Howdy racing fans from the center of all auto racing in the world these days – Charlotte, N.C. I know, I know, I’m sure there’s a big handful of folks out there that will argue that Indy still holds that illustrious title, but I have to tell you…it sure looks like the Charlotte/Concord area of the Tar Heel state is the place to be in this day and age if you’re a racer or racing fan.
 
We straight liners of the NHRA are the new kids in town and so far we’ve been greeted with open arms. Everyone I’ve met since we got here Tuesday has been very gracious and excited to see what the world’s fastest motorsport has in store for them this weekend out at the new, and I must admit, incredible zMax Dragway. There was a function at the race track Tuesday night to “show off” Bruton’s newest creation and no one was disappointed. As we first walked in and started looking around, I kept asking myself, “Is this really a drag strip?” The facility is gigantic and everything is first class all the way. Every drag racing fan in the world needs to come see this place. The “bar” has been raised to a whole new level.
 

So, Tuesday night began the onslaught of pre-race activities for Team Kalitta. Hillary and Grubby and I went to the reception at the tower and rubbed speedy elbows with the likes of Morgan Shepherd and Kasey Kahne and Ray Evernham, and even the Nature Boy, Ric Flair, was mingling around (I had to mention Ric or Jim “O,” a huge wrestling fan, might piledrive his PR guy). There was even a special “Run Whatya Brung” event for the drivers to make their first laps down the new all-concrete strip.
 
Wednesday was the Countdown to 1 press conference in downtown Charlotte. Dave, Doug and Hillary all took the stage while dodging an occasional raindrop or two. It was quite the affair. There were all sorts of onlookers and media walking around, and there was live band there entertaining the lot. We managed to get everything in while staying dry for the most part so I’d say it was a big success. Doug Herbert got everyone’s attention when he whacked the throttle on his dragster. Grubby offered me this little bite of wisdom right before Herbie hit the loud pedal, “Todd, don’t stand anywhere near one of these trees down here when he hits the throttle ‘cause the drops that are on the leaves now will be on your head when he’s done.” I took his sage advice and watched as a few unlucky souls did get a bit of a dousing.
 
Okay, so now to explain the title of the foray. Thursday, Hillary and I along with Zak “Zak Attack” Elcock of NHRA media fame, went on a media tour to some TV stations in the Greenville/Spartanburg S.C. area. Zak picked us up at the hotel and the day of promotion and frivolity began. I’ve known Zak for a couple years now and we always have fun together on these junkets so I knew this would not be an exception. As we made our way south down I-85, we started noticing that there were three major themes to all of the roadside billboards, you guessed it…rugs, fireworks, and peaches. I’m still not sure which of the three was the most prevalent, but wow…if you are in the market for any/all of these items, I highly suggest you take a trip through the Charlotte to Greenville corridor.
 
We got all of our press responsibilities done with the lovely and talented Miss Will, who did a terrific job as always, and then the “Mission Moon Pie” section of the trip began on the way back to Charlotte. There a couple of favorable southern delights, or better described as combinations, that I explained to my Dixie-challenged friends that we should try to acquire for the two-hour ride back. The first is a Moon Pie, which I prefer in the vanilla offering, combined with an RC Cola. The second is getting one of the small 8-ounce bottles -- must be bottles -- of Coke and dropping a few salted peanuts in the bottom. We decided that the Moon Pie/RC challenge would be our best option and our quest began with several exit stops at convenient stores and truck stops. Oddly, we could never find an RC, but we did mange to spy several chocolate Moon Pies, but we kept persevering, looking for the illusive vanilla. Finally, on our last stop, we did manage to find a couple vanilla Moon Pies and settled on a combination of them and Cokes (sweet tea for me). The day was then able to wind down with almost complete and utter satisfaction.
 
We’ve set up a special section on the www.teamkalitta.com Website, like we did for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, for the landmark festivities in Concord so please stop by the Team K. home page and click on the graphic link at the top of the page and browse through some of the sights, including more imagery about what I’ve mentioned in this blog, and other goings on with the Kalitta Motorsports bunch “down yonder” (I’m from the south so I have full permission to take an occasional jab at my kindred kinfolk).
 
Thanks for stoppin’ by! Ya’ll come back now, ya hear!
 
Todd has left the building.