Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. A lot of you know what’s going on with me and some of you don't. Heck I don't even know for sure. What I can tell you, is that I found out a couple days before Christmas that my team owner had closed shop and parted ways with my sponsor, Caterpillar. The news came as a complete surprise. I had another year on my contract and had just finished the season stronger then anybody with two final round appearances in a row. We stopped my arch rival, Tony Schumacher, at the season finale and kept him from breaking all the records. The worst thing about this whole thing is that I'm in my prime, driving my best, and it all came to end abruptly.

I've always been a fighter and believe when you get bucked off the horse you dust yourself off and get back on. After hearing this shocking news, I immediately got on the phone and started making phone calls, not only to get answers but to try and maintain my good relationship with Caterpillar. It was tough because of the holidays and no one was working. It was probably the worst time for all this to happen. I couldn’t get any answers.

I tried to keep myself busy during the holidays. As I mentioned in my last blog, I just bought a new house so I immersed myself in cleaning and organizing.  I never knew what an undertaking that would be, especially when you're an neat and clean freak like I am! Now is not a very good time to have a new house payment but I bought it when I though my future was a bit more stable. I got a good deal on it and it’s my dream home. It’s been so fun working on. The first week that I moved in, we had a big snow storm for three days . Yeah it’s Vegas. This town shut down which is pretty funny.

The highlight of my holidays was that I snuck off to San Francisco and met my best friend for a day and half. It was so spontaneous, but really fun. I needed it with as stressed out as I was. We had a fun day doing all the tourist stuff. Downtown San Fran was so beautiful with all the Christmas decorations. We also went to Angel Island next to the golden gate bridge. It was raining, of course, but we saw an amazing rainbow.

My New Years eve was pretty laid back. I live in probably one of the best cities for New Years Eve but once you've gone down to strip a couple of times with about a half million drunk tourists, it gets to be not so fun. Been there done that lol. I had a nice night at a friends’ house. We played games, ate food, and watched that crazy guy Robbie Madison jump his motorcycle at the Paris hotel in Vegas. I thought the jump down was the crazy part. I would have told them to pick me up with a helicopter up there!

I was glad that the new year was here so I could go to work on sponsorships to keep racing in 2009. I have been on the phone nonstop since the beginning of 09’. My first priority was to meet with the people of Caterpillar. We have developed a great relationship over the last couple of years. We have had a lot of success. We almost won a championship in our first year together. We doubled up in a memorable weekend at Vegas and won a lot of races. The best part, however, was the relationships I developed with the people who make the company a success. On the Caterpillar corporate end we got to work with great people like Jim Parker, Pat Lavery, Todd Goin ,and Stan Deatherage. We also got to work with all the great dealers across the country and their loyal Cat customers.

Thankfully, I got the chance to go to Peoria, Ill., to the Caterpillar headquarters in mid-January. I had the opportunity to meet with the Cat folks. I talked with them one-on-one and reassured them that I am 100 pwecent committed to building and improving their program with NHRA drag racing.

When I left Las Vegas, it was 70 degrees and when I arrived in Peoria its was -20 degrees with the wind chill. I was so cold. I was glad for the opportunity to go to Peoria but I was not glad about their weather. I’ll stick to my Vegas weather. I had a great dinner with the Cat guys while I was there. I stayed with the Lavery family. Pat, his wife, Leslie, their children, Christina, Matthew, Brandon, and their new cat Maia were great hosts. I was thankful for their hospitality.  I had a great time up there. Let’s just hope the market turns around and you see Cat and me back in 2010.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and encouragement during this time. My Arkansas posse is hard at work (Chad, Pat, Dick, Eric,) trying to find additional sponsorship on their end. Its just tough in this economy. I believe there are brighter skies on our horizon, especially with our new President.

It's been since 1992 that I haven't raced for a living. I hope I am racing soon, but like my best friend tells me, its in Gods hands and I'll be fine with or without racing. Thanks for everyone’s support and I'll give you my email so you guys can keep in touch. And I'll blog to keep you guys updated. Nitroracer_1@yahoo.com

 Testing starts at Phoenix today and I live only five hours away. Maybe I’ll just drive down there and check things out to keep my name out there. I’ll definitely show up at Pomona. All the best.

Hot Rod