The past couple weeks have really flown by. The race here in Charlotte was great. The car ran well, and it was great having tiwi onboard for the weekend. The fundraisers we did for B.R.A.K.E.S. went really well. Pictures from the PPG Paintball Tournament and the Second Annual Benefit Dinner presented by tiwi are on the B.R.A.K.E.S. Web site if you want to check them out. At the dinner, Allen Johnson bought a puppy during the live auction and then gave it to Anna Lisa Smith, Bruton Smith’s daughter. He had been bidding against her and Ray Evernham’s new wife, Erin. When he gave her the puppy the whole room went wild! Something else neat at the dinner was that we debuted the new B.R.A.K.E.S. public service announcements. The videos feature Clay Millican and me talking about our staging duel at Maple Grove in 2002. They’re pretty funny but they also drive home a point. You can see those on the B.R.A.K.E.S. site too, www.putonthebrakes.org. We just added a new social networking, community part to the website so make sure you check that out too!

Last Monday, the fifth, was James' and my birthday, so of course I decided the best place to go would be a place that James would have liked. I took Jessie to a place called Hickory Dickory Dock. It’s kind of like Chuck E Cheese on steroids! They have a million games, go-karts, laser tag, and a bunch of other fun stuff. We had a great time having a birthday celebration together.

One bad thing that happened on my birthday was my good friend Bill Gillissie passed away. I have been friends with Bill and his family for years. Bill was known simply as "T Shirt" to most of his friends. I could write an entire book about Bill, but the best way to sum up Bill's attitude is with one of his favorite things to say, "We are not here for a long time, we are just here for a good time." I can tell you that Bill did not miss a lot of fun things, and anytime there was something fun going on, Bill would do his best to be there. Last year, I was lucky enough to be invited by Bill to fish in the Roosterfish Tournament in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Don Schumacher let me fly down to the tournament with him, and we had a great time with Bill, Tony, Roger, and a great group of friends.

My son Jon used to call Bill "Fisherman Bill" due to the fact that Bill was always wearing shirts that had pictures of fish on them! My thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s family, especially Karen, Heather, and Ken. Rest in peace my friend.

On Saturday, my friends over at Carolina Harley Davidson had a Harley ride called "A ride to Victory in memory of Click Baldwin." It was awesome! A couple hundred Harley riders got together for a ride from Click’s Harley dealership in Gastonia and rode up to Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction Gang Camp. We stopped at the brand new NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte for a sneak peak and a tour of the facility from Winston Kelly, the project coordinator for NASCAR. I must say, it is one incredible facility. Click started this ride a few years ago when Kyle and Patty Petty opened Victory Junction Gang Camp in memory of their son Adam. Last year, my friend Click was killed in a motorcycle accident while he was on his way riding to Sturgis. For the last two years, Click’s wife, Dianne, and their daughter, Chelsea, have carried on Click’s tradition and continued to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

This ride was incredible. We had about 50 police escorts, and they actually closed down Interstate 85 for all the riders! Jessie rode with me, and neither one of us could believe that they actually closed down the interstate while we rode. We made another stop at a gas station for a refill; it was great, we just pulled up to the pump and they filled up the bike with free gas!

Once we were at the camp, Jessie and I walked around and took a tour of the great facility. The most fun thing to see was the horse barn since it was called "Jessie's Horsepower Garage." Jessie thought that was great. The mission of Victory Junction is a lot the same as B.R.A.K.E.S. We are out to help kids and teens.

Until next time…Doug