Greetings, blog readers! LP coming at you from a damp and dreary Atlanta Dragway in what has been up to this point a hot and muggy Commerce, Ga. Eight o’clock on Sunday morning has found the guys working on projects instead of getting the car out of the hauler. The forecast doesn’t look too good for the next few hours, but I certainly can’t claim to be a meteorological expert. That being said, I will get back to writing a blog and let the weather take care of itself. I just hope we get to go racing today!

On a serious note in our little corner of the racing world, the entire Snap-on team wants to send out our thoughts and prayers to our team manager, Brad Fornes. He had a heart attack yesterday, and will be spending the next few days getting himself checked out and taken care of. Brad and Doug are good friends and have been racing together for a really long time. In fact, when I came to work for Doug, the first person I met beside the man himself was Brad. He and his family were in town visiting, and a bunch of us went out to dinner. They started telling stories about their adventures over the years, and I couldn’t help but be awed at these two who seem so different but have such a close bond. Rest assured, this race is for Brad. The last thing he said to me before they took him to his room in the hospital was “Go win tomorrow.” We are going to do our best. Get better, Brad. We love you, buddy!

Doug posted a blog earlier in the week about how busy he has been, and he didn’t even get to tell you half of it! On Tuesday, he had a full day of prepping the South Carolina media for this weekend’s race. Zak over at NHRA had our appointment book packed with stops at newspapers and TV stations all over Greenville and Spartanburg. Once we met with everyone, it was a short drive back up to North Carolina to get Doug back in time for another Choices and Consequences seminar. He talked to the teens about BRAKES, encouraged them to sign up and to think about how they drive.

Wednesday was another whirlwind day as Doug was invited to join Rudy Ruettiger at a local church for a speaking engagement. For some, the name Rudy Ruettiger might not ring any immediate bells. But I bet if I asked whether you had seen the movie “Rudy” the response would be, “Oh, yeah! That’s a great movie!!” Rudy Ruettiger is the Rudy from the movie! Buddy Stasney from Lincolnton is good friends with both Rudy and Doug, and brought them together. Doug spoke to several hundred people before Rudy took the stage, and Rudy has promised to help Doug further the BRAKES cause as much as he can.

On Saturday, the fellas from Boy Scout Troop 313 out of Huntersville drove down for the races. Doug’s son, James, was a member of Troop 313, and since the accident Doug has continued to be involved with the Troop. Jim Fetzer and a few other adults brought the guys down, and from what I gathered they had an excellent time. Doug took them on a tour through the haulers and over to the t-shirt trailer for hats and shirts. Most of them got to ride in the tow van up to the starting line, and a few of them even made it onto the ESPN2 broadcast. By the time they left, they had bags full of goodies, lots of good memories, a Full Throttle for the road trip home, and some conversation about coming out to the race in Charlotte. We will see you then, guys!

Besides our special Boy Scout guests, we also had a few famous faces milling around the pit area. For you those of you who also happen to be NASCAR fans, you might just be familiar with “Fatback” McSwain and Barry Dodson. Fatback hung out with us on Friday and Saturday, and Barry will be at the track today to spend some time with Doug and the Snap-on team.

I believe that pretty much catches us up. Thanks to a few distractions (some might call it work…) a few hours have passed since I first began this blog. As it stands, they are drying the track and it looks like there will be racing after all. I’m glad, because we have a race to win. For Jon, for James, and for our buddy Brad.

Until next time, LP