Howdy blog fans! I trust that all of you are getting ready in some way or another like we are to start this more-grueling-than-normal summer swing. Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to it. I may regret those words in about six weeks and try to eat that crow with some lima beans, but for now, I’m excited about getting to go racing so much.

As we sit here at beautiful Route 66 Raceway Friday in one of Bob Frey’s “Chamber of Commerce” days so far, I wanted to clue you fine ladies and gentlemen in on a little story about two music fans rockin’ and rollin’ in a custom van and getting into adventures on the backroads of the great American Midwest. Nope, it’s not a La-La Land blockbuster or even an indie film shot with ridiculously weird camera angles, you guessed it, it’s a blog entry about me and my favorite Aussie trekking our way through Northern Illinois Thursday. Oh, and I fibbed about the van…it was just a plain-Jane mini van, but we pretended it had shag carpet, velvet captain’s chairs and a couple of those really cool airbrushed murals on the sides…

So, every year before the big race in Joliet, NHRA sends one or two or several drivers out to do a media tour in Rockford, Ill. My buddy, Lachelle “Chee” Seymour, NHRA media relations manager, advanced the media opportunities for the event and asked if I would take a certain tall Aussie driver to Rockford this year for the tour. Grubby and I agreed and the trip was set to make the two-hour trip (one way) to the Illinois countryside. Now, normally I must admit, taking a ride in a van for two hours is not something that I particularly look forward to, but in this case I was pretty psyched to go because I knew that Grubby and I would have a blast, and we did!

Dave and I are big-time music fans. Both of us have played instruments at some point or another in our lives and both of us have soft spots in our souls for good classic rock n’ roll. As soon as we left the hotel for Rockford, the radio station was the first priority. We had Sirius satellite radio, so we were set. We found a good station before the first stop light and we began our day of air guitars and off-pitched wailing. Both of us tend to remember obscure trivia about bands and tend to test one another when the situation provides itself…like this one. For example, I might ask Davie who the played the drums for “The Who” that night at a concert in San Francisco when normal drummer Keith Moon passed out during the performance due to taking too many tranquilizers? After a minute or two, Dave would then chime in with Scott Halpin…and so on, and so on. We had a great time just listening to music and remembering different times and happenings in our lives that a great song can trigger in your mind. I guess that’s what makes music so special.

The media tour in Rockford was great. We visited three TV stations up there, and Dave did a great job as always promoting the event. It’s easy to him because he truly loves what he does and that comes across almost effortlessly on camera. Thanks to Pat, Scott and Nate for all their help and for showing us a great time.



After the TV stops, Grubby and I hopped back in the van and resumed our Magical Music Memory Tour 2007 (more dates TBD) and headed back to Joliet. I want to take this opportunity to thank Dave for keeping a constant smile on my face for the whole day. Thanks, bud!

That’s all for now. See ya at the drags, and rock on, dude!