Since I last blogged things have been a blur. We went to the Indy test session a few weeks back to try out some new clutch parts that we thought might work. Our test session went very well. As you know we have struggled quite a bit this year to get the car to run some good early numbers. Finally at the test session our car started doing just that. The funny thing is that I could put our "new" parts next to the "old" parts and I don't think that the average person could even see a difference. That's what makes this sport so tough. You can be a few thousandths of an inch off on something and it can dramatically affect the way the car runs ... and there are literally hundreds of parts like that on a race car that have to be matched and perfect. The nice thing that started happening is that our DHL Toyota was starting to repeat and become more consistent. It is very hard to come up with a "tune-up" if the engine and or clutch is not behaving the same way run to run. Now that it looked better after the test session, it was time to prove it at "The Big Go" or the "Mac Tools U.S. Nationals" as it is officially known.
 
The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is really cool for a driver because you get two night sessions. Night sessions are the ones where you can let it all hang out and go for that great e.t. because the track and atmospheric conditions are usually at their best. We started off with a straight-as-a-string 4.18 run on Friday night, and on our computer it looked like a carbon copy of the test run that we made. Things were coming together. On the Saturday day run we just overpowered the track by a bit but it was running faster than our 4.18 when that happened. Saturday night we figured we had nothing to lose so we really stepped on it. It made it about 300 feet down the track and was on pace to run a low teen but then for some reason it just smoked the tires. Nicky, Jon O and the boys put their heads together and found a problem in our clutch management system which was causing the clutch to come in faster than we wanted. Once we got that fixed we made a fantastic 4.14 run during the day session on Sunday which put us solidly in the field in the number 10 spot. If you watched any of the ESPN2 coverage of the race I am sure that you saw it, because my good friend Bob Bode had a spectacular body-shredding explosion right next to us. They showed it on the tube from every angle, so we got a lot of TV time. The important thing though was that Bob was OK and he was, except for maybe his wallet. It goes to show you how safe these cars really are ... at least for something that goes 0-100 mph in less than a second and over 300 mph in four seconds!
 
After the last qualifying session ended and everything was put away we went over to the banquet that we had to honor Connie Kalitta and his 50 years in drag racing. Todd Myers, Rachel Brunner, and everybody involved at Kalitta Motorsports really went the extra mile in putting the "Barbecuing the Bounty Hunter" Roast together. It was a sellout and almost everybody who is anybody in drag racing was there to share in the laughs. After a great sit down catered meal, the emcee, Bob Frey, got to the roasting. For a guy that's only about 130 pounds soaking wet, he went after Connie pretty good. He probably knew he could outrun the Old Man but if I was him, with what he said, I would always be looking over my shoulder at the track! Next a panel of "roasters," including the legendary Frank "The Beard" Bradley, "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Jim Head and "The Greek" Chris Karamesines got to tell some of their favorite Connie Kalitta stories ... and let me tell you there were quite a few. Alan Reinhart was there as well working the room for some more dirt on Connie and at the end Jim "O" took the stage went in for the kill. Connie took it really well and lots of laughs were had by all. When Connie was finally allowed to handle the mic, we all thought anybody that had roasted him was ready to get it back. Instead an emotional Connie Kalitta got up and told everybody there that this is why he drag races. The lifelong friends that you make in this sport that really care about you, the wild times and stories that can come from it as well, are things that you will remember and laugh about for the rest of your life; nobody can take them away from you and no amount of money can buy them...you have to earn them and that's what Connie has done. If you go to our web site at www.teamkalitta.com . You can order a copy of the DVD that they made of he roast ... just lock the young ones in their room as this is certainly not a PG affair!
 
