Wally, it has been way too long! You need to stop by more often. You are invited for dinner Sunday evening in Dallas! Congratulations to all of my Fram boys on their first team victory. What a weekend. I would have blogged sooner than today, but my hands wouldn’t let go of the Wally! We had to go to the emergency room today to have it surgically removed… just kidding.

It’s impossible to describe the looks on the guys’ faces as they arrived in the shutdown area. I told you last week that they were ready, and they were; their hard work paid off. Now they know the taste of victory and they are like sharks that sniffed fresh blood. The boys are ready for the next one, and frankly, I think it’s a good thing that we are racing again this weekend because these guys are wound tight. I can’t wait to turn them loose on the Texas Motorplex.

It’s a nice feeling to come out of the box shooting and hit the target dead-center in the first Countdown race. It was awesome to see Don Schumacher standing next to the Fram dragster holding up his index finger as he smiled and said, “You’re number one!” We are happy and enjoying our victory, but now it’s time to turn our attention to the next race. I wish that I could think of another General Patton quote here but for some reason, I can only hear John Rambo yelling, “Nothing is over!” We have a good start but there is so much more to do — time to look ahead.

Oh, before I forget, I want to congratulate my teammate, Matt Hagan, for making it to his second final round. That will boost their confidence in the same way that our victory has lifted ours. Wouldn’t it be nice if we both made it to the final round again?

Thanks to everybody for all of the kind words this week. I received 48 text messages in a short period of time after the final. It’s so hard to answer everybody so here’s a mass “Thank you!” As excited as everybody is about the Carolina victory, I think Cyrus is the most excited, see the photo to the right. In the words of Hank Hill, “That dawg ain’t right!”

So, as much as we would like to digest and enjoy out victory, there isn’t any time. The Texas Motorplex awaits, and we are anxious to get on the track and show what we are capable of achieving. Remember Patton’s words about feeling sorry for the opposing armies? Well, the Fram machine is advancing, and we aren’t taking any prisoners.

See you — in the winner’s circle!