mental state. LOL