Well, now that the whole world knows what my buddy, Del Worsham, is up to now by joining Kalitta Motorsports, and I can tell you that I’m very excited for 2012. I have known Del for a long time and even had the opportunity to drive for him in 2007 in the CSK "blue" car. Del is going to be the crew chief on the Tequila Patron race car, but I feel this is only going to make our DHL team, as well as Doug's and Grubby's teams even better as well. Del is a very smart guy and has tuned his own cars with his dad, Chuck, for over 20 years. Add to that the experience he learned working with "The Man", Alan Johnson, and you can see why we are all excited. Connie and his Kalitta Motorsports organization are going to give Del everything he needs to try out new combinations and this coupled with the great staff and equipment that he has put together over the years is going to be a recipe for success.
We will be starting off the year with new chassis's and the brand new Toyota Camry bodies. The boys are busy back in Ypsilanti getting the first body mounted and getting ready to test Alexis's car next week. After that test session, the guys back at the shop will get a much deserved vacation for a couple of weeks before returning back to the shop right after the New Year. After that, it is only a couple of weeks before they leave again to test in mid-January so things are going to be going "Full Throttle" back at the shop.
Del is going to be a great fit for our team since my crew chiefs, Nicky and Jon O, are already great friends with Del and respect him very much. Our DHL team is coming off our best year ever and with what Jon and Nicky learned this year, I am sure that will greatly accelerate Del's learning process. Having two cars will also be a dream come true for all involved as this will enable us to gain data twice as fast as before and should relate to better performance for both the DHL and Patron teams. The plan is right now to get Del, Jon O, and Nicky to come up with a plan and then build and set up both cars as close as possible so that's it is easier for us to share information.
On Friday I am flying back to the shop for the annual Kalitta Christmas party. I am looking forward to seeing all my guys and everybody else that makes the Kalitta organization so great. It's going to be a fun couple of days and a great way to get the Holiday Season started. I want to thank Connie, my DHL crew, all our sponsors, my family and all the people back at the shop for their hard work this year that enabled us to do so well. I know that everybody is excited for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle season to get underway and before you know it, we will be at Pomona again.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year if I don't talk to you before then and thanks for all your support!