Our win streak stopped at 17 rounds at Firebird. It was a good run, and we came out of the event happy even though we didn’t win the race. We had low e.t. of the event again. We haven’t gotten a win yet, but we know we have a fast race car. We just need to get a little more consistent on both qualifying and race day.

After the race, we took a red-eye flight to Orlando, Fla., for the Matco Tools Expo. There were a bunch of us, including Antron, PR Ted, and Diana from our team. Also, Cory Mac, Tony Schumacher, and Jack Beckman were with us. It was a tough Monday. We hit the ground before 5 a.m., and we checked into the hotel, showered, and went straight to the event. We were tired at the end of the day, but it was a fun time. Our buddy from Matco, Tor (John Torok), took care of us the entire time we were at the Shingle Creek. The Expo was Monday and Tuesday, and we flew home on Wednesday morning. I had a good time hanging with Antron and all the Matco Tools folks. They are great supporters of our race team here at DPM.

AT Dave picked me up from the airport and took me straight to do my physical therapy. I was tired, so it wasn’t a fun training session. It was the one-year anniversary of when I hurt my ACL in Hawaii. There was no volleyball for me in Orlando this year. I was excited because it was NASCAR weekend in Vegas, and my buddy from LVMS, Jeff Motley, always hooks me up with a credential for the weekend.

I went out to the track on Saturday for the Busch, err Nationwide race. I hung out in Jeff’s office and watched the race. The Cup race had a late start on Sunday, but I got there early, like 8 a.m. I had an all-access pass, so I hung out in the garage. I got to hang out with the Bill Davis Racing Caterpillar team. They were all very supportive of our program and said they’re big drag racing fans. I’m always amazed how many of the Cup guys really like drag racing. I also saw the Valvoline guys from Evernham’s team. After that, I got to go to the driver’s meeting. That was a cool experience.

I ran into a group of CAT folks that were on a tour. Many of them were from Patten CAT near Chicago and we’ll see them again in Joliet this June. Then it was off to pre-race. Blue Man Group was playing. That’s were I first saw Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 22 CAT car. I was surprised because he knew who I was. I also talked to Patrick Carpentier. He really likes drag racing and also lives in Las Vegas. Kyle Busch and I chatted a little bit also. The last guy I got to meet was Carl Edwards. He told me he wants to drive a dragster. I said we can swap rides anytime, maybe at the Charlotte race.

For me, the highlight of the day was meeting Bill Davis. He’s also from Arkansas. We talked a lot about Caterpillar and Arkansas, and he offered up the opportunity to watch the race from the pit box. That was an awesome place to watch the race and see all the strategy that really goes on during a Cup race. I was hanging out with crew chief “Slugger” Labbe during the race. I’ve been to about 20 NASCAR races, and that’s the first time I stayed until the finish. I was lucky to have a good parking pass to beat all the traffic.

Not much has been going on since. I’m just working on the knee, and later this week I’m off to Sonoma to do a charity go-kart race at Infineon Raceway. I’m looking forward to that. I’m gonna sign off by saying hi to my friend Desiree from Phoenix. She was getting on me for not updating my blog enough. That’s all folks.

Take care,

Rod