Hello, blog readers! LP here again with what seems to be the start of a tradition, an early Sunday morning blog. No rain on this race day like we had last week, but it is still a bit chilly. I am sure most of you have read fellow blogger Wilber’s latest entry, and he wasn’t kidding about watching for snow on Saturday. Three and four layers of clothes were the way to stay warm, but today won’t be nearly as frigid. I think two layers will suffice perfectly.

Saturday morning, Doug hooked up with Rik Anthony and his “Back in the Pits” radio broadcast. Doug and Rik have known each other for quite a while, and worked together on a special deal for the Marines here at Gateway a couple years ago. They spent the interview discussing everything from Doug’s win at Reading last year to the outlook for this season to Jon and James and BRAKES. The entire listening audience was encouraged by both Rik and Doug to visit putonthebrakes.com and fill out the driving pledges. Thanks to Rik for helping get the word out!

We celebrated a milestone with one of our own on Saturday. Larry “the Legend” Lush will turn the big 5-0 on Monday, and since race days are always so busy and they will most likely be traveling back to North Carolina on Monday, we took advantage of a relatively early day and brought out the party gear. Okay, slight exaggeration on the party gear, but we did bring out cake.

Celebrating a crew member birthday on the “down low” can be a bit difficult. First, since none of us could get away to get the cake, Allison (Larry’s wife who also runs our merchandise trailer) called in the help of her friend and fellow racer’s wife Sheila (married to Chris, who tunes the Tasca funny car) to pick up the goods. Simply sneaking it into the area without Larry seeing it was difficult, let alone getting everyone to sign the card!

KP and Stewart called an impromptu team “meeting”, and Allison called everyone from Densham’s crew over to join in the festivities. A pretty acceptable rendition of “Happy Birthday, You Ol’ Grump” was followed by a little bit of gift giving. Keep in mind, turning 50 is a pretty big deal, and none of us were about to let him get away without catching quite a load of crap. Those gifts? A little Ensure, some Ben-gay, and let’s just say some products made specifically for men as they start to mature. We love you, Larry! Happy Birthday!!

One more quick update on our team manager and good buddy Brad. He is back home in California, meeting with his doctors and feeling a hundred times better than he did just one week ago. We called him as we left the track last night to let him know we were thinking of him and missing him, and from what we could hear in his voice, I think he misses us, too.

It’s almost time to get Doug to the starting line for driver introductions, so I will stop for now. Let’s hope today’s race day is a long one, about four rounds to be exact….

Until next time, be good,

LP