Monday was race day and our DHL Toyota team was ready to rock. Everybody on our team had a little extra spring in their step. We were at the year’s biggest race but we also had a car that was running great. We had to run my old buddy Jerry Toliver first round. Jerry and I have our own points battle for 13th which has been going on all year. We text each other all the time as for most of the season I only had a one-point lead on him. A few races ago we gained an extra qualifying point over him, so of course I had to text him that I had now officially "doubled" my points lead over him. Kids will be kids. Anyway I managed to strap a good light on Jerry and then our guys unloaded a nice 4.17 on them to defeat their formidable 4.19 lap. On to the second round for the second race in a row. We then had to race Ashley Force in the second round. I knew she would be looking for a little redemption after giving me my first round win for the Kalitta's the race before. We left about together and she ran a nice 4.17 to beat our 4.20. We made her earn it and if you don't already know, she went on to win the race.
 
I flew back home on Tuesday and got caught up on some work around the house. The family and I then went to Palm Springs to my in laws to spend a few days relaxing. We ended up running into Ray from DHL as he was there doing the same thing. We hooked up with him and his buddy and played a little golf at the Greg Norman private course at PGA West. After that we hung around the pool and relaxed. Later that night I convinced everybody to go to a restaurant called "Roy's Hawaiian Fusion." I have been to a couple before and if you like steak or seafood, and there is one close by, you have to go. I am a big seared Ahi guy and theirs is great, but if you prefer steak or cooked fish, you won't be disappointed. We got home Sunday night and on Tuesday morning I was on the plane again. We had a DHL display to do at Fort Bragg. When we arrived there Wednesday morning and drove over to the display sight, I couldn't get over how big the base was. Later I found out that population wise, it is the biggest in the United States with just over 52,000 enlisted men and women there. That doesn't include their families so I am sure that the number would be well over 200,000. It is like a city on base with everything from movie theatres to fast food places to golf courses right there. It takes over an hour just to drive across it! We got to meet a lot of the soldiers and lots of them are huge race fans and very knowledgeable. One guy in particular, "Chris" (and you know who you are), was a "super fan!" He made the three-plus-hour drive out to the races with a couple of buddies, so at the end of the day we gave him a couple of used slicks. Who knows what they are going to do with them but he promised to send pictures! We started the car up a few times for them and even had a couple of the guys sit in the car for the warm up ... not many people in this world can say they warmed up a nitro Funny Car!
 
Next we were onto the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at probably the best drag strip in the world, Bruton Smith's zMax Dragway. If you have never been there, you have got to go if you ever get the chance. The weather report was not favorable at all with rain forecast for all three days. I guess when you are Bruton Smith though, you can manipulate the weather because somehow we got all four qualifying sessions in as well as race day with barely a drop. Friday didn't look too good for our team if all you did was read the results. Our first run it was probably on pace to run a 4.13 but it smoked the tires at right about 400 feet. On our night run it dropped a cylinder at the start and only ran a 4.34. Saturday went better as we unloaded a great 4.14 to move us up to the 12 spot. On our last run we tried to see what the track would hold to get a good idea for what to do on race day. When you are a driver and you are not in the Countdown, it gets you into a different mindset. You basically have nothing to lose and if the guy you are racing is in, that's where the pressure is going to fall. We had to run Tim Wilkerson first round who is a great family friend of ours. Bob Wilber, who is his PR guy, used to be my PR guy at Worsham's, so if I could pick somebody NOT to race, it would be them. But that's what we do, we try and beat who we are racing on the starting line, and then try and outrun them to the finish line, knowing that we will still be friends and support each other after. I know in the past when a team had to race us, they knew if they had and average reaction time and elapsed time that they were probably going to beat us.

However, now that Connie, Jon O and Nicky have our DHL Toyota running fast and that my reaction times have been good, sometimes you are going to pressure the other team into having to make a great lap and have a great light to beat you. We both had great reaction times and we sped off to a great 4.14 lap as Timmy overpowered the track about 300 feet. Three round wins in the last three races and none in almost a year!! We were on a roll. Unfortunately, "the roll" ended with a loss to Matt Hagan in the second round. I had managed to get a two-hundredths jump on him at the Tree but we went into smoke at about the same spot as Tim. The good thing is that we are learning and the competition is not looking forward to racing us anymore. We hope to spoil a bunch of peoples days in these last five races and maybe even win a race while we are doing it. We have three races in the next three weeks so keep tuned to ESPN2 to see how we do.
 
Thanks for reading!