At this point I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my delayed flight back to Indy. It's kind of weird for me since Atlanta has been my home for the past 18 months, at least up until about two months ago.

If you've been following me you know that I have been living in the motorhome since I packed everything up and put it in a storage pod. At that time it sounded like an adventure. I planned to spend two weeks in Florida, two in Indy, and the final two in Colorado before I decided where to move. Actually I was hoping that something would come together with a team that would dictate where I ended up. I am now over two months in the motorhome and the adventure has lost its luster. It's time to plant some roots again, even if it's short term.

The good news is that I have been very busy over the last few months. I spent some time north of Charlotte helping to get the GK Motorsports hospitality trailer ready for Houston. It was a thrash, long days and stress when things didn't turn out perfect but I think its debut weekend was a success. Because of that I have spent a lot of time around Erica Enders’ Pro Stock car.  It's has been fun to see a side of racing that I haven't been around.

Working on sponsorship has kept me busy the rest of the time. I have been traveling and talking to a lot of people. Putting together the right program takes a lot of time. While I don't have anything that looks like it is going to happen in the immediate future, I am having discussions with some interested people and that's a good sign. 

I also changed my website. As I mentioned in my "On the run" column I've been thinking about changing my image just a little bit. You might see some of that in the new website. In fact I think I will do a little poll on Facebook to see what people think. So visit MelanieTroxel.com then go to my Facebook page and let me know what you think.
 

I'm sitting here at the Daytona 500 watching it rain. Luckily I'm in a suite; not a bad place to wait out the weather. I know, you aren't feeling too sorry for me are you? Really I'm here working. Meeting, greeting, networking, shaking hands and kissing babies. I feel like a politician. Hey, there's Mitt Romney…doing the same thing.
 
My full time job these days is trying to put together sponsorship. I have several irons in the fire and am working every angle. I'm hopeful we will make something happen either with one sponsor or maybe teaming up several to get back out there this year.
 
It's tough, and watching introductions for this NASCAR event proves the point as several big-time drivers walked the stage with one-race deals.
 
I did have the opportunity to bracket race a dragster in Valdosta, Georgia, a few weeks back. I was a little rusty to say the least but we had fun.
 
I have also moved out of Georgia and am a resident of where ever I park my motorhome. I'm going to use this opportunity to spend a little time in Florida, and catch the Gatornationals before deciding where to move to permanently. Well, as permanent as this sport gets.
 
I will try to keep you posted on how it's going through Facebook at MelanieTroxel and Twitter @MelanieTroxel. As I said, we're working full time on getting something done so hopefully we'll get lucky and land a deal or two.
 

Well, a lot has happened since the last time I wrote a blog. Of course the season has come to an end and I have to say that I am a little relieved. This has been a tough year for the team. We just never were able to get a handle on the Funny Car. We definitely ran better in the last half of the season, but even then we weren’t able to go rounds. The incident at the end of the track in Pomona was just the final straw, but I’m grateful that no one was hurt. 

Of course you probably know by now that In-N-Out Burger is not coming back as a sponsor on my car next year. I feel terrible that we weren’t able to perform better for them, but they are a great company, and they have been very instrumental in my career. I wish them the best in the future. That leaves a lot of unanswered questions for both myself and R2B2 Racing. I wish I had more to tell you but we are working hard at bringing in new sponsorship.

I have had the opportunity to do a couple cool things in the last couple of months. Last week I went up in a stunt plane and also an ultralight with Gene Fulton. That definitely fit the bill for my adrenaline junkie side, but the motion sickness that came with the stunts was not my favorite. No, I did not puke but I didn’t feel the best. I guess that’s why I drag race. Four seconds of all-out adrenaline and then I pull over, not long enough to get sick. I also went to a gun range for the first time ever. That was cool! Check out my fan page on Facebook to see videos of both my adventures.

Let’s hope my next post is to tell you great news about our plans for 2012. Until then enjoy the holidays.

We had a two month break off from racing both the Funny Car and the Pro Mod together, which makes Indy – a race that seems like it takes two weeks to complete – go by even slower.

We wanted to have a good showing in Indy because the guys put in a lot of work on the new R2B2 Racing turbo cars during the break.

When we went to Indy, it reminded me of the way Indy felt when I was a kid. I went through 10 years of living there, but it didn’t feel the same.

The hot, hot weather makes it challenging as a driver, especially when you are jumping between two cars. I don't like to drink a lot of fluids when I'm racing, so I have to fight to hydrate myself during the day because you don't realize how much you sweat out during the day.

We were No. 1 in the Pro Mod and nearly got the No. 1 in Funny Car. Even though we didn’t go the rounds we wanted, it was still a good weekend for the team because Eric Dillard won the Pro Mod event in our brand-new racecar.

It was a great payoff for the Pro Mod guys.

When we got home we freshened up all the cars for our final three-race swing of the season. We talk about the Western Swing being a grueling set of races, but the Charlotte to Dallas to back to Reading, Pa., is just as rough on the teams as Western Swing.

Personally, my golf game suffered a little during the heat of the summer, but the weather in Atlanta is turning to perfect weather for golf and I'll be able to play through the winter. I've never been able to do that before, so I'm looking forward to hit the course in December and January.