I was really excited about going to the NASCAR race at LVMS over the weekend. I’m a big NASCAR fan. I love watching and keeping up with stock car racing. A lot of drag racers don’t like NASCAR. I love both.



I left my house early Saturday morning. Even though it’s just Busch day, it’s still packed. I left about 6 a.m. I had a 9:30 a.m. press conference that Las Vegas Motor Speedway invited me to attend. Ashley Force was also there. I’m sure you read about it on NHRA.com already. I got to park in the infield and they gave me the royal treatment all weekend long.



I was amazed by the revamped facility. The first place I went to was the Neon Garage. It’s an area where the fans have access to see the cars and drivers. It’s not like drag racing because they can’t talk to the drivers or crew members, but it sort of allows them into the pits. The new winner’s circle also is there. Then I made my way to the media center. I was blown away. It’s four levels. My buddy, Jeff Motley, who does the PR for LVMS, has an office on the start/finish line. He gave me a tour of the media center. From there, it was time to meet with the press folks. They had us sitting on a small stage and they fired way at Ashley and me. I was happy because they asked me questions too. I didn’t get upstaged. I’m used to flying under the radar. They asked a lot about why I like NASCAR. There were probably a good 60 reporters there. We’re not used to that. After that, Richard Petty came in. I got to meet and talk to him. He used to drag race for a short while, so that was really neat to meet him.



I had a “hot pass” and went to the garages. That’s a ticket to go anywhere. I went by and visited the pit area of my Valvoline teammate Scott Riggs. Jim Rocco showed me around and gave me a behind-the-scenes tour. I was amazed by how the Cup mechanics love drag racing. They follow our sport. That’s really cool! They asked a lot of questions. It was cool be in that pit because I felt at home. It’s so much different working out of a garage as opposed to the trailer like we do in drag racing.



I went back to the media center and hung out and had lunch. I met one of the reporters from NASCAR. Her name is Claire B. Lang. She does a NASCAR show on XM Radio. I used to listen to her on XM when I drove my own rig. She was excited to hear that. She wants me to go on her show. I’ll be glad to do it. I also saw my buddies Jeff Wolf and Brian Hilderbrand from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun. I chatted with them a bunch. And, I ran into Mike Lentz. He used to work for NHRA. He’s in charge of security for NASCAR. I ran around with him before the Busch race and he introduced me to a lot of drivers. I had a nice conversation with Tony Stewart. With Mike, it was like rolling with the chief of police. I could go almost anywhere. Mike said he misses drag racing, which was cool to hear.



I stayed for the Busch race and went to dinner with the Valvoline folks. By then, it was getting late. It took like two hours to get out of the track on Saturday. I was tired, so I wanted that extra hour of sleep. You have to really get there early on Sunday for a Cup race. With daylight’s savings time, I got up before 5 a.m. to go to the Cup race. I needed to be there early to meet people. I left my house at 6 a.m. and about five miles from the track the traffic was a mess. Usually, it’s a 35-minute drive. This took an hour and 35 minutes. I was amazed how many people get there early and how festive it is. I watched how they shuttle folks back-and-forth with helicopters. It’s a whole new world at NASCAR.



I met with Jordan Bressler, my sponsor coordinator at Valvoline, on Sunday morning. He was impressed with how good our race team is doing. I was surprised by how many people knew drag racing and my name. A lot of NASCAR fans do watch NHRA drag racing. Of course, they all asked why I was limping. I got invited to go to the press conferences on Sunday morning. The first presser was with Bill Goldberg, the former wrestler, promoting Bullrun. He talked about how much he liked drag racing. That was cool. I got to meet him. He says he’ll come to the track some day. Mark Wahlberg also was there promoting his new movie Shooter.



I went to the pre-race ceremonies. I got to see the Blue Man Group. Robin Leach was the emcee. I was surprised by how small the NASCAR drivers are. People think I look bigger on TV and it was the same with those guys. There was a neat fly-over by the Thunderbirds. That was cool. It’s amazing with 150,000 people there. You just feel the excitement.



The Cup drivers are so laid back. It’s different I guess. I guess being in the car for just five seconds is different. I have to really get pumped up and in my zone. I have a passionate pre-run routine. They have miles and miles to get warmed up.



It was neat being the fan. I was on the other side of the table. I had a great weekend. So, thanks to all the folks at LVMS for taking care of me.