What’s up, blog fans? I’m just cruzin’ down to Tucson checking out the military planes in the Boneyard. I’m gonna hang out on the West Coast for a couple weeks so let’s catch up.
Reading had the potential to be an awesome race and we felt we had the setup right but everything that could go wrong, did. We broke a wheelie bar which punctured the tire and luckily it happened at the starting line so it wasn’t catastrophic. Next, we broke a piston but the car still ran a 4.06, but it was on its way to a 3.99-4.01. Then we had a malfunction and the clutch engaged so every run down the track, something went wrong. On Sunday, it was 48 degrees and there was mist on the windshield so we ended up with a loss there. The good news is, some of the other countdown competitors had a rough weekend too so we stayed close in the points.
I spent my weekend off hanging out with my good buddy Eric DeBord racing in the 24 Hours of Lemons race in Joliet, Ill. I caught the brakes on fire in his ’84 Mustang, other than that all went well. I had a great time and I don’t think they’ll let me live that one down and now they’re threatening to add a parachute to the car. LOL!
After the week off, we headed out west to El Paso, Texas, where we took our show car to MSD and our good buddy Joe Pando showed us around. MSD builds the ignitions for our cars. It’s an incredible company and on the cutting edge of technology.
On Wednesday, we went to the UTI campus in Avondale, Ariz. It was great to see all the techs working hard to get their education so they can move up, whether they’re going to work in a dealership or on a race team, knowledge is power. It’s always good to visit the folks at UTI who are great supporters of ours. They put on a great event with a dunk tank, race ticket give-a-ways, reaction time games, and Snap-on even gave away some tools. After that, we stopped by to hang out with our friends at Blue Media and check out their new facility. They do all our wraps on our trailers and race cars. We’re displaying our show car in their shop so stop by and check it out.
On Thursday, we rode along with Tom Hillock in the Scottsdale area. One of the best stops was at Dillon Aero where they make everything from miniguns to Gatling gun mounts for helicopters. They also do a lot with the movie industry-making props so it was neat to tour their place.
For the Phoenix race, we had a great turnout in the hospitality tent. We hosted the UTI marketing staff on Friday and had a full house of Snap-on guests on Saturday and Sunday. Even though it was really hot all weekend, everyone hung in there. I also want to thank all my family and friends that came out from El Paso to root us on!
As for the race itself, we were on it again and it was shaping up to be a good event for us. The pressure was on but I felt like the team handled it well. We ran 4th, 1st, and 2nd quick in three of the four qualifying sessions and picked up our sixth No. 1 qualifier of the year so the team did a great job. On Sunday first round, it spun the tires one second into the run. Bottom line is we were too aggressive. Tough lesson but when you have a fast car, that’s the price you pay. The good news is the track was tricky for everyone so a lot of people struggled. We moved down to fourth but are only two and a half rounds out of the lead going into Vegas so we’re still in the hunt.
Even though we felt our day in Phoenix was tough, things were put into perspective for everyone on our team when we heard about Indy car racer Dan Wheldon losing his life. We want to send out our condolences to his family and friends during this time of grieving.
We also want to remember and send our sympathies to the family of Rick Huseman. He and his brother Jeff passed away in a plane crash on Oct. 16. Rick was a part of the Toyota racing group and I sat with him earlier this year at an event at Toyota headquarters. He was a great Champion and a fun guy to talk to.
These are both tough losses to everyone in the racing community.
In terms of Vegas, it has been a great track for us so we’re looking forward to getting back there. We had a fast car in the spring and lost a close race to Robert Hight. We’re looking forward to getting back there and finishing the job. We’ll also be running a special paint scheme in Vegas so come check it out!