Well, I have my first two races under my belt and I am LOVING every bit of it! When I got to Seattle two weekends ago I had no idea what to expect but everything was better than I could have ever guessed. The crew was great, so nice and welcoming. The fans were the same, so courteous. It really is awesome that in the NHRA every ticket is a pit pass. The fans were right next to the car, watching the guys tear it down after a pass and chatting with Doug and the crew chiefs.

Thursday night we went out for a crew dinner which was great because I got plenty of time to chat with the guys during dinner and get to know everybody away from the track. What a great first weekend for me too, for the team to go to the semifinals. It didn’t take me long to figure out how exciting it is to be standing right next to the car when it leaves the line. It did take me awhile to figure out how to take a picture of the car leaving the line though!

In Seattle Mike broke his finger on Sunday morning and Brownie took him to an urgent care nearby. When one of the guys told me about it they made it sound like it was no big deal so that gave me an idea of how tough these guys are. When we were on the line for the first round of eliminations, Mike came running up. His finger was wrapped and he was going to make sure he was back out there with the team for the run, which I thought was really cool. I actually saw a guy waiting in line at the pharmacy the other day with a broken finger and he was moaning and groaning about it. I was tempted to lean over and tell him, “dude, I saw a guy break his finger last weekend and go right back to work on a race car and he isn’t even that tough.” Ha! (Just kidding Mike!)

Flying from the east coast to west, back to the east coast then back out west was a little hectic but fun at the same time. When I landed in San Francisco on Thursday I had to drive up to Sonoma so I got to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Sonoma was beautiful. I didn’t get to taste any of the famous Napa Valley wine…I guess that’s a good excuse to go back soon!!

The fact that our day ended early on Sunday wasn’t so good but I got to do some really neat stuff with my afternoon. I rode with Doug and Ginger into downtown San Francisco and they took me sightseeing. Of course, Doug made me eat clam chowder out of a bread bowl! We went on a boat tour that went right by Alcatraz. Then we went to dinner with Doug’s niece and her boyfriend at a really good seafood place. Doug and Ginger made sure I got into a cab and was on my way to the airport. After they hugged me bye and shut the door, the cab driver asked me if they were my parents, HAHA! Doug will probably kill me for writing that in here but I couldn’t resist.

I could not ask for a better person to be working for. I still have a LOT to learn. I have been asking a ton of questions and I’m waiting for the race when the crew guys say, “Quit asking so many $&@#@ questions!” Haha! From everything I’ve heard so far, Brainerd is a ton of fun each year so I’m looking forward to it and I’m sure I’ll have some exciting pictures from that trip! In the meantime I’m going to go visit my family during the off-weekend. Until next time, y’all take care!

By the way – if you haven’t gone to www.gomotorbids.com yet to bid on items for the BRAKES auction you should check it out!