Hey, blog readers! LP coming at you from the shop in warm, sunny Lincolnton. I am beginning to think fall will never get here. Yesterday the old thermometer hit a whopping 92 degrees, and I don’t think today is too far off. In October. Are you kidding me? I never thought I would say this, but I am ready for cold weather! My sweaters and sweatshirts are feeling neglected. Finally it’s a bit cooler today, but still not quite sweater weather!

We flew home from Richmond on Sunday, and I took this shot of Doug and Carl in the cockpit of the plane at about 27,000 feet. Speedy the Turtle didn’t make the trip home with us, but not to worry. He (or she, still not really sure on that part) turned out to be pretty good luck for us after all, and now has officially become a road turtle and part of the Snap-on crew. He is westbound, headed for Vegas with Brownie and John in the hospitality rig. If you are headed to Vegas, feel free to stop by and say hi to Speedy, and don’t forget, he likes lettuce.

This week the guys are getting caught up on everything around the shop, making sure the car is ready for the last two races of the season and preparing for next season all at the same time. Shannon and Dave have been working on their trucks, Ed and Dan are fabricating, fabricating, fabricating, Mike has been working on the heads, Wayne has been toiling away on the motors, Stacker has been working in the blower room, and they are all just busy, busy, busy.

Brian (a.k.a. Beaker) thought he would be having an easy day away from the shop yesterday. He took Doug’s Super Comp car out to Betsy Ross Park, where the Lincoln County Fire and Safety Fair was taking place. There were fire trucks on display, ambulances, helicopters, everything you could possible imagine relating to fire and safety. More than 1,200 kiddos were there from surrounding schools, and if you ask Beaker, I’m pretty sure they all had a question about the Super Comp car. How fast is it? Does the fire come out from here? What’s this red button for? It was a pretty cool deal, despite the October heat!

Doug has been hard at it today, too, with a little bit of fun mixed in. He had this to say about his busy day yesterday:

I spent the day at Victory Indoor Cart Racing Center in Charlotte. They were hosting a go-cart race to raise money for the Jeff Gordon Foundation. I got to spend some time with John Bickford, who is Jeff Gordon’s stepdad. I have known him for years, and he has raised Jeff to be a racer and a winner. He is an amazing guy, and getting to catch up with him was great.

There were about 150 drivers there, and you had to be in the top 12 to get a chance to run the final race. I would have been about 50th, I guess. I’m too big for go-carts. I look like Herman Munster in those little things! My buddy Bob, the one that owns the driving schools, was leading the main race until Jeff Gordon passed him with two laps to go. Then Bob nerfed him and almost spun him! It was cool. Then Bob had a bunch of excuses, of course, and I know he must have seen a lot of driver interviews! I was surprised out how fast Bob was. He really drove the heck out of that cart! And it was all for a good cause.

Sounds like fun to me! Speaking of fun, the roundy-round cars are back in Charlotte! I know some of us are planning on heading over to the Speedway at some point this weekend (today and Saturday, to be exact), and Doug will be there at some point as well. I promise to take a look-see at the beginnings of what promises to be the newest dragstrip in the country. It looks like the city of Concord might be willing to bend a little on the issue, and we might be racing close to home after all!

Until next time, be good,

LP