Last time I blogged, I told you there would be some good stuff to talk about. Last Thursday, Del Worsham swung by my house at 7:00 a.m. We drove the three hours up to Santa Maria for a little golf match with his boss A.J. We had a great time playing golf and A.J. and I ended up on the same team. Let’s just say that for the second time, we were the ones collecting the money at the end of the match...sorry Del. After that, we ended up going out to celebrate Alan’s dad (Everett) 75th birthday. We ate at a great place called “The Hitching Post” in Santa Maria. If you are ever driving through, you have to stop there. We also might have dropped by this little bar called Elmer’s as well ... another legendary place in this small town. We had a great day, but it was a long day.
The next morning we left to go to Bristol. There wasn’t much of a tailwind so we had to stop in Kansas for some fuel. By the time we got to the track it was getting close to 4:30 p.m. My guys kinda gave me that “must be nice to show up at the last minute" look. They already had the car pushed back with the starter hooked up, ready to warm up. Come on, we still had an hour before we had to run! We made a couple of tire smoker runs on Friday that left us out of the top 12 for Saturday. The next day, we made a couple of consistent, full runs. Nothing super fast, but I bet Robert Hight would have taken one of them. We went into Sunday having to race Del which kind of sucked. He tried to give us a chance, but we ended up shaking and then smoking the tires, and I watched him speed off to the finish line. Del ended up going on to win the race, his second in a row, so that was exciting to see. My teammate Doug Kalitta also went to the final after having a great day. Jim O had the car running well again but just fell a tad short in the final. After Del’s team was done with the winner’s circle pictures, Alan, Del, Chad Head, Larry Dixon and I flew up to Atlanta, GA. We did a little celebrating and got to sleep early...early in the morning that is.
The next day, our two Kalitta cars and both of the Al-Anabi cars hit the Atlanta track around noon for a little testing. You would think that with Doug going to the final and Del winning two in a row, you already knew everything, but that’s what keeps these guys doing well. There are always new parts to test, ideas to try, and different track conditions to learn from. We ran all day Monday and Tuesday. All the cars made good laps and we all learned some valuable information. Our DHL Toyota was showing some great promise and I expect our team to do a lot better in the races coming up and of course for the rest of the year. I am glad that all I have to do is drive the car because tuning one is ALOT harder. Jon O, Nicky and our entire DHL Toyota crew put in a lot of hard work and lately the results just haven’t shown it. Trust me when I tell you though, that their hard work is very close to paying off. Doug made a couple of great runs as well on a pretty hot race track. We are getting ready to start running on those 110-degree-plus racetracks as the summer comes upon us, so you need to know what to do to negotiate them if you want to win.
Right after our last test run on Tuesday, we left to fly back home. Del and I were looking forward to getting back home to our families, although it was going to be very late. It had been a long week away and we were tired. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating. The pilot came back when we were about an hour away to tell us the fog was getting lower and lower in Santa Maria. It had gone from 600 feet to 300 feet in the last hour and anything under 200 feet it is really not safe (or legal, I think) to land. Safety always comes first. The pilot then told us we were only minutes from Vegas. That’s all we had to hear and the “executive decision” was made. We landed, checked in at the Bellagio and did a little celebrating.
Wednesday morning came way too fast and the next thing I knew we were back in Santa Maria. I gave Del a little break and let him get some much deserved rest on the three-hour drive home. I am looking forward to him returning the favor when we get our first win with our DHL Toyota...and I know that he will be happy to do so!
Arend out!