How goes it, blog readers? LP here with an update on our busy weekend and an even busier week! Every year, our local semi-pro hockey team, the Charlotte Checkers, hosts a Race Night to raise money for charity. Doug participated in the event last year and did such a great job they wanted him back. This year the proceeds went to the Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Hendrick Marrow Program. We even had the show car on display out in front of the stadium! Brownie and Brad took care of getting the car in place, I made sure we had plenty of hero cards and hats to give away, and Doug was in charge of arriving at Bobcats arena on time. He even beat me there! I’m going to blame it on traffic…

During the first intermission, Doug and the other drivers were paired up with either campers from Victory Junction Gang or recipients from Hendrick Marrow Program. The teams then hit the ice for a little bit of racing action. The teams had to navigate a remote control car on the ice and be the first to cross through the finish line. It sounds simple, but a few of the teams ended up just doing donuts! Doug and his partner, Terry Eason, made it look easy. After deciding on a plan of attack, Terry drove the heck out of the remote control car. It did spin around, but Terry managed to cross the finish line first….in reverse! They won their race, and Terry got to keep the car. After the race on the ice, we went up the suite and hung out with all of the kids. We met Terry’s family, took some pictures, and enjoyed the rest of our evening.

Bright and early Saturday morning, several of us headed over to Elizabethton, Tenn. Brownie and his crew hit the road around five, and Brad and I got to sleep in just a bit and left at six. Our mission? To have the show car in place for a big customer appreciation day and open house at one of Snap-on’s manufacturing facilities. We made it there with plenty of time to spare, and they had the car in its spot before the snow started falling.

This whole day centered around Speedy Adkins, one of Snap-on’s franchisees. He had received a few questions from his customers about how tools are made, and after working with Keith Whitehead and Jon Carley and all the other fine folks at the plant, gave his customers the opportunity to see how bars of metal turn into wrenches, ratchets and pry bars. Despite the cold, everyone took a look at the show car, and then made their way inside for a tour of the facilities. Speedy (pictured with Doug and Jon Carley) had lunch waiting for them after the tour, and Doug happily signed autographs and talked about his relationship with Snap-on and how excited he is to get back to the track. A couple of newspapers came out to cover the event, and Kasey Marler from News11, the local CBS affiliate stopped by to get a few moments with Doug. The event turned out to be a huge success! Speedy took care of his customers, and I think Doug might have gained a few more fans by the end of the day.

After driving back through the snow (which didn’t stick, although if you had paid attention to the weather reports around here you would have been afraid to leave your house for a month), Doug, Ginger, Brad, James (our new clutch dude) and I headed downtown to watch the Bobcats take out the Memphis Grizzlies. This being my first NBA experience, I had a great time, even though my less than stellar cheeseburger and fries cost almost twenty bucks.

Monday marked an important day for the Snap-on Tools team. After much anticipation, long days, even longer evenings, hard work, knuckle biting over whether the trucks would be ready to go, the team finally pulled out for Phoenix! Before they left, Doug gathered everyone together and thanked them for all the work they have put in during the infamous off-season. If I can remember his words exactly, they went something like this, “The attitude around here is just awesome. I am pumped, I know you guys are pumped, and I can’t wait to get out there and haul ass!”

Now they might have only been gone for a couple days, and I kind of hate admitting this, especially since I know each of them will read this at some point down the road, but I miss them already! Okay….reality check. Missing them might be a bit of a stretch, but walking through the empty race shop seems quite eerie….I went down there this afternoon and no one hollered “What’s crackin’, LP?” Allison wasn’t there to ask me to watch the restroom door for her. Shannon and Larry weren’t having one of their little discussions. Beaker wasn’t grinding clutch discs. James wasn’t asking me to have stickers made for him. SupaDave wasn’t there in the blower room. Stacker wasn’t on his phone. Keith and Kevin weren’t lying underneath the car. Mike, well, I’m not really sure what Mike does, but he wasn’t there either (told you I would get you back!). The place felt like a ghost town. Which ultimately means one thing…IT’S GO TIME!

Over the past year, we have gotten to be pretty good friends with Tracy Rishel, the Director of Motorsports Management at Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte. She came out to Bristol last year, and has turned into quite the drag racing fan. On Tuesday, Doug and John Beasley made the short drive to Belmont Abbey to speak to one of Tracy’s classes about NHRA drag racing, Doug Herbert Performance Parts and anything and everything having to do with motorsports management. They watched a video of our big win at Reading, and the day was a big hit.

This one has been pretty lengthy, but I promise we will have more for you soon. Things are always going on around here, and next on the list is a big press conference over at the Speedway!

Until then, be good,

LP