Being a team owner is so rewarding and it sure is a lot of work. I'm in Indy so much these days that I've decided to put my house in Arizona on the market and just move here. We're very close to signing a new two-year contract with Honeywell, the parent company of Fram, with an option for a third year and I'm happy with my lease arrangement with Don Schumacher so it just makes more sense for me to be here.

The DSR deal is really working out well for me. The team has access to more things than I could ever have on my own, like a clutch dyno and blower dyno. The information we can get from those machines could be indispensable as we move forward.

Round wins have been tough to come by this year and we obviously haven't set the world on fire, but lately we're making some progress and actually winning rounds on Sunday. We haven't won a race yet but we have done enough recently to work our way back into the eight-car field of the Technicoat Top Fuel Shootout that will take place in Las Vegas during the seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

To me, that race is a big, big deal. I'm so glad the Cowboys (Technicoat's Bob Coffman and Glen Williams) took it over and I promise to put on cowboy boots and a hat if I win! That should be required of the winner, don't you think?

This will be my 14th Shootout but I've yet to win that thing. Rob Geiger told me that only Joe Amato has qualified for the Shootout more than me so it's cool to be mentioned with him, but it would be a lot better if I had a trophy or two. Maybe this year.

I do think we can win. We open with (Tony) Schumacher but he's been beatable at times this year. Anyone that qualifies for that deal can win it so we'll give it a try.

After the race, I'll be staying in Vegas for the SEMA show and I'm already making travel arrangements for what promises to be a busy off-season. I'm excited to be going back to Germany with GM to visit the troops stationed there. Then I'm off to Australia to race Jim Reed's dragster against my old rival Mike Dunn. I hope he still talks nice about me on ESPN2 after I whip his butt!

On a personal note, I'm sad to report I will be putting my dog Cookie down this weekend. She's very old -- 17 and a half -- and she can't get around any more. The doctors think it's the humane thing to do at this point. I'm very sad to lose her after all these years but she's been a great dog and a part of my family for a long time.