I’m sure you saw the story on NHRA.com about our trip to CAT. Well, this is a more detailed version of last week’s visit to Peoria.

I was pretty nervous about going because the doctors and my personal trainer Dave didn’t want me to travel, but we had to do it. This was very important to our team. They were concerned about the weather and me slipping and falling on the ice and snow. I was close to being off the crutches, but they felt it would be good to stay on them to help brace me when walking. Dave gave me a list of things to do with my rehab on the road and for the most part I did ok.

I was delayed when trying to fly into Peoria on Dec. 9. I felt bad because Pat Lavery, one of the execs from Caterpillar, was scheduled to pick me up from the airport that evening. I finally got in around 1 a.m. on Dec. 10 and we had to get up at 6 a.m. that morning. The first stop was at the CAT Tech Center. They pulled our entire truck and trailer inside and they had a cool video playing and we signed at least 500 autographs that morning. We also had to give a speech on safety in drag racing.

From there we went to the “proving grounds” at the Edwards Demo Center. As a driver, we get to do a lot of fun things, but it was great that my guys got to operate all sorts of CAT equipment. They had a really good time doing that. It’s good when the crew guys get to share in some of the fun stuff. By the way the weather was terrible. It was cold and rainy the entire time. Maybe I’m just used to Las Vegas weather and it was typical midwest winter weather, but for me, the weather was lousy.

That brings us to Tuesday. We started the day at the SS Plant where they build the big CAT tractors like the D11s. I got like the presidential tour. They had a golf cart for me while most of the group had to walk. It’s a big facility, too. That was good for my knee. It was an amazing tour to see how they put the machinery together. Rob Flynn and I thought of some ways to help improve our race team by watching how they assemble the tractors. They have what they call a “dog house” and a “hog house” with all the needed parts and pieces for that section of the assembly line.

Then it was off to the corporate headquarters in downtown Peoria. Mother Nature didn’t cooperate and it was cold and rainy. My guys had to set up the awning and unload the car in the rain. Once it was set up, everything was fine. We signed autographs and showed off the car all afternoon. Pat Lavery’s wife, Leslie, brought their two sons, Brandon and Matthew, to visit after school. They read the blog all the time and are huge drag racing fans so hi Brandon and Matthew. I know we’ll see them at the track a few times next season.

Before the display, we had a nice lunch with a group of the CAT execs. Stan Deatherage, Rachel Potts and Sharon Miller all did a great job coordinating the event and making the entire trip smooth for us. I also got to shop at the CAT Merchandise Store in Peoria, so I have lots of new clothing. We had a nice team dinner at Jonah’s, a seafood restaurant near the hotel and called it a night.

A small group of us went to Mossville on Wednesday and an even smaller group to Decatur on Thursday. Mossville is the largest office building in the state of Illinois. CAT turned it from a manufacturing facility to offices. We gave a short speech and displayed the car inside. It was so cool how many CAT employees are really excited about our sport. I bet we have the largest cheering section at Joliet in June.

Our last visit was at Decatur. It was with my crew guys Dick Jackson and Neal Carmichael. They build the large trucks in Decatur. Some folks from the Decatur plant took us to dinner at Bizou on Wednesday night. The owner Mike Comerford recognized us and is a big drag racing fan. We signed autographs from 6:45-11 a.m. on Thursday morning at the Decatur plant and then we loaded up and drove back to Brownsburg. I got to ride in the semi truck back to Indy. It was like being a sportsmen racer again driving the big truck.

When in Indy Allan Bolante at the Comfort Suites has what he calls the “Rod Fuller Suite.” It has a whirlpool in the room. Allan is a great guy and it’s a really nice hotel. If you need a nice play to stay in Indy, call Allan. That night, Steve Elliott, our new chef, and I went to dinner at Boulder Creek. We bumped into PR Ted who was dining with Snake and Larry Dixon. We joined up with those guys and it was a cool opportunity to pick the brain of two of the greats of our sport. I learned a lot from those guys. I tried to buy Snake dinner, but he wouldn’t let me. That was really neat. I never thought I’d be sitting and having dinner with Snake. He’s the coolest.

I wanted to sleep in on Friday, but PR Ted woke me up because I was late for a photo shoot at the shop. We had my new firesuit and dragster all ready and needed to take some photos for Caterpillar. The new car looks awesome. It doesn’t look like the Army car anymore, which is a good thing. Last year our cars looked too similar. The new colors look great and I think the fans will really like it.

That evening we had our company holiday party at the new shop. The Powerses did a great job of decorating our shop and Steve cooked up tons of great food. It was a really fun time. CAT brought some presents for our race team and gave me an awesome night portrait of our dragster. I’ll definitely hang it in my house.

They were expecting some snow on Saturday and I got out at 7 a.m. I was lucky because Indy had lots of snow last weekend and Vegas didn’t. I got out before all the flights got cancelled. When I got home, I went straight to physical therapy. We struggled on the first day, but did fine on Sunday at PT. So, rehab is going well. I’m off to Arkansas this weekend to spend Christmas with my family. I leave on Saturday morning and can’t wait to get home and see my folks.

Happy Holidays to everyone. We’ll talk to you in ’08.

Hot Rod